OCR Document


 

CONTENTS 

From the Editor .......................................................... 2 

1996 Newell Prize Paper 
"Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness Waiting for Our 
Dessert": The Girl Scout Program and Ordering Space in Camp 
Sacajawea's Dining Hall/Main House 

Susan Charles T. Groth………………………………….3 

Featured Article 
 The Ever-Vigilant Hero: Revaluing the Tale of Tam Lin 
 Evelyn M. Perry ...................................................... 31 

CFS: 1996 Annual Meeting ......................................... 51 

Notes and Announcements... ..................................... 55 

About the Contributors ............................................. 56 

Cover: Photograph of W.W. Newell courtesy of Harvard 
 University Archives. 



 

From the Editor. . . 

You may well find this issue of the journal following hard on 
the heels of the fall issue. That issue, much delayed for a variety 
of reasons, did not get into the mail until March of 1997, and 
this issue was being set in camera-ready copy at the same time. 

Two substantial essays grace the pages of this issue. The 
first, the Newell Prize-winning paper for 1996, is Susan Charles 
T. Groth's '''Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness Waiting 
for Our Dessert': The Girl Scout Program and Ordering Space in 
Camp Sacajawea's Dining Hall/Main House." Groth's essay, 
which calls to mind some of the materials in Randal K. Tillery's 
"Folklore and Children's Worlds: Nature, Place, and Belonging 
in a Romantic Key" (CFR 17.2), examines the sources of con-
cepts basic to Girl Scouting as a background to understanding 
spatial ordering in the dining hall in particular and the camp in 
general. Evelyn M. Perry's "The Ever-Vigilant Hero: Revaluing 
the Tale of Tam Lin" is another essay which, like Millicent 
Lenz's "Mytholigizing Chief Seattle: Susan Jeffers' Brother 
Eagle, Sister Sky or How to Make a Myth in Ten Easy Steps" 
(CFR 19.1), discusses the way(s) in which literature makes use 
of traditional tales. 

As I have mentioned previously in this column and as you 
will read in the CFS minutes, we are at the threshold of the 20th 
anniversary of the section and this journal. At this time, the 
section is planning a special double issue of the journal, volume 
20, numbers 1 and 2, which will appear in the spring of 1998. 
That issue will contain Simon Bronner's history of the section, 
an index to all articles published in the last 20 years, a special 
essay by Brian Sutton-Smith, and much, much more. 

C.W. Sullivan III 

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"Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness Waiting for Our 
Dessert": The Girl Scout Program and Ordering Space in 
Camp Sacajawea's Dining Hall/Main House Susan Charles 
T. Groth 

It is early in the evening sometime in July, sometime in the 1970s, 
in the Dining Hall at Camp Sacajawea, a Girl Scout camp in Sparta, 
New Jersey. Dinner has been served and dessert will come out 
soon. Some girls are clearing tables. In the serving room, a meeting 
ground between kitchen and dining hall, the kitchen staff hands 
dessert trays to the girls on serving duty; campers are not allowed in 
the kitchen, and kitchen staff have little need to go into the dining 
hall (see Fig. I). The rest of the girls—at least one hundred and 
fifty—sit at the tables with their counselors and the other camp 
staff. 

A din rises from units at the southeast end of the hall. The 
Scouts pound both hands in 4/4 time on the edge of the table; first 
the fist, then the thumb, then the pointer and middle fingers 
together, and last, the pointer and pinky finger (see Fig. 2). The fist 
puts the accent on the first quarter note, sounding vaguely like the 
tom-toms in G-rated movies about Native Americans and 
European-American settlers. The tunes and words, however, are 
vintage camp song. They go through an abstract lyric, "Dum-dum-
da-da," whose words imitate carefree humming, then switch to a 
situation-specific favorite, "Here We Sit Like Birds in the 
Wilderness": 

Here we sit like birds in the wilderness, 
birds in the wilderness, birds in the wilderness. 
Here we sit like birds in the wilderness, waiting 
for our dessert. 

The last syllable coincides with an accented beat, leaving three 
beats until the verse starts again. . . and again. . . and again. Often 
annoying the staff and the girls who must serve the dessert, the 
singing and pounding amuses the girls at the tables and keeps them 
seated on the benches out of the way of servers and clearers. 

When I first considered exploring spatial ordering in Camp 
Sacajawea's Dining Hall/Main House as an aspect of vernacular 
architecture studies, such a scene swam up from memory. When at 
camp, we did not sing that song each night, but often enough for it 
to qualify as typical of the location. In fact, although we might 
"practice" the hand motions on makeshift surfaces, we "really" did 
them only in the Dining Hall. Why did campers do that activity in 
the 

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Groth 



 

 

Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness 



 

Groth 

Dining Hall? And what did it say about the Dining Hall? These two questions 
initiated my scholarly search, taking me outside of my memory to the 
memories of a former food service supervisor and others connected with the 
camp, through twenty years of camp brochures, and outside of Camp 
Sacajawea for scholarship and popular literature on the American camp 
experience. In this article, I examine how the Girl Scouting program is 
enacted through two specific themes at camp: domesticity and "playing 
Indian," themes that exist in American camping outside of Girl Scouting. The 
table-banging I remembered touched on both of these themes, although the 
roughness of the activity might be considered a counter-statement to the 
domesticity of the place. In any case, this activity points to the Dining Hall as 
a special place in camp. 
A few practical considerations connect the percussive singing with the 
Dining Hall. I have already suggested a functional approach: the activity 
served1 the purpose of keeping restless campers' attention while waiting for 
dessert, a situation the lyric narrates. On the other hand, the non-specific 
lyrics of "Dum-dum-da-da" point away from a thematic connection to a 
musical reason for placing this activity in the Dining Hall. The beat sounded 
best on thin-topped tables and with a great number of people at once. Few 
surfaces in camp have the proper edge at the proper height: camp platforms 
were too low, the waterfront dock, too high. The outdoor "picnic" tables in 
camp are too think to sound good and too rough on the hands. The indoor 
tables in buildings such as the nature center and arts and crafts room 
presented other problems. In the former, the girls could scare the animals; 
this would violate the part of the Girl Scout Law involving the natural world: 
"A Girl Scout is a Friend to Animals" (Law before 1975), or the promise to 
try to "protect and improve the world around [them)" (Law after 1975). In the 
arts and crafts room, campers could jiggle the table and ruin someone's 
project. This would violate two parts of the Law: "A Girl Scout is Courteous" 
and "A Girl Scout is a Friend to All and a Sister to every other Girl Scout" 
(old Law); the promises to try to "be friendly and considerate" and "be a 
sister to every Girl Scout" (new Law). In both the nature center and the arts 
and crafts center, staff turned campers' attention to individual or small group 
activities, the wrong frame for an orchestra of fists and fingers. 

Carolyn MacDonald provides a reason and a key characteristic of the 
Dining Hall without a moment's hesitation. When I interviewed her about her 
experience as a caretaker for sixteen years (1971-87), and as a food service 
supervisor for a few years during the 1970s, I asked her about this singing 
that went on during mealtimes. She remembers lots of singing going on at the 
tables and the percussive accompaniment, although she could not always 
hear the words clearly from the kitchen where she worked. Considering why 
this 

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Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness 

particular activity occurred almost exclusively in the Dining Hall, 
MacDonald states, "You weren't all together any place else either." 

MacDonald's assessment of the Dining Hall as a central meeting place 
ret1ects literature on camping. In Camps: Their Planning and Management, 
Robert E. Wilkinson writes: 

there is a need for a large facility that can be used for all-
camp programs. It can be a very simple building with a 
few distinguishing features. It is generally rectangular in 
shape so that a variety of indoor court games can be 
played. At other times, it serves as a theater, chapel, dance 
hall, meeting hall, craft center, or room for games that 
require little organization. . . . In the absence of a 
recreation hall, the dining hall, or even the indoor chapel, 
may have to be used for these activities. (103) 

At Camp Sacajawea, the Dining Hall provides the structure for large indoor 
activities. This large rectangular room is attached to the Main House, an old 
farmhouse which houses the kitchen facility, the camp office, and bedrooms 
used in the past for some of the summer staff. Presently campers use the 
Main House as a lodge. 

The 1957 Standards for Girl Scout Camping: Guides for Better and 
Safer Camping requires dining and cooking facilities for established camps 
and recommends a dining area large enough to accommodate the entire camp 
at one time (20-21). Technically, when camp was at full capacity, all 
campers and staff could not fit into the Dining Hall, being just a unit too 
many. However, some of the units' programs involved frequent off-site trips 
so that all campers were not on-site at the same time anyway. Moreover, 
indoor all-camp activities (besides meals) were a rarity, necessitated only by 
severe weather. For mealtimes, capacity posed no problem, but rather 
became an asset to programming. Since cooking and eating out-of-doors was 
one of the traditions of camp, one or more of the units would cook at their 
unit over an open fire (Carolyn MacDonald). Yet, if weather or emergency 
dictated, the staff could accommodate the whole camp for an indoor activity 
between the Dining Hall/Main House and Pocahontas, the large converted 
barn next door. Both facilities had large hearths for indoor campfire activities 
(Carolyn MacDonald). In actuality, the Dining Hall could accommodate 
everyone present in camp on virtually any day. It was, indeed, where indoor 
all-camp gatherings took place. 

Serving the whole camp, the Dining Hall/Main House holds an ex-
tremely important position as a hub of camp activity. Although one can see 

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Groth 

the themes of domesticity and playing Indian throughout Camp Sacajawea, 
my research suggests that they are acted out uniquely in the Dining 
Hall/Main House. 

Camping and the Principles of Girl Scouting 

Like the rest of camp, the Dining Hall/Main House serves the Girl Scouting 
program. Girls practice the teachings and values of Girl Scouting through 
their activities in the camp. Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), the national 
organization to which individual Girl Scout troops and facilities belong, 
spells out the broad goals of Girl Scout camping and how to accomplish 
those goals through published standards, which they have developed for 
councils since 1923 (GS Standards for Girl Scout Camping 1956,3; hereafter 
camping standards publications are cited as GS Standards with date and 
page). Councils organize Girl Scouting into regional units, providing 
administrative and other resources to individual troops. Although a couple of 
facilities are nationally run (such as National Center West in Wyoming), 
individual councils run most camps. The Delaware-Raritan Girl Scout 
Council, which covers central New Jersey from the Delaware River to the 
Atlantic Ocean, owns Camp Sacajawea, which lies outside the council in 
northwestern New Jersey. Three councils joined to create the Delaware-
Raritan Girl Scout Council in the early 1970s. One of these three, the Raritan 
Valley Council, bought two adjacent farms in the early 1950s from which 
they created Camp Sacajawea (Carolyn MacDonald, Kraszewski). 

The 1965 GS Standards make explicit the connection between camping 
and the Girl Scouting program: 

In Girl Scouting, camping is the Girl Scout program in the 
out-of-doors. . . . All program is based on the Framework 
for Progression in the Girl Scout program which is built up 
the Foundation: Promise and Laws, service, troop manage-
ment, citizenship, international friendship, health and 
safety. This foundation permeates all program through 
activities related to the arts, the home, and the out-of-doors. 

  (GS Standards 1965, 8) 

Although aspects of the arts and the home exist at camp, the out-of-doors 
dominates the camping experience. Girl Scout camping encompasses three 
types of situations: troop camping, day camping, and established camping 
(GS Standards 1957,8). Troop camping means an individual troop camps for 
at least one night on a site provided or approved by a council. This usually 
takes place on weekends, school vacations, or sometimes in the summer. At 

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Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness 

Camp Sacajawea, the Dining Hall/Main House often houses troops during 
the winter months, serving as a lodge after the tents have been removed for 
the season. Under this arrangement, the Dining Hall hearth becomes the 
locus for campfire activity while other activities take place in the Main 
House. Where the Dining Hall provides ample space for active games, it is 
unheated. Between activities outdoors, quiet activities take place in the 
serving room and kitchen, and the group may opt to sleep upstairs.  

Day and established camping (also called resident camping) occur 
during the summer months at a site where a council provides both staff and 
facility. Since they purchased the facility in the early 1950s, the council has 
used Camp Sacajawea for troop camping, established camping, and council-
sponsored family camping weekends. Established camp at Sacajawea ended 
in 1987 (Kraszewski). Presently, the council leases the facility to Sussex 
County, with the agreement that Delaware-Raritan Girl Scout troops get first 
choice of camping sites for troop camping (Ruth MacDonald, current council 
president). This article focuses on Camp Sacajawea's use as an established 
camp, the situation which has used the Dining Hall/Main House most fully. 

Building on the broad connection between the Girl Scout program and 
camping, the 1965 Girl Scout camping standards outline the following more 
specific objectives: 

• To promote the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being 
of every girl and leader. 

• To develop resourcefulness, initiative, self-reliance, and 
recognition of the worth and dignity of each individual. 

• To provide resources for practices in democratic living. 
• To develop a sense of responsibility, qualities of 

leadership, and an awareness of the capacities of all 
people. 

• To provide an inner satisfaction, a sense of awe and 
wonder, and a deep enjoyment for both girl and leader. 

• To provide a sense of accomplishment. 
• To stimulate each girl's awareness of the scope of the 

natural world. To develop the individual's sense of 
responsibility to conserve the natural world. (GS Standards 
1965,6) 

Written for the adults who run camps, these objectives dovetail with the old 
  and new Girl Scout Law. While the language differs between the two, both 
versions of the Law emphasize developing an appreciation for the world 
beyond oneself (other people, the natural world), developing responsibilities 
to that world, and developing the practical and interpersonal skills with 
which to fulfill those responsibilities. 

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Groth 

The camp provides the opportunity for girls to practice Girl Scouting 
values in an environment where everyone else knows and practices the 
values, and institutional procedures have been designed with Girl Scout 
values in mind. All staff must be familiar with Girl Scouting. GSUSA's 1967 
Good Counselors Make Good Camps lists Girl Scout values first under 
"General Qualifications for All Camp Staff Members." Camp staff must 
demonstrate" Acceptance of and adherence to the purposes and principles of 
Girl Scouting as embodied in the Promise and Laws. Some knowledge of the 
Girl Scout program" (9). Although the title of the book calls attention to the 
counselor's job, the book applies these general qualifications to all the staff, 
including administrative staff, special programming staff (waterfront, nature 
center, arts and crafts), and the food service staff from supervisor to dish-
washer. 

