Barons and baronets.
Henry de Boun, earl of
Hereford,

Lord John Giffard,
William de Latimer,
Maurice de Berkley,
Ingelram de Umfraville,
Marmaduke de Twenge,
John de Wyletone,
Robert de Maulee,
Henry Fitz-Hugh,
Thomas de Gray,
Walter de Beauchamp,
Richard de Charon,

John de Wevelmton,
Robert de Nevil,
John de Segrave,
Gilbert Peeche,
John de Clavering,
Antony de Lucy,
Radulph de Camys,
John de Evere,
Andrew de Abrembyn.
Knights.

Thomas de Berkely,
The son of RogerTyrrel,
Anselm de Mareschal,
Giles de Beauchamp,
John Cyfrewast,

Thomas the Rhymer.

IN THREE PARTS.

difficult; but the curious may derive some satis-words) the uncertainty of antiquity, must have af faction from the particulars here brought together. ready involved his character and writings. In a It is agreed, on all hands, that the residence, charter of Peter de Haga de Bemersyde, which and probably the birth-place, of this ancient bard, unfortunately wants a date, the Rhymer, a near was Ercildoun, a village situated upon the Leader, neighbour, and, if we may trust tradition, a friend two miles above its junction with the Tweed. of the family, appears as a witness.—Chartulary of The ruins of an ancient tower are still pointed out Melrose. as the Rhymer's castle. The uniform tradition It cannot be doubted, that Thomas of Ercildoun bears, that his surname was Lermont, or Lear-was a remarkable and important person in his own mont; and that the appellation of The Rhymer was time, since, very shortly after his death, we find conferred on him in consequence of his poetical him celebrated as a prophet, and as a poet. Whecompositions. There remains, nevertheless, some ther he himself made any pretensions to the first doubt upon this subject. In a charter, which is of those characters, or whether it was gratuitously subjoined at length, the son of our poet designs conferred upon him by the credulity of posterity, himself, "Thomas of Ercildoun, son and heir of it seems difficult to decide. If we may believe Thomas Rymour of Ercildoun," which seems to Mackenzie, Learmont only versified the propheimply, that the father did not bear the hereditary cies delivered by Eliza, an inspired nun, of a con name of Learmont; or, at least, was better known vent at Haddington. But of this there seems not and distinguished by the epithet which he had ac- to be the most distant proof. On the contrary, all quired by his personal accomplishments. I must, ancient authors, who quote the Rhymer's prophehowever, remark, that, down to a very late period, cies, uniformly suppose them to have been emitted the practice of distinguishing the parties, even in by himself. Thus, in Winton's Chronicle, formal writings, by the epithets which had been bestowed on them from personal circumstances, instead of the proper surnames of their families, was common, and indeed necessary, among the border clans. So early as the end of the thirteenth century, when surnames were hardly introduced There could have been no ferly, (marvel,) in Win in Scotland, this custom must have been universal. ton's eyes at least, how Thomas came by his There is, therefore, nothing inconsistent in sup-knowledge of future events, had he ever heard of posing our poet's name to have been actually Lear- the inspired nun of Haddington; which, it cannot mont, although, in this charter, he is distinguish-be doubted, would have been a solution of the ed by the popular appellation of The Rhymer. mystery, much to the taste of the prior of Lochlevin.

Book viii, chap. 32.

Whatever doubts, however, the learned might have, as to the source of the Rhymer's prophetic skill, the vulgar had no hesitation to aser the whole to the intercourse between the bard and the queen of Faery. The popular tale bears, that Thomas was carried off, at an early age, to the Fairy Land, where he acquired all the knowledge which made

We are better able to ascertain the period at which Thomas of Ercildoun lived; being the latter end of the thirteenth century. I am inclined to place his death a little farther back than Mr. Pinkerton, who supposes that he was alive in 1300; (List of Scottish Poets:) which is hardly, I think, consistent with the charter already quoted, by which his son, in 1299, for himself and his heirs, conveys to the convent of the Trinity of Soltre, the him afterwards so famous. After seven years retenement which he possessed by inheritance (he-sidence he was permitted to return to the earth, reditarie) in Ercildoun, with all claim which he, to enlighten and astonish his countrymen by his or his predecessors, could pretend thereto. From prophetic powers; still, however, remaining bound this we may infer, that the Rhymer was now dead; to return to his royal mistress, when she should since we find his son disposing of the family pro-intimate her pleasure. Accordingly, while Thoperty. Still, however, the argument of the learn-mas was making merry with his friends in the ed historian will remain unimpeached, as to the tower of Ercildoun, a person came running in, and time of the poet's birth. For if, as we learn from told, with marks of fear and astonishment, that a Barbour,t his prophecies were held in reputation hart and hind had left the neighbouring forest, and as early as 1306, when Bruce slew the Red Comyn, were composedly and slowly parading the street the sanctity, and (let me add to Mr. Pinkerton's of the village. The prophet instantly arose, left From the Chartulary of the Trinity House of Soltre, his habitation, and followed the wonderful animals Advocates' Library, W. 4. 14. to the forest, whence he was never seen to return. ERSYLTON. According to the popular belief, he still "drees

