Tam Lin (Child 39)

[orange-fell.livejournal.com]

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 wad,
Either their rings, or green mantles,
Or else their maidenhead.

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.

When she came to Carterhaugh
Tam Lin was at the well,
And there she fand his steed standing,
But away was himsel.

She had na pu’d a double rose,
A rose but only twa,
Till up 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 ain,
My daddie gave it me;
I’ll come and gang by Carterhaugh,
And ask nae leave at thee.’

Janet has kilted her green kirtle
A little aboon her knee,
And she has snooded her yellow hair
A little aboon her bree,
And she is to her father’s ha,
As fast as she can hie.

Four and twenty ladies fair
Were playing at the ba,
And out then cam the fair Janet,
Ance the flower amang them a’.

Four and twenty ladies fair
Were playing at the chess,
And out then cam the fair Janet,
As green as onie glass.

Out then spak an auld grey knight,
Lay oer the castle wa,
And says, Alas, fair Janet, for thee
But we’ll be blamed a’.

‘Haud your tongue, ye auld fac’d knight,
Some ill death may ye die!
Father my bairn on whom I will,
I’ll father nane on thee.’

Out then spak her father dear,
And he spak meek and mild;
‘And ever alas, sweet Janet,’ he says,
‘I think thou gaes wi child.’

‘If that I gae wi child, father,
Mysel maun bear the blame;
There’s neer a laird about your ha
Shall get the bairn’s name.

‘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.

‘The steed that my true-love rides on
Is lighter than the wind;
Wi siller he is shod before,
Wi burning gowd behind.’

Janet has kilted her green kirtle
A little aboon her knee,
And she has snooded her yellow hair
A little aboon her bree,
And she’s awa to Carterhaugh,
As fast as she can hie.

When she cam to Carterhaugh,
Tam Lin was at the well,
And there she fand his steed standing,
But away was himsel.

She has 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 bonie 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 chirstendom 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 to 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 sae 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 glovd, lady,
My left hand will be bare,
Cockt up shall my bonnet be,
And kaimd down shall my hair,
And thae’s the takens I gie thee,
Nae doubt I will be there.

‘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,
As ye shall love your child.

‘Again they’ll turn me in your arms
To a red het gaud 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;
Then throw me into well water,
O throw me in wi speed.

‘And then I’ll be your ain true-love,
I’ll turn a naked knight;
Then cover me wi your green mantle,
And cover 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.

About the middle o the night
She heard the bridles ring;
This lady 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 whae he did say,
And young Tam Lin did win;
Syne coverd 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 boniest knight
In a’ my companie.

‘But had I kend, Tam Lin,’ she says,
‘What now this night I see,
I wad hae taen out thy twa grey een,
And put in twa een o tree.’

Tan Lin is a medieval ballad from the Scottish border regions. The story begins with a warning to young maidens not to go to forest of Carterhaugh, because it is haunted by Tam Lin, who may either take some of their possessions or their virginity. Janet, on the other hand, seeks out the forest on her own. She plucks a double rose and Tam Lin appears, asking what she is doing there without his permission. Janet retorts that Carterhaugh is hers, given to her by her father, and she will come and go as she pleases. They have a sexual encounter. Some time after her return home, Janet's father notices she is pregnant. She tells him that if she is, she must bear the blame, for the father is an elf and not an earthly knight.

Janet returns to Carterhaugh, and Tam Lin appears again. (In some variants, she tries to pick from a "poison tree," apparently to abort the pregnancy. Tam Lin stops her.) She asks him if he was ever a Christian, and he tells her he was once an earthly knight and a lord's grandson. The Queen of Fairies caught him when he fell off his horse, and has enchanted him for the past seven years. At the end of the seven years, on Halloween (that very night) the Fairy Folk pay a tithe to Hell, the way medieval Christians tithed part of their income to the Church. Because Tam Lin is handsome and physically perfect, he will pay the teind ("I am sae fair and fu o flesh, I’m feard it be mysel"--i.e., a human sacrifice).

He then explains to Janet the way to save him--she must hide at a crossroads, and when the procession of fairies rides up at midnight, she must pull down the rider on the white horse and hold onto him. It will be Tam Lin, and the fairies will change his shape in her arms--in this version, into a snake, a bear, a lion, a red-hot iron, and a burning ember--but if she just holds fast and does not let go, he will turn back into a human man. Janet does as he says and rescues Tam Lin, covering his naked body up with her cloak. The Fairy Queen speaks up, robbed of her sacrifice, and says that if she had only known what was going to happen that night, she would have plucked out Tam Lin's eyes and hung them on a tree.

My two favorite recordings of Tam Lin are Fairport Convention's (1969) and Anaïs Mitchell's (2013).

Comments

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Always a favorite!

[med_cat]

Not read this ballad before; thanks!