Linking social values to camping is not unique to Girl Scouting; many 
social organizations, such as religious groups, do the same. In fact, the 
American Camping Association (ACA), the body which provides accredita-
tion for camps throughout the United States, defines camping by its social 
objectives as well as its setting. Camping is: 

A sustained experience which provides a creative, recre-
ational and educational opportunity in group living in the 
out-of-doors. It utilizes trained leadership and the re-
sources of the natural surroundings to contribute to each 
camper's mental, physical, social, and spiritual growth. 
(ACA 3) 

A camp volunteers to follow the ACA standards and apply for ACA accredi-
tation, which includes an on-site visit. The accreditation helps parents and 
guardians judge whether a specific camp is safe and suitable for their 
children (Moreau 112). Although some camps choose not to go through the 
accreditation process, Camp Sacajawea maintains its accreditation, 
advertises it on a sign attached to the Main House (which can be seen from 
the road), and includes its ACA status in camp brochures. 

The Dining Hall/Main House as Threshold 

The lyric "here we sit like birds in the wilderness, waiting for our dessert" 
appeals because of its humor, the irony of wild birds having dessert. Yet, the 
juxtaposition of a wilderness setting and the civilized activity of eating 
dessert fits the Dining Hall/Main House, which sits both on the edge of camp 
and on the edge of the road. As the gateway to the rest of the camp, the 
Dining 

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Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness 

Hall/Main House serves as he threshold or liminal space between this ideal 
community and the rest of the world. The term "liminal" comes from the 
Latin for threshold (Webster); its root is in spatial relationships.2 

In several ways, the Dining Hall/Main House has connections to and 
similarities with both the natural, ideal living conditions of the camp and the 
world outside where the campers and staff live during the rest of the year. 
For instance, for most years of resident camp, campers entered camp when 
buses delivered them to the parking lot by the road in front of the Dining 
Hall/Main House (later, buses began to use a newer parking lot, still by the 
road, but closer to the Ranger's House than the Dining Hall/Main House). 
From there, camp staff would organize the girls into groups (units) 
determined by what program the girls had registered for, and walk them into 
the heart of the camp, to the sites where they would live for the session. At 
the end of the session, the buses would meet the girls in front of the Dining 
Hall/Main House again and take them back to central locations in their home 
communities. 

The Dining Hall/Main House serves as a threshold for communication to 
the camp, as well as the bringing communications to the campers themselves. 
The mail carrier did not go to each individual campsite, but dropped the mail 
at the Main House. While counselors distributed mail to the girls, each staff 
member had his or her own mailbox in the downstairs hallway of the Main 
House. A mailbox for outgoing mail, which both staff and campers would 
use, was hung on the wall of the Dining Hall. Voice communication to 
campers and staff also entered the camp through the Dining Hall/Main 
House. The Main House contained the camp office and the camp's telephone 
line. Several years' brochures state that parents should telephone campers 
only in case of emergency and should not expect to speak to the camper 
directly at that time; messages would be relayed to campers by staff. Directly 
or indirectly (through messages), the Dining Hall/Main House linked the 
camp with written and oral communication to the outside world. 

The camp office in the Main House provided the work place for the 
Camp Director and Assistant Camp Director and place for all camp business. 
From here, the camp staff would interface with parents, vendors, and others. 
Gwen Mitchell's Handbook for Camp Directors and Administrators in a Girl 
Scout Council, a GSUSA publication, places ultimate responsibility for food 
service and other camp services on camp directors, spelling out their duty to 
maintain connections with the outside vendors necessary to run the camp 
(16-17). Although the camp director was ultimately responsible, Carolyn 
MacDonald recalls that it was her duty as food supervisor to order the food 
and oversee its delivery and consumption. Deliveries—most frequently 
food—entered the camp by way of the Main House. Food service depended 
on the outside world and connected the camp with the outside world through 

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Groth 

the Dining Hall/Main House. Within the boundaries of the camp, almost all 
food service activities take place in the Dining Hall/Main House. Eating is 
the locus of activity in the Dining Hall, the food having been ordered and 
prepared in the Main House. The only exceptions are the snacks and packed 
lunches eaten on day trips out of camp or the meals planned and prepared by 
the girls at their units' campfires. Yet, even these would be checked for 
nutritional value by the food supervisor (Carolyn MacDonald), a practice 
guaranteed in the camp brochures. Eating on the trail or preparing food in the 
unit is part of imitating Native American and pioneer life. Following GSUSA 
guidelines, program organizers provide the opportunity for the girls to learn 
practical skills in food preparation under unusual circumstances, work 
cooperatively, and appreciate nature together. 

Besides serving as the threshold to the world outside camp, the Dining 
Hall/Main House lies in symbolic and spatial relationship with the other 
places within the camp proper. I turn now to two major themes evident in 
space ordering at Camp Sacajawea: playing Indian and domesticity (playing 
house). 

Playing Indian at Girl Scout Camp 

"Playing Indian" has a long tradition at mainstream American camps, and 
Girl Scout camps are no exception. In "The Tribe Called Wannabee: Playing 
Indian in America and Europe," Rayna Green states that 

since the invasion of North America by those "red hairy men" in 
the fifteenth century, non-Indians have found the performance of 
"playing Indian" a most compelling and obviously satisfying 
form of traditional expression. (30) 

She makes a distinction between playing Indian and being a Native 
American when she states that not only did Europeans play Indian, but that 
they also made tribal peoples "play Indian" so they could "export the 
performances back to Europe" (30). In The Imaginary Indian: The Image of 
the Indian in Canadian Culture, Daniel Francis expresses the following 
distinction between the Indian and the Native American: 

The Indian began as a White man's mistake, and became a White 
man's fantasy. Through the prism of White hopes, fears and 
prejudices, indigenous Americans would be seen to have lost 
contact with reality and to have become "Indians": that is, 
anything non-Natives wanted them to be. (5) 

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Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness 

Presently, I will concentrate on the nature of playing Indian3 at Camp 
Sacajawea and how this activity differentiates the Dining Hall/Main House 
from the rest of the group. 

In the scholarly and popular literature, some articles explore playing 
Indian at camp, but most concentrate explicitly or implicitly on the male 
experience. If mentioned at all, Girl Scouting is frequently treated almost as 
if it were just Boy Scouting in skirts. Both Green and Francis focus their 
treatment of playing Indian at camp on boys' organizations, such as Lord 
Robert Baden-Powell's Boy Scouts4 and Ernest Thompson Seton's Wood- 
craft Indians. The Woodcraft Indians predated and had an early influence on 
Boy Scouting, but eventually the two organizations diverged because Seton 
wished to emphasize pacifism while Baden-Powell wished to emphasize a 
military metaphor (Francis 144-68). 

Green notes the paramilitary nature when she writes of Boy Scouting: 

Lord Baden-Powell's para-military outdoor education movement 
merges with neo-French revolutionary philosophy, and the 
French passion for natural men comes to be embodied in the 
Indian, who will represent the [Boy] Scouting ideal of manly 
independence. Learning to walk, stalk, hunt, survive like an 
"Indian," to produce beaded and feathered authentic outfits, to 
dance and sing authentic music, to produce tools and weapons, 
are the skills later to become fixed in the Order of the Arrow, 
Scouting's highest achievement. (40-41)5 

Green makes the connection between teaching independence, playing Indian, 
and youth programs. Learning self-reliance and independence through play-
ing Indian may indeed be considered "manly" when looking at the issue from 
the point of view of Boy Scouting, but the picture is incomplete. Although 
not emphasizing playing Indian to the extent or in the same way as Boy 
Scouting does, Girl Scouting also uses survival skills (hiking safety, lashing 
and knots, building shelters, knowing which plants are poisonous) with an 
Indian metaphor. In a passing nod to Girl Scouting, Green writes: 

The [Boy] Scouting reification of the Indian, as Scout played 
him, (note that, by this time [the time of the development of Boy 
Scouting in .the 20th century], the Indian is a definitely male and 
be-feathered Lord of the Plains), affects more variants, some later 
practiced by the Girl Scouts and Campfire Girls, which 
concentrate, for their dramatic reenactments, less on paramilitary 
skill and more on crafts and nature worship. (41) 

The representation of these specific youth organizations appears incomplete, 
yet Green makes a valuable point. On the down side, Green's use of "affects 

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Groth 

more variants" and "later" seems to imply a greater influence of Baden-
Powell's program on these other programs than there actually was. As Francis 
writes, Campfire Girls grew out of Seton's Woodcraft Indians, and it is 
therefore natural that Campfire Girls would have a different—not paramili-
tary—emphasis in its version of playing Indian. The Girl Scouts, too, have an 
inheritance from Seton's program. In the 1929 revision of the 1920 Hand-
book, the Preface gives "grateful acknowledgments" to "Mr. Ernest Thomp-
son Seton and The Woodcraft League, and Doubleday, Page & Co. for the 
section and plates on 'Woodcraft'," as well as to Robert Baden-Powell and 
others. 

Like much of the general public, Green shows limited understanding of 
the early divergence between Girl Scouting and Boy Scouting in the United 
States (in her defense, Girl Scouting is not the focus of her article). Begun in 
1908 in England (Webster), Baden-Powell's Boy Scout program led to the 
founding of Girl Guiding in England, founded and developed by Lord Baden-
Powell and his sister, Agnes (Foreword, "How Scouting Began," Robert 
Baden-Powell, Scouting for Girls [May 1919]). Brought to American in 1912 
by Juliette Gordon Low, Girl Guides in America was renamed Girl Scouts 
"within a few months" (Scouting for Girls 13). The organization has operated 
separately from Boy Scouts of America from its beginning and began to 
develop differently from both organizations initiated by Lord Baden-Powell, 
Boy Scouting and Girl Guiding.6 Today, Girl Scouts in the United States 
honor Juliette Low's contribution by celebrating March 12th (the day in 1912 
when the program began in Low's native Savannah, GA [Eubanks 11]) as the 
birthday of Girl Scouting and Low's Birthday, October 31st, as Founder's 
Day (Eubanks 31). Along with other members of the World Association of 
Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, American Girl Scouts celebrate Thinking Day 
or World Association Day on February 22nd, the birthday of both Lord and 
Lady Baden Powell (Lady Olave Baden-Powell took a leadership role in Girl 
Guiding early on). A contrast to Lord Baden-Powell's paramilitarism and 
disapproval of Seton's pacifism, Thinking Day "presents an opportunity for 
Girl Scouts and Girl Guides to reflect on world peace and international 
friendship" (Eubanks 35). Girls in the United States are much more familiar 
with Juliette Low's leadership than the influence of the Baden-Powell family. 

Beginning just four years after the Boy Scouting program and one or 
two after Girl Guiding, Girl Scouting certainly shares roots with the two pro-
grams. However, in 83 years of operating independently (over 95% of its 
history), these programs have developed quite differently. Green does not 
acknowledge the self-reliance and confidence girls develop through learning 
wilderness survival skills because she interprets those skills as "manliness." 
However, she makes a valid point about Girl Scouting's stressing nature 

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Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness 

worship. A statement by the National Camping Committee in April, 1963, 
makes explicit the spiritual character of Girl Scout camping: 

Camping must fulfill the needs and interests of [the] young. . . by 
offering every Girl Scout camper a fully enriched program and a 
deeply meaningful social and spiritual experience in the natural 
world. (GS Standards 1965,5) 

The objectives of camping as expressed above by the Girl Scout standards 
attest to the aspect of nature worship with language such as "sense of awe 
and wonder." These objectives direct awareness toward "the scope of the 
natural world" and the "responsibility to conserve the natural world" (GS 
Standards 1965, 6). 

Daniel Francis also mentions the connection between nature and playing 
Indian, framing Seton's Woodcraft Indian program as a response to growing 
urbanization. From the point of view of European-Americans, 

the Indian retained qualities that "modern man" had lost. If 
civilization was artificial, frenetic, and soulless, the Indian seemed 
to live a more authentic existence, closer to nature and basic 
human values. (153-54) 

In a 1993 column in The New Yorker entitled "Injun Summer," Daniel 
Menaker echoes the attitude toward modernism that Francis attributes to 
Seton. Menaker knows that playing Indian is "politically incorrect" as well 
as being historically inaccurate; however, 

it implies a code of conduct and a relationship to nature at odds 
with and superior to the kinds of lives the campers and their 
families presumed to lead. Even a dented and misapprehended 
ideal is better than no ideal at all. (166) 

Where Seton has no awareness of what Francis would call the "Imaginary" 
quality of his Indian, Menaker recognizes the fantasy and embraces it 
anyway. While valuing nature and playing Indian like Seton and Menaker, 
Girl Scouting tends to emphasize looking forward or living in the present, 
rather than re-enacting the past. The 1929 Girl Scouting handbook (Scouting 
for Girls, Revised Edition) suggests using the Indian metaphor to look 
forward: 

The Girl Scouts of today, while they have no new lands to scout 
into, can scout in the new ways of life that our changing civiliza-
tion has brought us. They find that there can be as much joy in 

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Groth 

learning the best ways of doing things in our new era, as there 
was in our new and undiscovered country. The best way to live, 
to play, to help others, to build a home may be filled with as 
much adventure in New York or San Francisco today as there 
was in crossing the Ohio or Mississippi a hundred years ago. (15) 

As one would expect of an American youth publication in the 1920s, this 
passage contains a Euro-centric viewpoint. At the same time, it plays Indian 
in a new way, bringing the term "scout" into the present, whereas most views 
of the Imaginary Indian relegate the Native American to the past. The 
attitude toward scouting expressed in Scouting for Girls does not restrict the 
idea of "scouting" to its military or woodcraft meanings, either. Perhaps the 
downplaying of these two more obvious manifestations of playing Indian in 
Girl Scouting influences Green's emphasis on the male Scouting program in 
her interpretation of playing Indian. 

Although concentrating on the male experience, both Green and Francis 
suggest that playing Indian provides a certain freedom for marginalized 
groups. Green speaks in terms of race and gender: 

Inevitably and eventually [playing Indian] draws women, even 
blacks, into the peculiar boundaries of its performance, offering 
them a unique opportunity-through playing Indian-of escaping the 
conventional and often highly restrictive boundaries of their fixed 
cultural identities in gender or race. (31) 

For Green, playing Indian is tightly entwined with the male military sphere, 
yet its manifestation of "other" allows a degree of freedom for females. In a 
discussion of children playing Cowboys and Indians, she states that her 
informal survey revealed that most children wanted to play the Cowboy role 
because they "did not like getting beat." Of those preferring Indian, the 
higher percentage were female who "are very clear about what attracts them, 
that is, the 'costume,' the yelling and 'acting out' which appears to accompany 
the role, and the 'underdog' aspects the role entails" (54). This "acting out" 
may factor in the campers' delight in pounding and singing at the table 
between courses, activities not common and probably not even permitted in 
most homes or school cafeterias. 

