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Minstrelsy of the Merse; The Poets and Poetry of Berwickshire: a Country Anthology
Minstrelsy of the Merse The Poets and Poetry of Berwickshire a Country Anthology Author:William Shillinglaw Crockett General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1893 Original Publisher: J. and R. Parlane Subjects: Berwickshire (Scotland) Scottish literature Scottish poetry English poetry Scotish literature Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Literary Criticism / Poetry Poetry / Anthologies... more » Poetry / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: Minstrelsy Of The Merse. THOMAS OF ERCILDOUNE. (?- 1294(?). THE story of Thomas of Ercildoune, popularly known as Thomas the Rhymer, is shrouded in much obscurity. The history of this remarkable man borders so closely on the mythical and traditional, that there is great difficulty in determining what in it is really authentic. He has now become little more than a dim, almost unrecognisable figure of the past. The enlightenment and learning of modern days have stripped him of that superstitious veneration and almost religious reverence which our too credulous forefathers were ever eager to accord to their gifted contemporaries. The ignorance of the period in which he lived, the easy, unquestioning credence of succeeding generations, and a readiness to regard as fulfilled predictions the many recurring changes in national life, have been the chief agents in preserving to this day with such freshness and vigour the reputation of Thomas of Ercildoune. For in the popular mind he is more the prophet than the poet, and is better remembered for his alleged powers of vaticination and mystic intercourse with the Faery realms, than for any of the metrical romances that have been attributed to his genius. Thousands who have never heard of Sir Tristrem,1 or of the Auchinleck MS.,1 are perfectly familiar with, an...« less