Hi Michael

These tags look alright - are you going in through the language editing interface to change the text

An example of tags that are used in a message is as follows 

<p>An existing account was found with this email address but it is not linked yet.</p> <p>The accounts must be linked before you can log in.</p> <p>An email should have been sent to your address at <b>{$a}</b>.</p> <p>It contains easy instructions to link your accounts.</p> <p>If you have any difficulty, contact the site administrator.</p>

Regards