Rather than addressing race or gender issues, Francis speaks in terms of 
power imbalance based on age: 

Too high-spirited and willful to perform the essential business of 
industrial society, the Imaginary Indian is the perfect model for 
youngsters chafing against the rules and duties of the adult world. 
Children love animals; so does the Imaginary Indian. Children 

16 



 

Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness 

love to roam freely in the woods. So does the Imaginary Indian. 
Children love secret ceremonies and dressing up in costume; so 
does the Imaginary Indian. Children yearn to perform brave 
deeds in combat; so does the Imaginary Indian. Children are in 
rebellion against the established order. So is the Imaginary 
Indian. (144-45) 

Francis concentrates on the connections between children's culture and the 
perception of the Imaginary Indian's culture, though he exhibits a touch of 
androcentrism. Where Green recognizes female organizations' distaste for 
military play, Francis includes a mention of combat. Francis seems to speak 
more of male children than all children, unless he is including brave acts of 
self-defense and caring for the wounded. There certainly are girls who enjoy 
aggressive play and reenacting conflict, but studies such as Green's, Carol 
Gilligan's In a Different Voice, and Deborah Tannen's You Just Don't 
Understand point to the phenomenon of females (adults and children) 
valuing conflict avoidance and resolution. 

Where Green and Francis emphasize the male warrior tradition of 
playing Indian, Camp Sacajawea embodies another image of the Indian, one 
stemming from European-American perception of the Iroquois nations.7 
Carolyn MacDonald states, "See, that's what the names come from, the five 
nations of the Indians of upstate New York." In addition to Iroquois itself, 
other campsites include Onondaga, Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, and 
Tuscarora. Seneca also existed until it fell into such disrepair that the council 
eliminated it (Carolyn MacDonald). Of the other four campsites, one is 
named Shoshone for Sacajawea's tribe, one for the Apache, and two reflect 
resident camp programs (see Fig. 3). 

The placement of the units and the other facilities creates a somewhat 
cohesive Indian nation covering the southeastern side of the camp (most of 
the land). Administrative sites, such as the infirmary, Dining Hall/Main 
House, ranger's house, and Pocahontas, lie along the northern border of 
camp. On the western side sit the modern sports fields and two units with 
special interests: girls in the Dolphin unit, overlooking the lake, develop 
water skills; while in the Pioneer unit, girls sleep in covered wagons and 
learn early settlers' crafts. In the southeastern part of the camp, the Indian 
sites stand together, interrupted only by wash houses, the flag pole, and the 
nature center. Totem Pole Hill, where all-camp campfires took place, lies at 
the southeastern comer of the camp, anchoring the Indian metaphor with a 
tall totem pole. 

One might assume that the council named the sites after the Iroquois in 
recognition of the simple fact of proximity. In northwestern New Jersey, 
Camp Sacajawea lies just south of the Iroquois lands. Yet, it also lies close to 

17 



 

 

'" 

, 

 

 



 

Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness 

the lands of the Lenni-Lenape associated with New Jersey, but neither 
Lenape nor the European-derived Delaware appear in camp names. The 
council also chose not to use names, such as Piscataway, that reflected Native 
Americans associated with the lands near the council headquarters. 

The connection between the Girl Scout camp and playing Indian 
Iroquois style reflects perceived values held in common: both emphasize the 
value of peace, safety, democracy, cooperative work, and women. In The 
Iroquois and the Founding of the American Nation, Donald A. Grinde, Jr., 
describes the Iroquois culture before and coexisting with the European 
colonies. He traces the process through which Deganawidah and Hiawatha 
secured the Great Peace and established laws so that "individual rights, safety 
and justice were assured" (8). For instance, vengeful murder (blood feud) 
was outlawed, and wampum strings and belts were substituted for the life of 
the murderer as recompense to the family of the victim (8). In "Iroquoian 
Culture History: A General Evaluation," William N. Fenton names four 
cardinal principles of Iroquois policy, all of which foster cooperative living: 
"(1) health, peace. . . , (2) strength, civil authority. . . , (3) truth, 
righteousness, . . . (4) the great law, or the commonwealth" (262). Fenton 
emphasizes the pervasiveness of these values: "These themes both exist on a 
worldly or political level and attain a level of supernatural significance 
through the Deganawidah epic" (262). Fenton further demonstrates Euro-
Americans' association of these communal values with the Iroquois when he 
refers to colonist Conrad Weiser's advice to be truthful, give one's best, and 
show courage when dealing with them. These Iroquois values resemble the 
Girl Scouting values that emphasize the strength of the individual and the 
community. The introduction to the 1965 Girl Scout camping standards 
mentions "international friendship, health and safety" (8) as parts of the 
Foundation of the Girl Scout program, while in the specific objectives for 
camping, "To promote the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of every 
girl and leader" heads the list (6). 

Grinde's work traces the influence of Iroquois governing practices on the 
democratic government developed for the United States.8 As in other Girl 
Scout camps and troops (GS Standards 1965, 8), Camp Sacajawea's program 
emphasizes collective and representative decision-making. In an introduction 
to the 1976 camp brochure, Janet B. Cook, then president of the Delaware-
Raritan Girl Scout Council, writes that after becoming acquainted with her 
new surroundings, "the girl becomes deeply involved in the camp and its 
decision-making through camp council and camp-wide events." Collective 
effort characterizes work in Girl Scouting and Grinde's assessment of the 
Iroquois life. Grinde cites collective work ("economic democracy") and 
collective ownership as characteristic of the Iroquois (24-25). 

19 



 

Groth 

Fenton concurs that "institutional cooperation and poor relief is deeply 
imbedded in Iroquoian culture" (264). 

The Iroquois value of women also makes Iroquois names appropriate for 
camp sites. On a very basic level, the Iroquois emphasized the value of 
women in relation to the value of men.9 While the murder of a man required 
the payment of 20 strings of wampum, the murder of a woman required 30 
strings (Grinde 8). Although fees were substituted for vengeful murder in 
European culture, the woman was not worth more than the man. In the case 
of the Anglo-Saxon wergeld, literally the "man money," social rank deter-
mined the fee and men outranked women. In "Eastern Woodlands Commu-
nity Typology and Acculturation," John Witthoft emphasizes women's 
relative importance in the economic life of the Eastern Woodlands Native 
Americans: 

Women's social roles were central, and men's economic roles 
were subsidiary. Male social and political roles were likewise 
secondary. Despite male emphasis on warfare, war lacked major 
economic motivation. (71-72). 

Similarly, Girl Scouting encourages women's power in the economic arena 
by encouraging girls to think of their careers (e.g., Scouting for Girls 
handbook [1929 revised edition], Worlds to Explore handbook [1977]). 

In addition to economic power, women also held power in Iroquois 
family and tribal government. In this matrilineal system, women headed the 
clans and their sub-units, the otiianer and the hearth (Grinde 1). Although 
women could not serve as chiefs, the heads of the otiianer (women) collec-
tively chose the chiefs (Grinde 15). Likewise, women appointed the male 
delegates and deputies who spoke at tribal councils. On an on-going basis, 
women collectively "formulated issues and questions to be debated and 
acted upon in the councils" and recommended which position the 
representative should advocate (Grinde 2). Fenton also assumes the strong 
political position of women, although he debates with others the consistency 
of this strength (266-77). This strength included influence over warfare, 
despite the fact that women did not battle for lead warriors. When the men 
called for war, women had the power to prevent or encourage war through 
their disapproval or approval (Grinde 14). 

Although one might question the extent of the Iroquois women's power 
in relation to their male delegates, the system gave far more power to 
women than did the European culture of the same period. While Iroquois 
women were the only ones to "vote" for representatives, it took another two 
centuries for female citizens of the United States to get any vote. In terms of 
influence over war, Julia Ward Howe created Mother's Day in the United 
States as a day for 

20 



 

Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness 

women to speak out against war for the safety of their children. Later, even 
this relatively powerless observance had been subverted into a day to talk 
about mothers, ceasing to be a day for mothers to speak out As an 
organization dedicated to developing girls' "resourcefulness, initiative, self-
reliance, and recognition of the worth and dignity of each individual" (GS 
Standards 1965,6), the council appropriately associates their place with a 
people reputed to value women. 

Playing Indian in the Dining Hall 

Camp Sacajawea pays tribute to two individual women through naming. 
Pocahontas and Sacajawea herself. In terms of spatial relations, these names 
bring playing Indian back to the camp's threshold, the area of the Dining 
Hall/ Main House. 

Like the Dining Hall/Main House, Pocahontas separates the camp from 
the road. Arts and crafts, lodging for kitchen staff, and, for a time, the nature 
center were housed here. Although an Indian, Pocahontas resided in the 
"white world" for much of her life, marrying a white man and moving to 
England, where she died. In "The Mother of Us All: Pocahontas Reconsid-
ered," Philip Young connects her betrayal of her tribe (for instance, she 
warned Captain John Smith of her father's imminent attack) with her 
glorification by whites. According to whites, she was a good Indian because 
she "recognized" the superiority of white culture. Young also connects the 
Pocahontas figure with Ceres, Demeter, and Gaea. Becoming "a fertility-
goddess, the mother of us all" (408), Pocahontas fits the nature worship of 
Girl Scouting's version of the imaginary Indian. 

Girl Scouting has long admired Sacajawea even more then Pocahontas. 
In the 1929 revised edition of the 1920 handbook, Scouting for Girls, 
Scouting equals discovery (see above). The text asks girls to apply this 
concept to the present; the past just provides models for new adventures. 

Our early history is sprinkled thickly with brave, handy girls, 
who were certainly Girl Scouts, though they never belonged to a 
patrol, nor recited the Girl Scout Laws. But they lived the laws, 
those strong young pioneers, and we can stretch our hands to 
them across the years when we read of them. (15) 

The handbook gives two examples of "brave, handy girls," first Sacajawea, 
then Louisa Mat Alcott The description of Sacajawea praises her bravery, 
ability to resolve conflict ("she induced the hostile Shoshones to act as 
guides" [15]), knowledge of nature, resourcefulness, ability to care for 
herself and others (performing the role of guide "with her papoose on her 
back" [15]), 

21 



 

Groth 

and making a mark on the landscape: "Sacajawea had no maps to study—she 
made maps, and roads have been built over her footsteps" (16). Camp 
Sacajawea is one of many Girl Scout camps in the United States by the same 
name; New Jersey alone holds two Camp Sacajaweas. In the camp under 
study, Sacajawea is referenced physically through the campsite named 
"Shoshone" and indirectly in the Dining Hall through the large cut-out of a 
bird, the most prominent single decoration in the Hall. At first glance, the 
bird looks like an Indian-style Thunderbird. It also resembles the eagle, 
fitting Geoffrey Turner's research. Turner states that many Native Americans 
believed that Thunderbirds were eagles or at least had the shape of an eagle 
(50). To the Algonkians (from the northeastern region of the United States), 
the Thunderbird, bringer of rain, is a good force (Turner 42). The Dining 
Hall bird has jagged marks resembling lightning on its chest. One wonders 
why a Thunderbird was chosen by a camp (why invite rain to a camp?) until 
one remembers that Sacajawea means "The Bird Woman" (Scouting for Girls 
15). 

Another Indian image, the War Canoe, also hangs in the Dining Hall. 
Hung in the rafters at the center of the hall for most of the year (and presently 
on a permanent basis), the Canoe was taken down annually. Joy Kraszewski, 
the Council employee responsible for business related to the camp, has some 
memories of the War Canoe. Each year, some staff members would take the 
Canoe down, repaint it, and "redo" it. Then the staff would take it out on the 
water on a special occasion, perhaps during the end of the camp ceremony. 
For this ceremony, held at the end of each session, every girl in camp would 
make a small raft (about 6ft by 6ft at the largest) by lashing together small 
sticks. The girl would affix a candle to the raft, then light the candle and set 
the raft afloat in White Lake. Curiously enough, the War Canoe appears to 
have little to do with war. Perhaps named to reflect the dominant war-like 
Indian play Green emphasizes, the Girl Scouts subvert the symbol into a 
ceremony that emphasizes collective work (fixing the canoe) and unity 
among campers. Both the War Canoe and the Sacajawea/Thunderbird image 
bring playing Indian into the Dining Hall. 

Domesticity and the Dining Hall/Main House 

One can argue that the Dining Hall itself is an artifact of playing Indian—
playing Iroquois or Lenape specifically. The Iroquois linguistic grouping is 
known as the Ganonsyoni, "people of the longhouse" (Grinde 1). Rather 
than living spread out in different structures, the Iroquois lived with several 
families, several hearths, under one roof—the roof of the long house. A 
rectangular structure with a gabled roof, the Dining Hall resembles the long 
house physically. Speaking metaphorically, the units (named for the different 

22 



 

Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness 

Iroquois nations) coming together to eat in the Dining Hall echo the different 
families living together in the long house. Rather than having separate 
hearths, these groups had separate tables. The units did not cook separately in 
the Dining Hall, but their food was served by table. A couple of girls from 
each unit were assigned to help the kitchen staff by bringing the food from 
the Serving Room to their units' tables. 

Similarly, the "Delaware Big House Ceremonial" related by Elisabeth 
Tooker dictates the use and form of the structure. The end of the sponsor's 
concluding remarks for the ninth night of the ceremonial also mentions 
serving practices in the Big House Ceremonial: "Attendants, bring into the 
House your cooking and your dishes. Each one who brings a dish is to be 
given some hominy and meat" (Tooker, Native 120).10 Tooker notes that the 
six ceremony attendants represent the three Delaware clans, one woman and 
one man from each (Native 106). 

The Dining Hall resembles the Delaware big house as well as the 
Iroquois long house. Also rectangular, the Dining Hall has entrances at all 
four directionals. The western entrance has two doorways—in and out—to 
the kitchen and the Main House. The girls serving each night resemble the 
Delaware attendants in that they represent domestic units (the camp units or 
clans) and their service is temporary, not permanent. While hearths define the 
Iroquoian long house and doors define the Delaware big house, the sole 
hearth and multiple doors in the Dining Hall dominate this structure. The 
Dining Hall's resemblance to the long or big house provides a perfect 
example of following GS camping standard: "All buildings are simple and in 
keeping with the objectives of Girl Scouting (GS Standards 1957, 18). 
Appropriately, the manifestation of playing Indian in the Dining Hall-as-
long-house emphasizes a domestic metaphor, for the Dining Hall/Main 
House serves as the locus of domesticity and stability for the entire camp. 
Where the 1965 Girl Scout Standards relate activities to "the arts, the home, 
and the out-of-doors"(8), the Dining Hall/Main House largely manifests "the 
home," as much as do the tents where the girls sleep.11 

Most obviously, architecture reveals the domestic image. The tents are 
impermanent and the buildings in the heart of camp are more rugged-looking 
than the Dining Hall/Main House. About ten or fifteen years ago, the Naval 
Construction Battalion built a shelter (a peaked roof on posts) at each camp 
site (Kraszewski). The walled buildings off the road (latrines, waterfront 
cabin, nature center, infirmary) appear cabin-like. On the other hand, the 
Main House, like the Ranger's House, is a converted farm house. In design, 
the Main House is a side gable, four bay, two storey, double pile construction 
with two end chimneys, attached to the Dining Hall on the east end. The 
council converted this structure to accommodate the large numbers of people 

23 



 

Groth 

in an established camp, but the functional use of space is consistent with a 
farm house. Bedrooms are still upstairs. Bathrooms are in ordinary locations 
upstairs and down. The hallways appear original. The kitchen is still the 
kitchen with added "big stuff' such as institutional grade grills, stoves, and 
freezer (Kraszewski). Only the traditional parlor and dining room have been 
replaced with the camp office (which also houses bunks now) and additional 
food service rooms: one with a large oven and storage, a small hallway with 
a storage closet, the Serving Room and the Dish Room. A change to the 
eastern chimney acknowledges that the Dining Hall replaces the Main 
House's living room/parlor as the structure's primary social space. While the 
chimney appears attached to the Main House like any other farm house, it 
serves the hearth in the Dining Hall, not a structure in the Main House. The 
western chimney appears to service some heating device located in the cellar. 

