Tam Lin

Illustration byJohn D. Batten for Tamlane inMore English Fairy Tales.[1]
Author	Anonymous
Translator	Robert Burns
Illustrator	John D. Batten
Cover artist	Pamela Dean
Language	Classical Scottish
Series	1
Genre	Ballad
Publisher	Scots Musical Museum
Publication date	1796
Publication place	Scotland
Published in English	1796
Pages	1

Tam Lin, also known asTamas-Lin,Tamlane,Tamlene,Tamlin,Tambling,Tomlin,Tam-Lien,Tam-a-Line,Tam-Lyn orTam-Lane, is a character in thelegendaryballad originating from theScottish Borders.

The story ofTam Lin revolves around the rescue of Tam Lin by his true love from theQueen of the Fairies. The motif of winning a person (or subduing an enemy) by holding him through all forms oftransformation is found throughout Europe infolktales.^[2][3]

The story has been adapted into numerous stories, songs, and films. It is also associated with areel of the same name, which is also known as theGlasgow Reel.

Tam Lin is listed as the39thChild Ballad andnumber 35 in theRoud Folk Song Index.

Most variants begin with the warning that Tam Lin collects either a possession or thevirginity of any maiden who passes through the forest ofCarterhaugh. When a young woman, usually called Janet or Margaret, goes to Carterhaugh and plucks a double rose, Tam appears and asks her why she has come without his leave and taken what is his. She states that she owns Carterhaugh because her father has given it to her.^[5]

In most variants, Janet then goes home and discovers that she is pregnant; some variants pick up the story at this point. When asked about her condition, she declares that her baby's father is anelf whom she will not forsake. In some versions, she is informed of a herb that will induce abortion; in all the variants, when she returns to Carterhaugh and picks a plant, either the same roses as on her earlier visit or the herb, Tam reappears and challenges her action.^[2]

She asks him whether he was ever human, either after that reappearance or, in some versions, immediately after their first meeting resulted in her pregnancy. Tam Lin reveals that, though he was once a mortal man, he was imprisoned in Carterhaugh by the Queen of Faeries after she kidnapped him by catching him when he fell from his horse.^[6] He goes on to tell Janet that the fairies give one of their people as ateind (tithe) toHell at midnight on every seventhHallowe'en. He asks Janet for her help in freeing him, and receives her agreement; he then instructs her to come to the forest at the time of the tithe, during which he'll be in the company of numerous faerie knights -- he tells her that she'll recognize him by his white horse. Janet must pull him down from his horse, thus making her the one to "catch" him this time, and hold him tightly: he warns her that the fairies will attempt to make her drop him byturning him into all manner of beasts (seeProteus), but states that none of these forms will actually cause her harm. Tam Lin will eventually take the shape of burning coal; when this occurs, Janet is to throw him into a well, whereupon he will reappear as a naked mortal man whom Janet must hide. She does as she is asked and wins her knight; though her success angers the Queen of Faeries, the latter accepts her defeat.^[2][5]

In different variations, Tam Lin is reportedly the grandson of the Laird ofRoxburgh, the Laird ofFoulis, theEarl ofForbes, or theEarl of Murray. His name also varies between versions (Tam Lin being the most common) as Tom Line, Tomlin, Young Tambling, Tam-a-line and Tamlane.^[7][1]

The ballad dates to at least as early as 1549 (the publication date ofThe Complaynt of Scotland that mentions "The Tayl of theȜong Tamlene" ('The Tale of the Young Tamelene') among a long list of medieval romances).^[2][8]Michael Drayton's narrative poemNimphidia (1627) includes a character called Tomalin who is a vassal and kinsman ofOberon, King of the Fairies.Robert Burns wrote a version of Tam Lin based on older versions of the ballad, which was printed inJames Johnson'sScots Musical Museum (1796).^[9]

The story featured in several nineteenth century books of fairy tales under different titles :

• "Elphin Irving, the Fairies' Cupbearer" inTraditional Tales of the English and Scottish Peasantry byAllan Cunningham (1822)^{[note 1]}
• "Wild Robin" inLittle Prudy's Fairy Book bySophie May (1866).^{[note 2]}
• "Tamlane" inMore English Fairy Tales byJoseph Jacobs (1893).

