Minstrelsy of the Scottish border - National Library of Scotland

168 MINSTllELSY OF
THOMAS THE RHYMER.
IN THREE PARTS.
PAUT FIRST. ANCIENT.
Few personages are so renowned in tradition as Thomas
of Erceldoune, known by the appellation of The Ttliy-
mer. 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
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 to-
gether.
It is agreed on all hands, that the residence, and pro-
bably the birth-place, of this ancient bard, was Ercel-
doune, 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 simame