ive
scene as might become the mansion of a great feudal lord or prince.
Thirty carcasses of deer were lying on the massive kitchen board, under
the hands of numerous cooks, who toiled to cut them up and dress them,
while the gigantic greyhounds which had taken the spoil lay lapping the
blood, and enjoying the sight of the slain game. They came next to the
royal hall, where the king received his loving consort; knights and
ladies, dancing by threes, occupied the floor of the hall; and Thomas,
the fatigue of his journey from the Eildon Hills forgotten, went forward
and joined in the revelry. After a period, however, which seemed to him
a very short one, the queen spoke with him apart, and bade him prepare to
return to his own country.
"Now," said the queen, "how long think you that you have been here?"
"Certes, fair lady," answered Thomas, "not above these seven days."
"You are deceived," answered the queen; "you have been seven years in
this castle, and it is full time you were gone. Know, Thomas, that the
archfiend will come to this castle to-morrow to demand his tribute, and
so handsome a man as you will attract his eye. For all the world would I
not suffer you to be betrayed to such a fate; therefore up, and let us be
going."
This terrible news reconciled Thomas to his departure from Elfinland; and
the queen was not long in placing him upon Huntly Bank, where the birds
were singing. She took leave of him, and to ensure his reputation
bestowed on him the tongue which _could not lie_. Thomas in vain
objected to this inconvenient and involuntary adhesion to veracity, which
would make him, as he thought, unfit for church or for market, for king's
court or for lady's bower. But all his remonstrances were disregarded by
the lady; and Thomas the Rhymer, whenever the discourse turned on the
future, gained the credit of a prophet whether he would or not, for he
could say nothing but what was sure to come to pass.
Thomas remained several years in his own tower near Ercildoun, and
enjoyed the fame of his predictions, several of which are current among
the country people to this day. At length, as the prophet was
entertaining the Earl of March in his dwelling, a cry of astonishment
arose in the village, on the appearance of a hart and hind, which left
the forest, and, contrary to their shy nature, came quietly onward,
traversing the village towards the dwelling of Thomas. The prophet
instantly rose from the b
|