Editing Thomas the Rhymer (section)

==Historical figure==
<!--Image file has been deleted [[File:The Eildon Hills, Walter Scott's favourite view. - geograph.org.uk - 671206.jpg|thumb|The Eildon Hills, where Thomas supposedly entered Elfland.]]-->
Sir Thomas was born in Erceldoune (also spelled ''Ercildoune''&nbsp;– now [[Earlston]]), [[Berwickshire]], sometime in the 13th century, and has a reputation as the author of many prophetic verses. Little is known for certain of his life but two charters from 1260 to 1280 and 1294 mention him, the latter referring to "Thomas de Ercildounson son and heir of Thome Rymour de Ercildoun".<ref name="autogenerated1">Francis James Child, ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', v. 1, p. 317, Dover Publications, New York 1965</ref>

Thomas became known as "True Thomas", supposedly because he could not tell a lie. Popular lore recounts how he prophesied many great events in Scottish history,<ref name="autogenerated1" /> including the death of [[Alexander III of Scotland]].

Popular esteem of Thomas lived on for centuries after his death, and especially in Scotland, overtook the reputation of all rival prophets including [[Merlin (wizard)|Merlin]],{{sfn|Murray|1875|p=xxx}} whom the 16th century pamphleteer of ''[[The Complaynt of Scotland#Merlin|The Complaynt of Scotland]]'' denounced as the author of the prophecy (unity under one king) which the English used as justification for aggression against his countrymen.{{sfn|Murray|1875|p=xxx}} It became common for fabricated prophecies (or reworkings of earlier prophecies) to be attributed to Thomas to enhance their authority,{{sfn|Murray|1875|p=xxx}} as seen in collections of prophecies which were printed, the earliest surviving being a chapbook entitled "The Whole Prophecie of Scotland, England, etc." (1603).{{sfn|Murray|1875|p=xxx}}<ref>{{cite book |title=The Whole prophecie of Scotland, England, and some part of France and Denmark, prophesied by meruellous Merling, Beid, Berlington, Thomas Rymour, Waldhaue, Eltraine, Banester, and Sybilla, all according in one. Containing many strange and meruelous things.|place=Edinburgh |publisher=Robert Waldegraue |year=1603}} (Repr. Edinburgh: The Bannatyne Club 1833; Later edition: Edinburgh: Andro Hart, 1615)</ref>{{Refn|In ''The Whole Prophecie'' (1603), the first three sections are the prophecies of Merlin, [[Bede]], and [[John of Bridlington]] (analyzed in {{Harvnb|Murray|1875|pp=xxx–xl}}), followed by the prophecy of Thomas the Rhymour (printed in entirety in Appendix).<ref name="murray-apdxI">{{harvnb|Murray|1875|loc=Appendix I, p. 48–51}}</ref>}}