Tammy smiled, even though she picked up on her brother's ill thoughts. He'll get over it, she thought to herself. Then she smiled to Lucy who just entered and gave her a hug. "The story of Tam Lin is an old Gaelic tale, originally told via oration, so there are many versions. The one I like starts with a fair maiden named Margaret going to her father about a property they own, called Carterhaugh. Her father says the property is haunted and that she is to not go to Carterhaugh, but she does not believe him. She goes by the property and plucks a rose from the ground. Suddenly, the image of a man, a young man, appears before her. He demands to know why she is trespassing and has picked his rose. Margaret confronts the spirit and says that Carterhaugh is hers, owned by her family. She then asks the spirit how he came to be there and he tells her. He was the son of the Earl of Forbes, and one day he was hunting when he came by Carterhaugh. There he encountered a faerie, the Faerie Queen. He was taken by her beauty, and her by his. She took him prisoner. She trapped him on Carterhaugh to sacrifice as a tithe to Hell, but she fell in love with him. Alas, he had been trapped here for seventy five years, and could only be saved by his true love." She stopped and took a few good breathes. "You can guess at this point that Margaret was in love his with him. She confessed her love for him, which he confessed back. They..." she paused and sighed. "They consummated their love and he bid her leave the place. He said, 'If you wish to free me, at Miles Cross you must be on Hallowe'en. The Faerie Queen will be sacrificing me when she learns of us.' And so, Margaret returned home and prepared for the night. On the eve, she set out wearing her green cloak, and carried with her only a bottle of holy water. She came to the crossing and waited. She waited until the start of the morning when she heard horses riding on the hill. First, by the black horse came the Faerie King, then by the brown came the Queen, and on the white rode her love, Tam Lin. She snatched him off the horse, then using the holy water made a circle around them and gave cause for the Faeries to stop in their ride. The Faerie Queen, hurt by Tam Lin's betrayal turned him into an adder. But Margaret, she feared him not, and held onto him. Then the Queen turned him into a burning man. But Margaret still held him in her arms and feared him not. Growing furious, the Faerie Queen turned him into a large black dog, but Margaret did not let go. But Margaret's love was stronger then their magic and he turned back to a naked man. The Faerie Queen cursed him and said that she should have paid her tithe to Hell before he escaped. Since they could do nothing else, the Faeries departed and left Tam Lin with Margaret, the father of her child." She finished with a heavy sigh.
