By Áshildr Inn Hárfagri, 2024
Presented at Kingdom Arts & Sciences
Tam Lin is the 39th of the Child Ballads, a collection of ballads first published by Francis James Child in 1882 with the volume containing Tam Lin and its variants published in Volume I Part II in 1884. The earliest mention of this ballad is in 1549 in Vedderburn’s Complaint of Scotland, where "The Tayl of the Ȝong Tamlene" ('The Tale of the Young Tamelene') is “spoken of as told among a company of shepherds.”[1] A dance named “Thom of Lyn” is mentioned at the same party. “A ballett of Thomalyn” was licensed in 1558.
Child notes a diverse family tree of this story. A Scottish ballad, which he does not name, regards a farmer desperate to save his wife from the fairy court. He was told to wait for the procession of the fairies on Halloween, but “at the ringing of the fairy bridles…his heart failed him,” and he did not manage to rescue his wife from the fairy. A Danish ballad from 1721 regards a maiden transformed into a nightingale by an angry stepmother and the solution to her curse is a knight containing her in a bower as she turns into “all the marvelous beasts one ever heard of…a lion, a bear, a variety of small snakes, and at last to a loathsome lind-worm.” A Cretan fairy tale recorded in 1820 mirrors the tale of Thetis and Peleus, in which an old mentor instructs a protege to “lay hands on the nereid and keep his hold through whatever metamorphosis she might make.” His final point of reference is the 12th century medieval romance Lanzelet by Ulrich von Zatzikhoven, in which the titular character cannot turn a serpent back into a woman merely by kissing her, but by also bathing her in a spring. This introduces “immersion in a liquid” as a “process requisite for passing from a non-human shape, produced by enchantment, back into human.”
As Child says, “Whether it has come down to our time from mouth to mouth through twenty-five centuries or more, or whether, having died out of the popular memory, it was reintroduced through literature, is a question that cannot be decided with certainty; but there will be nothing unlikely in the former supposition to those who bear in mind the tenacity of tradition among people who have never known books.”
Tam Lin opens with a warning that all maidens who go to the woods of Carterhaugh will be met by the titular character and be required to pay him something–most often, their maidenhead. Our heroine known sometimes as Janet and sometimes as Margaret, hearing this, drops what she’s doing (in some cases literally dropping her sewing in her haste) to run to Carterhaugh as fast as she can go. As she pulls a mysterious double rose, Tam Lin appears and asks her to stop. She insists he is not the owner of Carterhaugh and she can do as she pleases, and notably does not offer him any form of material tribute. Therefore, his collected toll is her maidenhead, all according to her apparent plan.[2]
Janet returns to her father’s hall visibly pregnant enough to worry an elderly knight, who’s concerned all the knights will be blamed for her condition. Her father notices her pregnancy, and she admits she’s in love with an elfin knight and that she wouldn’t give him up for any of the gentlemen of her father’s court. Apparently deciding, though, that being a single mother to a half-fae child isn’t an exciting prospect, she runs back to Carterhaugh to pluck double rose to use to abort her pregnancy. Tam Lin confronts her, and asks why she wants to end the pregnancy. She asks if he was ever even human, and Tam Lin relates his tale.
When Tam Lin was young he went hunting with his grandfather and fell from his horse. The Fairy Queen caught him and trapped him forever in Carterhaugh as part of her retinue. It isn’t that bad of a gig, but every seven years on Halloween the Fairy Queen pays a tithe to hell, and Tam Lin worries that he’s the next payment. He explains a plan to Janet to free him from the fairies, which will consist of stealing him from a procession of riders on horseback and holding him while he is changed into a variety of fearsome creatures. He’ll then be turned into a red hot iron in hopes of forcing her to drop him, then a red hot coal, at which point she needs to throw him into a well and he will emerge human once more. At this point, he will be able to join Janet and be a father to the child.
The successful execution of the plan infuriates the Fairy Queen who hates whoever took away the handsomest member of her company and curses the thief. She declares if she knew what would happen she would have taken away his eyes, which can see the fairies when they are invisible, and replace them with wood, taking away his fairy-sight and mundane sight alike.
