[1] In 1942, dyestuff and chemical merchant James Crawford died, leaving a portion of his estate to the university to found a chair in Celtic language and literature.

The chair was established in 1956 using these funds as well as contributions from the university's Ossianic Society and the Ross Trust.

[3] He was editor of Scottish Gaelic Studies, a journal produced by the Aberdonian department,[4] founded Gairm, a quarterly Gaelic magazine which ran for over 50 years under his editorship, and continues to write extensive poetry.

He worked outside academia from 1984 to 1995 in Dublin and North Wales, before taking over the chair in Glasgow in 1995.

He argued that the confusion is due to an eighth century scribal spelling error, for which the similarities of "u" and "n" in the Insular script of the period were responsible.