His style was initially unique. His army of flattering performers aping his style (s) lead you to use the word “good.”

I was listening to him on vinyl as a schoolboy violin player going through my grades and wondering if there was anything in “fiddling” I could copy in my classical education. Perhaps there may have been, especially flamboyance.

He was an inspiration and I am so glad I met my hero many times, even putting him up for the night a couple of times but listen to his Ceilidh album, not for clever playing, not for technical prowess but to see his deep understanding of whatever he was playing. Ditto his middle eights on Fairport’s Sloth.