The Fairy Tale Lyric Wheel "Remember Tamlin" The Lyric Wheel has been quite an experience. Armand-r doesn't believe in letting people get complacent so she throws a curve every once in a while to make sure we stay awake. This time, we had to take a picture to use as a base for a story based on a Fairy Tale or written like one. Anthers sent the pic from Cross of St. Antoine, and the tale of Tam Lin really is an old Scotish Fairie Tale. Rated PG15 for a young Duncan's daydreams... The young man woke again in the quiet hour just before dawn. He untangled himself from the furs he'd shared with his cousin and quietly eased through the door of the small cottage. One of the dogs sniffed at him, recognizing him as someone of the family and followed him to the edge of the wood. The thatched roofs of the village could barely be seen against the morning stars. He listened, but only the restless sounds frrom the sheep pens reached him. He'd been awakened by the dreams again. They came to him often now, the visions of tall spires and people he didn't know. They dressed strangely and the language they spoke sounded familiar, somehow… but when he woke, the words were gone. The faces… he knew them and yet… If he could just find the Witch, perhaps she could help him make sense of it all. He had tried. Robert thought he was tetched in the head, likely, his mother would say the same thing. The white wolf had never been seen again and his father had simply checked the bump on his head and laughed saying that he'd imagined the whole thing. His mother had warned him about going back into the woods. "You must not wander there, Duncan. There's auld magics there and I'll not see you taken away like Tam Lin." "That's just a story, mother, like old Angus' tales." She stood there with her hands on her hips, shaking her head at him. "You listen to him, Duncan. Oft there be more truth than you can know in those old tales. An' you're not too old to listen to your mam." He knew the tales, everyone did. He'd scoffed at the whole idea but since that very strange meeting in the woods, it was harder to dismiss it. The old tales said the Fairie Queen was beautiful and certainly, the Witch had been beautiful. For more than five years now, his dreams had been filled with her images. The others in these dreams were not like her. There was a tall, slender woman with the melting brown eyes of a doe, dressed in clothes the like of which he'd never seen. Her hair was short and the jerkin was velvet, soft to his touch. He could remember her hair, soft against his chest, her laughter and then her tears wetting his shirt. He was holding her, comforting her for the loss of someone very dear to her. How did he know the way the curve of her cheek fit his hand, of its touch and the touch of her hands? The older man looked so sad. The clothing he wore was strange too, trews that fit close to the body but had no lacings that he could see. His heart ached for the man, his friend. His friend… but he knew no one who looked like that, though there were often sad faces in the cold winters when coughing sicknesses carried off so many in spite of the herb brews his mother and the other women made. Dawn was close now. The birds were starting to wake, making small noises. In the shadows of the trees, he thought he saw the wolf again, a flash of green eyes and white ruff but when he looked again, there was nothing. Would the Witch come if he called her? How did you go about that, he wondered. He was too old to believe the tales. He'd been leading hunting parties for several months now and his father had been proud of his skills. Even Robert had to admit that he was a good leader. Was Tam Lin real? Was he a laird, a chieftain? Had the Queen taken him away to her palace in the underworlds because he was handsome? His mother said he was a fine enough looking man. That was the end of it. He couldn't help noticing the glances from Debra and the others. She made his heart stutter in his chest. Her smile touched him as nothing else did. She was pretty and smart and he knew she loved him. He liked to think that if the Fairie Queen did spirit him away, Deborah Campbell would love him enough to save him from the night of sacrifice as the maid, Janet, had saved Tam Lin. Had the Witch really been there? Was she the Fairie Queen in disguise? The memory of her, her skin gleaming, bare in the Moonlight… It made him uncomfortable, his youthful cock aching, his need too strong to ignore. The world faded around him as he let the vision of green eyes and dark hair, the sound of her soft voice singing