Tam Lin, by Joanna Barnum.
“They forget my name
They call me Hel,
They call me Stacey,
They call me her,
They call me Jane
That’s not my name”
The Ting Tings, ‘That’s not my name’, 2008
In the traditional Scottish ballad of Tam Lin, a handsome human boy has been abducted to Elfland to serve in the fairy queen’s retinue. His sweetheart, Janet, agrees to help save him and bring him home but he warns her of the obstacles she will face in attempting this. The fairies will change his form to try to scare her, but additionally he advises her:
“First, they did call me Jack, he said,
And then they called me John,
But since I lived in the fairy court
Tomlin has always been my name.”
These lines very strongly imply that, as part of his kidnapping and detention, a change…
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silver steps silver streets 