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ber of earls, barons, and bannerets made captive, was tivity ever since the year 1306. The Targia, or signet, twenty-two, and sixty-eight knights. Many clerks and was restored to England through the intercession of esquires were also there slain or taken. Roger de Ralph de Monthermer, ancestor of Lord Moira, who is Northburge, keeper of the king's signet (Custos Targiæ said to have found favour in the eyes of the Scottish Domini Regis), was made prisoner with his two clerks.king.-Continuation of TRIVET'S Annals, Hall's edit. Roger de Wakenfelde and Thomas de Swinton, upon which the king caused a seal to be made, and entitled it his privy seal, to distinguish the same from the signet so lost. The Earl of Hereford was exchanged against Bruce's queen, who had been detained in cap-land, afford a boundless field for speculation.

Oxford, 1712, vol. II, p. 14.

Such were the immediate consequences of the field of Bannockburn. Its more remote effects, in completely establishing the national independence of Scot

Thomas the Rhymer,

IN THREE PARTS.

PART I.

Few personages are so renowned in tradition as Thomas of Ercildoun, known by the appellation of The Rhymer. Uniting, or supposed to unite, in his person, the powers of poetical composition, and of vaticination, his memory, even after the lapse of five hundred years, is regarded with veneration by his countrymen. To give any thing like a certain history of this remarkable man would be indeed difficult; but the curious may derive some satisfaction from the particulars here brought together.

that, down to a very late period, the practice of distinguishing the parties, even in 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, thirteenth century, when surnames were hardly introamong the Border clans. So early as the end of the duced in Scotland, this custom must have been universal. There is, therefore, nothing inconsistent in supposing our poet's name to have been actually Learmont, although, in this charter, he is distinguished by the popular appellation of The Rhymer.

We are better able to ascertain the period at which Thomas of Ercildoun lived; being the latter end of the It is agreed, on all hands, that the residence and pro- thirteenth century. I am inclined to place his death a bably the birth-place of this ancient bard was Ercil- little farther back than Mr Pinkerton, who supposes doun, a village situated upon the Leader, two miles that he was alive in 1300 (List of Scottish Poets); above its junction with the Tweed. The ruins of an which is hardly, I think, consistent with the charter ancient tower are still pointed out as the Rhymer's already quoted, by which his son, in 1299, for himself castle. The uniform tradition bears, that his surname was Lermont, or Learmont; and that the appellation Soltre, the tenement which he possessed by inheritance and his heirs, conveys to the convent of the Trinity of of The Rhymer was conferred on him in consequence (hereditarie) in Ercildoun, with all claim which he, or of his poetical compositions. There remains, neverhis predecessors, could pretend thereto. From this we theless, some doubt upon this subject. In a charter which is subjoined at length, the son of our poet de- may infer, that the Rhymer was now dead; since we signs himself << Thomas of Ercildoun, son and heir of find his son disposing of the family property. Still, Thomas Rymour of Ercildoun,»> which seems to imply main unimpeached, as to the time of the poet's birth. however, the argument of the learned historian will rethat the father did not bear the hereditary name of For if, as we learn from Barbour,1 his prophecies were Learmont; or, at least, was better known and distin-held in reputation as early as 1306, when Bruce slew guished by the epithet which he had acquired by his personal accomplishments. I must, however, remark,

1 From the Chartulary of the Trinity House of Soltre, Advocates' Library, W. 4: 14.

ERSYLTON.

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 totum 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.

terram meam cum omnibus pertinentibus suis quam in tenemento

the Red Cummin, the sanctity, and (let me add to Mr Pinkerton's words) the uncertainty of antiquity, must have already involved his character and writings. In a charter of Peter de Haga de Bemersyde, which unfortunately wants a date, the Rhymer, a near neighbour, and, if we may trust tradition, a friend of the family, appears as a witness.-Chartulary of Melrose.

It cannot be doubted, that Thomas of Ercildoun was a remarkable and important person in his own time, since, very shortly after his death, we find him celebrated as a prophet, and as a poet. Whether he himself made any pretensions to the first of those charac

1 The lines alluded to are these:

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

350

ters, or whether it was gratuitously conferred upon him by the credulity of posterity, it seems difficult to decide. If we may believe Mackenzie, Learmont only versified the prophecies delivered by Eliza, an inspired of a convent at Haddington. But of this there seems not to be the most distant proof. On the contrary, all ancient authors, who quote the Rhymer's prophecies, uniformly suppose them to have been emitted by himself. Thus, in Winton's Chronicle,

nun,

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There could have been no ferly (marvel), in Winton's eyes at least, how Thomas came by his knowledge of future events, had he ever heard of the inspired nun of Haddington; which, it cannot be doubted, would have been a solution of the mystery, much to the taste of the prior of Lochleven.1

mous.

