I woke up to BBC Radio 4's report on Ray's passing, so a pall was cast which will take time to lift.

Ray was always very supportive of us at trac and phoned me for an on-air chat on many occasions, and he knew the value of having a strong musical tradition. Nothing he liked better than a good sing-along with friends. I think he also strong-armed Dafydd Iwan into doing Welsh versions of a number of Irish songs - "Esgair Llyn" comes to mind but damned if I can remember the original Irish title!

As we say in Wales, "there was no side to him."

So ... I guess we'd better batten down the hatches for one helluva wake in the near future. He deserves a great send off.

sian