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On their foes assembled were;

One of their selwyn' that were there
Captain of them all they made.

And sheets, that were somedale braid,-
They fastened instead of banners
Upon long trees and spears.

And said that they would see the fight,
And help their lords at their might.
When here-till all assented were,
In a route assembled er,3

army, fled towards Linlithgow, pursued by Douglas with about sixty horse. They were augmented by Sir Lawrence Abernethy with twenty more, whom Douglas met in the Torwood upon their way to join the English army, and whom he easily persuaded to desert the defeated monarch, and to assist in the pursuit. They hung upon Edward's flight as far as Dunbar, too few in number to assail him with effect, but enough to harass his retreat so constantly, that whoever fell an instant behind, was instantly slain, or made prisoner. Edward's ignominious flight terminated at Dunbar, where the Earl of March, who still professed allegiance to him, << received him full gently.» From thence, the monarch of so great an empire, and the late commander of so BARBOUR's Bruce, vol. II, Book XIII, pp. 153, 4. gallant and numerous an army, escaped to Bamborough in a fishing vessel.

Fifteen thousand they were or ma,
And than in great haste gan they go,
With their banners, all in a route,
As they had men been styve and stout.
They came with all that assembly,
Right till they might the battle see;
Then all at once they gave a cry,

Slay! Slay! Upon them hastily s

The unexpected apparition, of what seemed a new army, completed the confusion which already prevailed among the English, who fled in every direction, and were pursued with immense slaughter. The brook of Bannock, according to Barbour, was so choaked with the bodies of men and horses, that it might have been passed dry-shod. The followers of the Scottish camp fell the disheartened fugitives, and added to the confusion and slaughter. Many were driven into the Forth, and perished there,, which, by the way, could hardly have happened, had the armies been drawn up east and west, since in that case, to get at the river, the English fugitives must have fled through the victorious army. About a short mile from the field of battle is a

upon

piace called the Bloody Folds. Here the Earl of Gloucester is said to have made a stand, and died gallantly at the head of his own military tenants and vassals. He was much regretted by both sides; and it is said the Scottish would gladly have saved his life, but neglecting to wear his surcoat with armorial bearings over his armour, he fell unknown, after his horse had been stabbed with

Robert.

spears.

Sir Marmaduke Twenge, an English knight, contrived to conceal himself during the fury of the pursuit, and when it was somewhat slackened, approached King Whose prisoner are you, Sir Marmaduke?» said Bruce, to whom he was personally known. «Yours, sir, answered the knight. « I receive you,» answered the king; and, treating him with the utmost courtesy, loaded him with gifts, and dismissed him without ransom. The other prisoners were well-treated. There might be policy in this, as Bruce would naturally wish to acquire the good opinion of the English barons, who were at this time at great variance with their king. But it also well accords with his high chivalrous character. Note 24. Stanza xxxi.

01 give their hapless prince his due. Edward II., according to the best authorities, showed, in the fatal field of Bannockburn, personal gallantry not aaworthy of his great sire and greater son. He remained on the field till forced away by the Earl of Pembroke, when all was lost. He then rode to the castle of Stirling, and demanded admittance; but the governor monstrating upon the imprudence of shutting himself up in that fortress, which must so soon surrender, he assembled around his person five hundred men-atarms, and, avoiding the field of battle and the victorious

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Bruce, as will appear from the following document, lost no time in directing the thunders of parliamentary censure against such part of his subjects as did not return to their natural allegiance, after the battle of Bannockburn.

APUD MONASTERIUM DE CAMBUSKENNETH,

XVI DIE NOVEMBRIS M.CCC.XIV.

Judicium redditum apud Kambuskinet contra omnes illos qui tunc fuerunt contra fidem et pacem Domini Regis.

Anno gracie millesimo tricentesimo quarto decimo sexto die Novembris tenente parliamentum suum excellentissimo principe domino Roberto Dei gracia Rege Scottorum Illustri in monasterio de Cambuskyneth concordatum fuit finaliter judicatum (ac super) hoc statutum de consilio et assensu episcoporum et ceterorum prelatorum comitum baronum et aliorum nobilium regni Scocie nec non et tocius communitatis regni predicti quod omnes qui contra fidem et pacem dicti domini regis in bello seu alibi mortui sunt (vel qui dic) to die ad pacem ejus et fidem non venerant licet sepius vocati et legitime expectati fuissent de terris et tenementis et omni alio statu intra regnum Scocie perpetuo sint exheredati et habeantur de cetero tanquam inimici regis et regni ab omni vendicacione juris hereditarii vel juris alterius cujuscunque in posterum pro se et heredibus suis in perpetuum privati Ad perpetuam igitur rei memoriam et evidentem probacionem hujus judicii et statuti sigilla episcoporum et aliorum prelatorum nec non et comitum baronum ac ceterorum nobilium dicti regni presenti ordinacioni judicio et statuto sunt appensa.

