SIR TRISTREM;' A METRICAL ROMANCE OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY, BY THOMAS OF ERCELDOUNE, CALLED THE RHYMER. EDITED FROM THE AUCHINLECK MS. Now, hold your mouth, pour charitie, Both Knight and Lady fre, INTRODUCTION. The Romance of Sir Tristrem was composed by THOMAS of ERCELDOUNE, called the RHYMER, who flourished in the 13th century. The only copy, known to exist, is contained July, 1823. [It is to be regretted that Sir Walter Scott has left no answer to an elaborate dissertation on his preface to Sír Tristrem, which was appended to the first volume of the 8vo edition of Warton's History of English Poetry, published in 1824. It is probable that this very valuable book, being put forth without the name of the Editor, or any distinct announcement of what his researches had added to the original narrative of Warton, had never attracted Sir Walter's notice. There is no copy of it in the Library at Abbotsford. The writer in question, (Mr. Price. ) expresses his opinion, 1st, That the peculiarities of style and language in the Sir Tristrem of the Auchinleck MS., are of such a character as to render it extremely doubtful that they are the same which are spoken of in the often quoted passage of De Brunne, "I see in song of sedgeing tale Of Erceldoune," etc. ;— 2dly. That the story of Tristrem was universally known over the continent of Europe previous to the age of Thomas of Erceldoune; and that, consequently, he was more likely, if he wrote a poem on the subject, to have followed a foreign authority, than to have been himself appealed to, as an authority, by foreigners handling the same theme at a later period: 3dly, That the Thomas of the French fragment cited by Sir Walter Scott, "Thomas ico granter ne vult," etc. and the Thomas von Britanie mentioned by Godfrey of Strasburg, wrote in Norman-French : 4thly, That there is no trace of Scottish phraseology in the Sir Tristrem edited and concluded by Sir Walter Scott: and, finally, That Sir Walter Scott has wholly failed to prove any connexion between this romance and the Rhymer of Erceldoune. It would have been improper to lay Sir Tristrem again before the world, without any allusion to this learned writer's dissertation: but the present Editor must be contented with offering a very few remarks on it. It appears to him that Sir Walter Scott's own preface and appendices contained sufficient evidence that the story of Tristrem had been popular both in French and in German, at least as early as the period of Thomas of Erceldoune; and, before Warton's Editor published his essay, a fact more curious than any be has brought to light on this subject had been ascertained-the existence, namely, of a romance of Tristrem in Greek versus politici, of the thirteenth century." The Essayist seems to have been successful in the establishment of his second and third positions. He adduces, it must be admitted, distinct proof that there existed a "Chronicle of Cornwall by Thomas of Brittany," to See Von der Hagen's "Monumenta medii ævi, plerumque inedita," 1821. in a large and valuable collection of Metrical Romances, belonging to the Library of the Faculty of Advocates, and called, from its donor, the Auchinleck MS. A correct edition of this ancient and curious poem is now submitted to the public. This prefatory memoir designed to contain, which ancient German romancers were in the custom of appealing with reference to the heroes of the Round Table; and as Godfrey of Strasburg often quotes the French words of his "Thomas von Britanie," it is scarcely to be doubted that he drew from this Chronicle. These circumstances, however, though they may deprive Thomas the Rhymer of the early European celebrity which Sir Walter Scott claimed for him, and of course be held fatal to the notion that the Auchinleck MS. contains the original of all the Tristrem romances, seem to bave but a slender bearing on the question as to the authorship of the poem edited by Sir Walter Scott, That Thomas of Erceldoune was well known in England as a romance-writer, is established beyond all doubt by the words of De Bruune, "I see in song of sedgeing tale Of Erceldoune. .'