Editing Tam Lin (section)

===Early versions===
The ballad dates to at least as early as 1549 (the publication date of ''[[The Complaynt of Scotland]]'' that mentions "The Tayl of the [[Yogh|Ȝ]]ong Tamlene" ('The Tale of the Young Tamelene') among a long list of medieval romances).<ref name=Child /><ref>The Complaynt of Scotland, c. vi., ed. J. A. H. Murray, E.E.T.S., p.68 (excerpted in: {{cite book|last=Ker|first=W. P.|author-link=William Paton Ker|title=Epic and romance: essays on medieval literature|publisher=Macmillan|year=1922|url=https://archive.org/details/KerEpicAndRomance1922|page=[https://archive.org/details/KerEpicAndRomance1922/page/n418 389]}})</ref> [[Michael Drayton]]'s narrative poem ''Nimphidia'' (1627) includes a character called Tomalin who is a vassal and kinsman of [[Oberon]], King of the Fairies. [[Robert Burns]] wrote a version of Tam Lin based on older versions of the ballad, which was printed in [[James Johnson (engraver)|James Johnson]]'s ''[[Scots Musical Museum]]'' (1796).<ref>{{Cite web|title=BBC - Robert Burns - Tam Lin|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/robertburns/works/tam_lin/|access-date=2021-03-09|website=BBC|language=en-GB}}</ref>

The story featured in several nineteenth century books of fairy tales under different titles :
* "Elphin Irving, the Fairies' Cupbearer" in ''Traditional Tales of the English and Scottish Peasantry'' by [[Allan Cunningham (author)|Allan Cunningham]] (1822){{NoteTag|{{wikisource-inline|Traditional Tales of the English and Scottish Peasantry/Elphin Irving, the Fairies' Cupbearer|Elphin Irving, the Fairies' Cupbearer|single=true}}}}
* "Wild Robin" in ''Little Prudy's Fairy Book'' by [[Rebecca Sophia Clarke|Sophie May]] (1866).{{NoteTag|{{wikisource-inline|Fairy Book (Clarke)/Wild Robin|Wild Robin|single=true}}}}
* "Tamlane" in ''More English Fairy Tales'' by [[Joseph Jacobs]] (1893).

[[Francis James Child]] collected fourteen traditional variants in ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'' in the nineteenth century.<ref name="Child" /> (Another Child ballad, ''[[Burd Ellen and Young Tamlane]]'', has no connection with this ballad except for the similarity of the heroes' names.)