| Author | Topic: Add: Tam Lin | |
| dmcg | Posted - 12 May 03 - 01:32 pm | |
Tam Lin Lady Margret, Lady Margret been sewing at a seam. She looked east, she looked west And she saw those those merry green woods growing green She saw those merry green woods. For she kiltit up her petticoats, It's up to them she ran; And when she came to the merry green woods She pulled the branches down, my dear, She pulled the branches down. For it's there she spied a gentleman Coming through the wood to her side "Oh it's who gave you leave, oh, my dear, It's who gave you, oh, leave?" "For it's onst I could pull those trees, those trees, It's onst I could pull those trees. It's onst I could pull those trees, those trees, All without the leave of you my dear, All without the leave of you." For he catched her by the middle so small; He gently laid her down. "It's since you've got yur will of me, Come tell to me your name, kind sir, Come tell to me your name." "For tomorrow it is new Halloween, And the quality's goin' to ride; You'll pass them by at the old mill bridge As they go riding by, my dear, As they go riding by. "For the first will be is a white milk-steed, And it's then there'll be a black; You'll hold his head, you'll fear no ill: He's the father of your child, my dear, He's the father of your child. "For the next will ne Is into a snake so large; You'll hold his head, you'll fear no ill: He's the father of your child, my dear, He's the father of your child. "For the next will be Is into a naked man; You'll throw your mantle all around And cry 'You're won, my dear, you're won, You're the father of my child.'" Source: Palmer, Roy, 1998, A Book of British Ballads, Llanerch Notes: Roy Palmer wrote: As Katharine Briggs has said, this ballad, in its fuller versions, 'is a compendium of Scottish fairy beliefs', such as 'the carrying away of anyone who is unconcious of fairy ground, the transformations of mortals to fairies when they are kidnapped, the tiend to Hell, the disenchantment through various transformations, finally confirmed by the putting on of a mortal garment.' (A Dictionary of British Folk-tales, Routledge, 1970, Part A, vol 1, p 502). The ballad was mentioned in Wedderburn's Complaynt of Scotlkand, 1549), but the earliest printing was a fragment in Herd's Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc, which appeared in 1776. The best-known version is perhaps the one communicated by Robert Burns in 1792 to the editor of the Scots Musical Museum. The set given here was recorded [by Ailie Munro and Hamish Henderson] in Glasgow as recently as 1974 from a traveller, Betsy Johnston, who can be heard singing it on The Muckle Songs, (Tangent Records, TNGM 119/D, 1975). Database entry is here. | ||
| dmcg | Posted - 14 May 03 - 06:34 pm | |
I was asked what 'teind' means. According the Oxford English Dictionary it is : Teind Sc and north: The tenth part of anything Edited By dmcg - 16/05/2003 09:21:43 | ||
| masato sakurai | Posted - 15 May 03 - 04:57 pm | |
The Tam Lin Pages site was recently updated and renamed as Tam Lin Balladry. | ||