Tam (or Tamas) Lin (also called Tamlane, Tamlin, Tambling, Tomlin, Tam Lien, Tam-a-Line, Tam Lyn, or Tam Lane) is a character in a legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. It is also associated with a reel of the same name, also known as the Glasgow Reel. The story revolves around the rescue of Tam Lin by his true love from the Queen of the Fairies. The motif of winning a person by holding him through all forms of transformation is found throughout Europe in folktales.[2][3]
The story has been adapted into numerous stories, songs and films.
It is listed as the 39th Child Ballad and number 35 in the Roud Folk Song Index.
- ^ Jacobs, Joseph; Batten, John D. (1894). "Tamlane". More English Fairy Tales (2nd ed.). London: David Nutt. pp. 159–62 & notes: 238. ISBN 0-370-01023-X.
- ^ Child, Francis James, ed. (1890). "Tam Lin". English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Vol. I Part 2. Boston: Houghton Mifflin and Company. pp. 335–358. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- ^ "Tam Lin". The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Internet Sacred Text Archive. 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2017.[permanent dead link]