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Thomas The Rhymer Lyrics
True Thomas sat on Huntley bank
And he beheld a lady gay
A lady that was brisk and bold
Come riding o'er the ferny brae
Her skirt was of the grass green silk,
Her mantle of the velvet fine
At every lock of her horse's mane
Hung fifty silver bells and nine
True Thomas, he pulled off his cap
And bowed him low down to his knee
`All hail, thou mighty Queen of Heaven
Your like on earth I ne'er did see.'
`No, no Thomas she said
That name does not belong to me
I am the queen of fair Elfland
And I have come to visit thee.'
`You must go with me Thomas she said,
True Thomas you must go with me
And must serve me seven years
Through well or woe, as chance may be.'
Chorus
Hark and carp, come along with me,
Thomas the Rhymer
Hark and carp, come along with me,
Thomas the Rhymer
Hark and carp, come along with me,
Thomas the Rhymer
Hark and carp, come along with me,
Thomas the Rhymer
She turned about her milk white steed
And took Thomas up behind
And aye whenever her bridle rang
Her steed flew swifter than the wind
For forty days and forty nights
They rode through red blood to the knee
And they saw neither sun nor moon
But heard the roaring of the sea
And they rode on and further on
Further and swifter than the wind
Until they came to a desert wide
And living land was left behind
`Don't you see yon narrow, narrow road
So thick beset with thorns and briars?
That is the road to righteousness
Though after it but few enquire.'
`Don't you see yon broad, broad road
That lies across the lily leaven?
That is the road to wickedness
Though some call it the road to heaven.'
`Don't you see yon bonnie, bonnie road
That lies across the ferny brae?
That is the road to fair Elfland
Where you and I this night must go.'
Chorus
And he beheld a lady gay
A lady that was brisk and bold
Come riding o'er the ferny brae
Her mantle of the velvet fine
At every lock of her horse's mane
Hung fifty silver bells and nine
And bowed him low down to his knee
`All hail, thou mighty Queen of Heaven
Your like on earth I ne'er did see.'
That name does not belong to me
I am the queen of fair Elfland
And I have come to visit thee.'
True Thomas you must go with me
And must serve me seven years
Through well or woe, as chance may be.'
Hark and carp, come along with me,
Thomas the Rhymer
Hark and carp, come along with me,
Thomas the Rhymer
Hark and carp, come along with me,
Thomas the Rhymer
Hark and carp, come along with me,
Thomas the Rhymer
And took Thomas up behind
And aye whenever her bridle rang
Her steed flew swifter than the wind
They rode through red blood to the knee
And they saw neither sun nor moon
But heard the roaring of the sea
Further and swifter than the wind
Until they came to a desert wide
And living land was left behind
So thick beset with thorns and briars?
That is the road to righteousness
Though after it but few enquire.'
That lies across the lily leaven?
That is the road to wickedness
Though some call it the road to heaven.'
That lies across the ferny brae?
That is the road to fair Elfland
Where you and I this night must go.'
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Falling head over heels in lust with Maddy Prior! Weird. She wasn't my type, dressed in sack cloth and ashes, but she was in incredibly sexy performer! Maybe it was the bawdy lyrics of their act and the atmosphere at the concert but I was in lust.
My mum used to read this Poem to me when I was little , Then when I grew into my teen ( now ) I discovery the lovely maddy prior . I love the verses ...
My mum used to read this Poem to me when I was little , Then when I grew into my teen ( now ) I discovery the lovely maddy prior . I love the verses ...
`Don't you see yon bonnie, bonnie road That lies across the ferny brae? That is the road to fair Elfland Where you and I this night must go.
`Don't you see yon bonnie, bonnie road That lies across the ferny brae? That is the road to fair Elfland Where you and I this night must go.
Its really just beautiful !
Its really just beautiful !
I fell in love with her singing when I was maybe 15 or 16, just beginning to understand what she might have been talking about. Never saw her until pretty recently on some youtube video of music from the late 1960s. I would have been shocked - no, overstimulated is the word - to see someone who looks like her singing about things like this?
I fell in love with her singing when I was maybe 15 or 16, just beginning to understand what she might have been talking about. Never saw her until pretty recently on some youtube video of music from the late 1960s. I would have been shocked - no, overstimulated is the word - to see someone who looks like her singing about things like this?
Thomas the Rhymer is a variant on the legend of Tam Lin.
Thomas the Rhymer was a nickname of Sir Thomas of Ercildoun ('Earlston'), also known as True Thomas, a 13th Scottish laird (landowner) known as a poet and also reputed to have the gift of prophecy. The ballad "Thomas the Rhymer" condenses into ballad form a written romance which was a kind of 'origin story' for Thomas's supposed prophetic gifts.
Stories of mortals being abducted by faeries -- often, by the Queen of Elfland, the queen of the faeries, herself -- were fairly widespread, and the story of Thomas the Rhymer follows the standard pattern. Typical elements include the description of the queen appearing as a beautiful woman riding on a horse, who takes the mortal Thomas through a strange and disturbing landscape. In the legends, the mortal is then eventually dumped back in the real world, where they often find that either many years or no time at all has passed. They sometimes have the gift of poetry or prophecy (or both; the two are frequently linked) as a result of their adventure.
The traditional ballad "Tam Lin" is not directly related, but it falls under the same general heading. Like "Thomas the Rhymer", it's about a mortal man who has been taken to Elfland by the Queen of Faerie to be her lover or companion.