Katharine Lee Bates

Tamlane

"O I forbid ye, maidens a',
  That bind in snood your hair,
To come or gae by Carterhaugh,
  For young Tamlane is there."

Fair Janet sat within her bower,
  Sewing her silken seam,
And fain would be at Carterhaugh,
  Amang the leaves sae green.

She let the seam fa' to her foot,
  The needle to her tae,
And she's awa' to Carterhaugh,
  As quickly as she may.

She's prink'd hersell, and preen'd hersell,
  By the ae light o' the moon,
And she's awa to Carterhaugh,
  As fast as she could gang.

She hadna pu'd a red red rose,
  A rose but barely three,
When up and starts the young Tamlane,
  Says, "Lady, let a-be!

"What gars ye pu' the rose, Janet?
  What gars ye break the tree?
Or why come ye to Carterhaugh,
  Without the leave o' me?"

"O I will pu' the flowers," she said,
  "And I will break the tree;
And I will come to Carterhaugh,
  And ask na leave of thee."

But when she cam' to her father's ha',
  She looked sae wan and pale,
They thought the lady had gotten a fright,
  Or with sickness sair did ail.

Janet has kilted her green kirtle
  A little aboon her knee,
And she has snooded her yellow hair
  A little aboon her bree,
And she's awa to Carterhaugh,
  As fast as she can hie.

She hadna pu'd a rose, a rose,
  A rose but barely twae,
When up there started young Tamlane,
  Says, "Lady, thou pu's nae mae."

"Now ye maun tell the truth," she said,
  A word ye maunna lie;
O, were ye ever in haly chapel,
  Or sained in Christentie?"

"The truth I'll tell to thee, Janet,
  A word I winna lie;
I was ta'en to the good church-door,
  And sained as well as thee.

"Randolph, Earl Murray, was my sire,
  Dunbar, Earl March, was thine;
We loved when we were children small,
  Which yet you well may mind.

"When I was a boy just turned of nine,
  My uncle sent for me,
To hunt, and hawk, and ride with him,
  And keep him companie.

"There came a wind out of the north,
  A sharp wind and a snell,
And a dead sleep came over me,
  And frae my horse I fell;
The Queen of Fairies she was there,
  And took me to hersell.

"And we, that live in Fairy-land,
  Nae sickness know nor pain;
I quit my body when I will,
  And take to it again.

"I quit my body when I please,
  Or unto it repair;
We can inhabit at our ease
  In either earth or air.

"Our shapes and size we can convert
  To either large or small;
An old nut-shell's the same to us
  As is the lofty hall.

"We sleep in rose-buds soft and sweet,
  We revel in the stream;
We wanton lightly on the wind,
  Or glide on a sunbeam.

"And never would I tire, Janet,
  In fairy-land to dwell;
But aye, at every seven years,
  They pay the teind to hell;
And I'm sae fat and fair of flesh,
  I fear 'twill be mysell!

"The morn at e'en is Hallowe'en;
  Our fairy court will ride,
Through England and through Scotland baith,
  And through the warld sae wide,
And if that ye wad borrow me,
  At Miles Cross ye maun bide.

"And ye maun gae to the Miles Cross,
  Between twelve hours and one,
Tak' haly water in your hand,
  And cast a compass roun'."

"But how shall I thee ken, Tamlane,
  And how shall I thee knaw,
Amang the throng o' fairy folk,
  The like I never saw?"

"The first court that comes alang,
  Ye'll let them a' pass by;
The neist court that comes alang
  Salute them reverently.

"The third court that comes alang
  Is clad in robes o' green,
And it's the head court of them a',
  And in it rides the Queen.

"And I upon a milk-white steed,
  Wi' a gold star in my croun;
Because I am a christen'd knight
  They give me that renoun.

'First let pass the black, Janet,
  And syne let pass the broun,
But grip ye to the milk-white steed,
  And pu' the rider doun.

"My right hand will be glov'd, Janet,
  My left hand will be bare,
And thae's the tokens I gie thee;
  Nae doubt I will be there.

"Ye'll seize upon me with a spring,
  And to the ground I'll fa',
And then you'll hear an elrish cry
  That Tamlane is awa'.

"They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,
  An adder and a snake;
But haud me fast, let me not pass,
  Gin ye would be my maik.

"They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,
  An adder and an aske;
They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,
  A bale that burns fast.

"They'll shape me in your arms, Janet,
  A dove, but and a swan:
And last they'll shape me in your arms
  A mother-naked man:
Cast your green mantle over me—
  And sae shall I be wan!"

Gloomy, gloomy was the night,
  And eerie was the way,
As fair Janet, in her green mantle,
  To Miles Cross she did gae.

About the dead hour o' the night
  She heard the bridles ring,
And Janet was as glad o' that
  As ony earthly thing.

There's haly water in her hand,
  She casts a compass round;
And straight she sees a fairy band
  Come riding o'er the mound.

And first gaed by the black, black steed,
  And then gaed by the broun;
But fast she gript the milk-white steed,
  And pu'd the rider doun.

She pu'd him frae the milk-white steed,
  And loot the bridle fa';
And up there raise an elrish cry;
  "He's won amang us a'!"

They shaped him in fair Janet's arms
  An aske, but and an adder;
She held him fast in every shape,
  To be her ain true lover.

They shaped him in her arms at last
  A mother-naked man,
She cuist her mantle over him,
  And sae her true love wan.

Up then spake the Queen o' Fairies,
  Out of a bush o' broom:
"She that has borrowed young Tamlane,
  Has gotten a stately groom!"

Up then spake the Queen o' Fairies,
  Out of a bush of rye:
"She's ta'en away the bonniest knight
  In a' my companie!

"But had I kenned, Tamlane," she says,
  "A lady wad borrow thee,
I wad hae ta'en out thy twa gray e'en,
  Put in twa e'en o' tree!

"Had I but kenned, Tamlane," she says,
  "Before ye came frae hame,
I wad hae ta'en out your heart of flesh,
  Put in a heart o' stane!

"Had I but had the wit yestreen
  That I hae coft this day,
I'd hae paid my teind seven times to hell,
  Ere you'd been won away!"