English

Etymology

From French coler, acoler ‘accoll, throw arms round neck of’, ultimately Latin ad + collum ‘neck’.

Pronunciation

IPA: /kɒl/

Verb

1. to hug or embrace

   • 1995: They kissed and colled in parks and fields and, better, a / Warm bed, her own. — Anthony Burgess, Byrne

Translations

Coll (Scottish Gaelic: Colla) is a small island, west of Mull in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Coll is known for its sandy beaches, which rise to form large sand dunes, for its corncrakes, and for Breachacha Castle.

Geography and geology

Coll is about 21 km long by 5 km wide (13 miles by 3 miles) and has a population of less than 200. The island has a small village, Arinagour, from which ferries operated by Caledonian MacBrayne sail to Scarinish on Tiree and to Oban on the mainland. The journey to Oban normally takes about two hours, but in stormy winter weather it can take much longer.

Coll's sandy beaches rise to form large sand dunes.

The highest point on Coll is Ben Hogh in the south west of the island which rises to a height of 104 metres (341 feet).

History

Coll was home to a branch of the Clan MacLean for 500 years, not all of which were peaceful. In 1590 the MacLeans of Duart invaded their cousins on Coll with the intention of taking the island for themselves. A battle was fought at Breachacha Castle where the Coll clan overwhelmed the Duarts, chopped off their heads and threw them in the stream which is still known as "the stream of the heads".

The Macleans of Coll retained their baronial fief and Castle of Breachacha until 1848 when Alexander Maclean of Coll emigrated to Natal where he died unmarried.

Breachacha Castle on the south coast dates from the fifteenth century. It was restored by the Project Trust, a gap year organisation that sends school leavers abroad for a year's voluntary work. They send 17-19 year olds on a whole year abroad, and have extensive selection and training weeks. An 18th century mansion house stands nearby.

The population of Coll was much higher in the past. In the late 1700s there were about 1,000 people supported by agriculture and fishing.

Wildlife

There is an extensive RSPB reserve towards the west end of the island. One of the main attractions is the rare corncrake. Traditional local farming practices have helped this once common British bird survive.

Coll in fiction

Mairi Hedderwick, the illustrator and author, once lived on Coll and has used the island as the setting her Katie Morag series of children's books. In the books, Coll is known by the fictional name of the Isle of Struay.

See also

• Religion of the Yellow Stick

Footnotes

External links

• Isle of Coll Website
• BBC Island Blog Website
• Coll Parish Church Website
• The Coll Hotel Website
• The Coll Magazine Archive
• The Coll Community Centre Project
• Project Trust