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Sigillum Abbatis de Londoris
Sigillum Abbatis de Newbotill
Sigillum Abbatis de Cupro
Sigillum Abbatis de Paslet
Sigillum Abbatis de Dumfermelyn
Sigillum Abbatis de Lincluden
Sigillum Abbatis de Insula Missarum
Sigillum Abbatis de Sancto Columba
Sigillum Abbatis de Deer
Sigillum Abbatis de Dulce Corde
Sigillum Prioris de Coldinghame
Sigillum Prioris de Rostynot
Sigillum Prioris Sancti Andree
Sigillum Prioris de Pettinwem

Sigillum Prioris de Insula de Lochlevin
Sigillum Senescalli Scocie
Sigillum Willelmi Comitis de Ros

edition of the Bruce was published by Mr Pinkerton, in 3 vols., in 1790; and the learned editor having had ( no personal access to consult the manuscript, it is not without errors; and it has besides become scarce. Of Wallace there is no tolerable edition: yet these two poems do no small honour to the early state of Scottish poetry, and the Bruce is justly regarded as containing authentic historical facts.1

The following list of the slain at Bannockburn, a tracted from the continuator of Trivet's Annals, vid show the extent of the national calamity.

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Note 25. Stanza xxxv.

Nor for De Argentine alone,

Through Ninian's church these torches shone,
And rose the death-prayer's awful tone.

The remarkable circumstances attending the death of De Argentine have been already noticed (p. 321). Besides this renowned warrior, there fell many representatives of the noblest houses in England, which never sustained a more bloody and disastrous defeat. Barbour says that two hundred pairs of gilded spurs were taken from the field of battle; and that some were left the author can bear witness, who has in his possession a curious antique spur, dug up in the morass not long since.

It was forsooth a great ferlic,
To see samyn' sa fele dead lie.
Two hundred spars that were reid,
Were taen of knights that were dead.

I am now to take my leave of Barbour, not without a sincere wish that the public may encourage the undertaking of my friend, Dr Jamieson, who has issued proposals for publishing an accurate edition of his poem, and of Blind Harry's Wallace. The only good

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William le Mareschal,

John Comyn,
William de Vescey,
John de Montfort,
Nicolas de Hasteleigh,
William Dayncourt,"
Egidius de Argenteyne,
Edmund Comyn,
John Lovel (the rich),
Edmond de Hastynge,
Milo de Stapleton,

Thomas de Ufford, John de Elsingfelde, John de Harcourt, Walter de Hakelut, Philip de Courtenay, Hugo de Scales, Radulph de Beauchamp, John de Penbrigge, With thirty-three others of the same rank, not named.

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Kingstone (brothers),
William Lovel,
Henry de Wileton,
Baldwin de Frevill,
John de Clivedon,1
Adomar la Zouche,
John de Merewode,
John Maufe,3
Thomas and Odo Lele
Ercedekene,
Robert Beaupel (the son).
John Mantravers the son
William and William Git
fard,
And thirty-four other
knights not named
by the historian.
And in sum, there were there slain, along with the Earl of
Gloucester, forty-two barons and bannerets. The must-

John de Segrave,
Gilbert Peeche,
John de Clavering,
Antony de Lucy,
Radulph de Camys,
John de Evere,
Andrew de Abremhyn,
Knights
Thomas de Berkeley,

The son of Roger Tyrrel,
Anselm de Mareschal,

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Supposed Clinton.

Maule.

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ber of earls, barous, and bannerets made captive, was twenty-two, and sixty-eight knights. Many clerks and esquires were also there slain or taken. Roger de Northbarge, keeper of the king's signet (Custos Targie Domini Regis), was made prisoner with his two clerks, 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

tivity ever since the year 1306. The Targia, or signet, was restored to England through the intercession of Ralph de Monthermer, ancestor of Lord Moira, who is said to have found favour in the eyes of the Scottish king.»-Continuation of TRIVET's Annals, Hall's edit. 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 Scotland, afford a boundless field for speculation.