- and that he is the Thomas who framed that "sedgeing tale" (story for recitation) of Tristrem, which had "the steem over gestes," appears to be hardly less certain. Assuredly that "Thomas" could never have been the Breton Chronicler of Cornwall, so favoured by Warton's Editor; since be Brunne introduces his name for the express purpose of adverting to the quaintness of his English. But, according to this writer, the language and versification of the "Sir Tristrem" edited by Sir Walter Scott do not correspond with De Brunne's description of the romance that "over gestes had the steem." Its English is not more quaint than that of De Brunne himself; It contains no names more seicouth than he bimself is in the custom of introducing, and the complaint that careless reciters were apt to omit one member of almost every copple, could never apply to a poem composed, not in couplets, but in stanzas. To this it may be answered, that Sir Walter Scott, from the first, expressed his conviction that the Rhymer's Sir Tristrem had passed orally through "several hands," and been consequently greatly modified as to language, before it was committed to writing at all: that selcouth names, as well as quaint Inglis, may, in the course of this process, have disappeared-most probably did so-other persons who recited the tale endeavouring to render it intelligible to the lewed man," by adopting the example of De Brunne, as described by himself; and that even if it were proved that copple in De Brunne's language could mean nothing but couplet, it by no means follows that the Tristrem of the Auchinleck MS. could not be talked of as containing copples liable to mutilation. Among the sorts of verse fashionable with the minstrels of his day, De Brunne mentions "enterlacée." This means evidently couplets interlaced,"-an exact description of ten lines out of eleven in every stanza of Sir Tristrem. As to the Essayist's assertion, that the language of the romance has in it nothing distinctively Scottish-this is a point on which the reader will per I. Some account of Thomas of Erceldoune; II. History of the romance of Sir Tristrem; III. Observations on the copy now published. I. THOMAS OF ERCELDOUNE derived his territorial appellation from the village of Erceldoune, in the Merse, or county of Berwick, situated on the river Leader, about two miles above its junction with the Tweed. It appears that this small village was once a place of some importance, and, at least occasionally, honoured with the royal residence. The foundation charter of Melrose Abbey, granted by King David I., dated June, 1136, is subscribed at Ercheldun.' The confirmatory charter of the same abbey, granted in 1143 by Prince Henry, son to David, is dated at Ercheldu. -HUTCHINSON, vol. i. Append. p. iii. The family of Lindsei appears anciently to have had an interest in Erceldoune; for, among the charters granted to the abbey of Coldingham, and preserved in the archives at Durham, occurs Carta Wilhelmi Linseia de Ecclesia de Ercheldoun, dated in the time of David I., or Malcolm IV., his successor.-NICOLSON'S Scottish Historical Library. App. No. vii. The Earls of March were afterwards Lords of Erceldoune, where they had a stronghold, called the Earl's tower. It stood at the east end of the village, but is now demolished. From haps consider the authority of Sir Walter Scott as sufficient to countervail that of the most accomplished English antiquary; nor is it easy to pass over as wholly insignificant Sir Walter's remark, that "a complicated structure of stanza and rhyme continued to be a characteristic of Scottish poetry from the remote period of Thomas of Erceldoune downward: the additional short verse thrown into the end of each stanza in Christ Kirk on the Green, Peeblis to the Play, etc., seems borrowed from the stanza of Sir Tristrem." But even were it true that Sir Tristrem's quaint Inglis bears no traces of a northern dialect, in what way could this touch the question at issue? The poem is admitted to have passed from reciter to reciter before it was written out, and the reciter who penned the copy might not have been a Scotchman. Finally, Mr. Price is of opinion that the insertion of the word Erceldoune in the first stanza of Sir Tristrem was rash, and attaches no weight to Sir Walter Scott's statement that the reading is countenanced by some "faint tracings" of the obliterated MS. It being, however, not doubted that Thomas of Erceldoune did write a "sedgeing tale" of Sir Tristrem, and Thomas being mentioned in the third line of the stanza, and the place of Thomas's residence having obviously been mentioned in the first line, it seems hardly possible to guess what word but Erceldoune would have suited both the sense and the rhyme. But the line itself, as Sir Walter Scott mentions in his Notes, has fortunately been preserved, by way of catchword, at