The Ballad Of TAM LIN

Traditional Scots Ballad with a Wykkyd Twist

Traditional Scots Ballad

I forbid you maidens all

that wear gold in your hair

To travel to Carter Haugh,

for young Tam Lin is there.

Maids may go by Carter Haugh,

but they leave him a pledge

Either their mantels of green

or else their maidenhead.

Janet tied her kirtle green

a bit above her knee

And she’s gone to Carter Haugh

as fast as go can she.

She doth pull the double rose,

a rose but only two

And up then came young Tam Lin,

says lady pull no more.

And why come you to Carter Haugh

without command from me

I can go, young Janet said,

and ask no leave of thee.

Janet tied her kirtle green

a little bit above her knee

And she’s gone to her father

as fast as go can she.

Well then spoke her father dear,

and he spoke meek and mild

Well 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 halls

shall get the baby’s name.

For if my lover were not a knight,

as he is an earthen brae

I’ll not change my own true love

for any knight you have.

Janet tied her kerf of green

a bit above her knee

And she’s gone to Carter Haugh

as fast as go can she.

Oh tell to me Tam Lin she said,

why came you here to dwell

The Queen of Fairy’s 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

am feared it is myself.

But tonight is Halloween

and the fairy is full bride

Those that would their true love win,

hard miles crossed they must fly.

First that pass, the horse is black

and let them past the brown

then run to the white steed

and pull the rider down.

For I ride on the white steed,

the nearest to the town

For I was an earthly knight,

they give me that renown.

They will turn me in your arms

to a newt or a snake

Hold me tight and fear not,

I am your baby’s father.

And they will turn me in your arms

into a lion bold

Hold me tight and fear not

and you will love your child.

And they will turn me in your arms

into a naked knight

Cloak me in your mantel

and keep me out of sight.

And 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

Who betide her ill far place,

an ill that may she die.

Oh had I known Tam Lin, she said,

what this night I did see

I’d have looked him in the eye

and turned him to a tree.

From Thomas The Rhymer

By Sir Walter Scott

True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank;

A ferlie he spied wi’ his ee;

And there he saw a lady bright,

Come riding down by the Eildon Tree.

Her skirt was o the grass-green silk,

Her mantle o the velvet fyne,

At ilka tett of her horse’s mane

Hang fifty siller bells and nine.

True Thomas he pulld aff his cap,

And louted low down to his knee:

“All hail, thou mighty Queen of Heaven!

For thy peer on earth I never did see.”

“O no, O no, Thomas,” she said,

“That name does not belang to me;

I am but the queen of fair Elfland,

That am hither come to visit thee.

“Harp and carp, Thomas,” she said,

“Harp and carp, along wi’ me,

And if ye dare to kiss my lips,

Sure of your bodie I will be!”

“Betide me weal, betide me woe,

That weird sall never daunton me;

Syne he has kissed her rosy lips,

All underneath the Eildon Tree.

“Now, ye maun go wi me,” she said,

“True Thomas, ye maun go wi me,

And ye maun serve me seven years,

Thro weal or woe as may chance to be.”

She mounted on her milk-white steed,

She’s taen True Thomas up behind,

And aye wheneer her bride rung,

The steed flew swifter than the wind.

O they rade on, and farther on -

The steed gaed swifter than the wind -

Until they reached a desart wide,

And living land was left behind.

“Light down, light down, now, True Thomas,

And lean your head upon my knee;

Abide and rest a little space,

And I will shew you ferlies three.

“O see ye not yon narrow road,

So thick beset with thorns and briers?

That is the path of righteousness,

Tho after it but few enquires.

“And see ye not that braid braid road,

That lies across that lily leven?

That is the path of wickedness,

Tho some call it the road to heaven.

“And see not ye that bonny road,

That winds about the fernie brae?

That is the road to fair Elfland,

Where thou and I this night maun gae.

“But, Thomas, ye maun hold your tongue,

Whatever ye may hear or see,

For, if you speak word in Elflyn land,

Ye’ll neer get back to your ain countrie.”

O they rade on, and farther on,

And they waded thro rivers aboon the knee,

And they saw neither sun nor moon,

But they heard the roaring of the sea.

It was mirk mirk night, and there was nae stern light,

And they waded thro red blude to the knee;

For a’ the blude that’s shed an earth

Rins thro the springs o that countrie.

Syne they came on to a garden green,

And she pu’d an apple frae a tree:

“Take this for thy wages, True Thomas,

It will give the tongue that can never lie.”

“My tongue is mine ain,” True Thomas said,

“A goodly gift ye wad gie me!

I neither dought to buy nor sell,

At fair or tryst where I may be.

“I dought neither speak to prince or peer,

Nor ask of grace from fair ladye:”

“Now hold thy peace,” the lady said,

“For as I say, so must it be.”

He has gotten a coat of the even cloth,

And a pair of shoes of velvet green,

And till seven years were gane and past

True Thomas on earth was never seen.

“Keep a nail in your pocket, turn your jacket inside out, don't ever open doors when the lights are out”

(1) Never tell them your name.

(2) Never answer when you hear them call your name.

(3) Never bargain, trade or riddle with them.

(4) Never trust what they say, for though the fae cannot lie, what truths they tell can deceive. ( They are like the original Eldritch lawyers and politicians that way.)

These are the basic rules for dealing with the fae. While the fae are not necessarily evil, per se, neither are they necessarily good. The fae serve only their agenda, their whims, their desires.

The Fae are not bright happy little Tinkerbell fairies that grant wishes. That is an entirely modern Disney invention that does not even vaguely resemble the actual folk tales and ballads.

The best example in modern terms would be a shape shifting creature that behaves like a even more chaotic, rabidly insane and vindictive Bugs Bunny, and we are at best Elmer Fudd.

The best advice is, don't! Just say nothing, do nothing, avoid them, accept no gifts, touch nothing, take nothing of theirs.

Remember, Always, be impeccably Polite!

They forgive no slight and imagine many.

Ware the Queen of Elphame and her Wyld and Wykkyd Ways!