Signe Anita Fuchs

Carterhaugh - The story of Tam Lin Signe Anita Fuchs

The historical novel Carterhaugh is based on the old Scottish ballad "Tam Lin", which tells how the young, handsome Tam Lin is kidnapped by the Queen of Elves in the forest of Carterhaugh. Jane (Janet), who is expecting his child, rescues him and saves him from being sacrificed to hell. The story is usually set in the period shortly after the Norman Conquest and is about their noble families. However, the characteristics of the plot suggest to me a far earlier age. Fairies and elves date from the Celtic period, when the old Celtic gods were pushed into the background during Christianization. Such beings were then transposed and reinterpreted, and in these guises were preserved in the traditional legends and stories. Also, the mention of hell seems to me to be a Christian interpretation of the Celtic Otherworld. In addition, many well-known Scottish families have claimed the tale of Tam Lin (Lynn, Munroe, Dunbar, Douglas, Lord of Foulis), but none can be unequivocally associated with it - suggesting the story is much older. The ballad ends with Jane winning Tam Lin, but what happened after that, and what was the background? Who was Tam Lin really? Who was the Elf Queen, and who were the people of Carterhaugh? I try to offer an answer set at the end of the ninth century, when the kingdom of the Celtic Gododdin, formerly conquered and suppressed by the Germanic Anglo-Saxons, was liberated by the Scottish troops and annexed to the Kingdom of Scotland (then called Alba). In addition, I have added a Welsh language pronunciation, as it is likely that it was quite similar to the Gododdin language at the time.