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Tam Lin is the hero of a Scottish Borders' legend about fairies and mortal men (one of several "Thomases" in myth, such as True Thomas also known as Thomas the Rhymer). There are many versions of the Tam Lin story, but that summary of Child Ballad 39A (from The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child) is considered to be the earliest. Modern renditions of the ballad have been recorded by the folklore oriented rock band Steeleye Span, the folk rock group Fairport Convention, the British experimental/folk group Current 93, and the mediaeval-oriented group The Mediaeval Baebes. Tam Lin is also the name of a New York City-based singer-songwriter whose name is taken from this ballad. Joseph Jacobs included a variant, Tamlane, in More English Fairy Tales. Another Child ballad, Burd Ellen and Young Tamlane, on the other hand, has no connection with this ballad except for the similarity of the heroes' names. Tam Lin is also the name of a reel.
Synopsis Most variants begin with the warning that Tam Lin collected either a possession, or the virginity of any maidens who passed through the forest of Carterhaugh. A young maiden, usually called Janet, came to Carterhaugh and plucked two roses, whereupon Tam appeared and asked why she was in Carterhaugh without his command and had taken what was his. She stated that she owned Carterhaugh, as her father had given it to her. In most variants, she then went home, and discovered she was pregnant; some variants pick up the story at this point. When an old knight taxed her with it, she announced that she would not declare him her baby's father, that her lover was an elf and that she loved him. She returned to Carterhaugh; in some variants, her brother had told her that a herb growing there would induce an abortion. In all, she picked something, whether the herb or the same roses as when they first meet. Tam reappeared, enraged and forbidding her to harm the child. She asked him whether he was ever human, either after that reappearance, or immediately after their first meeting and his seduction in some variants. He revealed that he was a mortal man, who, after falling from his horse, was rescued and captured by the Queen of the Fairies. Every seven years the fairies paid a tithe to Hell of one of their people, and Tam was fated to become that tithe on that night (Hallowe'en). He was to ride as part of a company of knights, and Janet would recognise him by the white horse upon which he was riding. He warned her that, when she caught him, the fairies would attempt to make her drop him by turning him into all manner of beasts (see Proteus), but that he would do her no harm, and when he was finally turned into a burning coal she was to throw him into a well, whereupon he would reappear as a naked man and she should hide him. Janet did as she was asked, of course, and won her knight. The Queen of the Fairies was not best pleased, but acknowledged her claim. See also Prose Theatre Musical Other | ||||||||
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