
The document is undated, but the Petrus de Haga must be identified with the person of that name who lived about 1220 (ib. Cuthbert at Old Melrose (Liber de Melros, Bannatyne Club, i. The name of "Thomas Rimor de Ercildun," with 4 others, is appended as witness to a deed whereby Petrus de Haga de Bemersyde agreed to pay half a stone of wax annually to the abbot and convent of Melrose for the chapel of St. His actual existence and approximate dates can be fixed by contemporary documents. Thomas, seer and poet, occupies much the same position in Scottish popular lore as Merlin does in that of England, but with some historical foundation. Numerous prose retellings of the tale of Thomas the Rhymer have been undertaken, and included in fairy tale or folk-tale anthologies these often incorporate the return to Fairyland episode that Scott reported to have learned from local legend. Sir Walter Scott expanded the ballad into 3 parts, adding a sequel which incorporated the prophecies ascribed to Thomas, and an epilogue where Thomas is summoned back to Elfland after the appearance of a sign, in the form of the milk-white hart and Template:Linktext. 1700, though there are dissenting views on this. 1400 was probably condensed into ballad form ca. The tale survives in a medieval verse romance in five manuscripts, as well as in the popular ballad "Thomas the Rhymer" ( Child Ballad number 37). In literature he appears as the protagonist in the tale about Thomas the Rhymer, who was carried off by the " Queen of Elfland" and returned having gained the gift of prophecy, as well as the inability to tell a lie. Rhymer from Earlston (then called "Erceldoune"), and known by the sobriquets Thomas the Rhymer or True Thomas. He had a reputation for prophecy, and is reported to have foretold the death of Alexander III., and various other events. Thomas Ercildoun, or "Thomas The Rhymer", was a minstrel to whom is ascribed Sir Tristrem, a rhyme or story for recitation. 3.2.4 Relationship between romance and ballad.