Omnibus has literas visuris vel audituris Thomas de Ercildoun filius et heres Thomæ Rymour de Ercildoun salutem in Domino. Noveritis me per fustem et baculum in pleno judicio resignasse ac per presentes quietem clamasse pro me et heredibus meis Magistro domus Sanctæ Trinitatis de Soltre et fratribus ejusdem domus totam terram meam cum omnibus pertinentibus suis quam in tenemento de Ercildoun hereditarie tenui renunciando de toto pro me et heredibus meis omni jure et clameo quæ ego seu antecessores mei in eadem terra alioque tempore de perpetuo habuimus sive de futuro habere possumus. In cujus rei testimonio presentibus his sigillum meum apposui data apud Ercildoun die Martis proximo post festum Sanctorum Apostolorum Symonis et Jude Anno Domini Millesimo cc Nonagesimo Nono.

The lines alluded to are these:

I hope that Tomas's prophesie,
Of Erceldoun shall truly be.
In him, &c.

Of this fycht quilum spak Thomas
Of Ersyldoune, that sayd in Derne,

Thare suld meit stalwarthly, starke, and sterne.
He sayd it in his prophecy;
But how he wist it was ferly.

Henry, the minstrel, who introduces Thomas into the history of Wallace, expresses the same doubt as to the source of his prophetic knowledge.

Thomas Rhymer into the faile was than
With the minister, which was a worthy man.
He used oft to that religious place;

The people deemed of wit he meikle can,
And so he told, though that they bless or ban,
Which happened sooth in many divers ease;
I cannot say by wrong or righteousness,
In rule of war whether they tint or wan:
It may be deemed by division of grace, &c.
History of Wallace, Book n.
+See a Dissertation on Fairies, prefixed to the ballad
of TAMLANE, Minstrelsy of the Border, vol. ii, p. 237.
There is a singular resemblance betwixt this tradition,
and an incident occurring in the life of Merlin Caledɩ vias,
which the reader will find a few pages onward,

"True Thomas, ye maun go wi' me;
And ye maun serve me seven years,
Through weal or wo as may chance to be."
She mounted on her milk-white steed;
She's ta'en true Thomas up behind;
And aye, whene'er her bridle rung,

his weird” in Fairy Land, and is expected one day" Now, ye maun go wi' me,” she said;
to revisit earth. In the mean while, his memory
is held in the most profound respect. The Eildon
tree, from beneath the shade of which he deliver-
ed his prophecies, now no longer exists; but the
spot is marked by a large stone, called Eildon tree
stone. A neighbouring rivulet takes the name of
the Bogle Burn, Goblin Brook) from the Rhy-
mer's supernatural visitants. The veneration paid
to his dwelling-place even attached itself in some
degree to a person, who, within the memory of
man, chose to set up his residence in the ruins of
Learmont's tower. The name of this man was
Murray, a kind of herbalist; who, by dint of some
knowledge in simples, the possession of a musical
clock, an electrical machine, and a stuffed alliga-
tor, added to a supposed communication with
Thomas the Rhymer, lived for many years in very
good credit as a wizard.

The steed flew swifter than the wind.
O they rade on, and farther on;

The steed gaed swifter than the wind:
Until they reached a desert wide,

And living land was left behind.

It seemed to the author unpardonable to dismiss a person, so important in border tradition as the Rhymer, without some farther notice than a simple commentary upon the following ballad. It is given from a copy, obtained from a lady, residing not far from Ercildoun, corrected and enlarged by one in Mrs. Brown's MSS. The former copy, however, as might be expected, is far more minute as to local description.' To this old tale the author has ventured to add a second part, consisting of a kind of cento, from the printed prophecies vulgarly ascribed to the Rhymer; and a third part, entirely modern, founded upon the tradition of his having returned with the hart and hind to the land of Faerie. To make his peace with the more severe antiquaries, the author has prefixed to the second part some remarks on Learmont's prophe-O cies.

PART I.-ANCIENT.