In addition to having domestic architecture, the Dining Hall/Main House 
contains much of the camp's domestic element because of its role in food 
preparation and consumption. In many cultures, food, nurturance, home, and 
family are metaphorically related. Food Service both reassures the parents 
(the children's "real" domestic authority) and establishes the camp's care-
taking role through the treatment of food issues in the brochures. Most of the 
brochures have a brief message on food resembling if not identical to the 
following: "Nutritious meals are dietician planned. Provision for snacks is 
made. Food packages should not be sent to camp" (1973). As required in the 
food service director's job description (GSUSA, Good Counselors 18; 
Carolyn MacDonald), some brochures additionally assure that while girls 
learn to plan their own meals, camp staff will not allow them to suffer 
nutritionally in the process: "menus planned by campers for cookouts and 
trips are checked" (1974). Other brochures impress upon parents that the 
camp is a wilderness location and that, for this reason, parents need to defer 
to camp staff at times: "the chipmunks might get the goodies you send" 
(1975). 

As an institution serving food, the camp must also reassure legal 
authorities as to their competence in taking responsibility for the campers' 
food service. In a restaurant, only public health and safety (e.g., cleanliness, 
food storage) are at issue because adults order for themselves and supervise 
their children. A camp, however, also resembles a school in that the food 
service staff takes responsibility for meeting the children's nutritional needs. 
In addition to the legal requirements they meet, the camp staff reassures 
parents that they can take over the food-related domestic duties through their 
compliance with American Camping Association standards (earning them 
ACA accreditation) and national Girl Scouting standards. ACA and GSUSA 
standards contain specific requirements for cleanliness, staff training and 

24 



 

Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness 

qualifications, and food preparation and storage. The Girl Scout Councils use 
the following statement by the ACA insignia printed on their collective 
brochures: 

This ACA insignia is only given to camps that have been 
officially visited and approved by the American Camping Asso-
ciation for meeting all their standards. Our camps also meet all 
GSUSA standards and are licensed by their State Health Depart-
ment. (1978) 

Thus, the camp references three organizations with authority to prove their 
qualifications concerning food, an aspect of the domestic sphere. 

The procedure for serving and consuming food in the Dining Hall 
imitates the domestic sphere. According to GS camping standards and other 
publications (Mitchell 16-17), girls with dietary restrictions can expect 
accommodation at camp: "Meals are planned with consideration for the laws 
of fast and abstinence and for the dietary observances of the various religious 
faiths represented in the camp" (GS Standards 1957, 25). Camp staff 
reinforces religious practices by leading the girls in singing grace. Appropri-
ate to camp, favorite graces such as "Johnny Appleseed" and "Back of the 
Bread" include references to nature in the provision of food, resembling the 
Iroquois ceremonials (Tooker, Native 268-81). 

Starting with grace, the process of a meal in the Dining Hall resembles a 
meal in most girls' homes. Food is served "family style," meaning serving 
bowls and eating utensils sit on the table. Unlike "cafeteria style," where 
people choose their food from an assembly line and eat from individual trays, 
"family style" adds a domestic feel to an otherwise institutional space. 
Conversely, eating in the units had less of a domestic character. Although 
girls could participate in food preparation in the units, they often cooked 
individual portions (e.g., hot dogs or s'mores over the grill) and would not all 
find a place at the table at one time. 

Other features of Dining Hall procedures resembled the world back 
home. Carolyn MacDonald recalls a Camp Sacajawea food custom in which 
the camp staff played the domestic role of parental authority. When a girl did 
not like a certain food, she nevertheless was required to eat a small portion, 
called a "no-thank-you serving." Much like sharing duties with siblings at 
home, girls take their turns setting and clearing the table, and bringing food 
to the table.12 The meal did not end until a member of staff gave the girls 
permission to leave their seats-just as many families require children to ask 
their parents' permission to "be excused." 

With its sit-down meals, the Dining Hall demonstrates a formality not 
seen elsewhere in camp-perhaps with the exception of occasions when 

25 



 

Groth 

clergy visited the camp to conduct a religious service. At one time, a clothing 
practice reinforced this formality. The 1972 brochure instructs girls to bring 
the official camp uniform,13 which "is the only required item of clothing and 
is worn on Sundays and for evening meals. "On the "Suggested Clothing 
List" in the brochure, the word "required" follows "camp uniform." In the 
1973 and 1974 "Suggested Clothing List," the word "optional" follows "camp 
uniform," and no explanatory sentence details its use at camp. By 1975, the 
camp uniform no longer appears on the "Suggested Clothing List" and is not 
mentioned anywhere else in the brochure. This custom may have paralleled 
the old custom in many homes of "dressing for dinner." Although washing up 
before sitting at the table is still required of many children at home and at 
camp, the dress requirement has certainly relaxed in both places. 

The "civilized" domestic sphere within the camp serves a vital function, 
yet seems to contradict the nature-based camping narrative. Almost twenty 
years of camp brochures mention the structure only three times and in only 
two ways: "the attractive dining hall is dominated by a massive fireplace" 
(1980, 1981) and "our dining hall accommodates the entire camp and a food 
service supplies well-balanced meals" (1986). Most brochures describe food 
accommodations without reference to where it is usually prepared and 
served. Instead of descriptions of the domestic structures at camp, descrip-
tions of the camp's natural features and the program's activities dominate the 
literature. 

The camping terrain is one of open fields, rolling fields [sic], pine 
woods and lakes. White Lake is a natural crater lake used for 
swimming and boating (including sailing). Lake Nicholas is used 
for the study of pond life as well as for fishing; a marsh area 
surrounds the "edge of pond" habitat. The camp is close enough 
to the Delaware River and the Appalachian Trail for both to be 
explored by advanced campers. (1975) 

Daniel Moreau's 1988 article, "Summer Camps: The Golden Oldies," de-
scribes the outdoor experience much like Camp Sacajawea's brochures. 
Sacajawea's literature follows this more general trend in camp literature of 
emphasizing natural features and outdoor activities. The absence of the 
Dining Hall/Main Hall in the literature points to its specialness as a counter-
point in the camp at large. Necessary for bulk food service and 
administrative purposes, this structure runs against the natural world 
aesthetic of youth camping, yet supports Girl Scout principles of developing 
girls' skills and responsibilities as citizens through communal living. 

26 



 

Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness 

Conclusion--A Special Place with Tradition 

As a site for most meals, all food storage, the camp's business office. and the 
gathering area in case the whole camp needs to come indoors, the Dining 
Hall/Main House obviously has great importance. As a common space, it is a 
natural choice for physical tributes to tradition. On the exposed rafters of the 
Dining Hall hang tin can lids, one next to the other, all approximately the 
same 6" diameter. Each is the creation of a specific group of girls, most 
represent groups of Counselors-in-Training (CITs). Painted brightly with 
pictures or words meaningful to the girls they represent, many draw the 
nature narratives and playing Indian into the Dining Hall. Each lid declares 
the year, going back as far as the 1950s. When I visited the camp on a cold 
Presidents' Weekend in February 1995, a troop of Cadettes from Wareton, 
NJ, were using the Main House as a lodge. During the afternoon, they played 
games from around the world—running games in the spacious but unheated 
Dining Hall, sitting games in the heated Serving Room. Meanwhile, one 
more bright tin can lid sat drying on the serving counter. 

University of Pennsylvania 

NOTES 

1. At first glance, the mixture of verb tenses here may seem erratic and even 
arbitrary to the reader. However, I have painstakingly edited the text to reflect the 
variables in the material. While the structures still exist, summer resident camp 
ceased in the late 1980s, so I describe many of the practices in the past tense, while 
descriptions of the building are in the present tense (except where changes in 
structure occur). In terms of Girl Scouting in general, some practices still occur while 
others have been discontinued, and tense reflects each situation. 

2. In The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure, Victor Turner contrasts 
van Gennep's use of separation-margin-reaggregation with his use of preliminal-
liminal-postliminal, saying that van Gennep employed the second group "with 
primary reference to spatial transitions" (166). 

3. Like Francis, I will use the term "Indian" to denote the white culture's image 
of the indigenous American people. When speaking about the actual people, I will use 
"Native American." When quoting others, I will use their terminology. 

4. Although the Boy Scouts legally changed their name to Scouting USA, I will 
continue to use the term Boy Scout for ease of differentiation between the two 
programs and in recognition that Boy Scouting is not the sole Scouting program in 
the USA. 

5. The Order of the Arrow is not Boy Scouting's highest achievement, but rather 
a fraternity within Boy Scouting open to both children and adults, which can be 

27 



 

Groth 

joined by passing certain requirements (e.g., service and an ordeal) without earning 
the rank of Eagle Scout, Boy Scouting's highest rank:. Although Eagle Scout is Boy 
Scouting's highest rank, an Eagle Scout can also earn the Bronze, Silver, and Gold 
Palms—Boy Scouting's highest achievement (Boy Scouts of America, Revised 
Handbook 404). 

6. Unlike the United States, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in many countries 
belong to mixed sex troops with girls registering through the World Association of 
Girl Guides and Girl Scouts and boys registering through WOSUM. 

7. I thank: Robert Blair St. George for noting the prevalence of Iroquois names 
on the map of Camp Sacajawea and suggesting this line of inquiry. 

8. Although Grinde's theory has received some criticism (see Tooker, "The 
United States Constitution and the Iroquoian League"), the theorized connection 
between the Iroquoian and United States governments has gained popular acceptance. 
Therefore, his theory has relevance to my argument, which traces the popular 
European-American imitations of Native American behavior in Girl Scouting. 

9. I use the past tense to refer to the Iroquois here intentionally, but do not intend 
to imply that the Iroquois no longer exist nor have a culture developing in the present. 
Rather, in terms of playing "Indian," the image of the Native American is based on 
their past culture, particularly that from the time of European settlement, which 
Grinde describes. 

10. This presumably refers to a personal dish, while the first mention of dishes 
refers to serving dishes. 

11. When using the word domestic in the following argument, I intend to denote 
the permanent homes and communities where the girls in the Delaware-Raritan Girl 
Scout Council live, whether urban, suburban, small town, or rural. Although not 
intending to deny the impermanent structures of nomadic peoples the name "home," I 
do not write about those cultures in this work. Webster's definition of "domestic" 
denotes "belonging to the home or house," "relating to family affairs," and "of one's 
own country, nor foreign," which I will use to mean "of one's own culture," not 
geographic area. 

12. Fulfilling Dining Hall duties also fulfills an objective of Girl Scout camping: 
"to provide training in citizenship through the give-and-take of community living in 
which each girl has a part in the planning and carrying out of the camping program" 
(GS Standards 1957, 7). 

 13. The camp uniform includes shorts and camp shirts, rather than a dress or 
skirt outfit (the official dress uniform). 

WORKS CITED 

75 Years of Girl Scouting. New York: Girl Scouts of the USA, 1986. 
American Camping Association. Standards for Day and Resident Camps: The 

Accreditation Programs of the American Camping Association. Martinsville, IN: 
American Camping Association, 1990. 

Billard, Jules B., ed. The World of the American Indian. Washington, DC: National 
 Geographic Society, 1974. 

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Here We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness 

Blood-Patterson, Peter. Rise Up Singing: The Group-Singing Song Book. Bethlehem, 
 PA: Sing Out, 1988. 
"Boy Scout." The New Lexicon Webster's Dictionary of the English Language: 
 Encyclopedic Edition. 1987 ed. 
Boy Scouts of America. Revised Handbook for Boys. 1st ed. n.p.: Boy Scouts of 
 America, 1937. 
Degenhardt, Mary, and John Kirsch. Girl Scout Collector's Guide. Lombard, IL: 
 Wallace-Homestead, 1987. 
Delaware-Raritan Girl Scout Council. Camping 1972. Edison, NJ: Delaware-Raritan 

Girl Scout Council (DRGSC), 1972. (brochure) 
______. Come Alive in '75. Edison, NJ: DRGSC, 1975. (brochure) 
______. Find Yourself at Camp in 1976. Edison, NJ: DRGSC, 1976. (brochure)  
______. Sing a Song of Summer: Camp in 1973! Edison, NJ: DRGSC, 1973. 

(brochure) 
______. Summer Camp is for You! Edison, NJ: DRGSC, 1980. (brochure) 
______. Think Camp 1974. Edison, NJ: DRGSC, 1974. (brochure) 
"Domestic." The New Lexicon Webster's Dictionary of the English Language: 
 Encyclopedic Edition. 1987 ed. 
Eubanks, Toni. Ceremonies in Girl Scouting. New York: Girl Scouts of the USA, 
 1990. 
Fenton, William. "Iroquoian Culture History: A General Evaluation." Symposium on 

Cherokee and Iroquois Culture. William N. Fenton and John Gulick, eds. 
Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 180. Washing-
ton, DC: US Govt Printing Office, 1961. 253-77. 

Francis, Daniel. The Imaginary Indian: The Image of the Indian in Canadian Culture. 
 Vancouver, BC: Arsenal Pulp, 1992. 
Gilligan, Carol. In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Develop- 
 ment. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1982. 
Girl Scouts, Inc. Scouting for Girls. 1920. Revised edition. New York: Girl Scouts, 
 1929. 
Girl Scouts of the USA. Good Counselors Make Good Camps: A Guide for Staffing 
 Camps. New York: Girl Scouts of the USA, 1957. 
______. Highlights of Girl Scouting 1912-1985. New York: Girl Scouts of the USA, 
 1986. 
______. Standards for Girl Scout Camping: Guides for Better and Safer Camping. 
 New York: Girl Scouts of the USA, 1957. 
______. Standards for Girl Scout Camping: Guides for Better and Safer Camping. 
 New York: Girl Scouts of the USA, 1965. 
______. Worlds to Explore: Handbook for Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts. New 
 York: Girl Scouts of the USA, 1977. 
Green, Reyna. "The Tribe Called Wannabee: Playing Indian in America and 
 Europe." Folklore 99 (1988): 30-55. 
Grinde, Donald A., Jr. The Iroquois and the Founding of the American Nation. n.p.: 
 Indian Historian, 1977. 
Kraszewski, Joy. Telephone Interview. 17 April 1995. 