the foot of the preceding page of the manuscript. * On the whole, though this critic appears to have overthrown one part of Sir Walter Scott's preface-that in which he claimed for the Rhymer of Erceldoune certain French and German citations, belonging of right, as it now turns out, to a Chronicler of Bretagne- and disturbs a few incidental statements and views of less importance, it leaves the question as to the authorship of the Auchinleck Sir Tristrem very much as Sir Walter Scott himself had left it. How attentively he had studied the language and versification of this anclent poem, is proved by the exquisite imitation of it in Fytte the Third, which gives it a right to a place among his poetical works. It was, at one time, bis intention to execute a series of imitations of the chief Scottish poets subsequent to Thomas of Erceldoune, and prior to Allan Ramsay, thus presenting a complete view of the history of the language, to which the Waverley Novels bave since, in a great measure, restored its original character of "Inglis." Sir Tristrem was reviewed In the Edinburgh Review for 1804, by the late accomplished antiquary, Mr. George Ellis. The following is an extract :"Upon the whole, we are much disposed to adopt the general inferences drawn by Mr. Scott from his authorities, and have great pleasure in bearing testimony to the very uncommon diligence which he has evinced in collecting curious materials, and to the taste and sagacity with which he has employed them. With regard to the notes, they contain an almost infinite variety of curious information, which had been hitherto unknown or unnoticed; and we are persuaded, that they would afford much amusement even to those readers who may be too indolent to derive any from the superannuated poetry of Thomas of Ercildoune." An article in the Annual Review for 1804 was not less favourable to the Editor of Tristrem. After quoting some striking lines from Finlay's Wallace : "Oh! long shall Scotland sound with Rhymer's name, THI through the realm gaunt kings and chiefs shall ride, His harp shall ring with woe, and all the land shall weep; the Reviewer proceeds as follows:-" If this hiding-place could be discovered, many are the curious points of history and romance which true Thomas could elucidate. Is he one of the seven men who sleep, and have long slept, in a den under the cliff of Ocean, in the uttermost parts of Germany, where there is snow all the summer time, and in the winter, though men see the light of the sun, yet the sun is not seen? All men may see them * This line is copied at the upper-part of the facsimile of the Auchinleck MS. which is given at page 139. The line runs thus : "Y was at Ertheldoun." there; they are sound in body; their colour is not changed; neither do their garments wax old; and therefore the people have them in great worship and reverence. A covetous wretch once attempted to strip one of them of his clothing, and his impious arm was dried up in the attempt. Or is he in the cavern under the roots of the hazel-tree on Craig y Dinas, where King Arthur and all his knights are lying asleep in a circle; their heads outward; every one in his armour, his sword and shield and spear by him; ready to be taken up whenever the Black Eagle and the Golden Eagle shall go to war, and make the earth tremble with their affray; so that the cavern shall be shaken, and the bell ring, and the sleepers be awakened and come forth? Till, however, the Prophet of Ercildoune can be found, that he may give an account of himself, we must be contented with such of his works as remain, and such scanty information respecting him as can be gleaned from old authors and contemporary records. He has been peculiarly fortunate to remain for so many centuries the favourite of his countrymen, and to have his genuine remains elucidated by an Editor so eminently qualified for the task, by his peculiar taste, and talents, and erudition." Sir Walter Scott, in his Introduction, has made particular mention of the charter of Peter de flaga, or Halg of Bemerside, to which Thomas Rimour de Ercildun, among others, is a witness. The original ebarter was recently discovered in the General Register House, Edinburgh, when a transcript of it was obligingly communicated to Sir Walter Scott, by Mr. Macdonald, of that admirable establishment. The charter unfortunately, like the copy of it contained in the Melrose Chartulary, has no date, but from the handwriting and other circumstances, it may be assigned to the reign of