Tam o Shanter - The Epic Scottish Halloween Tale

Back to scary stories and this one is a classic! The epic long poem of Tam o Shanter by Robert Burns, sit down and grab a drink - this one takes a while but it's worth it!

To help with the words, the beginning of the poem talks about old Tam sitting in an Ayr pub after drinking away all of his hard earned money with his pals. His wife Kate sits at home "gathering brows like a gathering storm"...

Then after mounting his horse Meg, Tam rides through the poor weather, passing lots of tragic, spooky locations until he reaches the ruins of old Alloway Church. Usually dark, on this night it seems to be lit up with a party inside!

It wasn't some drunken youths, but witches and warlocks dancing a ceilidh! The devil in the shape of a great, black dog played the pipes for them and all around were horrific images. Open coffins with corpses holding lights and murderous weapons lying on the holy table.

Most of the witches weren't much to look at, apart from a young one called Nanny who was wearing a cutty-sark or a short dress (in longitude though sorely scanty). Drunken Tam gets so caught up that he yells out to her and suddenly the lights go out and the music stops.

He learns the hard way never to cat call anybody, never mind witches.

They rush out to chase him and Tam kicks Meg into a gallop. He knows all they have to do is get across running water and witches (or anything supernatural) can't follow. Nanny herself almost grabs him, but Meg just manages to leap across the middle of the bridge and the witch is left with just the horse's tail in her hand.

So when you might be tempted to drink too much or get caught up looking at some lady's short skirt, remember the story of Tam o Shanter with Meg's lost tail and just you think again!

#Scotland #Halloween #RobertBurns #TamOShanter