Tam Lin Balladry: Versions

Versions of Tam Lin Available at This Site

There are many versions of Tam Lin. The ballad is known to have existed in the Scottish border lands for hundreds of years. More recently it has spread in modern folks circles and anywhere else that people enjoy a good ballad. This website does not claim to have every version of Tam Lin, but I hope it represents a good starting point for understanding the ballad. Below you will find a listing of all of the versions available here. More are added as they are acquired.

Versions are listed below in roughly the order in which they were acquired. If you would like to see an attempt at discovering the relationship between the versions of the ballad, have a look at the page on Tam Lin Phylogeny. It's a mess, but it's an attempt.

In addition, there's a meta-ballad (as in I never met a ballad I didn't like) version of Tam Lin at this website, based on analysis of the stories below, called Tam Lin X as it is not an official version but rather more of a reference point for the story.

Versions of Tam Lin available at this site
(Child numbers refer to versions from The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Francis James Child)

1. Child Ballad #39A, is considered to be one of the earliest recorded versions. Child cited Johnson's Museum as the source, 1729
   
2. Child Ballad #39B source cited as Glenriddle MS. vol xi, no 17, 1791
   
3. Child Ballad #39C, source cited as The Ancient and Modern Scots Songs, 1769
   
4. Child Ballad #39D, sources cited are Motherwell's MS., Maidment's New Book of Old Ballads, and Pitcairn's MSS.
   
5. Child Ballad #39E, source cited as Motherwell's Note-Book
   
6. Child Ballad #39F, source cited as Motherwell's MS.
   
7. Child Ballad #39G, sources cited are Buchan's MSS, Motherwell's MS, and Dixon, Scottish Traditionary Versions of Ancient Ballads, Percy Society
   
8. Child Ballad #39H, source cited as Campell MSS.
   
9. Child Ballad #39I, source cited as Ministrelsy of the Scottish Border by Sir Walter Scott
   
10. Child Ballad #39J, from the additions and corrections to the original set. Source cited is MacMath ms 1886
    
11. Child Ballad #39K, source cited is Communication to Scott, 1812
    
12. Child's Notes* contained enough variant verses to make a Frankenstein version of the tale.
    Included in Child's notes, along with a number of variant verses and fragments, were three other versions of Tam Lin, which are either highly fragmented or mixed with other tales, and are therefore not listed with the main versions.
    • Child's notes in raw form (But I'll warn you before hand that they aren't pretty).
    • 39L
    • 39M
    • 39N
13. B. H. Bronson found a version with quite different styling than the rest, though clearly still the same tale.
    
14. J. Holm created a version from those she had read
    
15. C. Gladish found a version with more modern phrasing
    
16. The SCA (society for creative anachronism) has a version
    
17. Steeleye Span, recorded a version on the album Tonight's the Night
    
18. Fairport Convention, recorded a version on the album Liege and Lief
    
19. R.J. Stewart included a version in his book on Robert Kirk
    
20. The Watersons recorded a version on their album For Pence and Spicey Ale
    
21. Frankie Armstrong recorded a version on her album I Heard A Woman Singing
    
22. Joseph Kesselman performs the following version.
    
23. The Greig Duncan folksong index had this version.
    
24. The Oxford Book of Ballads had this version.
    
25. Dave and Toni Arthur perform this version.
    
26. Anne Briggs performs a version on the album Anne Briggs: A Collection
    
27. Rick Lee performs this version on the album Natick
    
28. Pete Morton has a versions on the album Frivolous Love
    
29. Milan Jovanovic provided this version
    
30. The Movie version of Tam Lin included this version
    
31. Pyewackett performed a version on the album The Man In The Moon Drinks Claret
    
32. Broadside Electric performed a version on the album Amplificata
    
33. MacMath version, from The Mansfield Manuscript
    
34. EScotland version, from the electronic Scotland website.
    
35. Mediaeval Baebes version, from the group of the same name.
    
36. Ewan MacColl recorded a version on the album Cold Snap
    
37. Geordie McIntyre recorded a version on the album Ballad Tree
    
38. Alastair McDonald recorded a version on the album Heroes & Legends of Scotland

Tam Lin Balladry

© 1997- present Abigail Acland for all original works unless otherwise noted.

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