Alexander the Third; and as an interesting document, it is therefore subjoined to this note. It is only further necessary to state that in the present edition, the text of Sir Tristrem has been carefully collated with the Auchinleck MS.; and an exact facsimile of the first two stanzas of the poem, as they appear in that very curious volume, is herewith annexed. Carla Petri de Haga Domini de Bemerside de Petra Cere. Omnibus hoc scriptum visuris vel audituris Petrus de Haga dominus de Bemerside salutem in domino Noveritis universi quod cum olim convenissem cum viris religiosis Abbate et Conventu de Melros pro quibusdam transgressionibus eisdem per me et meos illatis quod eisdem singulis annis ego et heredes mei decem salmones quinque videlicet recentes et quinque veteres in perpetuum solveremus; Tandem iidem religiosi pietate ducti perpenderunt hoc esse in exheredacione mei et heredum meorum mediantibus viris bonis consenciente et concedepte Johanne filio et herede meo cum dictis Abbate et Conventu taliter conveni, scilicet quod ego et heredes mei tenemur et presenti scripto, in perpetuum obligamur ipsis Abbati et Conventui solvere singulis annis dimidiam petram Cere bone et pacabilis ad capellam Sancti Cuthberti de veteri Melros die beati Cuthberti in quadragesima, vel triginta denarios sub pena triginta denariorum singulis mensibus solvendorum ad luminare dicte Capelle, quibus in solucione dicte cere aut triginta denariorum predictorum fuerit cessatum post diem et terminum memoratos; Subiciendo me et heredes meos jurisdictioni et potestati domini Episcopi Sancti Andree qui pro tempore fuerit ut me et heredes meos per censuram ecclesiasticam qualemcumque possit compellere ad solucionem dicte cere aut triginta denariorum predictorum unacum pena si commutatur, Renunciando pro me et heredibus meis in hoc facto omni actioni defensioni et excepcioni et omnium legum auxillo canonici et civilis, beneficio restitucionis in integrum et omnibus aliis que mihi et heredibus meis prodesse poterunt in hoc facto, et dictis Abbati et Conventui obesse quo minus solucio fieri valeat dicte cere aut trigiuta denariorum predictorum una cum pena si commutatur. In cuius rei testimonium presenti scripto sigillum meum una cum sigillo domini Oliueri tunc Abbatis de Driburg est appensum TESTIBUS Domino Oliuero Abbate de Driburg domino Wiilielmo de Burndun milite Hugone de Perisbi tunc vicecomite de Rokisburg Willielmo de Haiteley Thoma Rimor de Ercildun et alíis. [From the Original preserved in the General Register-Houseto which the Seals of the Laird of Beaterside, and of the Abbot of Dryburgh, still remain attached, but slightly broken.] I See a facsimile in Anderson's Diplomata, tab. xiv., procured from Edward, Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, and another in Hutchinson's View of Northumberland, vol. i. Appendix. p. ii. this circumstance the original name of Ercheldon, or Er- | celdoune, has been corrupted into the modern appellation of Earlstoun. In a tower at the western extremity of this village, the ruins of which are still shown, after the lapse of seven centuries, dwelt Thomas of Erceldoune, the earliest Scottish poet. Of his history it is rather surprising that we should know so much, than so little, considering that he seems only to have been distinguished for his talents, and for that supposed prophetic skill, which all barbarous ages have judged an attribute of the poetical character. granted by Petrus de Haga de Bemersyde,3 which unfortunately wants a date; but Petrus de Haga was himself a witness to another charter, by which Richard de Moreville, constable of Scotland, granted certain serfs to Henry St. Clair. Moreville was constable from 1162 to 1189. Supposing the charter dated in the last year of Moreville's constabulary, i. e. 1189, de Haga must then probably have been twenty years old, in order to be a witness. If we suppose de Haga attained the age of seventy, and that the charter, to which the Rhymer was a witness, was granted in the last year of his life, its date must be 1239. Assuming, therefore, the poet to have been twenty when he witnessed that charter, his birth will be fixed to 1219. Thomas the Rhymer was certainly alive, and in the zenith of his prophetic reputation, at the death of Alexander III. in 1286. On the other hand, he must have been dead before 1299, the date of the charter, in which his son calls himself Filius et hæres Thomæ Rymour de Erceldon, and, in that capacity, con held by inheritance (hereditarie tenui) in