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Groth 

"Liminal." The New Lexicon Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language: Ency- 
clopedic Edition. 1987 ed. 

MacDonald, Carolyn. Personal Interview. 3 April 1995. 
MacDonald, Ruth. Telephone Interview. 31 January 1995. 
Matsui, Connie, and Sylvia Barsion. "Proposing a New Girl Scout Law." Girl Scout 
 Leader (summer 1996): 22-24. 
Menaker, Daniel. "Indian Summer." The New Yorker 69 (23 and 31 August 1993): 
 166. 
Mitchell, Gwen. Handbook for Camp Directors and Administrators in a Girl Scout 
 Council. New York: Girl Scouts of the USA, 1967. 
Moreau, Daniel. "Summer Camps: The Golden Oldies." Changing Times 44 (March 
 1988): 107ff. 
New Jersey Girl Scout Councils. Girl Scout Camping 1978. n.p.: New Jersey Girl 
 Scout Councils, 1978. (brochure) 
______. SUMMER CAMP: The best part's THE FUN! n.p.: New Jersey Girl Scout 
 Councils, 1986. (brochure) 
Tannen, Deborah. You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation. 
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Tooker, Elisabeth, ed. Native North American Spirituality of the Eastern Woodlands: 
 Sacred Myths, Dreams, Visions, Speeches, Healing Formulas, Rituals and 
 Ceremonies. New York: Paulist, 1979. 
______. "The United States Constitution and the Iroquian League." Ethnohistory 35 

(Fall 1988): 305-36.  
Turner, Geoffrey. Indians of North America. Poole, UK: Blandford, 1979.  
Turner, Victor. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. 1969. New York: 
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 Mosby, 1981. 
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US Govt Printing Office, 1961. 67-76. 

Young, Philip. "The Mother of Us All: Pocahontas Remembered." Kenyon Review 
 24.3 (Summer 1962): 391-415. 

30 



 

The Ever-Vigilant Hero: Revaluing the Tale of Tam Lin 
Evelyn M. Perry 

In the Scots folk tale, Tam Lin (Child Ballad #39), a beautiful young 
knight is captured by the Fairy Queen when he falls from his horse. 
The Fairy Queen takes Tam as her lover, to live with the Fairy Folk 
until she tires of him. Once captured by the Queen, Tam is no longer 
a participant in a mortal reality. At times he can be found in the 
abandoned halls and gardens of Carterhaugh, but these visits must 
be secretive (the Queen's hold over him is jealous and powerful), 
and there is risk and danger involved in his visits to our reality. For 
when the Fairy Queen tires of Tam Lin, or if he becomes irksome to 
her, he will be given as a tithe to Hell. Thus, when the hero Janet1 
falls in love with Tam Lin and becomes impregnated by him, he is 
half dead—dead to a human, mortal existence yet alive among the 
immortal Fairy Folk. Tam Lin is "living" on borrowed time, and it is 
Janet's project to save him by pulling him away from the Fairy 
Queen's powers, back into the mortal world of Carterhaugh and Old 
Scotland. Should Janet fail in this, Tam Lin will surely be pushed 
into Hell, into an endless death and suffering from which there is no 
return. 

The folk tale that bears his name occupies a position in the 
literary canon not unlike Tam Lin's position in Fairy Land. Due to a 
tradition of devaluation, folk tale has been relegated to children's 
literature and considered peasant fiction fit for juvenile audiences 
(Brockman). That children's literature has been devalued as quality 
literature (as has been discussed so often and so fervently), and that 
Scots literature continues to be largely ignored by scholars and 
critics, renders the tale of Tam Lin powerless. Tam Lin is half dead, 
enjoying only occasional visits to the literary canon and in danger of 
being lost forever. 

I find myself a frustrated Janet on a recent trip to the book store 
to find research materials. Collections of folk tales do not generally 
come with any critical apparatus and, when they do, the critical 
readings of folk tales are often done in post-Enlightenment, anthro-
pological terms, implying that these tales are ancient artifacts 
through which we may understand our unenlightened ancestors, but 
which bear no meaning or relevance to modern audiences. We learn 
that peasant fiction, generally transmitted orally, served to instruct, 
to describe social expectations and warn away from transgression. 
Curiously, it is often the transgressor who becomes the hero, in that 
he or she has broken "the roles" (for Good, and to preserve them) 
and lived to tell the tale. 

31 



 

Perry 

Revisions of folk tales, frequently directed at a youthful reader, leave 
out elements of the original tale considered inappropriate for their audience 
(Janet and Tam's sexual relationship, for example, and resulting pregnancy). 
Removing elements originally intended for instruction leaves only a descrip-
tion of the hero's journey. And without understanding that there are rules, 
that serious danger comes in transgressing these rules, and that the hero has 
transgressed for Good (and has won!), the description of the hero's journey is 
paled. The fears and anxieties that often produce or stand in for Good and 
Evil (who stole the soul of my dead child?, why are violent people bad?, etc.) 
are also paled. To put the matter simply, Good loses its force when there is 
no real threat, no Evil, to compare it to. In our devaluation of children's 
literature and folk literature, we are ultimately underestimating the child 
audience's ability and overestimating the adult audience's ability to find 
meaning and relevance in our literary heritage. 

The intentions of this analysis are to further describe current devalua-
tions of folk literature by performing a lengthy close reading the original tale 
of Tam Lin and by assessing, more briefly, the ways in which it has been 
altered to suit a child audience in Jane Yolen's Tam Lin, a young adult 
audience in Diana Wynne Jones' Fire and Hemlock, and an adult audience in 
Pamela Dean's Tam Lin. 

The "original" Ballad of Tam Lin 

The original tale of Tam Lin is most easily found in a collection of folk tales, 
which are often listed by the culture believed to have produced them. While 
folklore scholars are familiar with this as #39 in F.J. Child's collection, The 
English and Scottish Popular Ballads, the student reader of folklore is more 
often introduced to the tales through contemporary collections. For this 
reason, the following analysis is based on the version of Tam Lin found in 
The Oxford Book of Scottish Verse, chosen by John MacQueen and Tom 
Scott. While this collection is an excellent resource, including authors from 
Medieval to present-day Scotland and arguing against the passing over of 
Scots literature, certain historical and thematic material has been left out. For 
this, we cannot blame the editorial powers of MacQueen and Scott, but the 
form of the collection. The critical apparatus that does appear in The Oxford 
Book of Scottish Verse is generally verse-specific2 and footnoted. The 
"Introduction" to the collection focuses on the location of material, Scots 
pronunciation, and changes made in spelling and grammar. Very little 
bibliographic information and historical orientation is included, and no 
discussion of the ballad form or of specific ballads is attempted. Thus the 
reader of Tam Lin must encounter the ballad on his or her own terms. A 
reader so challenged will 

32 



 

The Ever- Vigilant Hero 

often fall back on the existing literary valuations to which he or she has been 
exposed. If critical apparatuses do anything aside from enabling a greater 
understanding of the text, they assert the perceived significance of that text. A 
ballad without footnotes implies that there is nothing complicated, and so 
nothing relevant or important, to be discovered in it. Thus, the cultural mores 
contained in Tam Lin continue to be unsung, and our valuation of the folk tale 
remains limited, when we perceive it as obvious or simple. 

MacQueen and Scott have done well to celebrate Scots literature (thus 
saving it from being categorized as—at best—Anglo-Scots literature) and 
their choosing of folk literature in support of that project is commendable. 
Ironically, it is one component of literary devaluation, the attitude that folk 
literature helps explain the simple people of a simple time, that allows Tam 
Lin to have a place in the collection at all. MacQueen and Scott's audience 
receives the ballad of Tam Lin in its "original" form, as a contemporary 
audience for the tale would have received it, to aid us in our estimation of 
ancient belief systems. 

I have purposely put "original" in quotation marks here, as the need to 
ascertain author or intention in folk literature is extremely problematic, if at 
all necessary. Folk literature, due to the oral nature of its transmission, the 
changing abilities of the teller and demands of the audience, earns itself a 
special privilege. As suggested by the very title of the genre, folk literature 
can be understood as enjoying a communal authorship. The ballad of Tam 
Lin, as it appears in The Oxford Book of Scottish Verse, is "original" only in 
that it has been recorded, that it has been fixed in time, in its oral state. The 
reader should be mindful that, prior to this recording, the tale of Tam Lin was 
shaped by the culture(s)3 that produced it. Contribution and augmentation are 
the life-blood of folk literature. While we appreciate the original Tam Lin, we 
should be mindful that retellings keep the tale alive, defy the obsoletion that 
is the threat of recording and publishing. Here we must dance on a very fine 
line. We must choose between immortalizing the tale by fixing it and making 
it accessible to a larger public, allowing it to live on, to change and grow 
through retellings as is its nature, but we must see to it that such retellings do 
not distill the relevance of the tale and force it into the devaluations inherent 
in literary categorization. The question is not whether folk literature should 
be made available, but how it is interpreted and made available, and what that 
says about current audiences. In the terms of this analysis, the original Tam 
Lin not only provides a post-Enlightenment reader with a (however incom-
plete) understanding of a more distant time, but gives us a base from which 
we can identify and assess the augmentations made during our time. 

The original Tam Lin has been recorded as a ballad. I have used the 
terms ballad and tale interchangeably above, as we receive the story in both 
forms, 

33 



 

Perry 

but the significant differences in form should be noted. Ballads are made to 
be sung which, no doubt, helped them be remembered and repeated as an 
oral art form. The surviving original tune of Tam Lin can be found in the 
nationalist and antiquarian collections of Robert Burns.4 Prior to Burns, text 
was recorded apart from tune; thus, we find the ballad written in a verse form 
congenial to instrumentation, but without musical notation. The stanza/verse, 

Janet has kilted her green kirtle 
 A little aboon her knee, 
And she has broded her yellow hair 
 A little aboon her bree, 
And she's awa to Carterhaugh 
 As fast as she can hie. (276) 

is repeated three times throughout the ballad, suggesting its function as the 
chorus of the ballad. This ordering differs greatly from modem instrumenta-
tion, in that the chorus does not appear after a set number of verses. It seems 
important that the chorus verse/stanza is six lines long, following an 
ABCBDB rhyme scheme, while the bulk of the verses are four lines long 
with a simpler ABCB rhyme scheme. However, certain other stanzas are six 
lines long, and the rhyme scheme of both four and six line verses is not 
consistent. It does not seem that the six-line stanzas are any more crucial to 
the plot of the tale than the four-line stanzas. Inconsistencies of this nature 
are common to the written version of an oral form and should not dictate our 
estimation of the ballad as less literary or lacking in quality for resisting the 
strict forms of poetics. Indeed, it is inconsistencies such as these which 
continue to transmit the oral nature of the ballad, and allow for verbal and 
musical interpretations and retellings.5 The success with which the plot of the 
story is transmitted allows Tam Lin to exist outside of instrumentation, 
though any retelling requires interpretation. The reteller of folk literature, 
whether the oral story teller, the musician or the penning author, has been 
both a reader and a transmitter of the tale. The narrative facts in question, to 
be held back or elaborated by the author, are contained in this "original" tale. 

Interestingly, the original tale does not open with the chorus verse/stanza 
as we might expect, but with a warning that piques our curiosity and 
introduces the dangers with which Janet must contend, 

O I forbid you, maidens a', 
 That wear gowd in your hair, 
To come or gae by Carterhaugh, 
 For young Tam Lin is there. . . 
There's nane that gaes by Carterhaugh 

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The Ever- Vigilant Hero 

 But they leave him a wad, 
Either their rings, or green mantles, 

 Or else their maidenhead. (276) 

Within these opening stanzas we are warned away from the dwelling of Tam 
Lin and the fairy folk. We learn that these are dangerous places not to be 
tried. We learn also that those who pass near are assured of their safety if 
they leave an offering for Tam Lin. These offerings have great value, they are 
jewels, clothing, and female purity—all monetary tokens bartered or 
exchanged for advancement. Certainly the dangers must be great to demand 
such loss, though they are not overtly stated. 

The opening stanzas are followed by the chorus, in which we learn that 
Janet intends to risk a visit to Carterhaugh. As yet, we are unsure of her 
motives for doing so, but the fact that she has "kilted her green kirtle/A little 
aboon her knee," thus displaying her legs, or that she has called attention to 
her face by "brod(ing) her yellow hair/A little aboon her bree," combine with 
the sexual threat of the opening stanzas in suggesting the form of danger 
involved in a visit to Carterhaugh. While unclear as to her motives, her bold 
flirtation with danger (both literally and figuratively, it seems) introduces us 
to the quality of Janet's character. She comes off as courageous, perhaps 
foolishly so, strong, determined, and sexually alive. We like Janet the way we 
like many rebels. She is defying authority, breaking somewhat unexamined 
rules, and we cheer her on from the margins with hope and trepidation. 

Upon reaching the well at Carterhaugh, Janet pulls "a double rose," 
which allows Tam Lin to materialize and to repeat the threat, 

Why pu's thou the rose, Janet, 
 And why breaks thou the wand? 
Or why comes thou to Carterhaugh 
 Withoutten my command? (276) 

It seems that Janet's purposeful destruction of the natural world (through the 
somewhat rare double rose6) functions as a signal to Tam Lin. This kind of 
relationship between the natural world and the unnatural world is a common 
one in folk literature, and the audience is less surprised by its thematic 
appearance and use than by Janet's defense, 

'Carterhaugh, it is my ain, 
 My daddie gave it me; 
I'll come and gang by Carterhaugh, 
 And ask nae leave at thee.' (277) 

35 



 

Perry 

Janet's motives for seeking Tam Lin at Carterhaugh are here revealed. She 
has claims upon the land which Tam Lin and the fairy folk keep her from 
enjoying. Her claims on Carterhaugh are just, as determined by the rules of 
her culture. Like the true folk hero, she is battling Evil (seen as unnatural) 
with Good (natural and deserved). Janet is going against the authority of the 
warning and thus breaking the rules, but she is breaking them in order to 
preserve order and control. Her resistance to the rules is temporary and is 
performed to allow those rules to be enforced and perpetuated. For this, and 
for Janet's reaction to the arrogance of Tam Lin, we continue to support her 
character. 

