264 Mr. J. Tait 07i Earhtoun. 



the son and heir of Thomas resigned "totam terram meam 

 cum omnibus pertinentibus suis quam in tenemento de Ercil- 

 doun tenui," and through old deeds the dimensions of the 

 lands can be observed unaltered for the last three centuries 

 back at least. There is no evidence that Thomas ever bore 

 the surname of Learmont, though he has often been named 

 Thomas Learmont by subsequent w^riters. In his own day 

 he was known simply as Thomas of Ercildoun, or Thomas 

 Rimour de Ercildoun, the latter designation being employed 

 in the charter written by his son. It has generally been 

 understood that the designation Rhymer was bestowed in 

 virtue of his poetical gifts, though even this is uncertain, for 

 Rymour was a Berwickshire name in those days, one John 

 Rymour, a freeholder, having done homage to Edward I. in 

 1296. That Thomas composed the romance of Sir Tristrem, 

 a *^sedgeing tale," as De Brunne calls it — that is a tale for 

 recitation — may be considered certain, and the popularity of 

 this composition at the time was very great. For some time 

 it was retained only in tradition, but afterwards a tale with 

 this designation was published in various editions, and in 

 more than one language. What purports to be the genuine 

 effusion of Thomas was edited by Sir Walter Scott from a 

 thick quarto volume of manuscript, containing 334 leaves and 

 44 different pieces of ancient poetry, presented to the Faculty 

 of Advocates, Edinburgh, by Alexander Boswell, of Auchin- 

 leck, father of Johnson's biographer, in 1744. The manu- 

 script is written on parchment, in a distinct and beautiful 

 hand, which the ablest antiquaries regard as pertaining to 

 the earlier part of the 14th century, that is not long after the 

 Rhymer's decease. The name of " Thomas Rimer " appears 

 as a witness to a charter granted to the monks of Melrose by 

 Peter Haga, of Bemersyde, the original of which has been 

 discovered in the General Register House, Edinburgh, but 

 which unfortunately wants a date. The only other fact to be 

 noted, is the existence of a stone in the church wall of Earls- 

 toun with the inscription : — 



"Auld Rhymer's race 

 Lies in this place." 



Tradition says the stone was transferred from the old church, 

 which stood some yards distant from the present edifice. In 

 1782 the ancient inscription was defaced by some senseless 

 fellow in a drunken frolic, but the clergyman compelled him 

 to replace it in the same words as before. The defaced 

 characters were very ancient, the present are quite modern. 