the village of Erceldoune. If the father had been alive, this family property could not have been disposed of by the son, without his concurrence. We may, therefore, with some confidence, place the death of Thomas the Rhymer betwixt 1286 and 1299; and, if we may believe the testimony of Henry the Minstrel, he must have survived 1296, in which year Wallace took arms, and died within three years after. According to the above calculation, he must then have been near eighty years old. Supposing him to have composed the romance of Sir Tristrem about the age of thirty, the date of the composition will be about 1250. We stumble, however, at the very threshold of our enquiry. All later writers have affirmed, that our author bore the family name of Learmont; and it must be owned that an unvarying tradition corresponds to their assertion. Nevertheless, the ingenious Mr. David Macpherson, and other modern antiquaries, have been led to doubt whether Thomas ever bore any other appellation than his territorial designation of Erceldoune, and the personal epithet of Rhy-veys to the Trinity House of Soltré all the lands which he mer, acquired, probably, by his poetical fame. In a charter, presently to be quoted, he is called Thomas Rhymer de Ercelduin; in another, granted by his son, Thomas Rhymer de Erceldon. Robert de Brunne, Fordun, Barbour, and Wintoun, term him simply Thomas of Erceldoun; and Henry the Minstrel, Thomas the Rhymer. From this concurrence of the more ancient authorities, there seems no foundation for believing that Learmont was the family name of the prophetic bard. Mr. Macpherson supposes, that Thomas, or his predecessor, had married an heiress of the family of Learmont, and so occasioned this error. It may also have arisen from some family of that name tracing their descent from him by the female side. Surnames were not become hereditary and unalienable in the days of Alexander III. Besides those which arose from the place of abode, an individual might have a name derived from his person, his talents, or his office, and all these might be combined with the name of his sept, or clan. But these personal appellations only descended to their posterity in so far as they corresponded with their circumstances. Thus, in the charter granted by Thomas's son to the convent of Soltré, he calls his father Thomas Rymour de Erceldoune, but himself only Thomas de Erceldoune. The reason of the difference is obvious-he had succeeded to the lands of Erceldoune, but not to the poetical talents of the Rhymer. By alienating the lands to the convent, the son of our poet would cease to be even Thomas of Erceldoune; and it seems no improbable conjecture, that he might then, for some reason, adopt the surname of Learmont. But we may disstinctly conclude the name of the bard to have been Thomas, called, from his property, de Erceldoune, from his works, the Rhymer." The time in which the Rhymer flourished may be ascertained with some plausibility. He was witness to a charter Such was the reasoning which the Editor had founded upon the few facts which history and ancient records afford concerning the Rhymer.—But another authority, pointed out by Mr. Henry Weber, seems scarcely reconcilable to the above hypothesis, and gives ground for assigning a date considerably more ancient to the Romance of Thomas of Erceldoune. There is a German romance of Sir Tristrem, written by Gotfried of Strasburgh, who repeatedly quotes Thomas of Britannia as his authority. Now, Gotfried of Strasburgh is believed to have flourished about 1232; in which case, if Thomas of Britannia be the same with the Rhymer, (which will hardly bear a doubt,) his romance must have been composed as early at least as 1220, for twelve years is but a very moderate space for its travelling to Germany. Under this supposition, the Rhymer must have been born about the end of the twelfth century; and, as he certainly survived 1286, his life must have been extended to ninety years and upwards. The anecdotes which have been transmitted to our time, concerning Thomas the Rhymer, are partly historical and partly preserved by tradition. They relate principally to his prophetic character; for it is only to Robert de Brunne In removing and arranging some ancient papers, lodged in the office of the Clerks of Session, the following genealogical memoir was discovered, among many writings belonging to the family of Learmonth of Balcomy, which is now extinct. It is in a hand of the seventeenth century; and, if the writer was