Janet returns to the court, and it is then that we hear of her pregnancy, 

Out then spak an auld grey knight, 
 Lay oer the castle wa, 
And says, 'Alas, fair Janet, for thee 
 But we'll be blamed a' . . . 
'Hauld your tongue, ye auld fac'd knight, 
 Some ill death may ye die! 
Father my bairn on whom I will, 
 I'll father nane on thee' . . . 
Out then spak her father dear, 
 And he spak meek and mild; 
'And ever alas, sweet Janet,' he says, 
 'I think thou gaes wi' child' . . . 
'If that I gae wi child, father, 
 Mysel maun bear the blame; 
There's neer a laird about your ha 
 Shall get the bairn's name. (277-78) 

Despite the fact that Janet's sexual encounter with Tam Lin is not detailed or 
described, we immediately learn of its having taken place. By now, we are 
not shocked by Janet's response to the "auld grey knight" or to her father, for 
it is in keeping with her impassioned willfulness. We are, however, 
somewhat concerned with Janet's future, as is Janet. After describing the 
fairy marvels surrounding Tam, the father of her child, she returns to the well 
at Carterhaugh to summon Tam Lin by pulling on a double rose. It is by 
Janet's questioning of Tam Lin and his mortality that we come to know his 
tale; how he was caught by the Fairy Queen falling from his horse and, thus 
caught, is within her powers. Our sympathy for Tam Lin grows while he 
describes the fairy land and the tithe-system the Fairy Queen upholds, 

‘And pleasant is the fairy land, 
 But, an eerie tale to tell, 
Ay at the end of seven years 

36 



 

The Ever- Vigilant Hero 

 We pay a tiend to hell; 
I am sae fair and fu o flesh, 
 I'm feard it be mysel. (279) 

It is further disclosed that Janet and Tam's affair is very well timed. The tithe 
to Hell is paid, appropriately enough, on Halloween night, the very night of 
this visit to Carterhaugh. At midnight the fairy folk will ride, and "they that 
wad their true-love win/At Miles Cross they maun bide." Janet and Tam may 
win their true loves, thus rescuing Tam from the fairy world, procuring Janet 
and her bairn's future, restoring Carterhaugh to mortal control, and outsmart- 
ing the Fairy Queen and the devil both. . 

The tale of Tam Lin holds within its frame a series of transgressions 
made on both sides: On one, Janet's visit to Carterbaugh, extramarital sex and 
pregnancy. On the other, Tam's visits to the mortal world, and a disruption of 
the tithe system. And on both sides, outlawed love. The transgressions made 
against the roles of the natural, mortal world, the Good, keep the unnatural, 
immortal world, the Evil with all its dangers, at bay. Keeping Evil at bay 
ensures the survival of the Good and keeps intact its system of roles. 
Nevertheless, protecting the authority and control of Good through transgres-
sion, quite symmetrically, requires a transgression of the roles of Evil. Janet 
must wait for Tam Lin at Miles Cross, pull him from his horse (much as the 
Fairy Queen did), and withstand certain tortures before he is fully restored to 
the mortal world. 

'They'll turn me in your arms, lady, 
 Into an esk and adder. . . 
'They'll turn me to a bear sae grim, 
 And then a lion bold. . . 
‘Again they'll turn me in your arms 
 To a red het gaud of aim . . . 
'And last they'll turn me in your arms 
 Into the burning gleed; 
Then throw me into well water, 
 O throw me in with speed . . . 
‘And then I'll be your ain true-love, 
 I'll turn a naked knight; 
Then cover me with your green mantle, 
 And cover me out o sight' (281) 

As these transgressions are performed, and these tortures are suffered, for the 
benefit of Good, they are understood as Just. Indeed, the transgressions 
against the roles of Evil are hardly seen as transgressions at all. From the 
outset, the roles of Evil are described as something which must be feared and 

37 



 

Perry 

avoided, not upheld. For Janet to help Tam transgress the control of an 
alternate authority is not perceived and evaluated in the same light as her 
own transgressions. But the balance and symmetry of these two systems are 
necessary to our appreciation of the tale. To corrupt the dangers of Evil 
through oversimplification or the tenets of Good through purification, upsets 
the balance that gives beauty to the tale and detracts from Janet's ultimate 
accomplishment: the victory of Good over Evil. 

But the original Tam Lin contains a final warning. The Fairy Queen will 
have us understand that the vigilance with which we must battle Evil is 
constant. Janet's success is seen as temporary, and an appeal is made to the 
hero in all of us to help maintain her success. 

Jane Yolen's Tam Lin 

Although I was fortunate in knowing that Jane Yolen's picture book retelling 
of Tam Lin exists, it can be accessed when conducting a research materials 
search. But it takes a critical Janet, a transgressor of canon valuations, to 
allow a children's version of Tam Lin into a critical analysis. 

Jane Yolen's retelling remains mostly true to the original ballad and 
provides some delightful expansions on the tale. According to this version, 
the offerings left at Carterhaugh are tokens proving the bravery of boys 
visiting the enchanted ruins on a dare. Jennet goes to Carterhaugh on her 
sixteenth birthday, the day of her inheritance, despite the fears and admoni-
tions of her parents. When she returns to rescue Tam Lin, she brings with her 
Holy Water and dirt from a garden. Such aspects of Yolen's Tam Lin all 
serve to embellish the original ballad. The tokens left by the boys describe 
the tenuous relationship between the natural world and the fairy world. As 
young people will, the boys challenge danger and feel obligated to prove 
their bravery. But, as Yolen explains, they do not stay for long, and these 
expeditions give them nightmares, 

There was an awful smell to the place, like apples gone bad, or 
dead mice in the walls, or dirty water in an unused well. And 
there were moving shadows where no shadows should be. Those 
few who went to visit Carterhaugh did not stay for long, and they 
had bad dreams for many nights after. (2) 

Despite bold resistances to the verity of fairy folk and the unknown, it is 
asserted that such things do, indeed, exist. It is clear to both the characters 
and the reader that the elements of danger in this tale, the Evil, can only be—
at best—cautiously questioned. 

Jennet herself has visited Carterhaugh. She feels it is hers by birth-right 

38 



 

The Ever- Vigilant Hero 

and has taunted the boys for appearing afraid. It is explained that Jennet's 
willingness to visit Carterbaugh is in part due to her culture's dismissal of 
fairy folk. She describes such beliefs as "nursery tales" that do not intimidate 
her nor dictate her behavior. Although she espouses this attitude from her 
culture, her strong-willed character is, as in the original ballad, not appropri-
ate for her age or gender. Her daring is not the harmless daring of the boys, 
but the very thing that will keep her from marrying and achieving the 
"proper" role in her world. This tension between what Jennet has taken from, 
versus how she responds to, her society is further detailed. For while Jennet is 
transgressing against her appropriate social role, she brings with her Holy 
Water and garden earth, blessed by Christianity and firmly rooted in her 
world, seen and understood as powerful and Good. 

Such elements as these, which Yolen has taken care to include in her 
retelling, are true to the story in that they do not force the narrative away from 
the original and in that they actually emphasize the characterization and 
thematic concerns of the tale. But lest we forget that her retelling is in the 
form of a picture book, and intended for a very young audience, it must be 
pointed out that the sexual aspects of the tale have been entirely left out. 

The two visits to Carterhaugh made by Jennet in the original ballad have 
been collapsed into one in Jane Yolen's Tam Lin. This allows the significant 
meeting of Jennet and Tam, their love, and Tam's story, all to be portrayed to 
the audience without sex and pregnancy being involved. The most explicit 
sexual role described is Tam's allusion to falling from the Fairy Queen's favor 
("But now she loves another") which explains Tam's upcoming doom but 
does not exactly describe Tam as the Queen's lover. And though Jennet finds 
pleasure in holding Tam's hand, when he embraces her to seal their pact, it is 
only his voice that "kisses" Jennet ("His words were like kiss—cold, distant, 
and fierce"). The creative way in which Yolen implies the touching that 
romantic love involves does not achieve the actual threat and anxiety 
motivating Jennet and Tam in the original ballad. As the two scenes are 
collapsed and their sexual union is avoided, the love between Jennet and Tam 
is rather quickly produced. The reality of their circumstances is minimized. 
Within moments, Jennet meets Tam, falls in love with him, and agrees to risk 
herself on his behalf. Those symmetrical elements of the tale described 
earlier, Tam's transgressions, and our concern for Tam's, Jennet's and their 
child's welfare, are lost. Thus we are left with the hero's journey, paled in 
scope and severity. The delicate balance existing between Good and Evil is 
reduced, and this reduction of Evil works against our understanding of the 
power of Good. Without the sexuality of the original ballad, the socio-literary 
relevance of Tam Lin is disastrously undermined, and the balanced beauty of 
the tale is gone. 

The effect of the diminished tale is felt most acutely at its conclusion. In 

39 



 

Perry 

Yolen's Tam Lin, Jennet and Tam are married, produce several children, and 
"live happily ever after." The Fairy Queen's final threat to the couple, the 
understanding that we must never relax our fight against Evil, and the 
touching appeal to the hero in all of us, have been plowed under by the 
promise of happily ever after and the distillation of Evil. 

But the threat of losing Tam Lin, and all folk tale, to a series of 
distillations is not the only danger here. Modern attempts to historicize and 
understand the Middle Ages also suffer. Since most folk tales are set in the 
Middle Ages, and our reading of folk tales comes mainly from the altered 
children's version described above, our impressions and reconstructions of 
that time are likewise altered. Our first attempts at historicization7 render the 
Middle Ages as intellectually simple, without sex, without real danger (Fairy 
Folk and tithes to Hell are most certainly not real!). When social 
constructions of Good and Evil are not literarily expressed, an understanding 
of the complexity of Medieval morality is lost. 

Yolen's Tam Lin is set in Old Scotland. Here the classic rendering of the 
Middle Ages as sexless and without "real" Evil has taken place. This 
particular picture book, as with many, will introduce an audience—however 
young—to another time in history and to other facets of human existence. 
The devaluations of children's literature, folklore and literary history too 
easily accepted are learned and perpetuated through our first texts. 

It is important to note that, while Yolen includes a brief synopsis and 
discussion of the original ballad at the end of her book, she includes the same 
creative avoidance of sex in that discussion as she does in her retelling. A 
loyal reader of Tam Lin, Yolen pays homage to her source and the beauty of 
folklore by mentioning it. She explains some historical and geographical 
references and examines certain plot elements she has expanded or inter-
preted, but nowhere is there any mention of the sexuality she has avoided. 
Even when quoting stanzas of the original ballad to describe her influences 
and concerns, those stanzas involving Tam and Jennet's sexual relationship 
and Jennet's pregnancy, are completely left out. Although the synopsis is 
clearly written for an adult audience, Yolen is perpetuating the belief that 
such things are not for the young and ignoring the structural and thematic 
relevance they bear on the text. She is ultimately not allowing the adult 
reader any agency in the interpretation and appreciation of the tale. It is my 
opinion that Yolen's power as reteller could have been especially useful here. 
For having chosen to dismiss a crucial aspect of the tale, mentioning it and 
examining her reasons for leaving it out would have allowed her to remain 
true to current perceptions of children and children's literature (and publish 
her work) as well as to the original ballad. This final relegation suggests, 
instead, that Yolen has been conditioned by the literary devaluations with 
which this paper argues. 

40 



 

The Ever- Vigilant Hero 

Diana Wynne Jones' Fire and Hemlock 

Presumably, a young adult retelling of Tam Lin, as we have in Diana Wynne 
Jones' Fire and Hemlock, would allow the author to involve more of those 
original elements denied in Jane Yolen's Tam Lin. Interestingly, Polly, the 
Janet8 of Fire and Hemlock, is a college-aged woman looking back through 
her adolescent years. The climax of the novel is written with Polly as that 
older woman. This enables Jones to describe her characters' sexuality more 
accurately. Although the sex act is still not a part of Jones' retelling, her 
characters enjoy the sensuality of romantic love in a more realistic manner. 
Polly's physical appreciation of Thomas (Tam) includes fantasies of his 
naked back, and her grandmother recognizes Polly's physical love-response 
with concerned understanding. In short, the Polly of Fire and Hemlock is 
allowed the sexual persona and role denied to her in Yolen's Tam Lin. 

This allowance of sexuality be seen as being "truer" to the original 
ballad, but Fire and Hemlock's retelling of Tam Lin is rather complicated and 
the reader should be warned away from oversimplifying the relationship 
between the novel and the tale. In Fire and Hemlock, Jones uses both Tam 
Lin and the tale of Thomas the Rhymer (Child #37). This seems quite right 
since, as Child mentions in his annotations to the ballad, "Thomas the 
Rhymer appears in the last lines with very great distinction, but it is not clear 
what part he has in the story," (335). Briefly, in Fire and Hemlock, the Fairy 
Queen has "stolen" Thomas from the mortal world by striking a bargain: 
stunning musical talents for his soul. The Queen has power over him, but 
Thomas was willing to barter his mortal freedom (which makes him 
somewhat less sympathetic but perhaps more realistic a character). Polly and 
Thomas' friendship develops over seven years, and together they discover 
that, just as Thomas the Rhymer speaks what becomes, Thomas has the 
ability to make the stories they write "turn real." Jones relies equally on both 
tales, and several other literary texts (usually fantasy) playa role in that Polly 
and Thomas' friendship is based on a love of books and writing. The books 
that Thomas sends to Polly hold clues as to his condition, but due to youth 
and the bewitchings of the Fairy Queen, it takes some time for Polly to make 
this discovery. Once she learns how to save Thomas, she walks to Miles 
Cross (in the town square of an English village this time) in order to rescue 
him. The Fairy Queen turns Thomas into many things while Polly perseveres 
in her love, and again the Janet wins. But here Polly and Thomas' victory is 
not so neatly established, and the Queen's final threat forces them, as the 
novel closes, to negotiate their language and relationship so that the Queen 
cannot reclaim Thomas. They must collaboratively write their reality and be 
vigilant in maintaining their victory over Evil. 

41 



 

Relying as it does on two tales, Fire and Hemlock is somewhat harder to 
find when researching Tam Lin. I learned of it, rather accidentally, through 
Children's Literature specialists.9 The syncretism involved in using folk 
literatures to produce a "new" text is an endless source of delight for me, as I 
believe it was for Jones. Jones does not insist on calling her novel a retelling, 
but faithfully includes Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer in an intertextual 
manner. While plot elements from both tales are used to structure and narrate 
Fire and Hemlock, they are also included in their original forms as two texts 
describing Thomas' situation. Polly consciously reads the tales and considers 
how they inform her reality. This allows the tales to exist in the original 
without offending potential audiences. The way in which these tales are the 
root of this novel, describe folk literature as the root of all literature—thus re-
establishing its importance and vitality. 

Fire and Hemlock is set in modem-day England. This brings folk 
literature forward and asserts its relevance. As C. W. Sullivan III explains in 
"Traditional Ballads and Modem Children's Fantasy: Some Comments on 
Structure and Intent," 

Perry 

Jones' Fire and Hemlock, set, as it is, in the twentieth century 
more obviously represents a conscientious concern for authen-
ticity. Jones had to create a twentieth-century setting into which 
she could incorporate the essential and the fantastic elements of 
"Tam Lin" and "Thomas the Rhymer" and, at the same time, alter 
the surface details of those ballads so that they fit into the 
twentieth-century setting without losing their traditional integrity. 
(146) 

That the original tales are included, sex and Evil and all, allows the young 
adult reader to historicize the Middle Ages more accurately, for it is not being 
received in a distilled fashion. That the final triumph over the Fairy Queen is 
not quite absolute reinforces the understanding that Evil does exist, highlight-
ing Good, and reasserting the very real nature of both. 

