 It is the largest of the Small Isles , and the 15th largest Scottish island , but is inhabited by only about thirty or so people , all of whom live in the village of Kinloch on the east coast . The island has been inhabited since the 8th millennium BC and provides some of the earliest known evidence of human occupation in Scotland . The early Celtic and Norse settlers left only a few written accounts and artefacts . From the 12th to 13th centuries on , the island was held by various clans including the MacLeans of Coll . The population grew to over 400 by the late 18th century but was cleared of its indigenous population between 1826 and 1828 . The island then became a sporting estate , the exotic Kinloch Castle being constructed by the <unk> in 1900 . Rùm was purchased by the Nature Conservancy Council in 1957 . 