TRUE Thomas lay on Huntlie bank;
A ferlie he spied wi' his ee;
And there he saw a ladye bright,
Come riding down by the Eildon tree.
Her shirt was o' the grass-green silk,
Her mantle o' the velvet fyne;
At ilka tett of her horse's mane,

Hang fifty siller bells and nine.
True Thomas he pulled aff his cap,

And louted low down to his knee, "All hail, thou mighty queen of heaven! For thy peer on earth I never did see.” "O no, O no, Thomas," she said;

"That name does not belang to me; I am but the queen of fair Elfland,

That am hither come to visit thee. "Harp and carp, Thomas," she said;

"Harp and carp along with me; And if ye dare to kiss my lips,

Sure of your body I will be." "Betide me weal, betide me wo,

"9

That weird shall never danton me. Syne he has kissed her rosy lips,

All underneath the Eildon tree.

The author has been sace informed, by a most eminent antiquary, that there is in existence a MS. copy of this baliad, of very considerable antiquity, of which he hopes to avail himself on some future occasion.

†That weird,c. That destiny shall never frighten me.

"

'Light down, light down, now, true Thomas,
And lean your head upon my knee:
Abide, and rest a little space,

And I will show you ferlies three.
« O see ye not yon narrow road,

So thick beset with thorns and briers?
That is the path of righteousness,

Though after it but few inquires.
"And see not ye that braid, braid road,

That lies across that lily leven?
That is the path of wickedness,

Though some call it the road to heaven.
"And see not ye that bonny road,

That winds about the fernie brae?
That is the road to fair Elfland,

Where thou and I this night maun gae:
"But, Thomas, ye maun hold your tongue,
Whatever ye may hear or see:
For, if you speak word in Elflyn land,
Ye'll ne'er get back to your ain countrie.”
they rade on, and farther on,

And they waded through rivers aboon the knee, And they saw neither sun nor moon,

But they heard the roaring of the sea.

It was mirk, mirk night, and there was nae stern light,

And they waded through red blude to the knee, For a' the blude that's shed on earth,

Rins through the springs o' that countrie.

Syne they came on to a garden green,

And she pu'd an apple frae a tree;1
"Take this for thy wages, true Thomas;

It will give thee the tongue that can never lie."
"My tongue is mine ain," true Thomas said;
"A gudely gift ye wad gie to me!
1 neither dought to buy nor sell,

At fair or tryst, where I may be.

"I dought neither speak to prince or peer,
Nor ask of grace from fair ladye."
"Now hold thy peace!" the ladye said,
"For, as I say, so must it be."

He has gotten a coat of the even cloth,

And a pair of shoes of velvet green;
And, till seven years were gane and past,
True Thomas on earth was never seen.

PART II.

The prophecies, ascribed to Thomas of Ereildoun, have been the principal means of securing to him remembrance" amongst the sons of his people." The author of Sir Tristrem would long go have joined, in the vale of oblivion," Clerk of Tranent, who wrote the adventures of Schir Gawain," if, by good hap, the same current of

ideas respecting antiquity, which causes Virgil to for the encouragement of the English invaders,
be regarded as a magician by the Lazzaroni of Na- during the Scottish wars; and that the names of
ples, had not exalted the bard of Ercildoun to the the countess of Dunbar, and of Thomas of Ercil-
prophetic character. Perhaps, indeed, he himself doun, were used for the greater credit of the for-
affected it during his life. We know at least, for gery. According to this hypothesis, it seems likely
certain, that a belief in his supernatural knowledge to have been composed after the siege of Dunbar,
was current soon after his death. His prophecies which had made the name of the countess well
are alluded to by Barbour, by Wintoun, and by known, and, consequently, in the reign of Edward
Henry the minstrel, or Blind Harry, as he is usu- III. The whole tendency of the prophecy is to
ally termed. None of these authors, however, aver, "that there shall be no end of the Scottish
give the words of any of the Rhymer's vaticina- war, (concerning which the question was propos-
tions, but merely relate historically his having ed,) till a final conquest of the country by England,
predicted the events of which they speak. The attended by all the usual severities of war. When
earliest of the prophecies ascribed to him, which the cultivated country shall become forest, says
is now extant, is quoted by Mr. Pinkerton from a the prophecy; when the wild animals shall inhabit
MS. It is supposed to be a response from Thomas the abode of men; when Scotts shall not be able
of Ercildoun, to a question from the heroic coun- to escape the English, should they crouch as hares
tess of March, renowned for the defence of the in their form." All these denunciations seem to re-
castle of Dunbar, against the English, and termed, fer to the time of Edward III, upon whose victo-
in the familiar dialect of her time, Black Agnes ries the prediction was probably founded. The
of Dunbar. This prophecy is remarkable, in so mention of the exchange betwixt a colt worth ten
far as it bears very little resemblance to any verses markes, and a quarter of "whaty (indifferent)
published in the printed copy of the Rhymer's wheat," seems to allude to the dreadful famine
supposed prophecies. The verses are as follows: about the year 1388. The independence of Scot-
La countesse de Donbar demande à Thomas de Esse land was, however, as impregnable to the mines
doune quant la guerre d'Escoce prendreit fyn. E yl la re- of superstition, as to the steel of our more power-
poundy et dyt.
ful and more wealthy neighbours. The war of
Scotland is, thank God, at an end; but it is ended
without her people having either crouched like
hares, in their form, or being drowned in their flight
"for faute of shep, "--thank God for that too. The
prophecy quoted in p. 318, is probably of the
same date, and intended for the same purpose. A
minute search of the records of the time would,
probably, throw additional light upon the allusions
contained in these ancient legends. Among vari-
ous rhymes of prophetic import, which are at this
day current amongst the people of Teviotdale, is
one, supposed to be pronounced by Thomas the
Rhymer, presaging the destruction of his habita
tion and family:

