True Thomas lay on Huntlie Bank
A ferlie he spied wi' his ee
And there he saw a ladye bright
Come riding down by the Eildon tree
Legend tells how Thomas the Rhymer fell asleep near a tree here,
beneath a tree on the side of the Eildon Hills,He woke to see a shining lady on a dappled gray horse-The queen of the fairies,
She enttranced him and led him away to Fairy Land
He stayed there for what seemed to be three days, but was in fact seven years
When he left she gave him the gift of speech
and told him many prophecies of great events in Scotlands history.
Thomas became famous both as a poet and as someone who knew the future.
He prophesied that one day a bridge over the tweed would be visible from the Eildon tree
If you have sharp eyes you can see whether this has come true!
If you sit down to rest -take care. The Fairy Queen promised Thomas she would return to the
Eildon Tree perhaps this time you might fall under her spell.
Thomas was a real person who lived in the late 1200's in Erceldoune (now Earlston on the road to Edinburgh)
His life is as mysterious as some of his propheceis, which were 'Ay hid under obscure words' as one early historian said.
But his have been popular for hundreds of years and are some of the earliest examples of Scottish poetry.