This is the unsung hero from Bohuntin who contributed so much in his short life to the preservation of  the history, language and culture of the Braes of Lochaber. All who appreciate the plethora of information available to us about our past owe him an enormous debt. He died alone in reduced circumstances and is buried far from his beloved Cille Choirill. He did however leave a priceless legacy for posterity in his scholarly writings  which recorded so much of our Gaelic past. D.C. (as he is still referred to)  became a Librarian in the Faculty of Advocates’ Library in Edinburgh. He was a key figure in the thriving Gaelic world of the time and his knowledge and literary skills were highly prized by many of the leading lights of the academic establishment such as J.F. Campbell of Islay. 

His published works included a Gaelic Grammar, a collection of  Gaelic Poetry, numerous contributions to the major cultural publications of the time such as The Celtic Magazine and An Gaidheal. He also translated a book of the Jacobite bard Alasdair MacMhaighstir Alasdair’s verse. One reason D.C did not get the recognition he deserved was due to his nature. He was an extremely shy and retiring individual who shunned the limelight and preferred to work under a nom-de-plume often using Abrach or Diarmid as an alias.

He was a very devout man and contributed a great deal to a Gaelic translation of the New Testament and a new Gaelic Prayerbook and Catechism. He is also remembered as the sculptor of the inscription on the famous Cranachan Mass Stone in Glen Roy.

He had battled a painful and debilitating illness all his life, and his untimely death robbed the Gaelic world of an irreplaceable talent. He had just embarked on the initial steps what was intended to be a complete edition of the works of Iain Lom.