EARLSTON THOMAS THE RHYMER. 143 



But if we cannot fish in the rest of the Leader, we 

 may at least be allowed to lie down on its banks and 

 call to mind the associations that cling to them. We 

 have recommended the angler to be diligent in his 

 vocation, and, especially when there is a " take," to 

 direct all his energies to the capture of fish, " Time '& 

 troots," is the pithy maxim of a friend of ours. But 

 when the trout give up rising to the fly or seizing the 

 worm, let the fisher not scruple to rest himself, eat his 

 luncheon, and try his flask. And if he should chance 

 to be on Leader- side, near the beautiful village of 

 Earlston, why not lie down and dream of the old times 

 when Thomas the Ehymer was pursuing his liaison 

 with the Queen of Fairyland ; when " a knight and 

 a lady bright had a true tryst amang the broom, " and 

 the foolish knight fell asleep, while the lady, softly ap- 

 proaching, kissed his lips, and passed away unscathed 

 from the perilous meeting against which her wily 

 nurse had warned her ; or when the love-passages of 

 the shepherdess and her swain gave the cue to that 

 sweetest of border melodies, " The Broom o' the Cow- 

 denknowes?" In the pretty haugh below Earlston are 

 the ruins of True Thomas's tower ; behind, and far- 

 ther down the river, are the Cowdenknowes and their 

 " bonny bonny broom." Whether the prophet had 

 as much honour in his own country in his own time 

 as he had afterwards, who can tell? for no one knows 

 when he lived. But there are the remains of his 

 ancient hall of Ercildoune, testifying to the tradition 

 of his existence, although hardly, like the bricks of 

 Jack Cade's house, " alive to this day " to relate its 

 particulars. The stream of time was but a burn when 