Whatever doubts, however, the learned might have, as to the source of the Rhymer's prophetic skill, the vulgar had no hesitation to ascribe 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 him afterwards so faAfter seven years' residence he was permitted to return to the earth, to enlighten and astonish his countrymen by his prophetic powers; still, however, remaining bound to return to his royal mistress, when she should intimate her pleasure. Accordingly, while Thomas was making merry with his friends in the tower of Ercildoun, a person came running in, and told, with marks of fear and astonishment, that a hart and hind had left the neighbouring forest, and were composedly and slowly parading the street of the village. The prophet instantly arose, left his habitation, and followed the wonderful animals to the forest, whence he was never seen to return. According to the popular belief, he still « drees his weird» in Fairy Land, and is expected one day 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 delivered 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

1 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 happen'd sooth in many divers case;

I cannot say by wrong or righteousness,

In rule of war whether they tint or wan:
It may be deemed by division of grace, etc.
History of Wallace, Book II.

2 See a Dissertation on Fairies, prefixed to the ballad of TAMLANE, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, vol. ii, p. 237.

3 There is a singular resemblance betwixt this tradition and an incident occurring in the life of Merlin Caledonius, which the reader will find a few pages onward.

Rhymer'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 alligator, added to a supposed communication with Thomas the Rhymer, lived for many years in very good credit as a wizard.

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 Ercildoun, corrected and enlarged by one in Mrs from a copy, obtained from a lady, residing not far 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 and a Third Part, entirely modern, founded upon the printed prophecies vulgarly ascribed to the Rhymer; tradition of his having returned with the hart and hind to the Land of Faerie. To make his the more severe antiquaries, the author has prefixed peace with to the Second Part some remarks on Learmont's prophecies.

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

2 That weird, etc.-That destiny shall never frighten me.

« Now, ye maun go wi' me,» she said; << True Thomas, ye maun go wi me; And ye maun serve me seven years, Through weal or woe 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,

The steed flew swifter than the wind.

O they rade on, and farther on;

The steed gaed swifter than the wind; Until they reach'd a desert wide,

And living land was left behind.

«Light down, light down, now, true Thomas, And lean your head upon my knce:

Abide, and rest a little space,

And I will shew 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 enquires.

<<< 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 bonnie 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.»>

O 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!

I 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.

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PART II.

THE prophecies, ascribed to Thomas of Ercildoun, have been the principal means of securing to him remembrance << amongst the sons of his people.» The author of Sir Tristrem would long ago 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 be regarded as a magician by the Lazzaroni of Naples, had not exalted the bard of Ercildoun to the prophetic character. Perhaps, indeed, he himself affected it during his life. We know at least, for certain, that a belief in his supernatural knowledge was current soon after his death. His prophecies are alluded to by Barbour, by Wintoun, and by Henry the Minstrel, or Blind Harry, as he is usually termed. None of these authors, however, give the words of any of the Rhymer's vaticinations, but merely relate historically his having predicted the events of which they speak. The earliest of the prophecies ascribed to him, which is now extant, is quoted by Mr Pinkerton from a MS. It is supposed to be a response from Thomas of Ercildoun, to a question from the heroic Countess of March, renowned for the defence of the castle of Dunbar, against the English, and termed, in the familiar dialect of her time, Black Agnes of Dunbar. This prophecy is remarkable, in so far as it bears very little resemblance to any verses published in the printed copy of the Rhymer's supposed prophecies. The verses are as follows:

« La Countesse de Donbar demande à Thomas de Essedoune quant la guerre d'Escoce prendreit fyn. E yl la repoundy et dyt:

When man is mad a kyng of a capped man; When man is levere other mones thying than is owen ; When londe thouys forest, ant forest is felde; When bares kendles o' the her'ston; When Wytt and Wille werres togedere: When mon makes stabels of kyrkes; and steles castels 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?

Nouther in thine tyme ne in mine;
Ah comen ant gone

Withinne twenty winter ant one.»

PINKERTON'S Poems, from Maitland's MSS., quoting 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 it is fixed by him (certainly one of the most able antiquaries of our age) to the reign of Edward I or II, it is

with great diffidence that I hazard a contrary opinion. There can, however, I believe, be little doubt, that these prophetic verses are a forgery, and not the production of our Thomas the Rhymer. But I am inclined to believe them of a later date than the reign of Edward I

or II.