Thomas the Rhymer.

IN THREE PARTS.

PART I.

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 Fiw personages are so renowned in tradition as Tho- their families, was common, and indeed necessary, mas of Ereildoun, known by the appellation of The among the Border clans. So early as the end of the Ekymer. Uniting, or supposed to unite, in his person, thirteenth century, when surnames were hardly introthe powers of poetical composition, and of vaticina-duced in Scotland, this custom must have been unition, his memory, even after the lapse of five hundred versal. There is, therefore, nothing inconsistent in years, is regarded with veneration by his countrymen. supposing our poet's name to have been actually LearTo give any thing like a certain history of this re-mont, although, in this charter, he is distinguished by markable man would be indeed difficult; but the cu- the popular appellation of The Rhymer.. rious may derive some satisfaction from the particulars here brought together.

We are better able to ascertain the period at which Thomas of Ercildoun lived; being the latter end of the

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 tenement which he possessed by inheritance

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 Ercildoun, a village situated upon the Leader, two miles above its junction with the Tweed. The ruins of an ancient tower are still pointed out as the Rhymer's castle. The uniform tradition bears, that his surname was Lermont, or Learmont; and that the appellation of The Rhymer was conferred on him in consequence | (hereditarie) in Ercildoun, with all claim which he, or of his poetical compositions. There remains, nevertheless, some doubt upon this subject. In a charter which is subjoined at length, the son of our poet designs himself & Thomas of Ercildoun, son and heir of Thomas Rymour of Ercildoun,»> which seems to imply, that the father did not bear the hereditary name of Learmont; or, at least, was better known and distinguished by the epithet which he had acquired by his personal accomplishments. I must, however, remark,

From the Chartulary of the Trinity House of Soltre, Advocates"
Library, W. 4. 14.
ERSYLTON.

Omnibus has literas visuris vel auditaris Thomas de Ercildoun flius 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 Ercildown hereditarie tenui renunciando de toto pro me et heredibus meis omni jure et clameo que ego seu antecessores mei in eadem terra alioque tempore de perpetuo habuimus sive de futuro 1 bahere possumus. In cujus rei testimonio presentibus his sigillam em apposai data apud Ercildoun die Martis proximo post festum Sanctorum Apostolorum Symonis et Jude Anno Domini Millesimo cc. Nonagesimo None.

his predecessors, could pretend thereto. From this we may infer, that the Rhymer was now dead; since we find his son disposing of the family property. Still, however, the argument of the learned historian will remain unimpeached, as to the time of the poet's birth. For if, as we learn from Barbour,' his prophecies were held in reputation as early as 1306, when Bruce slew 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 unfor tunately 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

The lines alluded to are these:

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

ters, or whether it was gratuitously conferred upon him Rhymer's supernatural visitants. The veneration paid by the credulity of posterity, it seems difficult to de- to his dwelling-place even attached itself in some de cide. If we may believe Mackenzie, Learmont only gree to a person, who, within the memory of man, versified the prophecies delivered by Eliza, an inspired chose to set up his residence in the ruins of Learmont's nun, of a convent at Haddington. But of this there | tower. The name of this man was Murray, a kind of seems not to be the most distant proof. On the con- herbalist; who, by dint of some knowledge in simples, trary, all ancient authors, who quote the Rhymer's the possession of a musical clock, an electrical ma prophecies, uniformly suppose them to have been chine, and a stuffed alligator, added to a suppose! emitted by himself. Thus, in Winton's Chronicle, communication with Thomas the Rhymer, lived for many years in very good credit as a wizard.

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.

Book VIII, chap. 32.

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 Lochlevin, 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, 2 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

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.

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

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.

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 givea 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 i expected, is far more minute as to local description To this old tale the author has ventured to add a Se cond Part, consisting of a kind of Cento, from the printed prophecies vulgarly ascribed to the Rhymer, and a Third Part, entirely modern, founded tradition of his having returned with the bart and hind to the Land of Faerie. To make his peace the more severe antiquaries, the author has pressed to the Second Part some remarks on Learmont's prophecies.

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 Elland,
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 woe,
That weird shall never danton me.»
Syne he has kiss'd her rosy lips,

All underneath the Eildon Tree.

apoa

the

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

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 knee : upon my 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.

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. Eyl la repoundy et dyt:

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 felde;
When hares 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 bude 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, by 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. 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 If., it is

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