Tam o’ Shanter

Summary

Tam o' Shanter: A Tale is Burns's longest narrative poem and the one he himself thought his best. He wrote it in 1790 for the antiquary Francis Grose, who wanted a witch story to go with his drawing of the ruined church at Alloway in his Antiquities of Scotland. Tam, a farmer, has spent market day in Ayr drinking at the inn with his crony Souter Johnny, the cobbler, while his wife Kate sits at home nursing her wrath to keep it warm. She has warned him that he will be found drowned in the Doon or caught by warlocks at Alloway kirk. At midnight, in a storm, Tam rides home on his grey mare Meg. Passing the haunted church, he sees it ablaze with light: witches and warlocks are dancing to bagpipes played by the Devil in the shape of a beast, surrounded by grisly relics of crimes. Most of the witches are withered hags, but one, Nannie, is young and wears a short shift, a cutty sark, and Tam, forgetting himself, roars out Weel done, Cutty-sark! The light goes out and the whole crew rushes after him. Meg gallops for the bridge over the Doon, because witches cannot cross running water, and she just reaches the keystone as Nannie grabs her tail, which comes off in the witch's hand. The narrator ends with a mock moral: whenever you are inclined to drink, or short shifts run in your mind, remember Tam o' Shanter's mare. The poem is comic, fast and full of the folk belief Burns grew up with, and it is the best example of his storytelling. Teachers should preview it for high school: it treats drinking with humour, includes a gruesome inventory of relics on the altar, and has some innuendo about the dancers.

Plot or Argument

• The inn

  Tam drinks with Souter Johnny at Ayr while his wife waits at home; the narrator reflects that pleasures are like poppies that fade when seized.

• The ride

  Tam rides home through a fierce storm past places of local murder and misfortune toward Alloway kirk.

• The witches' dance

  He sees witches dancing to the Devil's pipes amid horrible relics, and shouts in admiration at the young witch Nannie.

• The chase

  The witches pursue him; Meg reaches the keystone of the Doon bridge, but Nannie tears off her tail.

• The moral

  The narrator warns drinkers and dreamers to remember Tam's mare.

Characters

• Tam o' Shanter, farmer

  A good-humoured, hard-drinking farmer who stays too long at the inn.

• Kate, his wife

  Tam's sulky, sullen wife, who has warned him of his fate.

• Souter Johnny, cobbler

  Tam's thirsty old crony.

• Meg (Maggie), the mare

  Tam's grey mare, whose courage saves him.

• Nannie (Cutty-sark), young witch

  The one young dancer, who leads the chase.

• Auld Nick, the Devil

  Plays the bagpipes for the witches in the shape of a beast.

Lessons

• Pleasures that fade

  In the inn scene the narrator stops to say that pleasures are like poppies spread: seize the flower and its bloom is shed. The comedy carries a real warning about drink and delay.

  • What images does Burns use for passing pleasure?
  • Why does he put this reflection in the middle of a comic scene?
  • How does Ecclesiastes judge pleasure?

• Folk belief and narrative

  Burns uses the local legends of Alloway, which he heard as a boy, to build a ghost story with a careful structure.

  • What details make the ride frightening?
  • Why can the witches not cross the bridge?
  • Is the narrator serious about the supernatural?

• Mock moral

  The ending gives a moral with a wink. Students should decide what the poem really teaches.

  • Is the moral serious, ironic or both?
  • Who pays for Tam's folly?
  • What does Kate's warning add?

Context

Alloway kirk, already ruined in Burns's day, stood near his birthplace; his father was buried there. Scottish rural belief in witches and warlocks was still alive, though educated people treated it as folklore.

Composition

Written in 1790 at Ellisland at Francis Grose's request, printed in the Edinburgh Herald and Edinburgh Magazine in March 1791, and in Grose's Antiquities of Scotland in April 1791.

Reception

Burns thought it his masterpiece; it is recited at Burns Suppers every January, and the clipper ship Cutty Sark was named after Nannie's shift.

Comparisons

• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

  Another supernatural tale in verse from the same decade, solemn where Burns is comic.

• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

  Another poem in which a hero meets the uncanny on a journey and returns with a mark of the encounter.

• Dracula

  A later supernatural tale with a horror of the uncanny but none of Burns's comedy.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• The narrator's interruptions, such as the poppies passage.
• The storm and the list of haunted places on the road.
• The contrast between the old hags and young Nannie.
• The rule that witches cannot cross running water.
• The tone of the final moral.

Key terms and names

Souter

Scots for shoemaker or cobbler.

Cutty sark

A short shift or undergarment; Nannie's nickname.

Kirk

Scots for church; Alloway kirk was already a ruin in Burns's day.

Keystone

The central stone of an arch; here the middle of the bridge.

Octosyllabic couplet

Rhymed pairs of eight-syllable lines, the quick meter of the poem.

Scots

Burns tells Tam's ride in Scots and keeps English mainly for the moralizing asides; words such as 'skelpit' (hurried), 'houlets' (owls), 'tippenny' (twopenny ale), 'usquabae' (whisky) and 'cutty sark' (short shift) carry the speed, drink and danger of the night.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension Why is Tam late leaving Ayr?
2. Comprehension What does he see at Alloway kirk?
3. Comprehension How does he escape, and at what cost?
4. Interpretation What does the poppies passage add to the comic tale?
5. Interpretation Why does Tam shout, and what does it show about him?
6. Interpretation How should the final moral be read?
7. Big Question Can a comic story teach a serious lesson?

Faith Connections

• Proverbs 20:1; 23:29-35 (Scripture)

  Wine is a mocker; Proverbs' portrait of the drunkard matches Tam's folly, though Burns paints it with humour.

• Ecclesiastes 2:1-2, 10-11 (Scripture)

  The Preacher tested pleasure and found it vanity; compare the poppies that fade when seized.

• Ephesians 5:15-16 (Scripture)

  Walk carefully, redeeming the time; Tam forgets that no man can tether time.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Tam delays at the inn and ignores his wife's warning; his drink-fuelled boldness leads him to the witches and nearly to ruin; his mare saves him but pays the price; so the reader should remember the cost of folly.

Rhetorical device: mock-heroic narration. Burns addresses his hero directly, O Tam! had'st thou but been sae wise, as if lamenting an epic warrior.

Debate: Resolved: that Tam o' Shanter teaches temperance more effectively than a sermon would.

Memory Work

But pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flow’r, its bloom is shed

Nursing her wrath to keep it warm

Writing Prompts

Essay: Analyse how Burns balances comedy and warning in Tam o' Shanter.

Comparison with The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: Compare how Burns and Coleridge use the supernatural to teach a lesson.

Creative Prompts

• Classroom

  Map Tam's route from Ayr to the Brig o' Doon, marking each haunted place he passes.

• Fiction

  Retell the story from Meg the mare's point of view.

• Essay

  Is the moral of Tam o' Shanter serious? Argue from the poem's tone and structure.

Further Reading

• Antiquities of Scotland, Francis Grose

  Where the poem first appeared in book form.

• Essay on Burns, Thomas Carlyle