Minstrelsy of the Scottish border - National Library of Scotland

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 197
the Earl of Boulogne, his father banished from his country—
" fleemit of fair Scotland." His arrival must neces-
sarily be by sea, and his landing was expected at Aber-
lady, in the Frith of Forth. He was a duke's son, dub-
bed knight; and nine years, from 1513, are allowed
him, by the pretended prophet, for the accomplishment
of the salvation of his country, and the exaltation of
Scotland over her sister and rival. All this was a pious
fraud, to excite the confidence and spirit of the country.
The prophecy, put in the name of our Thomas the
Rhymer, as it stands in Hart's book, refers to a later
period. The narrator meets the Rhymer upon a land
beside a lee, who shews him many emblematical visions^
described in no mean strain of poetry. They chiefly
relate to the fields of Flodden and Pinkie, to the nation-
al distress which followed these defeats, and to future
halcyon days, which ai*e promised to Scotland. One
quotation or two will be sufficient to establish this fully:
Our Scottish King sal come ful keene,
The red lyon beareth he ;
A feddered arrow sharp, I weene.
Shall make him winke and warre to see.
Out of the field he shall be led,
When he is bludie and woe for blood ;
Yet to his men shall he say,
'• For God's luve, tiun you againe,
" And give yon sutherne folk a frey
" Why should I lose the right is mine ?
" My date is not to die this day."--
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