Happy Halloween Halloween is the perfect night to recall and listen to this powerful ancient Scottish ballad, whose origin is obscured in the dense mists of the past, . It encompasses the realms of mortals and immortals, the conscious and subconscious, and the transformative power of love. For, after all, isnt Halloween really about the connections between the worlds of the temporal and the eternal. Dont all of us wish, at least a bit, to live forever. Fairport Conventions version of the lyrics are below and below that is a link to a youtube audio of their original recording with vocals by Sandy Denny. It is potent stuff - enjoy it. Tam Lin I forbid you maidens all that wear gold in your hair To travel to Carter Hall for young Tam Lin is there None that go by Carter Hall but they leave him a pledge Either their mantles of green or else their maidenhead Janet tied her kirtle green a bit above her knee And shes gone to Carter Hall as fast as go can she Shed not pulled a double rose, a rose but only two When up there came young Tam Lin says Lady, pull no more And why come you to Carter Hall without command from me? Ill come and go, young Janet said, and ask no leave of thee Janet tied her kirtle green a bit above her knee And shes gone to her father as fast as go can she Well, up then spoke her father dear and he spoke meek and mild Oh, and alas, Janet, he said, I think you go with child Well, if that be so, Janet said, myself shall bear the blame Theres not a knight in all your hall shall get the babys name For if my love were an earthly knight as he is an elfin gray Id not change my own true love for any knight you have Janet tied her kirtle green a bit above her knee And shes gone to Carter Hall as fast as go can she Oh, tell to me, Tam Lin, she said, why came you here to dwell? The Queen of Faeries 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 and feared it be myself But tonight is Halloween and the faery folk ride Those that would their true love win at Miles Cross they must buy So first let past the horses black and then let past the brown Quickly run to the white steed and pull the rider down For Ill ride on the white steed, the nearest to the town For I was an earthly knight, they give me that renown Oh, they will turn me in your arms to a newt or a snake But hold me tight and fear not, I am your babys father And they will turn me in your arms into a lion bold But hold me tight and fear not and you will love your child And they will turn me in your arms into a naked knight But cloak me in your mantle and keep me out of sight 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 Faery Queen, an angry queen was she Woe betide her ill-formed face, an ill death may she die Oh, had I known, Tam Lin, she said, what this knight I did see Id have looked him in the eyes and turned him to a tree. https://youtube/watch?v=61GBQ_twkhU
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 20:33:24 +0000
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