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18-466: The story has been adapted into numerous stories, songs and films. It is listed as the 39th Child Ballad and number 35 in the Roud Folk Song Index . Most variants begin with the warning that Tam Lin collects either a possession or the virginity of any maiden who passes through the forest of Carterhaugh . When a young woman, usually called Janet or Margaret, goes to Carterhaugh and plucks

36-608: A character called Tomalin who is a vassal and kinsman of Oberon , King of the Fairies. Robert Burns wrote a version of Tam Lin based on older versions of the ballad, which was printed in James Johnson 's Scots Musical Museum (1796). The story featured in several nineteenth century books of fairy tales under different titles: Francis James Child collected fourteen traditional variants in The English and Scottish Popular Ballads in

54-508: A doe and feast. Monmouth , who heads the English forces, welcomes the Scots but demands they put down their weapons. When they refuse, Monmouth's army attacks, routing the Scots. Hind Etin "Hind Etin" ( Roud 33 , Child 41) is a folk ballad existing in several variants. Lady Margaret goes to the woods, and her breaking a branch is questioned by Hind Etin, who takes her with him into

72-428: 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. 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 an elf whom she will not forsake. In some versions, she

90-462: A version to Hugh Shields in 1968. In Scotland, Duncan Williamson of Auchtermuchty , Fifeshire , William Whyte of Aberdeen and Betsy Johnston of Glasgow all had traditional versions recorded, the latter two by Hamish 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

108-412: 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. 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

126-544: The Earl 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. The ballad dates to at least as early as 1549 (the publication date of The Complaynt of Scotland that mentions "The Tayl of the Ȝong Tamlene" ('The Tale of the Young Tamelene') among a long list of medieval romances). Michael Drayton 's narrative poem Nimphidia (1627) includes

144-507: The 19th century by Francis James Child and originally published in ten volumes between 1882 and 1898 under the title The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Following are synopses of the stories recounted in the ballads in Child's collection. Since Child included multiple versions of most ballads, the details of a story can vary widely. The synopses presented here reflect the summaries in Child's text, but also rely on other sources as well as

162-566: The Hancocks 2008, Talkawhile Awards for Folk Music (as voted by members of Talkawhile.co.uk) for Tam Lyn Retold . He collected the award at The Cambridge Folk Festival on 2 August 2008. Following are some of the notable instrumental recordings, including their artists, titles, albums, and years: List of the Child Ballads The Child Ballads is the colloquial name given to a collection of 305 ballads collected in

180-590: The Scottish version is, in Scandinavian and German versions, an elf-king , a hill-king, a dwarf-king , or even a merman . Only in the Danish is the ballad found before the nineteenth century; a sixteenth-century Danish form, "Jomfruen og Dværgekongen" ( DgF 37, TSB A 54). In some versions, she is lured or forced back to her husband; this may end tragically, with her death from sorrow. The German variant, "Agnes and

198-404: The ballads themselves. A knight takes a maid's virginity, and she appeals to the king. The knight tries to bribe her, but she insists on marriage. After they wed, it is revealed that she is of nobility. A forester stops Robin from killing a deer, and the two fight, first with swords and then with staffs. Robin is beaten and summons his men. The forester joins them, and in celebration they shoot

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216-477: The children are christened, and their mother, churched. The meeting in the woods is often similar, when not identical, to Tam Lin 's meeting with Fair Janet. In some variants, the mother's grief expresses itself as hostility to the children, wishing they were rats and she a cat, as in " Fair Annie "; her comments inspire a child's suggestion that they try to leave, which is accomplished easily, with no reason why they could not have fled before. The etin of

234-403: The forest. She bears him seven sons, but laments that they are never christened , nor she herself churched . One day, her oldest son goes hunting with Hind Etin and asks him why his mother always weeps. Hind Etin tells him, and then one day goes hunting without him. The oldest son takes his mother and brothers and brings them out of the woods. In some variants, they are welcomed back; in all,

252-553: The human woman who rescued him. In some variants, " Hind Etin " has verses identical to this for the first meeting between the hero and the heroine. The ballad has been recorded several times from Scottish and Northern Irish people who learned it in the oral tradition. Eddie Butcher of Magilligan , County Londonderry knew a fragment of the ballad which can be heard via the Irish Traditional Music Archive , and Paddy Tunney of Mollybreen , County Fermanagh sang

270-498: The nineteenth century. (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 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 Faeries would have kept him from seeing

288-463: 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. In different variations, Tam Lin is reportedly the grandson of the Laird of Roxburgh , the Laird of Foulis , the Earl of Forbes , or

306-480: 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 by turning him into all manner of beasts (see Proteus ), but states that none of these forms will actually cause her harm. Tam Lin will eventually take

324-464: 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. He goes on to tell Janet that the fairies give one of their people as a teind ( tithe ) to Hell at midnight on every seventh Hallowe'en . He asks Janet for her help in freeing him, and receives her agreement; he then instructs her to come to the forest at

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