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Saturday 1 February 2014

Saturday Rave: Tam Lin.

This song has haunted me for years.

Tam Lin is a song of desire. Of determination.

Even of love (whatever love is).

It inspired the first novel I ever had published, which is called Cold Tom.

There are many different versions of the story of Tam Lin. It's sometimes presented as a poem, but was written as a ballad. One  version (the first I came across) is sung by Sandy Denny and can be found here:



Once you've heard it you'll never walk in the wild places again without feeling eyes watching you.

But, you know something? They'll be very beautiful eyes...

 
Word To Use Today: ballad. This word comes from the Old Provençal word balada, which is a song accompanying a dance, from balar, to dance.


 




2 comments:

  1. Love Tam Lin. Love Cold Tom...it's a fantastic ballad! Love ballads.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Do write a new one, then, Adele, and I'll do the music. It'd be tremendous. If Scotland goes independent we'll need some more Border Ballads.

    ReplyDelete

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