Tam Lin is about a young noblewoman who decides what she wants and seeks it out herself at every opportunity and does not allow anybody to decide her fate for her. It is a fascinating tale that has been adapted again and again through the centuries across genres and mediums. The most well known modern adaptation of Tam Lin, though adaptation is a strong word for a loosely-inspired work, is A Court of Thorns and Roses.
This selection of verses has been largely pulled from Child Ballad 39A, as one of the more narratively complete versions, with additions from 39I and some adjustments from the period language to better scan to an audience speaking modern English. As a performer, I believe the period thing to do is perform in a way my audience can understand the story and therefore value the comprehension more than the archaic language. These ballads were long performances, frequently series of performances, for the entertainment of groups of people in a world before the radio drama. Where these adjustments and additions are made, they are noted with footnotes.
I have not yet found notation indicating a period or near-period tune for this piece. However, the tune commonly associated (and performed here) with this piece seems to fairly match “the vibe” of the extant ballad tunes we do have. The reconstruction of period melodies is not my primary area of interest or study, but modern listeners should note differences between the songs with which we are familiar today and this piece. For instance, there is no verse/chorus verse/chorus bridge chorus structure as we are used to. Every verse is a verse and has approximately the same tune. The song does not always explicitly indicate who is speaking. The song frequently makes use of parallel structure and repetition (see verses 29-32). Unlike many modern songs, this does not seem to be written to showcase a wide vocal range or particular talent, but to simply provide a tune to aid the memory of the storyteller, the storytelling itself, and potentially a sick beat to dance to.
As is the case in many (but not all) of the Child Ballads, the subject matter is sensitive but is skirted with a “fade to black” which is not present in all versions but has been maintained for the listener’s discretion.
Tam Lin – Child Ballad 39
As Communicated by Áshildr Inn Hárfagri
O I forbid you, maidens a',
That wear gowd on your hair,
To come or gae by Carterhaugh,
For young Tam Lin is there.
There's nane that gaes by Carterhaugh
But they leave him a pledge,[3]
Either their rings, or mantles green,[4]
Or else their maidenhead.
Janet tied her kirtle green,
A little aboon her knee,
And she has gaen for Carterhaugh,[5]
As fast as she can hie,[6,7]
She had na pu'd a double rose,
A rose but only twa,
Till upon then started young Tam Lin,
Says, Lady, thou's pu nae mae.
Why pu's thou the rose, Janet,
And why breaks thou the wand?
Or why comes thou to Carterhaugh
Withoutten my command?
"Carterhaugh, it is my own,
My daddy gave it me,
I'll come and gang by Carterhaugh,
And ask nae leave at thee."
He’s aen her by the milk-white hand,
Among the leaves sae green,
And what they did I cannot tell,
The green leaves were between
He’s taen her by the milk white hand,
Among the roses red,
And what they did I cannot say,
She neer returnd a maid,[8,9]
Four and twenty ladies fair
Were playing at the ba,
And out then came the fair Janet,
The flower among them a'.
Four and twenty ladies fair
Were playing at the chess,
And out then came the fair Janet,
As green as onie glass.
Out then spake an auld grey knight,
Lay oer the castle wa,
And says, Alas, fair Janet, for thee,
But we'll be blaméd a'.[10]
"Haud your tongue, ye auld fac'd knight,
Some ill death may ye die!
Father my bairn on whom I will,
I'll father none on thee."
Out then spak her father dear,
And he spak meek and mild,
"And ever alas, sweet Janet," he says,
"I think thou gaest wi child."
Oh father if I go with child,[11]
Mysel maun bear the blame,
There's neer a laird about your ha,
Shall give the babe his name[12]
"If my love were an earthly knight,
As he's an elfin grey,
I wad na gie my ain true-love
For nae lord that ye hae.[13]
Janet tied her kirtle green,
A little aboon her knee,
And she has gaen for Carterhaugh,[14]
As fast as she can hie,[15,16]
She had na pu'd a double rose,
A rose but only twa,
Till up then started young Tam Lin,
Says, Lady, thou pu's nae mae.
"Why pu's thou the rose, Janet,
Amang the groves sae green,
And a' to kill the bonny babe
That we gat us between?"
"O tell me, tell me, Tam Lin," she says,
"For's sake that died on tree,
If eer ye was in holy chapel,
Or christendom did see?"
