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Description
A warning to you, all maidens fair
Especially those with golden hair
Do not pass by nor go through
The woods of bonnie Caterhaugh
For young Tam Lin dwells in there

But Janet holds her skirts above her knee
So better she quickly can run free
And her gold hair is braided tight
So it can not interfere with her sight
The better to Caterhaugh she can flee

There under a tree and by a well
And by horse whose rider lately fell
Janet did not have roses to count three
Just two she had set by her knee
When then Tam Lin did to her tell,

“Why, girl, would you pick the rose,
And in my sight hold such a pose?
Why have you come to Caterhaugh?
I know all those who come through
And I shall say who comes and goes.”

“I can come and go all the same,
With me you cannot play such a game
For my father these lands gave to me
And to pick roses I am surely free
Janet of Caterhaugh is my name.”

“Janet, of your courage I have need,
You see standing there my milk-white steed
But I am bound and tied to Caterhaugh
Claimed by the Fairy Queen through and through
It would be well today we were to plant a seed.”

So Janet holds her skirts above her knee
The better she quickly can run free
And her gold hair is braided tight
So it can not interfere with her sight
The better from Caterhaugh she can flee

And when she reaches her father's hall
Four and twenty maids are gathered all
Janet stays awhile to wait and see
What her and Tam Lin's fate may be
And takes no joy in the maiden's ball

But up from behind the castle wall
An old gray knight to Janet does call
“Woe for Janet, and we'll all be blamed,
No husband but with child just the same.”
And the knights shake their heads all.

“Hold your tongue, old gray knight!
And keep you all from my sight.
I will chose who's child to bare
And none of you will need to care.”
Janet quails them with her might.

But, then, her father too would speak
Though he says it mild and meek,
“Janet, 'tis true, you are carrying a child.
The fault may be mine, to let you run so wild.
What future for you now may I seek?”

“Hush, father, I alone will take the blame.
For none in your hall on my child has claim.
My love, its true, is not an earthly knight
But even for an elfen man I would fight
And never trade true love for a man's name.”

And Janet holds her skirts above her knee
So better she quickly can run free
And her gold hair is braided tight
So it can not interfere with her sight
The better to Caterhaugh she can flee

There under a tree and by a well
And by horse whose rider lately fell
Janet did not have flowers to count three
Just two she had set by here knee
When then Tam Lin did to her tell,

“Why would you pick those flowers?
Dear Janet, we both know their powers.
Why would you kill your only child?
Do you think my love so short and mild,
That you would destroy all hope at this hour?”

Says Janet, “Tell me Tam Lin, and tell me true,
From the Queen of Fairies, can really I win you?”
And Tam Lin takes fair Janet by the hand
Settling them both to sit upon the land
Deep in the woods of bonnie Caterhaugh,

“On the night of All Hallow's Eve
From Caterhaugh all the fair folk will leave
We'll ride by to the bridge at Miles Cross
And 'tis there you'll win me, or hope is lost.”
Tam Lin holds fast to Janet's green sleeve.

“First will ride by those on black steeds
And the brown, all ordered by his deeds
But I shall ride my milk-white horse
And be by the Queen's side of course
For this seven years, its me she needs.

“Every seven years, to keep her lands
She must pay a tax, so hell does demand
And she stole me when from my horse I fell
While hunting with an uncle that I loved well
But now she'll deliver me to hell by her own hand.”

Says Janet, “Tell me Tam Lin, and tell me true
To save you from this fate, what am I to do?”
Tam Lin says, while he strokes her golden hair,
“At Miles Cross, on Halloween night, be there
To pull me from my steed, Janet, it must be you.”

“Hold me fast, in your arms
And do not fear the fairy charms.
They will change me from snake to eel
They will change me then to red hot steel
But know this: I'll do you no harm.”

“Hold me fast, do not let go of me
They will change me then to a flea
They will change me to a lion bold
But do not fear, you still must hold
And then we'll have won you see.”

On Halloween night, through the murky gloom
Janet races to save Tam Lin from his doom
And at Miles Cross she does wait and hide
While those with black and brown do by her ride
And waits for the white horse to pass her soon.

She sees him then, and the Queen
And rushes forward, finally seen
She pulls him down to the ground
She holds fast him but makes no sound
As they change his shape to make her flee

From eel and snake, to steel and flea
And even a roaring lion, Janet held on tightly
And then in her arms, a naked man
Her own true love takes her hand
But the Fairy Queen screams with fury

“Oh had I but known, Tam Lin, curse you,
Had I known, I would have had you run through
Replaced your eyes with blackened coals
Replaced your heart with that of a toad's!
I say to all, men and maids, stay out of Caterhaugh!”