and the music of the waterfall take shape around him. He remembered her hands brushing his, elegant hands, not rough with work like his mother's. She smiled at him again and kissed him, gently and then the kiss became deeper, not like anything he'd felt in his waking life. The kiss was like that of the lovers he'd seen at Beltane and Litha, so breathless that they didn't see anything around them. He wanted to be kissed like that, to kiss like that. He tried to see Debra's red curls and white shift but the others came to him instead, the tall woman's short cap of hair gleaming like the wings of the raven and the longer bronze waves that hid the witch's shoulders and breasts. The heat rose in him, an ache, catching his breath and making him lean back against the oak tree. Gently at first, he touched himself, feeling the coarse curls and the new heavier weight of cock and balls. The face of the Witch was there again, blotting out the faces of Debra and the other woman. He could almost hear her speaking in the language of his dreams, her voice low, almost laughing, "No, this is for me." His breathing caught the rhythm of his need and suddenly he was flying into the darkness with the dark bronze mane of the Witch in his face and her moans of delight in his ears. The first rays of the sun brought him back to himself. Hurriedly he climbed the little rise and cleaned himself off in the icy water of the little burn. Tam Lin was lucky, he thought. At least his lover was real. Perhaps someday… someday. ~30~ Feedback Greatly Appreciated Return to the Main FanFic Page Return to Mehri's Mountain The Tale of Tam Lin and the Lady Janet Maidens are warned against entering Caterhaugh for fear of Tam Lin, a bell-wearing deflowerer of virgins. Janet leaves her sewing bower to travel to the forbidden woods to pluck roses. There she encounters Tam lin, argues with him, and is then ravaged by him. She then travels home, where an old knight observes she is pregnant, and her brother advises an herbal abortive agent. She returns to the woods to fetch it, and again encounters Tam Lin, who inquires about her pregnancy. She asks him if he is mortal, and he tells her how he was captured by the faeries and is now under threat of sacrifice. He further informs her of how she can save him, by pulling him from the troop and holding him while he transforms, witch she does, to the anger of the Queen of faeries. 'O I forbid you, maidens a', That wear gowd on your hair, To come or gae by Carterhaugh, For young Tam Lin is there. For even about that knight's middle O' siller bells are nine; And nae maid comes to Carterhaugh And a maid returns again.' Fair Janet sat in her bonny bower, Sewing her silken seam, And wish'd to be in Carterhaugh Amang the leaves sae green. She's lat her seam fa' to her feet, The needle to her tae, And she's awa' to Carterhaugh As fast as she could gae. And she has kilted her green kirtle A little abune her knee; And she has braided her yellow hair A little abune her bree; And she has gaen for Carterbaugh As fast as she can hie. She hadna pu'd a rose, a rose, A rose but barely ane, When up and started young Tam Lin; Says, ' Ladye, let alane. What gars ye pu' the rose, Janet ? What gars ye break the tree ? What gars ye come to Carterhaugh Without the leave o' me?' Weel may I pu' the rose,' she says, 'And ask no leave at thee; For Carterhaugh it is my ain, My daddy gave it me.' He's ta'en her by the milk-white hand, And by the grass-green sleeve, He's led her to the fairy ground At her he askd nae leave. Janet has kilted her green kirtle A little abune her knee, And she has snooded her yellow hair A little abune her bree, And she is to her father's ha' As fast as she can hie. But when she came to her father's ha', She look'd sae wan and pale, They thought the lady had gotten a fright, Or with sickness she did ail. Four and twenty ladies fair Were playing at the ba', And out then came fair Janet Ance the flower amang them a' Four and twenty ladies fair Were playing at the chess, And out then came fair Janet As green as onie glass. Out then spak' an au d grey knight 'Lay owre the Castle wa', And says, ' Alas, fair Janet! For thee we'll be blamed a' 'Hauld your tongue, ye auld-faced knight, Some ill death may ye die! Father my bairn on whom I will, I'll father nanre on thee. 0 if my love were an earthly knight, As he is an elfin gay, I wadna gie my ain true-love For nae laird that ye hae. 