Post by wren on Nov 10, 2006 12:42:45 GMT -5
There are many versions of Tam Lin. The ballad is known to have existed in the Scottish border lands for hundreds of years. More recently it has spread in modern folks circles and anywhere else that people enjoy a good ballad.
Summary of Tam Lin : The woods of Carterhaugh are guarded by Tam Lin, a man who demands payment of all maidens who pass through, in the form of a belonging or their virginity. A maiden named Janet travels to Carterhaugh and picks a rose, causing Tam Lin to appear. He questions her presence, to which she relies that Carterhaugh is rightfully hers. She then travels to her fathers house where she exhibits the early signs of pregnancy, much to the concern of the household. She states that her lover is elven, and then returns to Carterhaugh, once again encountering Tam Lin. He reveals he is not elven, but a mortal captured by the queen of Faeries, and that he may be sacrificied to hell as part of the faerie tithe. He then details how she can save him to be her mate, if she will undergo a trial on Halloween night. She must pull him from his horse as the faeries process through the woods, and hold onto him as he is transformed into various beasts, then plunge him into a well when he turns into a brand of fire. When he regains his own naked shape she must cover him with her green mantle and he will be free. She does all of this, much to the anger of the watching Queen of faeries.
My favorite version has always been the song by 'Fairport Convention'...
Summary of Tam Lin : The woods of Carterhaugh are guarded by Tam Lin, a man who demands payment of all maidens who pass through, in the form of a belonging or their virginity. A maiden named Janet travels to Carterhaugh and picks a rose, causing Tam Lin to appear. He questions her presence, to which she relies that Carterhaugh is rightfully hers. She then travels to her fathers house where she exhibits the early signs of pregnancy, much to the concern of the household. She states that her lover is elven, and then returns to Carterhaugh, once again encountering Tam Lin. He reveals he is not elven, but a mortal captured by the queen of Faeries, and that he may be sacrificied to hell as part of the faerie tithe. He then details how she can save him to be her mate, if she will undergo a trial on Halloween night. She must pull him from his horse as the faeries process through the woods, and hold onto him as he is transformed into various beasts, then plunge him into a well when he turns into a brand of fire. When he regains his own naked shape she must cover him with her green mantle and he will be free. She does all of this, much to the anger of the watching Queen of faeries.
My favorite version has always been the song by 'Fairport Convention'...
I forbid you maidens all
that wear gold in your hair
To travel to Carterhaugh
for young Tam Lin is there
None that go by Carterhaugh
but they leave him a pledge
Either their mantles of green
or else their maidenheads.
Janet tied her kirtle green
a bit above her knee
And she's gone to Carterhaugh
as fast as go can she.
She'd not pulled a double rose,
a rose but only two
When up then came young Tam Lin
says "Lady pull no more"
"And why come you to Carterhaugh
without command from me?"
"I'll come and go" young Janet said
"And ask no leave of thee".
Janet tied her kirtle green
a bit above her knee
And she's gone to her father
as fast as go can she.
Well up then spoke her father clear
and he spoke meek and mild
"Oh and alas Janet" he said
"I think you go with child."
"Well if that be so" Janet said
"Myself shall bear the blame
There's not a knight in all your hall
shall get the baby's name.
For if my love were an earthly knight
as he is an elfin grey
I'd not change my own true love
for any knight you have."
So Janet tied her kirtle green
a bit above her knee
And she's gone to Carterhaugh
as fast as go can she.
"Oh tell to me Tam Lin" she said
"Why came you here to dwell?"
"The Queen of Fairies caught me
when from my horse I fell
And at the end of seven years
she pays a tithe to hell
I so fair and full of flesh
and fear'ed be myself
But tonight is Halloween
and the fairy folk ride,
Those that would their true love win
at mile's cross they must hide.
First let pass the horses black
and then let pass the brown
Quickly run to the white steed
and pull the rider down,
For I'll ride on the white steed,
the nearest to the town
For I was an earthly knight,
they give me that renown.
Oh they will turn me in your arms
to a newt or a snake
But hold me tight and fear not,
I am your baby's father.
And they will turn me in your arms
into a lion bold
But hold me tight and fear not
and you will love your child,
And they will turn me in your arms
into a naked knight
But cloak me in your mantle
and keep me out of sight".
In the middle of the night
she heard the bridle ring
She heeded what he did say
and young Tam Lin did win.
Then up spoke the Fairy Queen,
an angry Queen was she
"Woe betide her ill-farred face,
an ill death may she die
Had I known Tam Lin" she said
"This night I did see
I'd have looked him in the eyes
and turned him to a tree."
[/center]that wear gold in your hair
To travel to Carterhaugh
for young Tam Lin is there
None that go by Carterhaugh
but they leave him a pledge
Either their mantles of green
or else their maidenheads.
Janet tied her kirtle green
a bit above her knee
And she's gone to Carterhaugh
as fast as go can she.
She'd not pulled a double rose,
a rose but only two
When up then came young Tam Lin
says "Lady pull no more"
"And why come you to Carterhaugh
without command from me?"
"I'll come and go" young Janet said
"And ask no leave of thee".
Janet tied her kirtle green
a bit above her knee
And she's gone to her father
as fast as go can she.
Well up then spoke her father clear
and he spoke meek and mild
"Oh and alas Janet" he said
"I think you go with child."
"Well if that be so" Janet said
"Myself shall bear the blame
There's not a knight in all your hall
shall get the baby's name.
For if my love were an earthly knight
as he is an elfin grey
I'd not change my own true love
for any knight you have."
So Janet tied her kirtle green
a bit above her knee
And she's gone to Carterhaugh
as fast as go can she.
"Oh tell to me Tam Lin" she said
"Why came you here to dwell?"
"The Queen of Fairies caught me
when from my horse I fell
And at the end of seven years
she pays a tithe to hell
I so fair and full of flesh
and fear'ed be myself
But tonight is Halloween
and the fairy folk ride,
Those that would their true love win
at mile's cross they must hide.
First let pass the horses black
and then let pass the brown
Quickly run to the white steed
and pull the rider down,
For I'll ride on the white steed,
the nearest to the town
For I was an earthly knight,
they give me that renown.
Oh they will turn me in your arms
to a newt or a snake
But hold me tight and fear not,
I am your baby's father.
And they will turn me in your arms
into a lion bold
But hold me tight and fear not
and you will love your child,
And they will turn me in your arms
into a naked knight
But cloak me in your mantle
and keep me out of sight".
In the middle of the night
she heard the bridle ring
She heeded what he did say
and young Tam Lin did win.
Then up spoke the Fairy Queen,
an angry Queen was she
"Woe betide her ill-farred face,
an ill death may she die
Had I known Tam Lin" she said
"This night I did see
I'd have looked him in the eyes
and turned him to a tree."