correct in his reference to the contract of marriage, may be considered as throwing some light upon the Rhymer's name and lineage:"The genealogy of the honourable and ancient Sirname of Leirmont. "Leirmont beares Or, on a chevron S, three mascles voided of the first; the name is from France. The chief of the name was the Laird of Ersilmont in the Mers, whose predecessor, Thomas Leirmonth [lived] in the reigne of K. Alexander III. He foretold his death. One of whose sons married Janet de Darsie, and had the lands of Darsie, in Fyfe, be that marriage; the contract is yet extant, confirmed by the King. The house of Darsle bear a rose in base for difference. It is now extinct; only Leirmont of Balcomie, in Fyfe, is chief now; whose predecessor was master of howshold to King James IV. His predecessor was the eldest son of Dairsie, and took to himselfe the estate of Balcomie, leaving Dairsie to the second They have been famous, learned, good, and great; 2 It must not, however, be suppressed, that Rymer actually existed as a 4 The Rhymer appears not to bave possessed the whole of Erceldoune; for Adam Le Feure de Erceldoune did homage to Edward in 1296. Thomas the Rhymer himself does not appear in Ragman-Roll. Perhaps he was dead, and bis son under age; or it may be that he held his estate of the Earl of Dunbar, that we owe the preservation of his poetic fame. The most noted instance of prediction regards the death of Alexander III., and is thus narrated by Fordun : "Annon recordaris quid ille vates ruralis, Thomas videlicet de Ersildon, nocte præcedenti mortem regis Alexandri, in castro de Dunbar, obscure prophetando de occasu ejus, dixerat Comiti Marchiarum interroganti ab eo, ut solitus, quasi jocando, quid altera dies futura novi esset paritura? Qui Thomas, attrahens de imo cordis singultuosum suspirium, sic fertur Comiti, coram aulicis, plane protulisse: Heu diei crastina! diei calamitatis et miseriæ ! quia ante horam explicité duodecimam audietur tam vehemens ventus in Scotia, quod a magnis retroactis temporibus consimilis minime inveniebatur. Cujus quidem flatus obstupescere faciet gentes, stupidos reddet audientes, excelsa humiliabit, et rigida solo complanabit. Propter cujus seria alfamina comes cum aulicis crastinum observantes, et horas diei usque ad nonam considerantes, et nullum vestigium in nubibus vel signis ventosis cœli auspicantes Thomam tanquam insensatum reputantes, ad prandium properârunt. Ubi dum comite vix mensæ collocato, et signo horologii ad meridianam horam fere approximato, affsuit quidam ad portam, et, importunis pulsibus aures comitis concutiens, aditum sibi ocius fieri flagitavit. Intromissus igitur advena, et de novis impetitus, Nova,' inquit, habeo sed nociva, toti regno Scotiæ deflenda, quia inclitus, heu! rex ejus finem præsentis vitæ hesterna nocte apud Kingorn sortitus est; et hæc veni nunciare tibi.' Ad hanc narrationem, quasi de gravi somno excitatus, comes una cum familiaribus tutiderunt pectora, et dicti Thomæ experti sunt credibilia nimis facta fore yaticinia."-FORDUNI Scoti Chronicon, lib. x. c. 43. 3 Boece, as translated by Bellenden, gives us the same story. "It is said, the day afore the kingis deith, the Erle of Merche demandit ane propheit, namit Thomas Rimour, othirwayis namit Ersiltoun, quhat weddir suld be on the morrow. To quhome answerit this Thomas, That on the morow afore noun, sall blaw the gretest wynd that aver was hard afore in Scotland. On the morrow, quhen it was neir noun, the lift oppering loune, but 3 ony din or tempest, the Erle send for this propheit and reprevit hym that he prognosticat sic wynd to be, and na apparance thairof. This Thomas maid litil answer, bot said, Noun is not yet gane. And incontinent ane man came to the yet 4 schawing' that the king was slane. Than said the propheit, Yone is the wynd that shall blaw to the gret calamity and truble of all Scotland. This Thomas wes ane man of gret admiration to the peple; and schaw sundry thingis as thay fell, howbeit thay wer ay hid under obscure wordis. "-BELLENDEN'S Boece, fol. cciii. Translated from the monkish eloquence of Fordun, the story would run simply,-That Thomas presaged to the Earl of March that the next day would be windy; the weather proved calm; but news arrived of the death of Alexander III., which gave an allegorical turn to the prediction, and saved the credit of the prophet. It is worthy of notice, that some of the rhymes, vulgarly ascribed to Thomas of Erceldoune, are founded apparently on meteorological observation. And doubtless, before the invention of barometers, a weather-wise prophet might be an important personage. Such were the predictions of a greater bard:"Quid faciat lætas segetes, quo sidere terram Vertere--" etc.