"When man is mad a kyng of a capped man;
When man is levere other mones thyng than is owen:
When londe thouys forest, ant forest is folde;
When hares kendles o' the her'ston;
When Wytt and Wille werres togedere:
When mon makes stables of kyrkes; and steles cas-
tels with styes;
When Rokesboroughe nys no burgh ant market is at
Forwyleye:

When Bambourne is donged with dede men;
When men ledes men in ropes to buyen and to sellen;
When a quarter of whaty whete is chaunged for a

colt of ten markes;

When prude(pride) prikes and pees is leyd in prisoun;
When a Scot ne me hym hude ase hare in forme that
the English ne shall hym fynde;
When rycht and wronge astente the togedere;
When laddes weddeth lovedies;

When Scottes flen so faste, that for faute of shep, hy
drowneth hemselve;

When shal this be?

Nonther in thine tyme ne in mine;
Ah comen ant gone
Withinne twenty winter ant one."

Pinkerton's Poems, from Maitland's MSS. ing from Harl. Lib. 2253. f. 127. As I have never seen the MS. from which Mr. Pinkerton makes this extract, and as the date of This is a true talking that Thomas of tells, it is fixed by him (certainly one of the most able The hare shall hirple on the hard (hearth) stane. antiquaries of our age) to the reign of Edward I Spottiswoode, an honest, but credulous histoor II, it is with great diffidence that 1 hazard a rian, seems to have been a firm believer in the contrary opinion. There can, however, I believe, authenticity of the prophetic wares, vended in the be little doubt, that these prophetic verses are a name of Thomas of Ercildoun. "The prophecies, forgery, and not the production of our Thomas yet extant in Scottish rhymes, whereupon he was the Rhymer. But I am inclined to believe them commonly called Thomas the Rhymer, may justly of a later date than the reign of Edward I or II. be admired; having foretold, so many ages before, The gallant defence of the castle of Dunbar, by the union of England and Scotland in the ninth Black Agnes, took place in the year 1337. The degree of the Bruce's blood, with the succession Rhymer died previous to the year 1299 (see the of Bruce himself to the crown, being yet a child, charter, by his son, in the introduction to the and other divers particulars, which the event hath foregoing ballad.) It seems, therefore, very im- ratified and made good. Boethius, in his story, probable, that the countess of Dunbar could ever relateth his prediction of king Alexander's death, have an opportunity of consulting Thomas the and that he did foretel the same to the earl of Rhymer, since that would infer that she was mar-March, the day before it fell out; saying, that ried, or at least engaged in state matters, previous before the next day at noon, such a tempest should to 1299; whereas, she is described as a young, or blow, as Scotland had not felt for many years bea middle-aged woman, at the period of her being fore.' The next morning, the day being clear, and beseiged in the fortress, which she so well defend-no change appearing in the air, the nobleman did ed. If the editor might indulge a conjecture, he challenge Thomas of his saying, calling him an would suppose, that the prophecy was contrived impostor. He replied, that noon was not yet passed

•

The hare sall kittle (litter) on my hearth-stane, And there will never be a laird Learmont again. The first of these lines is obviously borrowed from that in the MS. of the Harl. library. When hares kendles o' the her'ston"-an emphatic imquot-age of desolation. It is also inaccurately quoted in the prophecy of Waldhave, published by Andro Hart, 1613:

About which time, a post came to advertise the earl of the king his sudden death. Then,' said Thomas, 'this is the tempest I foretold; and so shall it prove to Scotland. Whence, or how, he had this knowledge, can hardly be affirmed; but sure it is, that he did divine and answer truly of many things to come."-Spottiswoode, p. 47. Besides that notable voucher, master Hector Boece, the good archbishop might, had he been so minded, have referred to Fordun for the prophecy of king Alexander's death. That historian calls our bard "ruralis ille vates."-Fordun, lib. x, cap. 40.

