Information AboutTam Lin |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT TAM LIN | |
| legends | |
| ballads | |
| child ballads | |
| fairies | |
| narrative poems | |
| scottish borders | |
| scottish literature | |
| scottish folklore | |
| scottish poems | |
| sexuality | |
| shapeshifting | |
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''Tam'' is the Scots Pet-form of Thomas ; one of several "Thomases" in Myth , such as True Thomas also known as Thomas The Rhymer . 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 or Margaret, 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 in some variants, immediately after their first meeting resulted in her seduction. 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 ( Teind ) of one of their people, and Tam feared he would 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, and won her knight. The Queen of the Fairies was not best pleased, but acknowledged her claim. VERSIONS There have been several interpretations of the Tam Lin story:
MOTIFS Child took the threat to take out Tam Lin's eyes as a common Folklore precaution against mortals who could see fairies, in the tales of Fairy Ointment . Joseph Jacobs interpreted it as rather a reversal of the usual practice; the Queen of Faerie would have kept him from seeing the human woman who rescued him. Joseph Jacobs , ed. ''More English Fairy Tales''. "Tamlane" Jacobs' Notes and References New York: G. P Putnam's Sons, 1894. In some variants, " Hind Etin " has verses identical to this for the first meeting between the hero and heroine.Francis James Child, ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', v 1, p 340, Dover Publications, New York 1965 Modern retellings Prose
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Tam Lin is also the name of an Irish Reel . Film
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REFERENCES SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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