FEW personages are so renowned in tradition as Thomas of
Ercildoune, known by the appellation of The Rhymer. Uniting, or supposing 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 anything 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.
It is agreed on all hands, that the residence, and
probably the birthplace, of this ancient bard was Ercildoune, 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 of
his poetical compositions. There remains, nevertheless, some doubt upon the
subject.
We are better able to ascertain the period at which
Thomas of Ercildoune lived, being the latter end of the thirteenth century.
It cannot be doubted that Thomas 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 these characters, or whether it was gratuitously
conferred upon him by the credulity of posterity, it seems difficult to
decide.
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 Faëry. 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 famous. After 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 Ercildoune, 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 one day expected to revisit earth. In
the meanwhile, 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 Rhymer’s supernatural visitants.
