Tam Lin

A profound, ancient, supernatural tale of the power of love from the Scottish Border country. Told in woodland setting, with birdsong and atmosphere. Follow Janet as she dares enter Carterhaugh wood, where the legendary Tam Lin awaits by the fairy well. Will Janet's love for Tam break the enchantment which binds him there?

Transcript

I'm sitting here in the woods in the border country of Scotland and I want to tell you a story.

A story that's been told in this part of the world for many hundreds of years by firesides in verse and in song.

And it's the story of Tam Lin.

Now,

Many hundreds of years ago in Ettrickdale,

There lived a boy called Tam Lin.

And Tam was raised by his grandfather,

The Duke of Roxburgh.

And when Tam was old enough,

The Duke taught him to hunt.

And on one such hunting expedition,

He was out riding a milk white horse that had been given to him by the Duke.

And they were riding through the forest,

Remnants of which I'm sitting in here and now.

And they were riding through the forest with the horses weaving between the trees,

The deer hounds barking and coursing through the forest.

And amidst all this noise and excitement,

Tam fell from his horse.

Now,

When the hunt was over,

It was only then that they noticed that Tam was missing.

And they searched for many,

Many days,

But no sign of Tam or his horse was ever found.

And from that day forward,

Stories started to be told and rumours started to spread that Tam had been stolen away by the Queen of the Fairies.

Now,

Something you have to know at this point is that fairies in Scotland are not to be confused with fairies cavorting in neat Victorian gardens.

These are beings that are far more malevolent and vengeful.

And I watch my words when telling such a story in a place like this.

Anyway,

These stories started to spread across the land.

And some people even said that they'd been stalked by Tam in the woods and they had to pay for their passage through the woods of Carterholm.

Some said Tam didn't exist at all.

Now,

The lair to the manor had a daughter called Janet and she lived in a great tower house not far from Carterhall Woods and she could see the woods from her tower.

And she'd heard the stories of Tam Lin and she determined one day that she was going to travel into the woods to find Tam.

And she did just that.

She wrapped herself in a green cloak and she set off early one morning and she wandered through the woods.

And when she was in the deepest,

Darkest part of the woods,

She cried out,

Tam Lin!

Tam Lin!

She had neither hear nor sound,

Sound or sight of Tam.

So she carried on wandering through the woods until she came to a clearing.

And in that clearing there was a well,

An old stone well covered in moss.

And tied to that well was a milk-white horse.

And growing over the well were wild roses.

And Janet plucked one of those roses.

No sooner had she plucked the rose,

She felt her presence behind her.

And she knew it must be Tam Lin.

She turned and saw the most beautiful young man with the saddest grey eyes.

And he said,

Janet,

Why do you pluck my rose?

Janet said,

I don't need your permission to pluck a rose in these woods because these woods were gifted to me by my father who owns this land.

Tam said,

Well little do you know and little does your father know that these woods belong to the Queen of the Fairies.

And she has made me guardian of these woods and I can never leave these woods.

Now this made Janet sad and she looked at those saddest grey eyes and she said,

Well would you not come with me,

Tam,

And leave this place?

And he said,

I cannot Janet,

Even if I wanted to,

I cannot.

The Queen of the Fairies has cast a spell and I cannot leave the boundary of these woods.

But I'll take you safely to the edge of the woods and you can return home.

So he did that,

He led Janet to the edge of the woods.

Janet returned home and as she was leaving he said,

Now you must forget me,

Janet.

And she could not forget this beautiful young man with the saddest grey eyes.

And she thought of him as the summer passed and turned to autumn and the leaves started to turn gold and red and fiery orange.

One day gazing out over the woods she could take it no more because her father had agreed to marry her to an old knight and Janet was not pleased about this at all.

There was only one person she wanted to marry.

So she set out wrapped in a green cloak for the woods and this was the last day of October.

And she found her way easily this time to the well and the milk white horse was still there and there were but two roses left in the wild rose bush that grew over the well.

Janet plucked one of the roses and again she felt the presence behind her.

And Tamlyn said Janet why have you come back to this place?

Janet explained her father's plan to marry her after the opening and that she had given her heart to Tam and she pleaded with him saying Tamlyn there's no way we can break this spell so that we can be together.

And Tamlyn looked at her with the saddest of grey eyes and said and maybe one way Janet and tonight is the only night that it can happen for tonight is Halloween and tonight the queen of the fairies goes abroad with the king of the fairies and they travel through this land searching for a mortal.

Prevails pay their dues to the devil this night and I fear Janet that this Halloween night I will be the rootin so we must act tonight and this is what you must do.

And he said wear your green cloak tonight and come back to this place and you will see the torch lit procession of the fairies passing this place.

You will see the queen of the fairies on her great black stallion.

You will see the king of the fairies on a fine brown horse and then you will see me on my milk white pony.

When you see me Janet you must pull me down from my horse and you must cling to me with all your might no matter what happens for the queen of the fairies will shape shift me into many many strange and terrifying shapes but you must never let go you must cling to me Janet.

She said that I will that I will she promised.

She came back to that place that night and she hid herself away and waited and sure enough just as it was nearing midnight she saw the twinkling of torchlight coming through the woods and she saw the queen of the fairies magnificent on her black horse and she let her pass and she saw the king of the fairies noble figure on his brown horse and she let him pass and then she saw Tam on his milk white horse and she leapt from behind the tree as she was hiding behind and she grabbed on to Tam and she pulled him from the horse and she heard the rage of the fairy queen and then she felt her very bones being crushed as a great serpent wrapped itself around her and she felt like she must let go of Tam she remembered his words and she held on to Tam for dear life and she felt herself being raised up high off the ground and she felt the crushing arms of a great bear around her she could hear its breath snorting from its nostrils she could see its great yellow teeth and she feared she must let go of Tam and she remembered his words and she clung on for dear life.

Then she felt coarse hair rubbing against her face and the stink of foul breath she looked up into the face and jaws of a great lion and she was terrified and felt she must let go but then she remembered Tam's words she clung on for dear life.

Then her hands began to bump because Tam had been turned into a red hot anvil and she could the pain was too much she felt she must let go then she remembered his words and all the night she had she clung on for dear life.

Then at last the fairy queen turned Tam into a torch burning torch and Janet knew this was her moment and she threw the torch down into the well and a great hissing of steam came up out of the well and out of that cloud of steam emerged Tam and Janet wrapped him in her green cloak and the spell was broken and she knew that because of the wail of rage and fury that came from the fairy queen.

You have stolen my bonniest lad.

You have stolen my bonniest lad.

And that she heard as the fairy queen disappeared into the forest.

Those words echoed and echoed and echoed.

You have stolen my bonniest lad.

You have stolen my bonniest lad.

And then silence.

Now Tam turned to Janet and said Janet you have saved my life and if you will have me I pledge myself to you for the rest of my days.

And Janet and Tam were married and it said that their descendants walk still in the woods and fields and heavens of this land.

Reviews

Lovely journey thank you 🙏