'The steed that my true-love rides on Is fleeter nor the wind; Wi` siller he is shod before, Wi' buming gold behind' Out then spak' her brither dear- He meant to do her harm: There grows an herb in Carterbaugh Will twine you an' the bairn.' Janet has kilted her green kirtle A little abune her knee, And she has snooded her yellow hair A little abune her bree, And she's awa' to Carterhaugh As fast as she can hie. She hadna pu'd a leaf, a leaf, A leaf but only twae, When up and started young Tam Lin, Says, I Ladye, thou's pu' nae mae. 'How dar' ye pu' a leaf he says, ' How dar' ye break the tree, How dar' ye scathe my babe,' he says, That's between you and me?' 0 tell me, tell me, Tam,' she says, ' For His sake that died on tree, If ye were ever in holy chapel Or sain'd in Christentie? The truth I'll tell to thee, Janet, Ae word I winna lee; A knight me got, and a lady me bore, As well as they did thee. Roxburgh he was my grandfather, Took me with him to bide; And ance it fell upon a day, As hunting I did ride, 'There came a wind out o' the north, A sharp wind an' a snell, A dead sleep it came over me And frae my horse I fell; And the Queen o' Fairies she took me In yon green hill to dwell. And pleasant is the fairy land For those that in it dwell, But ay at end of seven years They pay a teind to hell; I am sae fair and fu' o' flesh I'm fear'd 'twill be mysell. 'But the night is Halloween, Janet, The morn is Hallowday ; Then win me, win me, an ye will, For weel I wat ye may. 'The night it is gude Hallowe'en, The fairy folk do ride, And they that wad their true-love win, At Miles Cross they maun bide.' But how should I you ken, Tam Lin, How should I borrow you, Amang a pack of uncouth knights The like I never saw You'll do you down to Miles Cross Between twel' hours and ane, And fill your hands o' the holy water And cast your compass roun'. 'The first company that passes by, Say na, and let them gae; The neist company that passes by, Say na, and do right sae; The third company that passes by, Then I'll be ane o' thae. 0 first let pass the black, ladye, And syne let pass the brown; But quickly run to the milk-white steed, Pu' ye his rider down. For some ride on the black, ladye, And some ride on the brown; But I ride on a milk-white steed, A gowd star en my crown. Because I was an earthly knight They gie me that renown. My right hand will be gloved, ladye, My left hand wiII be bare, And thae's the tokens I gie thee: Nae doubt I will be there. 'Ye'll tak' my horse then by the head And let the bridle fa'; The Queen o' Elfin she'll cry out "True Tam Lin he's awa'!" They'll turn me in your arms, ladye, An aske but and a snake; But hauld me fast, let me na gae, To be your warldis make. 36.'They'll turn me in your arms, ladye, But and a deer so wild ; But hauld me fast, let me na gae, The father o' your child. 37.They'll shape me in your arms, ladye, A hot iron at the fire ; But hauld me fast, let me na go, To be your heart's desire. 38.'They'll shape me last in your arms, Janet, A mother-naked man; Cast your green mantle over me, And sae will I be won.' 39.Janet has kilted her green kirtle A little abune the knee; And she has snooded her yellow hair A little abune her bree, And she is on to Miles Cross As fast as she can hie. About the dead hour o' the night She heard the bridles ring; And Janet was as glad at that As any earthly thing. And first gaed by the black, black steed, And syne gaed by the brown; But fast she gript the milk-white steed And pu'd the rider down. She's pu'd him frae the milk-white steed, An' loot the bridle fa' And up there rase an eldritch cry, 'True Tam Lin he's awa'!' They shaped him in her arms twa An aske but and a snake; But aye she grips and hau'ds hint fast To be her warldis make. They shaped him in her arms twa But and a deer sae wild; But aye she grips and hau'ds him fast, The father o' her child. They shaped him in her arms twa A hot iron at the fire; But aye she grips and hau'ds him fast To be her heart's desire. They shaped him in her arms at last A mother-naked man; She cast her mantle over him, And sae her love she wan. Up then spak' the Queen o' Fairies, Out o' a bush o' broom, She that has borrow'd young Tam Lin Has gotten a stately groom! Out then spak' the Queen o' Fairies, And an angry woman was she, She's ta'en awa' the bonniest knight In a' my companie! But what I ken this night, Tam Lin, Gin I had kerit yestreen, I wad ta'en out thy heart o' flesh, And put in a heart o' stane. 'And adieu, Tam Lin! But gin I had kent A ladye wad borrow'd thee, I wad ta'en out thy twa grey e'en Put in twa e'en o' tree. And had I the wit yestreen, yestreen, That I have coft this day, I'd paid my teind seven times to hell Ere you had been won away!