Francis James Child collected fourteen traditional variants inThe English and Scottish Popular Ballads in the nineteenth century.^[2] (Another Child ballad,Burd Ellen and Young Tamlane, has no connection with this ballad except for the similarity of the heroes' names.)

Child took the threat to take out Tam Lin's eyes as a commonfolklore precaution against mortals who could see fairies, in the tales offairy ointment.Joseph Jacobs interpreted it as rather a reversal of the usual practice; the Queen of Faeries would have kept him from seeing the human woman who rescued him.^[1]

In some variants, "Hind Etin" has verses identical to this for the first meeting between the hero and the heroine.^[2]: 340

The ballad has been recorded several times from Scottish and Northern Irish people who learned it in the oral tradition.Eddie Butcher ofMagilligan,County Londonderry knew a fragment of the ballad which can be heard via theIrish Traditional Music Archive,^[10] andPaddy Tunney ofMollybreen,County Fermanagh sang a version toHugh Shields in 1968.^[11] In Scotland,Duncan Williamson ofAuchtermuchty,Fifeshire,^[12] William Whyte ofAberdeen^[13] and Betsy Johnston ofGlasgow^[14] all had traditional versions recorded, the latter two byHamish Henderson.

Following are some of the notable recordings of the ballad, including their artists, titles, albums, and years:

Benjamin Zephaniah was awarded Best Original Song in the Hancocks 2008, Talkawhile Awards for Folk Music (as voted by members of Talkawhile.co.uk^[16]) forTam Lyn Retold. He collected the award atThe Cambridge Folk Festival on 2 August 2008.^[17]

Following are some of the notable instrumental recordings, including their artists, titles, albums, and years:

• John Myers Myers tells a variant inSilverlock (1949)
• The Armourer's House, byRosemary Sutcliff (1951) -- includes a telling of the Tam Lin tale, which parallels the novel's theme of a girl struggling to obtain her dreams.
• Scottish Folk-Tales and Legends, byBarbara Ker Wilson (1954)
• Thursday, byCatherine Storr (1971)
• Red Shift, byAlan Garner (1973)
• The Queen of Spells, byDahlov Ipcar (1973)
• The Perilous Gard, byElizabeth Marie Pope (1974)
• Fire and Hemlock, byDiana Wynne Jones (1985)
• Tam Lin by Joan D. Vinge, inImaginary Lands edited byRobin McKinley (1986)
• Nattens demon (translated from Norwegian asDemon of the Night), byMargit Sandemo (1987)
• Tam Lin: An Old Ballad, byJane Yolen, illustrated by Charles Mikolaycak (1990)
• Hold Me Fast, Don't Let Me Pass, byAlice Munro, inFriend of My Youth (1990)
• Tam Lin bySusan Cooper, illustrated byWarwick Hutton (1991)
• Tam Lin, byPamela Dean (1991)
• Tam Lin, in the graphic novel seriesBallads and Sagas edited byCharles Vess (1995)
• Winter Rose, byPatricia McKillip (1996)
• Never Let Go, byGeraldine McCaughrean, illustrated by Jason Cockcroft (1999)
• Burd Janet, byJane Yolen, inNot One Damsel in Distress (2000)
• Tam Lin (a version inScots), by Ian MacFadyen, inThe Eildon Tree, Special Double Issue 4-5: Winter 2001, edited by Tom Bryan
• "Cotillion", byDelia Sherman, inFirebirds, edited bySharyn November (2003)
• The Dogs of Babel (UK edition:Lorelei's Secret), byCarolyn Parkhurst (2003)
• Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale byHolly Black (2004)
• "He Said, Sidhe Said" byTanya Huff, inFaerie Tales ed. Russell Davis and Martin H. Greenberg (2004)
• An Earthly Knight, byJanet McNaughton (2005)
• Blood and Iron, byElizabeth Bear (2006)
• Summer's Lease, by Eluki bes Shahar (Rosemary Edghill)^{[citation needed]}
• "The Lady and the Fox," byKelly Link, inMy True Love Gave to Me, ed. Stephanie Perkins (2014)
• A Court of Thorns and Roses, bySarah J. Maas (2015)
• Roses and Rot, byKat Howard (2016)

