 However, when Sorley Boy MacDonnell (of the Islay MacDonalds) had a clash with the Irish branch of the Macleans, and the unpopularity of the MacDonalds in Edinburgh (where their use of Gaelic was regarded as barbaric), weakened their grip on their southern Hebridean possessions.In 1608, Coupled with MacDonald hostility to the Scottish reformation, this led the Scottish-English crown to mount an expedition to subdue them.In 1614 the crown handed Islay to Sir John Campbell of Cawdor, in return for an undertaking to pacify it; this the Campbells eventually achieved.