Martha tells the story of the creepy, spooky, surreal, and downright weird Robert Burns poem behind the name for that flat hat called a tam. Read it in translation here. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Tam Hat”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi there, this is Rachel calling from Texas.
Well, hello Rachel. Where in Texas are you? It’s a big place.
Oh, in Dallas, Dallas area.
Okay, yeah, welcome to the program. What can we do for you?
Well, I had a question that came to me about a week ago. I wanted to know what is the origin of the word veray, and how does it relate to the word tam, which also describes the same style of hat because I wore one to work and I had people call it both things and I work in retail and I was surprised by that. And I didn’t really know what the origin of those words were or if they were related.
Well, yeah, we can help you with that. Beret is frankly kind of a boring word. It just goes back to a Latin word that means a hooded coat and came to us through French. Ultimately, I think the Latin word was birus, meaning a large hooded cloak.
But the cool word here, Rachel, is tam. The cool thing about tam is that it goes all the way back to Scotland and it was popularized by a poem by the poet Robert Burns. You know, the guy who wrote Au Lang Syne? Mm— He wrote this poem in 1791 called Tam O’Shanter. And that’s the Scottish version of what would be Tom O’Shanter, this guy Tom from Shantor.
It’s kind of this wild, hallucinatory story about this guy, Tam, who goes to work. And then on the way home, well, the guy stops at a pub. And you know what happens at a pub. He just drinks and drinks and drinks and drinks with his buddies. And his wife is tapping her foot waiting at home. And then he leaves in the dead of night. And he comes across this scene when he’s coming home that is just this almost a horror story. All these ghoulish creatures and the devil and witches, they’re all dancing around and having this big party.
And to make a long story short, they start chasing him ultimately. And he barely escapes with his life. And this story is like no other poem I’ve ever read. It’s kind of horror story and kind of funny and kind of moralistic.
But anyway, in the poem, it talks about Tam O’Shanter riding his trusty horse while holding fast to his good blue bonnet. And this blue bonnet that he was wearing, when it was portrayed in illustrations, it looked just like a Tam, you know, that kind of flat hat. And that’s what popularized the name Tam for that kind of hat.
And so you think this Burns poem has something to do with the popularity of Tam to refer to that hat?
Yes, yes. Tam O’Shanter is the longer version of that type of hat.
Well, I’m looking forward to reading that poem. We’ll definitely link to that online. It’s way cool.
Well, thank you guys so much.
Okay.
You’re welcome.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
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