-Georg. Barbour, in his Book of the Bruce, composed about 1375, refers to a prophecy of our bard, concerning the exploits and succession of Robert the First. After Bruce had slain the Red Cumin at Dumfries, in 1306, the Bishop of Saint Andrews is introduced, saying, ———“Sekyrly I hop Thomas' prophecy Off Hersildoune, sall weryfyd 5 be I haiff gret hop he sall be king. And haiff this land all in leding." Wintoun, who died, according to Mr. Pinkerton, about 1420, also refers to the prophetic fame of our Thomas of Erceldoune. His words are these: "Of this fycht qubilum spak Thomas Of Ersyldowne, that sayd in derne,6 Thare suid mete stalwartly, stark, and sterne. He sayd it in his prophecy, Bot how he wist it wes ferly." 7 Leland quotes the following passage from the Scala Chronicon, an old history, apparently written about the reign of Edward III., and translated out of French rhyme into French prose by an English gentleman, during his residence at Edinburgh as a prisoner of war. "William Banestre and Thomas Erceldoune, whose words were spoken in figure, as were the prophecies of Merlin." Henry the Minstrel introduces, as has already been noticed, the bard of Erceldoune, into the history of Wallace. We are told by this romantic biographer, that the Scottish champion, having slain the Lord Percie's steward, was imprisoned in the town of Ayr by the English, then masters of the country. Here Wallace suffered every sort of hardship, till his health sunk under it. His jailor, finding him in a swoon, concluded he was dead, and gave orders that the body should be dragged out of the prison, and thrown upon a dunghill. Wallace's nurse removed him from thence. with an intention of doing the last honours to his body. She observed, however, a palpitation at the heart, and finding life not entirely extinguished, she carried the champion of Scotland to her cottage, and took measures for his recovery and concealment : "Thomas Rimour into the Faile was than, I can nocht say, be wrang or richtwysnas, The servant of the minister arrives with the heavy tidings, that he had seen Wallace's corpse thrown out of the pri son: Thomas ansuerd, Thirtythingis ar noucht gud,? And that be suth, my self sall neuir eit breid.'” The servant still affirms that the death of Wallace is certain, and that a poor woman has taken away his body to be buried: "Yit Thomas said, 'Than sall I leiff na mar, Gif that be trow, be God, that all has wrocht.'” The servant is despatched to the cottage to procure farther intelligence, and, after taking a solemn oath of secrecy, the nurse shows him the Knight of Ellerslee: "Scho had hym up to Wallace by the dess, Mony thousand in feild sall mak thar end, These are the only anecdotes concerning Thomas of Erceldoune, which occur in the more ancient authors. We may collect from them, that he was, in his own time, a distinguished personage, and, as such, long afterwards remembered. His acquaintance with the Earl of March argues some degree of rank and birth, which may be also inferred from his witnessing the charter of Peter de Haga, a powerful baron, along with Oliver, Abbot of Driburgh, Willielm de Burndun, Hugh de Peresby, Shirref of Rokysburgh, and Will. de Haitely, all whose names sufficiently indicate high rank. Although, therefore, we may hesitate to affirm, with Dempster, that he was the chieftain of a most illustrious family, or, with Nisbet, that he enjoyed the honour of knighthood, it would be absurd to deny, that Thomas of Erceldoune was a man of considerable rank, and honoured with the acquaintance of the great and the gallant of the time in which he lived. We are ignorant that he wrote any thing except the romance of Sir Tristrem. Ilis renowned prescience occasioned many verses of prophetic import to be imputed to him. One of these rhapsodies appears to have been written in the reign of Edward III., and during his Scottish wars. It is preserved in the Museum, and bears this title: La Countesse de Donbar demande a Thomas de Essedon quand la guerre d'Escoce prenderit fyn. E yl l'arepoundy et dyt. There follows a metrical prophecy, the performance of some person in the English interest, and presaging the total subjugation of Scotland. The poem is printed at length in Pinkerton's Poems, from the Maitland MS., vol. i., and