Here, in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s early summer. A time when our gardens are full of insects, creeping across the lawns, buzzing through the air, pollinating the plants. And the most spectacular of all is the big, brightly-coloured dragonfly.

The Welsh poet, W. H. Davies, was so impressed by a specimen of Odinata anisoptera that he wrote a poem about it. As poems go, I’d call it ‘unimpressive’, but it inspired Danny Kirwan to compose a rather lovely song for Fleetwood Mac. That Dragonfly was released as a single in 1971 and was included on the Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits compilation that same year.

Last month, more than 50 years after Kirwan suffered a mental breakdown and had to leave Fleetwood Mac, a collection of his songs was released under the title Like Crying: The Songs of Danny Kirwan. The Dragonfly, with his opal crown and emeralds round his head, returned to settle briefly there at track 13. And he shines just as brightly today as he did the first time he visited us.

Danny Kirwan picked up his guitars again and released another three albums as a solo artist, but he never fully recovered from the effects of alcoholism and drug use in the late 60s and early 70s. In a spooky parallel with Peter Green, Kirwan spent most of the 80s and 90s living in hostels for the homeless, a shadow of his former self. He died in 2018, seven years ago to the day as I pen this tribute.

In the poem, although the writer knows his garden is a lovely place, he can’t help but wonder if it is worthy of that sparkling dragonfly. When it comes to Danny Kirwan’s Dragonfly, Crotchety Man has no doubt that it is a very worthy guest in this blog.