• The Thyme of the Season byDuncan Pflaster (incorporates elements and allusions to the story)
• Tamlane by Edwin Stiven^[18]

• Tam-Lin (1970 movie) directed byRoddy McDowall, and starringAva Gardner.
• An Old Ballad (1988 animated film) directed byValentyna Kostyleva,Kyїvnaukfilm.^[19]

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• InCarolyn Parkhurst's novelThe Dogs of Babel (also known asLorelei's Secret in the UK), a section of Tam Lin plays a pivotal role in the story. In it the narrator, Paul Iverson, discovers that his recently deceased wife left an encrypted message to him in their bookshelf, quoting Tam Lin.
• The multi-faceted novelRed Shift byAlan Garner can be read as a subtle reworking of the ballad.
• In the fantasy novelThe Battle of Evernight byCecilia Dart-Thornton, the story of Tam Lin is told as the story of Tamlain Conmor.
• Tamlin appears in the fantasy novelRumors of Spring byRichard Grant.
• InJim Butcher's novelCold Days Tam Lin is referenced as a former Knight of the Winter Court
• A Court of Thorns and Roses bySarah J. Maas (2015) has a fairy character named Tamlin whom the protagonist saves from an evil fairy queen, though the novel's plot resemblesBeauty and the Beast.

• Tam-Lin, acloset drama written byElaine Lee and illustrated byCharles Vess, appears inThe Book of Ballads and Sagas, Vess's collection of adaptations of traditional songs, mostly into comics form.^[20]
• In theVertigo comic book,Fables, Tam Lin died in the defence of the last stronghold of the Fables against the forces of the Adversary. He is claimed to be the knight loved by the queen of the faeries, who had a reputation of a scoundrel, but gave up his chance of freedom to his page.
• In the Vertigo comic book series,The Sandman byNeil Gaiman, the notion that Faerie pays a sacrificial tithe to Hell is mentioned in the storyline "Season of Mists".
• In the Vertigo comic book seriesThe Books of Magic,The Names of Magic, andThe Books of Faerie, Tamlin is the father of the protagonist Timothy Hunter, potentially the greatest sorcerer in the world. InThe Books of Faerie: The Widow's Tale, the story of Tamlin's romance with Queen Titania of Faerie is revealed.^[21]

• In the mobile gameFate/Grand Order, Tam Lin are used to refer to Fairy Knights in the English Translation of the game.
• In theShin Megami Tensei series of video games, Tam Lin is a recurring demon that can often be recruited relatively early and is one of the very few demons whose design share an exact model with another demon – its brother model being another northern European mythological hero,Cu Chulainn.
• This ballad was one of 25 traditional works included inBallads Weird and Wonderful (1912) and illustrated byVernon Hill.
• The Rose,^[22]The Knight,^[23] andThe Faery Host^[24] are paintings byStephanie Pui-Mun Law depicting various parts of the Tam Lin legend.
• TheChoose Your Own Adventure bookEnchanted Kingdom has an ending in which the reader/player's character is rescued from the fairies by a girl whom the character has befriended, who has to hold onto the character through three transformations.
• InSeanan McGuire's October Daye series, the poem is both spoken and referenced over the course of the series, and Janet is a character in some of the later books. The events of the poem occurred in universe.
• Alastair White's fashion-operaWOAD adapts the ballad to explore the implications of multiverse theory.^[25]
• An animated adaptation was originally meant to be one ofSony Pictures Animation's starter line-up of films in the works, but for unknown reasons, the film never saw the light of day.

• Barbara Allen
• Gil Brenton
• List of the Child Ballads
• The Sprig of Rosemary
• Thomas the Rhymer

• "Variant by Burns circa 1792". Archived fromthe original on 22 January 2007.
• "A website devoted to Tam Lin".Archived from the original on 9 February 2020.

• Works related toTam Lin at Wikisource

• 1549 in Europe
• 16th century in Scotland
• Border ballads
• Child Ballads
• Fairies
• Fiction about sexuality
• Halloween fiction
• Legendary Scottish people
• Medieval Scottish literature
• Middle Scots poems
• Narrative poems
• Scottish ballads
• Scottish folklore
• Shapeshifting
• Traditional Celtic fiddle tunes
• Yarrow Valley

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