Dave and Toni Arthur were an English husband-and-wife folk music duo who recorded albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

[2] Their musical approach was minimalist and they gradually came to focus on obscure songs with uncanny, magical and potentially pagan elements.

[3] When they made Hearken to the Witches Rune, they were interested in witchcraft and contacted the Wiccan leader Alex Sanders in London.

They discussed magic and witchcraft with Sanders, were invited to Wiccan coven meetings and studied the ritual books of contemporary witches.

It is about a man who wants to be free from an Elfin Queen and enlists help from a woman, Fair Margaret, leading to a power struggle that involves Tam Lin being transformed into a wolf and an adder.

The version on Hearken to the Witches Rune is an amalgamation of several sources, including the lyrics collected by Francis James Child in the 19th century and a melody uncovered by Hamish Henderson.

[2] "Broomfield Hill" tells the story of a maiden who uses magic to protect her virginity from a knight[2] and was a well-known folk song.

[2] Darksome night and shining Moon Hell's dark mistress Heaven’s Queen Harken to the Witches' Rune Diana, Lilith, Melusine!

[2] The cover art features Dave and Toni Arthur in red robes against a dark background.

[2] The rights were bought by Dave Bulmer of Celtic Music along with the rest of Trailer Record's catalogue in the early 1980s.

Overall, he said the album is "very worthwhile", although "Tam Lin" uses "illegitimate dynamic variations" and "The Fairy Child" suffers from overuse of slides.

[11] Writing in 2011, the music journalist Rob Young called the album "one of English folk's great lost recordings", due to its unavailability.