in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, page 251 of the present edition. A later bard has composed a string of prophecies, not uttered by Thomas the Rhymer himself, but delivered to bim by the Queen of Faery. They are introduced by the following wild and fanciful tale; Thomas of Erceldoune, seated beneath Eildoun-tree, a spot, the veneration for which may perhaps be traced back to the days of Paganism, saw'a most beautiful damsel riding towards him upon a grey palfrey. The splendour of her dress and accoutrements could only be exceeded by her personal charms. The Rhymer hastened to meet this beautiful vision, and, after some conversation, "prayed her for her love." This boon she refuses for some time, alleging that "it would undo all her beauty," and that he would himself sorely repent his rash request. The bard despises every warning, ardently presses his suit, and at length a mortal is clasped in the arms of the Queen of Faery. The change which ensues in her person is strikingly painted. Her bright eyes become dead; her fair locks drop from the naked scalp; her rich raiment is changed into rags, and the astonished poet beholds an odious hag, instead of the lovely fay. But repentance and terror were alike unavailing: he was compelled to bid adieu "to sun and moon, to grass and every green tree," and to leave the earth with his supernatural conductor. He mounts behind her on her palfrey, and they journey, with amazing speed, through the realms of utter darkness, hearing only the roaring of waters, through which they sometimes seem to cross. They pass a fair garden full of flowers and singing birds, and the most delicious fruit. Thomas puts forth a rash hand, but is cautioned to beware how he touches the fatal Tree of Know ledge of Good and Evil. His conductress shows him, successively, the road to heaven, to hell, and to Fairy Land. The last is their route: they arrive at a splendid castle, filled with lords and ladies, who danced, sung, and feasted till midnight. Of all these festivities Thomas partook with his fair damsel, who had now recovered all her original beauty. After a time, she told him to prepare to return to "middle earth," since the fiend of hell would next day visit the castle to claim a tithe of its inhabitants, and he, being a fair and stately person, would probably be of the number, should he remain till the arrival of their infernal sovereign. She adds, that he has already remained three years in Fairy Land, and that she loves him too well to permit him to incur the dreadful risk which is impending. Accordingly she conveys him back to the Eildon-tree, and, before separating, tells him, in dark and figurative language, the fate of the wars betwixt England and Scotland. This tale exists in MS. in the Cotton Library (Vitell. E. X.,) under this title, Incipit Prophesia Thomæ de Arseldown. The book which contains it has unfortunately been damaged by fire, so that much is illegible. I am informed that there exists another imperfect copy in the library of Lincoln Cathedral, beginning thus: "But Jhesu Christ that dyd on trè, Save Inglysche men where so they fare." Some metrical prophecies, vulgarly ascribed to Thomas of Erceldoune, seem to have been very current in the reigns of James V., Queen Mary, and James VI. One copy in Latin, and another in English, were published, with other things of the same kind, by Andro Hart, at Edinburgh, 1615. Bishop Spottiswoode firmly believed in the authenticity of the prophecies, yet extant in Scottish rhyme, whereupon Thomas Learmont was commonly called Thomas the Rymer;" and gravely adds, "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." Dempster terms the same verses De futuro Scotia statu liber unus; Mackenzie is at the pains to reprint both the Latin and English; and Nisbet gravely laments, that the change of crests and bearings, by which the persons are pointed out in these vaticinations, has rendered them almost unintelligible. If any of these authors had looked at the verses in question with moderate attention, they must have seen, that the author does not assert that they were composed by Thomas the Rhymer. He only says, that, walking “upon a land beside a ley," he saw certain emblematical visions. They were explained to him by a person with whom he met. When these wonders had all disappeared, the author was left alone with the interpreter: "I frained fast what was his name? Thus, it is not even pretended that these verses were the In a preceding part of this Edition. |