Thomas the Rhymer
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1976.247.B1
Original Tape ID
Summary
Thomas is lying on Huntly bank when he sees a beautifully dressed lady riding by the Eildon Tree. He bows to her, hailing her as Queen of Heaven, but she says she is merely the Queen of Elfland and has come to visit him. She invites him to go with her and says if he kisses her he will be hers. Undaunted, he kisses her lips. She tells him he must go with her and serve her for seven years. She mounts her horse with him behind her and they ride swifter than the wind until they come to a desert. She tells him to dismount and rest so she can show him three ferlies [wonders]. She shows him the broad road of wickedness, the narrow road, choked with briars, of righteousness, and a winding road that leads to Elfland. He must hold his tongue for if he speaks he will not be able to go back to his own country. They go on through a river of blood, then come to a garden where she pulls an apple from a tree, telling him it will give him a tongue that can never lie. He says angrily that his tongue is his own, and can neither be bought nor sold, but she tells him she has spoken truly. He is given fine clothes and for seven years is not seen in his own country.
Danny Spooner thinks the tune was probably from his grandmother, but he began to sing it after hearing it recited by Ian Maxwell. He got the words from his grandmother and from Child, but also heard it on a Ewan MacColl record. He didn't sing in public when he lived in Britain. His grandmother sang mainly Irish songs, some of them Gaelic.
Item Notes
Transcribed in School of Scottish Studies. 20 verses. Based on the life of Thomas of Erceldoune, known as Thomas the Rhymer or True Thomas.
See:
'Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border' vol. 3 (Scott, 3rd edn. 1806) pp. 166-226
'Ballads of Scotland' vol. 1 (Aytoun, 1858) pp. 36-40
Non Scottish Recording Location
Australia
Non Scottish Recording Location
Astràilia
Language
English, Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good