The result was an electrifying combination of old and new, with Robin increasingly exploring a more autobiographical vein in his songwriting. The Merry Band made three unforgettable albums Journey’s Edge, American Stonehenge and A Glint At The Kindling during their brief career; a live recording of their final performance in 1979 has only just been released. Better late than never, for sure. Glint ‘s centrepiece was the mighty Five Denials On Merlin’s Grave, which laid the foundations for Robin’s later 'Bardic' style, combining music and the spoken word in a potent distillation of the Celtic soul.

Since the ending of the Merry Band Robin has worked almost exclusively as a soloist, settling again in Britain in the mid-Eighties. Over this period he has released 29 recordings of songs, instrumental music and spoken word pieces. Latterly, he has come to excell in a form of music that cunningly blends all three elements, and in which the Celtic harp is the principal instrument. This has led to his being dubbed a 20th Century Bard; in fact, this is a pretty servicable description, for all its air of Victorian romanticism, as he has drawn consistently on ancient Celtic poetry and stories throughout his career. Perhaps more than any other contemporary musician, he has achieved a graceful synthesis of ancient and modern, in which each complements and infuses the other. His most recent album of original songs, The Island Of The Strong Door, shows this to stunning effect.