"Until Colin Mark's dictionary he [Edward Dwelly] has had no contemporary rival.

"Mr Mark has plugged the gap [between existing dictionaries] triumphantly. I first took note of him in 1986, when the magazine and publishing house Gairm brought out his more than useful handbook of Gaelic verbs. I was struck then by the neat and logical way he laid out his material (a quality particularly needful where the Gaelic verb is concerned). He brings those same qualities, and others besides, to this much larger work. In addition, his publisher has given him a well-designed layout that leads to quick comprehension and puts his dictionary streets ahead of any other Gaelic reference work I have ever come across. Perhaps it was also the publisher* who had the excellent idea of putting into boxes lengthy entries dealing with common words, particularly those which can be combined with others, like m—r (big), ath (next), leth (half) and many others. Mr Mark's book is only two-thirds the length of Dwelly's (700 double-column pages as opposed to a thousand), but it packs a wealth of information into them. His word definitions are accurate and succinct, and his examples of usage well chosen.

"His book includes other features hitherto unknown in Gaelic lexicography, such as introductory chapters on how to use the dictionary and on the way Gaelic spelling reflects (or doesn't reflect!) the pronunciation (with International Phonetic Alphabet symbols for each example). Above all (and this is a cardinal point) it has a hundred pages of appendices on Gaelic grammar and usage, which add up to the most practical grammar of the language I know.

"He is neither too pedantic, nor does he fight shy of the knottier problems of grammar. I was struck by how good he is on syntax, a field in which Gaelic grammars are traditionally weak.

"I heartily recommend it. As a postscript it is perhaps churlish to hope that after spending 10 years on this book he will devote the next 10 to an English-Gaelic counterpart. But the very success of the one highlights the need for the other."

*Author's footnote:

In fact, the entire layout, including the boxes, was the author's own work. The typesetters tidied it up and fitted the typescript into the pages.