Cornelius had no luck with the MacLean leadership, who remained Episcopalian, but the (small) population of Rùm does appear to have become Roman Catholic again. In the rest of the nation, Covenanters gradually gained political control. Coll (along with the lands of the MacLeans of Duart) was under the shrieval authority of the sheriff of Argyll; under pressure from the Earl of Argyll, one of the most powerful Covenanter leaders, shrieval authority over Rùm was transferred from Inverness to the Argyll sheriff, which was under the control of the Earl's family.