I believe that sex and Evil and "unnatural" behavior have been left out of 
children's/young adult literature in order to appeal to the current buying 
audience—an audience trained in Judaeo-Christian morality. Our culture 
continues to insist that such things destroy the purity and innocence of 
childhood that we believe in and romanticize. Our estimations of pre-
adolescents and adolescents reading young adult literature allow for sexual 
feelings to exist, but continue to enforce their suppression (Hunt). Early 
audiences, who would have heard Tam Lin in its original, were less apt to 
romanticize childhood, thus allowing the tale to include these elements as 
necessary parts of human life. 

42 



 

The Ever- Vigilant Hero 

It seems quite odd to me that we should try and keep our children 
ignorant of a world in which we participate by refashioning folk tales, the 
literary roots of our world. As we distill their literature, we misrepresent the 
world that children, like adults, are all participants in. As Mae Durham 
Rogers asserts in "From Folklore to Literature," 

I am committed to the idea that even though the tales were not 
meant for children, although they have listened to them through-
out history, the tales belong to children as much as they belong to 
scholars. We must look at the adjustments and alterations made 
by retellers and editors. . . . This kind of change, for me, is a form 
of condescension. And condescension has no place in our work 
with children. (63-64) 

The relegation of children, and children's literature, as "other"—as less 
"real," less relevant for celebrated innocence and less intellectually valu-
able—underestimates, and undermines, our children's ability to negotiate the 
world in which they live, and forces folk literature into a misunderstood and 
unappreciated art form. That our reading of the Middle Ages is primarily 
constructed through children's literature and folklore only adds to the 
argument for more accurate representations and valuations of both. 

While Yolen tells a charming tale, she not a crusader in the positive re-
valuation of folk literature. I believe that Jones, however, has taken an 
important step forward by honestly examining her sources and methods. 
Ironically, just as the anthropological devaluation of folk literature allowed 
Tam Lin to be included in MacQueen and Scott's collection, the devaluation 
of children's literature has allowed for Jones' Fire and Hemlock. We do not 
often find children's literature separated in terms of genre, perhaps because 
we do not see its audience as being capable of making and understanding 
such distinctions. Thus we find that the relegation of folklore is not as 
instrumental in the world of children's literature and the successful 
arguments made by and for Jones' Fire and Hemlock can be accessed by a 
larger audience. Once the devaluation of children's literature has been 
established, further need for devaluation is unnecessary. So while we turn 
our noses up at children's literature, we also turn our noses up at a literary 
world where folklore, science fiction, and realism live side-by-side. 

Adult retellings of folk literature, however, do not enjoy this literary 
equality. 

Pamela Dean's Tam Lin 

With the employee of a book store as my guide, I look up T-A-M L-I-N in 
the store's computer. I am, at this point, more concerned with locating 
Yolen's 

43 



 

text, so when I discover that there is another out there, I am especially 
delighted. "Can you give me an author?" I say to the man. 

Perry 

"The author is Pa Dean." 
"Pa Dean? Are you sure? I've never heard of Pa Dean," I respond. 

He looks at me as if I have two heads. Really, I did not mean to be rude, but 
Pa Dean just sounded so hokey, like someone trying to be a fat, cozy 
storyteller of the old American South. Well, that can be useful after all, I 
think. Or perhaps someone's name really is Pa Dean. I copy the name out 
onto my notebook and thank the somewhat disgruntled employee. 

But I have no luck in finding any books by Pa Dean in the children's 
section (and I'm afraid it did not occur to me to look anywhere else). Finally, 
I move operations to a more reputable children's book store, where they tell 
me that they have a P. Dean's Tam Lin, in the adult section. I am overjoyed, 
folklore for adults! I rush over to the (adult) folklore section. Lots of 
structural anthropology and some collections, but no P. Dean. I try 
mythology, no P. Dean. I even try history. No P. Dean. Back to the customer 
service desk, only to discover that Pa Dean is Pamela Dean. While I am 
dismayed that no one caught this data entry error, I am more disappointed in 
myself for not questioning it, and for assuming that the familial "Pa" would 
be an author of children's literature. Despite my argument with literary 
devaluation, I have nevertheless employed it in my research. The powerful 
tradition of literary devaluation runs deep in all of us. I make a mental note to 
remedy my own appalling behavior. 

When I finally locate Pamela Dean's Tam Lin, it is in the Science Fiction 
section. It is folklore, I think to myself, fantasy at best. And now it's not only 
been relegated to Science Fiction (yet another genre of undeserved ridicule), 
but it has been falsely relegated. Still, I am gripping an adult retelling of folk 
literature in my hands. Turning the glossy paper back in my hands, I read 
Terri Windling's editorial note on the back, 

ONCE UPON A TIME... 
. . . fairy tales were written for young and old alike. It is only 

in the last century that they have been deemed fit only for 
children and stripped of much of their original complexity, 
sensuality, and power to frighten and delight. 

I couldn't have said it better myself, I think. Feelings of warmth and 
friendship for Terri Windling and Pamela Dean well out of my heart. 

Upon reading Dean's Tam Lin, I find that those qualities that have been 
"stripped" through retellings, have here been reinserted. The "original 

44 



 

The Ever- Vigilant Hero 

complexity" of the tale, the severity of Tam's predicament and Janet's 
pregnancy, return. The "sensuality," physical descriptions of romantic love 
and sexuality, are explored and detailed. "The power to frighten and delight" 
in Dean's retelling keeps me riveted to the pages of Tam Lin for three days 
straight. 

Dean's Tam Lin has been set on a Mid-Western college campus. The 
Janet10 of her tale, an entering Freshman, stumbles upon a world of mystery. 
Professor Medeous, Janet's advisor and the Director of the Classics depart-
ment, is the Fairy Queen. Medeous has stolen Tam in exchange for his 
immortality. Tam's seven-year stint is explained, in the terms of higher 
education, as having resulted from a continual switch in majors. This kind of 
unpredictable, somewhat disloyal, behavior has irritated Medeous, and she 
plans for him to be the next tithe paid to Hell. Students following a major in 
Classics make up the fairy folk, but we learn that several of them have been 
with us for thousands of years—some are even original players from 
Shakespeare's troupe. Certain attitudes towards authors, Shakespeare, Keats, 
Wordsworth, have developed in the fairy folk depending on the authors' 
refusal of the Fairy Queen's offers. The novel is extraordinarily intertextual, 
as characters discuss and argue the merits of literary history. These discus-
sions, as well as a description of college life, comprise much of the text, and 
we follow Janet into the end of her Junior year. 

Following a casual, sexual relationship with one of Shakespeare's 
players, Janet develops a friendship with Tam. She is impregnated by him in 
a one-night fling. Her situation is revealed to her while she learns of Tam's 
impending doom. Janet battles with the decision, finally deciding to go to 
Miles Cross (here a wooden bridge on campus) on Halloween night and pull 
him from his horse. In keeping with the original ballad, Tam goes through a 
series of transformations in Janet's arms before finally being thrown into a 
stream and returned to a mortal existence. 

The climax of Tam's rescue, like much of the novel, accurately follows 
the language of the original ballad. Indeed, the language is almost exact and, 
if it has been altered, it has been added to (never taken from). Professor 
Medeous, the Fairy Queen, responds to Tam's rescue as does the original 
character, 

"Oh, had I known," she said in her own voice, but with a wild 
note and a wilder accent, Scottish flavored with Welsh or French 
or something nobody knew. . . . "Tam Lin," she said, "what this 
night I did see," and she looked back at Janet, "I had looked him 
in the eye, and turned him to a tree." . . . 

45 



 

Perry 

"There will be two then" said Medeous. . . . "In seven years, we 
shall have two." She looked hard at Thomas. "And two dearer," 
she said, clearly. (450) 

In her use of the original language of Tam Lin, and the threat made to Janet 
and her child's future, Dean returns the power, the gravity and scope of the 
original ballad, to her reader. 

Dean's retelling of Tam Lin, her modernization and expansion, coexist 
with the beauty and symmetry contained in the original. While her narrative 
departs from the original greatly, to include current studies in literature and 
the life of a modern college student, she does not leave out any aspect of the 
original ballad. This is a retelling that truly adds to and enhances the tale of 
Tam Lin without distilling it. 

Unlike Jones' Fire and Hemlock, the tale of Tam Lin is not a part of 
Dean's intertextuality. In Dean's Tam Lin, the tale is happening for the first 
time. No references to the tale help Janet to save her beloved. But just as 
Jones' reference to the tale legitimizes her selected use of it, Dean's sensitiv-
ity to the language and themes of the tale allows her retelling to have a 
respectful vision of the original. 

It can be said that Dean has the license to write in the questionable 
morality and danger of the original ballad because she writes for an adult 
audience. That Dean is writing for adults is clear, for her novel requires an 
understanding of literary history and young adulthood. Nevertheless, Dean is 
accomplishing something that Yolen and Jones' texts do not. She is returning 
the original ballad to adults (a large portion of its original audience) in an 
embellished state. Dean's attention to the original makes an elegant argument 
for the relevance of folk literature to the adult world. That this argument has 
been confined and devalued as Science Fiction is the fault of the tradition of 
literary hierarchy maintained by both publishers and critics. 

The preservation of folk tales, like the preservation of Good, requires 
constant vigilance. Allowing beautiful tales such as Tam Lin to visit the 
literary canon, or appreciating them only for the glimpses they provide of an 
older time and audience, is simply not enough. The arrogance of current 
scholarship, in which the relevance and weight of our literary roots are 
belittled and distilled, keep us from the pleasure and scope those literary 
roots provide. The devaluation of folk literature, like children's/young adult 
literature and Scots literature, is a threat to our literary heritage and social 
estimations. Our readers are not above devalued texts, they are being robbed 
of them. To classify such texts as "other," as lacking in literary quality, and 
to relegate them to shelves and collections outside of prized literature, fixes 
them as half-dead and superfluous—a fate of which they are most 
undeserving. 

46 



 

The Ever- Vigilant Hero 

Perhaps the most poignant unrecognized aspect of Tam Lin, in terms of 
this analysis, is its appeal to the hero in all of us. As it calls us to action, the 
beauty of Tam Lin seems to reach across time and force us to reevaluate the 
aims and directions of literary scholarship. Folklore scholars today must 
function as "Janets." This is not an easy role to inhabit, but that of hero never 
has been. We must battle the short-sighted ridicule of canon valuation. We 
must transgress the rules, as I have tried to do in my use of children's 
literature for a critical analysis and intentional avoidance of the use of critical 
materials that I feel only add to current devaluation and misinterpretation. 
Such transgressions, as we have seen, serve to preserve the Good. This 
argument has been staged as a call for reassessment and appreciation of 
literature—the very art form we feel called to defend. In denying folk 
literature, as well as several other forms, a place in the canon, we are 
undermining and weakening the whole of literary art. Those rules of 
scholarship (say something useful about prized texts, back yourself up with a 
multitude of resources, use only the neutral, thesis-driven form of writing...) 
here being transgressed, are being transgressed in order to preserve a worthy 
component of literature. Whatever successes the "Janets" might have are 
temporary, for the relegation of literature has become a constant and 
traditional process. Thus, we are required to be the ever-vigilant hero. We 
must be precise in locating the attitudes of devaluation in our own research, 
as well as in the research of others. We must reclaim our beloved and 
struggle to defend its position. 

Scholars, critics and authors are, in a very real sense, retellers. It is 
ironic that the practices of the reteller are celebrated while the retellings 
themselves are denigrated. A respect for the "original" tale, and 
interpretations that allow the tale to grow and change according to its nature, 
serve to keep our literary traditions alive. My hopes are that this paper will 
also serve as a call to the hero in all of us. 

University of Rhode Island 

NOTES 

1. I am here purposeful in describing Janet as a hero (and not a heroine) since I 
believe that (male) heroes are allowed certain qualities of strength and character 
denied to (female) heroines. The Janet of Tam Lin is truly a hero as she champions a 
powerless man by battling another woman. It is a pity that more female characters do 
not occupy this heroic role and that, when they do, we do not celebrate it equally. 

2. By verse-specific I mean simply the explication and location of place names 
that appear in a given text, of "real life" characters alluded to, and the glossing of 
obsolete or culturally-specific vocabulary. 

47 



 

3. By adding an (s) to culture here, my intention is to broaden the accepted 
definition of culture to include subcultures-audiences and concerns-that may be 
regionally or historically specific. 
 4. Burns was among the first to combine text and tune in print. For the tune of 
Tam Lin, see Burns: Poems and Songs, edited by James Kinsley, 658. 

5. One example of a (late) 20th century musical retelling can be found in the 
Fairport Convention's recording of "Tam Lin," in which the chorus verse/stanza is 
repeated in a more regular fashion. 

6. There is reason to believe that double flowers, like grafted trees, due to their 
rarity or the unnaturalness of their construction, were said to grow near entrances to 
the fairy world. The Queen of "Sir Orfeo" is stolen away by the fairies when she falls 
asleep beneath an "ympe" (grafted) tree. 

7. Much of medieval literature has been relegated to a devalued, juvenile 
standing (the King Arthur and Robin Hood legends, and other Romances, for 
example). It can be suggested that that which has not been so devalued (Chaucer's 
poetry, monastic manuscripts, Dante's visit to the afterlife) are texts in which the 
realities of human existence are inseparable from the text, or to which the colonizing 
character of Christianity has lent its valuation. Pedagogically, it should be noted that 
students of canon-valued medieval literature are often surprised and frustrated by the 
need to insert "new" estimations of the Middle Ages into an existing paradigm 
informed by altered folk literature. 

8. I believe that Jones chose these names to help "modernize" the tale, and that it 
is in keeping with the English setting for her novel and her equal reliance on "Thomas 
the Rhymer." 

9. I am much indebted to Susan P. Bloom, Cathryn M. Mercier, and Heather L. 
Walker of The Center for the Study of Children's Literature at Simmons College, 
Boston, MA for aiding me in this analysis. 

10. Dean's characters are rightly called by their original names, Janet (Carter) and 
Thomas (Lane). Thomas is shortened to Tam by the fairy folk of the novel. 