Spottiswoode, an honest, but credulous historian, seems to have been a firm believer in the authenticity of the prophetic wares, vended in the name of Thomas of Ercildoun. << The prophecies, yet extant in Scottish rhymes, whereupon he was commonly called Thomas the Rhymer, may justly be admired; having foretold, so many ages before, the union of England and Scotland in the ninth degree of the Bruce's blood, with the succession of Bruce himself to the crown, being yet a child, and other divers particulars, which the event hath ratified and made good. Boethius, in his story, relateth his prediction of King Alexander's death, and that he did foretel the same to the Earl of March, the

at noon, such a tempest should blow, as Scotland had not felt for many years before.' The next morning, the day being clear, and no change appearing in the air, the nobleman did challenge Thomas of his saying,

yet passed. 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.

The gallant defence of the castle of Dunbar, by Black Agnes, took place in the year 1337. The Rhymer died previous to the year 1299 (see the charter, by his son, in the introduction to the foregoing ballad). It seems, therefore, very improbable, that the Countess of Dunbar could ever have an opportunity of consulting Thomas the Rhymer, since that would infer that she was married, or at least engaged in state matters, pre-day before it fell out; saying, 'that before the next day vious to 1299; whereas, she is described as a young, or a middle-aged woman, at the period of her being besieged in the fortress, which she so well defended. If the editor might indulge a conjecture, he would suppose, that the prophecy was contrived for the encou-calling him an impostor. He replied, that noon was not ragement of the English invaders, during the Scottish wars; and that the names of the Countess of Dunbar, and of Thomas of Ercildoun, were used for the greater credit of the forgery. According to this hypothesis, it seems likely to have been composed after the siege of Dunbar, which had made the name of the countess well-known, and consequently in the reign of Edward III. The whole tendency of the prophecy is to aver, << that there shall be no end of the Scottish war (concerning which the question was proposed), till a final conquest of the country by England, attended by all the usual severities of war. When the cultivated country shall become forest-says the prophecy :—when the wild animals shall inhabit the abode of men ;—when Scots shall not be able to escape the English, should they crouch as hares in their form»-all these denunciations seem to refer to the time of Edward III, upon whose victories the prediction was probably founded. The mention of the exchange betwixt a colt worth ten markes, and a quarter of «< whaty (indifferent) wheat,» seems to allude to the dreadful famine about the year The independence of Scotland was, however, as impregnable to the mines of superstition, as to the steel of our more powerful 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. 350, 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 various 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 habitation and family:

1388.

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 image of de-
solation. It is also inaccurately quoted in the pro-
phecy of Waldhave, published by Andro Hart, 1613:
This is a true talking that Thomas of tells,
The hare shall birple on the hard (hearth) stane.

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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:

Of Bruce's left side shall spring out as a leafe,
As neere as the ninth degree;

And shall be fleemed of faire Scotland,
In France farre beyond the sea.
And then shall come againe ryding,

With eyes that many men may see.
At Aberladie he shall light,

With bempen helteres and horse of tre.

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A duke's son dowbled (i. e. dubbed), a borne man in France,
That shal our mirths augment, and mende all our barmes,
After the date of our Lord 1513, and thrice three thereafter;
Which shal brooke all the broad isle to himself,
Between 13 and thrice three the threip shal be ended,
The Saxons sall never recover after.

There cannot be any doubt, that this prophecy was intended to excite the confidence of the Scottish 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-<< -« fleemed of faire 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.

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 lea, 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 lyon 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 woe for blood;
Yet to his men shall he say,
«Gor 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? Allusion is immediately afterwards made to the death of George Douglas, heir-apparent of Angus, who 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 Berlington'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,

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 union of the crowns.

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:

Take a thousand in calculation,
And the longest of the lyon,

Four crescents under one crowne,
With Saint Andrew's croce thrise,
Then threescore and thrise three:
Take tent to Merling truely.
Then shall the warres ended be,
And never againe rise.

In that yere there shall a king,
A duke, and no crowned king;
Becaus the prince shall be yong,
And tender of yeares.

The date above hinted at seems to be 1549, when the Scottish regent, by means of some succours derived from France, was endeavouring to repair the consequences of the fatal battle of Pinkie. Allusion is made to the supply given to the « Moldwarte (England) by the fained hart» (the Earl of Angus). The regent is described by his bearing, the antelope; large supplies are promised from France, and complete conquest predicted to Scotland and her allies. Thus was the same hackneyed stratagem repeated, whenever the interest of the rulers appeared to stand in need of it. The regent was not, indeed, till after this period, created Duke of Chatelherault; but that honour was the object of his hopes and expectations.

The name of our renowned soothsayer is liberally used as an authority, throughout all the prophecies published by Andro Hart. Besides those expressly put in his name, Gildas, another assumed personage, is supposed to derive his knowledge from him; for he concludes thus :

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