As ever, a gig at the Slaughtered Lamb is like having the band playing in your living room for you and your mates. The venue was packed, and Mawkin:Causley (with Nick Cooke replacing Alex Goldsmith on melodeon, and Sam Norman for Danny Crump on bass) started off working through their back catalogue, before leaving Jim Causley to entertain us with an acoustic medley drawn from the songs of Alison Krauss and Cindy Lauper.

Moving on, they went for slightly more cheery (or, at least, miserable songs with cheery tunes) - the wonderful Saucy Sailor, Todos les Biens del Mondo, and to cover the miserable front, loss of livelihood and sheepdogs (John Kirkpatrick’s George’s Son), Transportation (Botany Bay) and the Luddites and their rebellion against mechanisation (Cropper Lads).

Next, Nick Cooke and Jamie Delarre wowed us all with a lightning-fast set of tunes (Jerry the Frog, the 3 Furs and Jump at the Sun). It was a particular pleasure to be entertained by a variety of acts, not just the ’full monty’, as it were.

A couple more from the full band and then Jim gave us another treat, and a personal favourite of mine - the Germany Clockmaker. A wonderful song (with particularly interesting fiddle accompaniments from Jamie to punctuate the story!), but a terrible earworm. I just hope that writing about it won’t bring it back.

On which note, moving swiftly onwards, the brothers Delarre showed off their instrumental prowess with a couple of (very fast) french Canadian tunes before the full band (by now very much in their stride, and having a great deal of fun!) moved on to some more ’proper’ (as Jim C likes to call them) folk songs, which the band performed with their usual verve.

Finishing on a high note - a happy drinking song (is there any other sort?), the small venue definitely wanted an encore. And boy did we get it - a Mawkin:Causley disco special - Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff. An excellent end to a wonderful night - catch them this summer, as it may be your last chance for a while...