"Roxbrugh he was my grandfather,
Took me with him to bide
And ance it fell upon a day
That wae did me betide.
"And ance it fell upon a day
A cauld day and a snell,
When we were frae the hunting come,
That frae my horse I fell,
The Queen o' Fairies she caught me,
In yon green hill do dwell.
"And pleasant is the fairy land,
But, an eerie tale to tell,
Ay at the end of seven years,
We pay a tiend to hell,
I am sae fair and fu o flesh,
I'm feard it be mysel.
"But the night is Halloween, lady,
The morn is Hallowday,
Then win me, win me, an ye will,
For weel I wat ye may.
"Just at the mirk and midnight hour
The fairy folk will ride,
And they that wad their true-love win,
At Miles Cross they maun bide."
"But how shall I thee ken, Tam Lin,
Or how my true-love know,
Amang sa mony unco knights,
The like I never saw?"
"O first let pass the black, lady,
And syne let pass the brown,
But quickly run to the milk-white steed,
Pu ye his rider down.
"For I'll ride on the milk-white steed,
And ay nearest the town,
Because I was an earthly knight
They gie me that renown.
"My right hand will be gloved, lady,
My left hand will be bare
And thae's the takens I gie thee,
Nae doubt I will be there.[17]
"They'll turn me in your arms, lady,
Into an esk and adder,
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
I am your bairn's father.
"They'll turn me to a bear sae grim,
And then a lion bold,
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
And ye shall love your child.
"Again they'll turn me in your arms
To a red het gand of airn,
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
I'll do to you nae harm.
"And last they'll turn me in your arms
Into the burning gleed,[18]
Then throw me into well water,
O throw me in with speed.
"And then I'll be your ain true-love,
I'll turn a naked knight,
Then cover me wi your green mantle,
And hide me out o sight."
Gloomy, gloomy was the night,
And eerie was the way,
As fair Jenny in her green mantle
To Miles Cross she did gae.
At the mirk and midnight hour
She heard the bridles sing,
She was as glad at that
As any earthly thing.
First she let the black pass by,
And syne she let the brown,
But quickly she ran to the milk-white steed,
And pu'd the rider down.
Sae weel she minded what he did say,
And young Tam Lin did win,
Syne covered him wi her green mantle,
As blythe's a bird in spring
Out then spak the Queen o Fairies,
Out of a bush o broom,
"Them that has gotten young Tam Lin
Has gotten a stately-groom."
Out then spak the Queen o Fairies,
And an angry woman was she,
"Shame betide her ill-far'd face,
And an ill death may she die,
For she's taen awa the bonniest knight
In a' my companie.
"But had I kend, Tam Lin," said she,
"What now this night I see,
I wad hae taen out thy twa grey een,
And put in twa een o tree."[19]
[1] All quotes from The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Vol I by Francis James Child
[2] We stan a girls’ girl who knows what she wants. Happy Hot Girl Summer.
[3] 39A.2 - originally “but they leave him a wad,” changed for modern rhyme schemes
[4] 39A.2 - originally “either their rings, or green mantles” changed for modern rhyme schemes
[5] Chorus line drawn form 39B.3
[6] 39A.3 - originally a 6 line chorus changed for modern rhyme scheme and understandability. “Janet has kilted her green kirtle / A little aboon her knee, / And she has broded her yellow hair / A little aboon her bree, / And she's awa to Carterhaugh / As fast as she can hie.”
[7] 39A.4 - verse skipped for time
[8] 39I.10 and 39I.11 better provide context on why Janet went to Carterhaugh
[9] 39A.8 - verse skipped for time
[10] Accent added to “blamed” to better scan in modern prosody
[11] 39A.14 originally "If that I gae wi child, father,” to better scan in modern prosody
[12] 39A.14 originally “Shall get the bairn's name.” changed for modern understandability
[13] 39A.16 - verse skipped for time
[14] Chorus line drawn form 39B.3
[15] Refer to verse 3
[16] 39A.18 - verse skipped for time
[17] 39A.30 exchanged for 39B.28
[18] Gleed” is a word for hot coal
[19] “Mortals whose eyes have been touched with fairies’ salve can see them when they are to others invisible” (Child)
