Editing Thomas the Rhymer (section)

===Popular folkloric prophecies===
[[Walter Scott]] was familiar with rhymes purported to be the Rhymer's prophecies in the local popular tradition, and published several of them.<ref>{{harvnb|Scott|1803}}, ''Minstrelsy'' '''II''', pp. 300–, "sundry rhymes, passing for his prophetic effusions, are still current among the vulgar"</ref> Later [[Robert Chambers (publisher born 1802)|Robert Chambers]] printed additional collected rhyme prophecies ascribed to Thomas, in ''Popular Rhymes'' (1826).

*''"At Eildon Tree, if yon shall be,''
:''a brig ower Tweed yon there may see."''{{sfn|Scott|1803|loc=''Minstrelsy'' '''II''', pp. 301–}}
::Scott identifies the tree as that on [[Eildon Hill]] in [[Melrose, Scotland|Melrose]], some five miles away from today's Earlston.{{sfn|Scott|1803|loc=''Minstrelsy'' '''II''', p. 343}} Three bridges built across the river were visible from that vantage point in Scott's day.

*''"This Thorn-Tree, as lang as it stands,''
:''Earlstoun sall possess a' her lands."''{{sfn|Chambers|1826|pp=78–79}}
::or "As long as the Thorn Tree stands / Ercildourne shall keep its lands".<ref name="wilson017">{{Harvnb|Wilson|1954|p=17}}</ref> This was first of several prophecies attributed to the Rhymer collected by Chambers, who identified the tree in question as one that fell in a storm in either 1814<ref name="murray-thorn"/> or 1821,{{sfn|Chambers|1826|pp=78–79}} presumably on the about the last remaining acre belonging to the town of [[Earlston|Earlstoun]]. The prophecy was lent additional weight at the time, because as it so happened, the merchants of the town had fallen under bankruptcy by a series of "unfortunate circumstances".<!--ref name="chambers1826-079"/-->{{sfn|Chambers|1826|p=79}} According to one account, "Rhymer's thorn" was a huge tree growing in the garden of the Black Bull Inn, whose proprietor, named Thin, had its roots cut all around, leaving it vulnerable to the storm that same year.<ref name="murray-thorn">{{Harvnb|Murray|1875|pp=xlix, lxxxv}}. Murray received detailed report on the tree from Mr James Wood, Galashiels.</ref>

*''"When the Yowes o' Gowrie come to land, ''
:''The Day o' Judgment's near at hand"''{{sfn|Chambers|1826|p=96}}
::The "Ewes of Gowrie" are two boulders near [[Invergowrie]] protruding from the [[Firth of Tay]], said to approach the land at the rate of an inch a year. This couplet was also published by Chambers, though filed under a different locality ([[Perthshire]]), and he ventured to guess that the ancient prophecy was "perhaps by Thomas the Rhymer."{{sfn|Chambers|1826|p=96}} [[Barbara Ker Wilson]]'s retold version has altered the rhyme, including the name of the rocks thus: "When the Cows o' Gowrie come to land / The Judgement Day is near at hand."<ref name="wilson017"/>

*''"[[York]] was, London is, and [[Edinburgh|Edinbruch]] 'ill be,''
:''the biggest and the bonniest o' a' the three"''{{sfn|Chambers|1826|p=81}}<ref>Modernized as: "York was, London is, and Edinburgh shall be / The biggest and bonniest o' the three", {{Harvnb|Wilson|1954|p=17}}</ref>
::Collected from a 72-year-old man resident in Edinburgh.{{sfn|Chambers|1826|p=96}}

The Weeping Stones Curse:
*''"[[Fyvie]], Fyvie thou'se never thrive,''
:''[[wikt:long|lang]]'s there's in thee [[wikt:stone|stanes]] three :''
:''There's [[wikt:one|ane]] intill the highest tower,''
:''There's ane intill the ladye's bower,''
:''There's ane aneath the water-[[wikt:gate|yett]], ''
:''And thir three stanes ye'se never get."''{{sfn|Chambers|1842|p=8}}<ref name="welfare">Modern variant "Fyvie, Fyvie thou'll never thrive / As long as there's in thee stones three;/There's one in the oldest tower,/There's one in the lady's bower/There's one in the water-gate,/And these three stones you'll never get." in: {{cite book|last1=Welfare|first1=Simon|others=John Fairley|title=Cabinet of Curiosities|publisher=St. Martin's Press| place=New York|year=1991|page=88|isbn=0312069197}}</ref>
::Tradition in [[Aberdeenshire]] said that Fyvie Castle stood seven years awaiting arrival of "True Tammas," as the Rhymer was called in the local dialect. The Rhymer arrived carrying a storm that brewed all around him, though perfectly calm around his person, and pronounced the above curse. Two of the stones were found, but the third stone of the water-gate eluded discovery.<!--ref name="chambers1842-008"/-->{{sfn|Chambers|1826|p=8}} And since 1885 no eldest son has lived to succeed his father.<ref name="welfare"/>

*''"Betide, betide, whate'er betide,''
:''Haig shall be Haig of Bemerside.''{{sfn|Scott|1803|loc=''Minstrelsy'' '''II''', p. 301}}
::This prophesied the ancient family of the Haigs of Bemerside will survive for perpetuity. Chambers, in a later editions his ''Popular Rhymes'' (1867) prematurely reported that "the prophecy has come to a sad end, for the Haigs of Bemerside have died out."{{sfn|Murray|1875|p=xliv}}{{sfn|Chambers|1870|p=296}} In fact, [[Field Marshal]] [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|Douglas Haig]] hails from this family,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Benet|first=W. C.|title=Sir Douglas Haig|journal=The Caledonian|volume=19|number=1|date=April 1919|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A-ARAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA12|pages=12–14}}</ref> and was created [[Earl Haig|earl]] in 1919, currently succeeded by the 3rd Earl (b. 1961).