The hag stone and the hawthorn tree

It’s publication day for my newest piece of fiction: The hag stone and the hawthorn tree.

You can read the story at The Orange & Bee Substack here.

It’s a retelling of The legendary Scottish ballad of Tam Lin, which tells of the strange love story between Tam Lin, and his courageous love, Janet.  

For me, it’s Janet who is the hero of the story. She rescues her lover from the Queen of the fairies. But I wondered what might happen if Janet (or Deidre in my story) were allowed to make her own choices, instead of falling in with everyone’s expectations.

Plus I combined the Tam Lin ballad with the remembered Magpie rhyme of my childhood. There are considerable variations in the lyrics used (as the rhyme has been around since before 1780.) This is my version:

One for sorrow,


Two for mirth


Three for a funeral,


Four for birth


Five for heaven


Six for hell


Seven for a secret never to be told.