Description
A warning to you, all maidens fair
Especially those with golden hair
Do not pass by nor go through
The woods of bonnie Caterhaugh
For young Tam Lin dwells in there

But Janet holds her skirts above her knee
So better she quickly can run free
And her gold hair is braided tight
So it can not interfere with her sight
The better to Caterhaugh she can flee

There under a tree and by a well
And by horse whose rider lately fell
Janet did not have roses to count three
Just two she had set by her knee
When then Tam Lin did to her tell,

“Why, girl, would you pick the rose,
And in my sight hold such a pose?
Why have you come to Caterhaugh?
I know all those who come through
And I shall say who comes and goes.”

“I can come and go all the same,
With me you cannot play such a game
For my father these lands gave to me
And to pick roses I am surely free
Janet of Caterhaugh is my name.”

“Janet, of your courage I have need,
You see standing there my milk-white steed
But I am bound and tied to Caterhaugh
Claimed by the Fairy Queen through and through
It would be well today we were to plant a seed.”

So Janet holds her skirts above her knee
The better she quickly can run free
And her gold hair is braided tight
So it can not interfere with her sight
The better from Caterhaugh she can flee

And when she reaches her father's hall
Four and twenty maids are gathered all
Janet stays awhile to wait and see
What her and Tam Lin's fate may be
And takes no joy in the maiden's ball

But up from behind the castle wall
An old gray knight to Janet does call
“Woe for Janet, and we'll all be blamed,
No husband but with child just the same.”
And the knights shake their heads all.

“Hold your tongue, old gray knight!
And keep you all from my sight.
I will chose who's child to bare
And none of you will need to care.”
Janet quails them with her might.

But, then, her father too would speak
Though he says it mild and meek,
“Janet, 'tis true, you are carrying a child.
The fault may be mine, to let you run so wild.
What future for you now may I seek?”

“Hush, father, I alone will take the blame.
For none in your hall on my child has claim.
My love, its true, is not an earthly knight
But even for an elfen man I would fight
And never trade true love for a man's name.”

And Janet holds her skirts above her knee
So better she quickly can run free
And her gold hair is braided tight
So it can not interfere with her sight
The better to Caterhaugh she can flee

There under a tree and by a well
And by horse whose rider lately fell
Janet did not have flowers to count three
Just two she had set by here knee
When then Tam Lin did to her tell,

“Why would you pick those flowers?
Dear Janet, we both know their powers.
Why would you kill your only child?
Do you think my love so short and mild,
That you would destroy all hope at this hour?”

Says Janet, “Tell me Tam Lin, and tell me true,
From the Queen of Fairies, can really I win you?”
And Tam Lin takes fair Janet by the hand
Settling them both to sit upon the land
Deep in the woods of bonnie Caterhaugh,

“On the night of All Hallow's Eve
From Caterhaugh all the fair folk will leave
We'll ride by to the bridge at Miles Cross
And 'tis there you'll win me, or hope is lost.”
Tam Lin holds fast to Janet's green sleeve.

“First will ride by those on black steeds
And the brown, all ordered by his deeds
But I shall ride my milk-white horse
And be by the Queen's side of course
For this seven years, its me she needs.

“Every seven years, to keep her lands
She must pay a tax, so hell does demand
And she stole me when from my horse I fell
While hunting with an uncle that I loved well
But now she'll deliver me to hell by her own hand.”

Says Janet, “Tell me Tam Lin, and tell me true
To save you from this fate, what am I to do?”
Tam Lin says, while he strokes her golden hair,
“At Miles Cross, on Halloween night, be there
To pull me from my steed, Janet, it must be you.”

“Hold me fast, in your arms
And do not fear the fairy charms.
They will change me from snake to eel
They will change me then to red hot steel
But know this: I'll do you no harm.”

“Hold me fast, do not let go of me
They will change me then to a flea
They will change me to a lion bold
But do not fear, you still must hold
And then we'll have won you see.”

On Halloween night, through the murky gloom
Janet races to save Tam Lin from his doom
And at Miles Cross she does wait and hide
While those with black and brown do by her ride
And waits for the white horse to pass her soon.

She sees him then, and the Queen
And rushes forward, finally seen
She pulls him down to the ground
She holds fast him but makes no sound
As they change his shape to make her flee

From eel and snake, to steel and flea
And even a roaring lion, Janet held on tightly
And then in her arms, a naked man
Her own true love takes her hand
But the Fairy Queen screams with fury

“Oh had I but known, Tam Lin, curse you,
Had I known, I would have had you run through
Replaced your eyes with blackened coals
Replaced your heart with that of a toad's!
I say to all, men and maids, stay out of Caterhaugh!”