What Spottiswoode calls "the prophecies extant in Scottish rhyme," are the metrical predictions ascribed to the prophet of Ercildoun, which, with many other compositions of the same nature, bearing the names of Bede, Merlin, Gildas, and other approved soothsayers, are contained in one small volume, published by Andro Hart, at Edinburgh, 1615. The late excellent lord Hailes made these compositions the subject of a dissertation, published in his Remarks on the History of Scotland. His attention is chiefly directed to the celebrated prophecy of our bard, mentioned by bishop Spottiswoode, bearing, that the crowns of England and Scotland should be united in the person of a king, son of a French queen, and related to Bruce in the ninth degree. Lord Hailes plainly proves, that this prophecy is perverted from its original purpose, in order to apply it to the succession of James VI. The ground-work of the forgery is to be found in the prophecies of Berlington, contained in the same collection, and runs thus:

The prophecy, put in the name of our Thomas the Rhymer, as it stands in Hart's book, refers to a later period. The narrator meets the Rhymer upon a land, beside a lee, who shows him many emblematical visions, described in no mean strain of poetry. They chiefly relate to the fields of Flodden and Pinkie, to the national distress which followed these defeats, and to future halcyon days, which are promised to Scotland. One quotation or two will be sufficient to establish this fully:

"Our Scottish king sal come ful keene,
The red lion beareth he;

A feddered arrow sharp, I weene,
Shal make him winke and warre to see.
Out of the field he shal be led
When he is bludie and wo for blood;
Yet to his men shall he say,

For God's luve, turn you againe,
And give yon southerne folk a frey!
Why should I lose the right is mine?
My date is not to die this day.' "—

Who can doubt, for a moment, that this refers to the battle of Flodden, and to the popular reports concerning the doubtful fate of James IV? Alluof George Douglas, heir apparent of Angus, who sion is immediately afterwards made to the death fought and fell with his sovereign:

"The sternes three that day shall die, That bears the harte in silver sheen." The well known arms of the Douglas family are the heart and three stars. In another place, the battle of Pinkie is expressly mentioned by name:

"At Pinken Cluch there shall be spilt
Much gentle blood that day;

There shall the bear lose the guilt,
And the eagill bear it away."

To the end of all this allegorical and mystical rhapsody is interpolated, in the later edition by Andro Hart, a new edition of Be gton's verses, before quoted, altered and manufactured so as to bear reference to the accession of James VI, which had just then taken place. The insertion is made, with a peculiar degree of awkwardness, betwixt a question put by the narrator, concerning the name and abode of the person who showed him these strange matters, and the answer of the prophet to that question;

"Then to the Bairne could I say,

Where dwells thou, or in what countrie?
[Or who shall rule the isle of Britane,
From the north to the south sey?

A French queene shall beare the sonne,
Shall rule all Britane to the sea;

Which of the Bruce's blood shall come,

As neere as the nint degree:

I frained fast what was his name,

There cannot be any doubt, that this prophecy was intended to excite the confidence of the Scot tish nation in the duke of Albany, regent of Scotland, who arrived from France in 1515, two years after the death of James IV, in the fatal field of Flodden. The regent was descended of Bruce by the left, i. e. by the female side, within the ninth degree. His mother was daughter to the earl of Boulogne, his father banished from his country-union of the crowns. "fleemit of fair Scotland." His arrival must necessarily be by sea, and his landing was expected at Aberlady, in the Frith of Forth. He was a duke's son, dubbed knight; and nine years from 1513 are allowed him, by the pretended prophet, for the accomplishment of the salvation of his country, and the exaltation of Scotland over her sister and rival. All this was a pious fraud, to excite the confidence and spirit of the country.

Where that he came, from what country.]

In Erslingtoun I dwell at hame,
Thomas Rymour men cals me.'

There is surely no one, who will not conclude, with lord Hailes, that the eight lines, inclosed in brackets, are a clumsy interpolation, borrowed from Berlington, with such alterations as might render the supposed prophecy applicable to the

While we are on this subject, it may be proper briefly to notice the scope of some of the other predictions in Hart's collection. As the prophecy of Berlington was intended to raise the spirits of the nation, during the regency of Albany, so those of Sybilla and Eltraine refer to that of the earl of Arran, afterwards duke of Chatelherault, during the minority of Mary, a period of similar calamity This is obvious from the following verses: