 By the mid @-@ 16th century , and probably a century earlier , the island was in the possession of the MacLeans of Coll . This transfer may have occurred by extortion , Allan <unk> of Clanranald having been held prisoner on Coll for 9 months . In 1549 Munro noted that although the island " pertained " to Coll it " obeys <unk> " to the Macleans of Duart , a situation that continued for some time . In 1588 the Small Isles suffered an armed invasion by Lachlan Maclean of Duart and his band of cutthroats , including up to one hundred Spaniards shipwrecked in the aftermath of the English defeat of the Armada . He burnt and put the isles to the sword , sparing neither women nor children . At a later date a report received by King James VI indicated that Clanranald had re @-@ occupied the island , but despite these temporary setbacks the island remained in Maclean of Coll 's hands for three centuries or more . 