Perry 

WORKS CITED 

Brockman, Bennet. "Robin Hood and the Invention of Children's Literature." 
 Children's Literature 10 (1982): 1-17. 
Child, F.J., ed. 1892-1898. The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. New York: 

Pageant, 1956. 
Dean, Pamela. Tam Lin. New York: TOR, 1991. 
Hunt, Peter. Criticism, Theory, and Children's Literature. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1991. 
Jones, Diana Wynne. Fire and Hemlock. New York: Greenwillow, 1985. Kinsley, 
James, ed. Burns: Poems and Songs. Oxford, UK: Oxford UP, 1992. MacQueen, 
John, and Tom Scott, eds. The Oxford Book of Scottish Verse. New York:: 
 Oxford UP, 1966. 
Roger, Mae Durham. "From Folklore to Literature." Through Folklore to Literature: 
 Papers Presented at the Australian National Section of IBBY Conference on 

48 



 

The Ever- Vigilant Hero 

Children's Literature. Maurice Saxby, ed. Sydney: IBBY Australia Publications, 
1979. 

Sullivan, C.W. III. "Traditional Ballads and Modem Children's Fantasy: Some 
Comments on Structure and Intent." Children's Literature Association Quarterly 
11.3 (1986): 145--47. 

Yolen, Jane. Tam Lin. Charles Mikolaycak, illus. New York: Harcourt, 1990. 

49 



 

CFS: 1996 Annual Meeting 

President Libby Tucker called the section meeting to order at 7:33 PM on 
Thursday, 17 October, at the 1996 AFS meetings held in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl-
vania. She passed on greetings to all present from members who were unable 
to attend. 

Libby then summarized the section's major activities during the 
preceding year. These included: (a) the Aesop Prize Committee's overseeing 
the production and distribution to publishers of Aesop Prize and Aesop 
Accolade book stickers, and (b) Priscilla Ord's and Ruth Stotter's exploration 
of an awards ceremony for Aesop Prize and Accolade winners on 8 
November 1996 at the Library of Congress. Since only one award-winning 
author could attend on that date, however, the tentative plans were canceled 
with the hope that a more convenient format would result in an award 
ceremony being held in future years. Secretary/Treasurer Danielle Roemer 
then gave her report. As of September 1996, the membership in the section 
had increased from a previous eighty four members to a present total of 
ninety one members: seventy two domestic and nineteen non-domestic. Non-
domestic members are based in Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, 
Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Romania, Taiwan, and 
Wales. Danielle also reported that, as of 31 August 1996, the section's 
general operating funds account stood at $2573.41. Regarding other financial 
matters, to date the section has spent approximately $2000.00 on the 
production and mailing expenses for the Aesop Prize and Aesop Accolade 
book stickers. Income from these sales has thus far amounted to $269.34. 

Editor Chip Sullivan reported that the 1995-1996 volume of the Review 
ran approximately $350.00 over the production funds supplied by the East 
Carolina University English Department. Chip then raised the possibility of a 
special double issue of the Review tentatively scheduled for May of 1998 and 
marking the 20th anniversary of the Children's Folklore Section. As presently 
conceived, this issue would include a comprehensive index for the journal. 
Simon Bronner has agreed to write a history of the section for that issue. 

Libby Tucker announced Susan Charles Groth (University of Penn- 
sylvania) as the winner of the 1995-1996 Newell Prize for her essay, "'Here 
We Sit Like Birds in the Wilderness Waiting for Our Dessert': The Girl 
Scout Program and Ordering Space in Camp Sacajawea's Dining Hall/Main 
House." This year's prize includes a check for $250.00. 

Libby then presented a report from the Opie Prize Committee Chair 
Margaret MacDonald, who could not attend the meeting. On behalf of the 
committee, Margaret recommended as the 1995-1996 Opie Prize winner the 
volume Children's Folklore: A Sourcebook, edited by Brian Sutton-Smith, 
Jay Mechling, Thomas W. Johnson, and Felicia R. McMahon (Garland 
1995). 

51 



 

CFS: 1996 Annual Meeting 

Members present approved this as the winning book and then discussed a 
second recommendation from the committee: that a new category, Opie Prize 
Honor Book, be established. A motion to create this new award was 
defeated. 

Aesop Prize Committee chair Ruth Stotter reported that, of the 120 
books submitted, the committee (Ruth Stotter, Carole H. Carpenter, Sean 
Galvin, and Priscilla Ord) selected two anthologies for the Aesop Prize and 
twelve books for the Aesop Accolade for 1996. These were: 

1996 Aesop Prize 

Next Year in Jerusalem. Retold by Howard Schwartz and illustrated by Neil 
 Waldman. New York: Viking, 1996. 
Nursery Tales Around the World. Retold by Judy Sierra and illustrated by 
 Stefano Vitale. New York: Clarion, 1996. 

1996 Aesop Accolade List 

Medio-Pollito/Half-Chicken. Retold by Alma Flor Ada and illustrated by  
       Kim Howard. New York: Doubleday, 1995. 
The Story of the Milky Way: A Cherokee Tale. Retold by Joseph Bruchac and 
 Gayle Ross and illustrated by Virginia A. Stroud. New York: Dial, 1995. 
Mysterious Tales of Japan. By Rafe Martin and illustrated by Tatsuro    
        Kiuchi. New York: Putnam, 1996. 
When the World Was Young: Creation and Pourquoi Tales. Retold by  
     Margaret Mayo and illustrated by Louise Bradley. New York: Simon &     
     Schuster,1995. 
The Turkey Girl.  Retold by Penny Pollock and illustrated by Ed Young.  
      Boston: Little, Brown, 1996. 
How Turtle's Back Was Cracked: A Traditional Cherokee Tales. Retold by 
 Gayle Ross with paintings by Murv Jacob. New Yode Dial, 1995. 
The Biggest Frog in Australia. Written and illustrated by Susan L. Roth.  
       NewYork: Simon & Schuster, 1996. 
The Woman in the Moon: a Story from Hawaii. Retold by Jama Kim Rattigan 
 and illustrated by Carla Golembe. Boston: Little, Brown, 1996. 
The Maiden of Northland: A Hero Tale of Finland. Retold by Aaron Shepard 
 and illustrated by Carol Schwartz. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. 
Songs for Survival: Songs and Chants from Tribal Peoples Around the  
      World. Compiled by Nikki Siegen-Smith and illustrated by Bernard       
      Lodge. New York: Dutton, 1995. 

52 



 

CFS :1996 Annual Meeting 

Princess Florecita and the Iron Shoes. Retold by John Warcen Stewig and 
 illustrated by K. Wendy Popp. New York: Knopf (Apple Soup),1995. 
Wicked Jack. Retold by Connie N. Wooldridge and illustrated by Will 
 Hillenbrand. New York: Holiday House, 1995 

As instructed by a motion passed at the 1995 section meeting, the committee 
sent out announcements of these winners not only to the respective 
publishers, but also to school and library journals, newspapers, children's 
literature publications, and a variety of organizations and internet addresses 
that focus on children's literature. 

Continuing her report, Ruth also made several proposals: 
(a) that the section's previous directive to the committee that an-
nouncements of the winners be sent out within two weeks of the 
winners' identification be amended to a time period of "within three 
weeks." The motion passed. 
(b) that changes be made in the current design of the Aesop Prize 
and Aesop Accolade book stickers, including the addition of a 
notice of copyright, to make the stickers more saleable. Members 
present voted in favor of amending the respective designs if the 
money to do so became available. 
(c) that publishers be allowed to print the Prize or Accolade sticker 
directly on the cover of an award-winning book. Such printings 
would give the year of the respective prize and identify the AFS 
Children's Folklore Section as its bestower. The charge would be 
$100.00. Publishers who later reprinted award-winning books could 
reproduce the sticker free of charge. Consideration of the matter was 
tabled. 
(d) that the section negotiate with the artist who drew the design for 
the Aesop Medallions for the section's right to reproduce the design 
on its stationery. Members present approved this proposal. 
(e) that certificates of either their prize award or accolade status be 
sent to all winning publishers, authors, and illustrators. Members 
present approved thus proposal. Libby Tucker will design these 
certificates for the 1994, 1995, and 1996 winners. 
(t) that criterion number 5 for the Aesop Prize (that is, that "Folklore 
sources [ . . . ] be fully acknowledged and annotations referenced within 
the bound contents of the publication") be underlined or printed in 
bold typeface on the call for submissions. This year, nearly one-
third of the books submitted for the prize did not meet this criterion. 
Members present approved this proposal. 

Finally, Ruth asked section members to contribute additional names of 

53 



 

CFS: 1996 AnnualMeeting 

persons and/or publishing companies who should be sent the call for submis-
sions in future years. 

Jan Rosenberg reported on the death at age ninety-four of folklorist 
Dorothy Howard, who passed away during the winter of 1995. June Factor, 
Sylvia Grider, and Jan Rosenberg are currently preparing a commemorative 
retrospective on Howard's work, noting in particular the various fields that 
Howard's work impacted on. Jan offered this retrospective for inclusion in the 
Review's 20th anniversary special issue. She also suggested that a focus on 
Howard's work be included in the section's panel for the 1997 AFS meetings. 

For personal reasons, President-Elect Linda Morley will not be able to 
assume the duties of section president during the 1996-1997 year. Joe Edgette 
nominated Libby Tucker to serve as President for the coming year. Sean 
Galvin seconded the nomination. Members present unanimously confirmed 
Libby in this position. 

Under new business, Danielle Roemer reported that the editors of 
Children's Folklore: A Sourcebook—Brian Sutton-Smith, Jay Mechling, and 
Thomas W. Johnson—have generously agreed to donate their royalties from 
the book to the section for a total gift amount of $682.00 for 1995-1996. 
Members present expressed their sincere appreciation for the editors' gener-
ous donation. (Pursuant to her arrangement with Garland Publishing, book 
editor Felicia McMahon will not receive royalty payments.) During discus-
sion of particular uses for this money, Libby Tucker suggested donating it to 
an as-yet-to-be-selected library for the purchase of children's books. 

Sean Galvin then proposed that the section sponsor a 20th anniversary 
panel on children's folklore for the 1997 AFS meetings. A possible focus for 
the panel might be the changing conceptions of childhood. Chip Sullivan was 
volunteered to chair the panel. Jan Rosenberg suggested the possibility of the 
section's having children's folklore specialists volunteer as discussants on 
relevant AFS conference panels that are not specifically devoted to the 
discussion of children's folklore. 

Ruth Stotter proposed a money-making project for the section involving 
each member's sending to her the titles of children's folklore books that he or 
she owns but would be willing to sell. Ruth would then type up a list of the 
titles and distribute it among the section's members. 
 Linda Humphrey announced the call for papers for the Association for 
the Study of Play to be held 2-3 Apri11997 in Washington, DC. 
 The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 PM. 

Respectfully submitted, 
 Danielle Roemer 
 Secretary/Treasurer 

54 



 

Notes and Announcements 

In Our Own Image: The Child, Canadian Culture, and Our Future, Carole 
H. CatpeI1ter, York, Canada: The Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, 
York University, 1996. CaroleH. Carpenter's 1995 Robarts Lecture 
"explores the cultural status of children in Canada, the relationship of their 
marginalization to our contemporary identity, and the implications for our 
cultural future" (preface). This valuable study by a former president of the 
Children's Folklore Section of the American Folklore Society raises 
provocative questions not only about Canadian children and culture, but 
about all children in western culture. 

The Children's Folklore Section of the American Folklore Society annually 
offers the W.W. Newell Prize (which includes a cash award) for the best 
undergraduate or graduate student essay on a topic in children's folklore. 
Students must submit their own papers, and published papers are eligible. 
Instructors are asked to encourage students with eligible papers to enter the 
competition. Papers must be typed, double-spaced, and on white paper. On 
the first page include the author's name, academic address, home address, 
and telephone numbers. Deadline for each year's competition is March 1st. 

Submit papers or write for additional information: Margaret 
MacDonald, 11507 NE 104th Street, Kirkland, W A 98033. 

The Augusta Festival 25th Anniversary Celebration will take place 8-10 
August 1997 at the Augusta Heritage Center, Davis & Elkins College, 
Elkins, West Virginia. For information about Augusta Heritage Center 
programs in general and the Anniversary Celebration in particular, call 
(304) 637-1209 or 1-800-624-3157. 

The 1997 Old Songs Festival will celebrate the organization's 20th birthday 
27-29 June 1997 at the Altamont Fairgrounds, Altamont, NY. For 
information, contact Andy Spence, telephone (518) 765-2815, or e-mail 
OLDSONGS@CRISNY.ORG 

The second annual International Festival of Arts & Ideas will be held 2529 
June 1997 in New Haven, CT. Among the events of interest to children's 
folklorists are the Festival for Children and the Youth Arts Summit. For 
information, contact Lynn Richardson, telephone (203) 946-3805. 

The Popular Culture Association in the South and American Culture 
Association in the South will meet 16-18 October 1997 in Columbia, SC. 
For information, contact Jon Crane, Program Chair, Communications Stud-
ies, UNC-Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, telephone (704) 547-4005. 

55 



 

About the Contributors 

Susan Charles T. Groth holds an MA from the Department of Folklore and 
Folklife at the University of Pennsylvania where she will soon begin her 
dissertation on Girl Scouting. She works as a folklife specialist for the 
Northwest Jersey Folklife Project and serves on the Board of the Middle 
Atlantic Folklife Association. As a girl, she was active in the Delaware-
Raritan Girl Scout Council and currently holds membership in that council's 
Alumnae/i Network. Her girl scouting experience includes local leadership 
and international exchange activities. She lives in Lambertville, NJ, with her 
husband and daughter. 

Evelyn M. Perry is a PhD candidate at the University of Rhode Island, where 
she teaches writing and literature. She is currently at work on her 
dissertation, tentatively entitled '''And Marian Was Strang'ly Attired': 
Dressing Up Heroism in the Legend of Robin Hood." Ms. Perry's work has 
appeared in the Journal of American Folklore, The Leaflet, and Simmons 
College's Essays and Studies. 

56 



 

C. W. Sullivan III, Editor 
Children's Folklore Review 
Department of English 
East Carolina University 
Greenville, NC 27858-4353 

The Children's Folklore Review is available only to mem-
bers of the Children's Folklore Section of the American 
Folklore Society. To become a member, send $10.00 yearly 
dues ($15.00 for non-US members) to Danielle Roemer, 
Literature and Language, Northern Kentucky University, 
Highland Heights, KY 41099-1500. Please make checks 
payable to " AFS Children' s Folklore Section." 

CFR requests manuscripts that are prepared using laser 
printed text or letter quality text. We request that authors 
using typewriters or dot-matrix printers have their manu-
scripts redone and a laser printed copy made. This will 
enable us to scan the copy, thereby eliminating rekeying 
the manuscript. 

Please send manuscripts to: 

Children's Folklore Review is published twice a year and sent to all 
members of the Children's Folklore Section of the American Folklore 
Society. 

Published by East Carolina University  
ISSN: 0739-5558  

Copyright ©1997 Children's Folklore Section