ich she had passed through, she had it in full
measure when at long last she opened the Castle gates, and saw the look
on her husband's face, as he took her in his arms, and kissed her, not
once, but many times, there, in the courtyard, in the sight of us all.

THOMAS THE RHYMER

"True Thomas lay on Huntly bank;
A ferlie he spied with his e'e;
And there he saw a ladye bright,
Came riding down by the Eildon tree."

More than six hundred years ago, there lived in the south of Scotland a
very wonderful man named Thomas of Ercildoune, or Thomas the Rhymer.

He lived in an old tower which stood on the banks of a little river
called the Leader, which runs into the Tweed, and he had the marvellous
gift, not only of writing beautiful verses, but of forecasting the
future:--that is, he could tell of events long before they happened.

People also gave him the name of True Thomas, for they said that he was
not able to tell a lie, no matter how much he wished to do so, and this
gift he had received, along with his gift of prophecy, from the Queen of
the Fairies, who stole him away when he was young, and kept him in
fairyland for seven years and then let him come back to this world for a
time, and at last took him away to live with her in fairyland
altogether.

I do not say that this is true; I can only say again that Thomas the
Rhymer was a very wonderful man; and this is the story which the old
country folk in Scotland tell about him.

One St Andrew's Day, as he was lying on a bank by a stream called the
Huntly Burn, he heard the tinkling of little bells, just like fairy
music, and he turned his head quickly to see where it was coming from.

A short distance away, riding over the moor, was the most beautiful lady
he had ever seen. She was mounted on a dapple-gray palfrey, and there
was a halo of light shining all around her. Her saddle was made of pure
ivory, set with precious stones, and padded with crimson satin. Her
saddle girths were of silk, and on each buckle was a beryl stone. Her
stirrups were cut out of clear crystal, and they were all set with
pearls. Her crupper was made of fine embroidery, and for a bridle she
used a gold chain.

She wore a riding-skirt of grass-green silk, and a mantle of green
velvet, and from each little tress of hair in her horse's mane hung nine
and fifty tiny silver bells. No wonder that, as the spirited animal
tossed its dainty head, and fretted against its