Volume V, song 411, pages 423, 424 and 425 - 'Tam Lin' -...
Volume V, song 411, pages 423, 424 and 425 - 'Tam Lin' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: 'O I forbid you, maidens a' That wear gowd or your hair, To come or gae by Carterhaugh, For young Tam Lin is there.' 'Gowd' is 'gold' or 'golden'. The final verses to this song can be found on the page containing song 412.
The 'Scots Musical Museum' is the most important of the numerous eighteenth- and nineteenth-century collections of Scottish song. When the engraver James Johnson started work on the second volume of his collection in 1787, he enlisted Robert Burns as contributor and editor. Burns enthusiastically collected songs from various sources, often expanding or revising them, whilst including much of his own work. The resulting combination of innovation and antiquarianism gives the work a feel of living tradition.
This ancient ballad tells the story of Janet and her elfin lover, Tam Lin. Spirited away by the Queen of the Fairies, Tam Lin is held captive in the land of the fairies. In order to return to the land of mortals for good, Janet has to win him back. The story that unfolds is made all the more nail-biting by the possibility that, if Tam Lin is not freed, he will be chosen as the fairies' sacrificial offering to hell. Janet is spurred on not only by her love, but by her pregnancy and the need for her child to have a father. Although the ballad ends with Tam's freedom, any happiness is tainted by the final curses of the Fairy Queen. Whilst the ballad itself is very old, John Glen (1900) found no evidence to suggest that the accompanying melody was of an equal age. In fact, Glen was unable to find the tune in any of the major song collections published prior to the 'Museum'.
Volume V, song 411, pages 423, 424 and 425 - 'Tam Lin' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)