Earlston, Scottish Borders
“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.”
Thomas the Rhymer, 2019. Voices of Scotland: Scottish Poetry for Levels 2 and 3.
‘Thomas the Rhymer’, or Thomas Learmont of Ercildoune, was born in 1220 and lived in what is now known as Earlston in the Scottish Borders. A Scottish laird with a reputation for prophesy, Thomas supposedly lived in a castle he built on the grounds of the ruins of an old 1400s keep named Rhymer's Tower on the southern edge of the village.
Thomas gained quite a reputation for himself as a prophesier when he supposedly accurately predicted the death of Alexander III, from a fall off a horse in 1286, a day before it happened. Locals often warned that Thomas had supernatural powers similar to Merlin. Upon visiting Fyvie Castle in Aberdeenshire, a very natural gust of wind slammed the doors in Thomas’ face… believing he’d been purposefully locked out, Thomas apparently placed the curse of the weeping stones on the castle which led to problems of succession down through the centuries at Fyvie Castle.
Thomas the Rhymer, 2019. Voices of Scotland: Scottish Poetry for Levels 2 and 3.
But how did Thomas the Rhymer gain his second sight and curse-wielding powers? It is said that as Thomas lay on Huntly Bank, under the Eildon Tree, he saw a lady so indescribably beautiful that he concluded she must be the Virgin Mary herself. She introduced herself as the Queen of Elfland and they shared a kiss… Thomas went on to spend seven years with her in the Land of the Elves. He returned to Earlston for a further seven years, before disappearing entirely. Many believed he must have taken his leave back to the Land of the Elves in search of the Queen of Elfland.
During his short seven years back in Earlston, many heard Thomas prophesise about upcoming events, and it is said his visit to the Elfland cursed him with the inability to lie (which earned him another nickname: ‘True Thomas’). Some of Thomas’ prophesies, aside from the death of Alexander III, included foretelling the Union of the Crowns under King James VI of Scotland, that Earlston will be safe from harm as long as the Eildon Tree stands and the ancient family Haigs of Bemerside surviving for perpetuity.
The actual history of Thomas became blurred after this point within the many different myths and legends that arose through different writers, poets and historians such as Walter Bower, John Bellenden and Walter Scott.
Is Thomas still living it up in the Elfland? I guess we’ll never know…
Sources
Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v. 1, p. 317, Dover Publications, New York 1965
Whole Prophecie, "The Prophecie of Thomas Rymour" vv.239–244
Thomas the Rhymer: Biography on Undiscovered Scotland
Thomas the Rhymer, 2019. Voices of Scotland: Scottish Poetry for Levels 2 and 3.
