Getting abducted

So to the pivotal moment in the story, Thomas's abduction by the Queen of the Elves, the Queen of the Fairies, whatever. In all versions this event takes place somewhere on the Eildon Hills, which overlook the beautiful town of Melrose, a few miles to the South-West of Earlston. The Eildon Hills are a prominent landmark, a trio of hills that stand out over the surrounding plain and can be seen from miles around in every direction. The story goes that Thomas is sitting, or perhaps sleeping, under a tree when he sees a woman of extra-ordinary beauty approaching, perhaps on a horse. His immediate assumption is that she is the Queen of Heaven - that is Mary, the mother of Jesus - and so he bows to worship her. She hastily rejects this assumption and announces her true identity.

In some versions he then asks her for a kiss, and receiving it is told he is now bound to her service for a period - seven years, one year, or an unspecified time. In other versions she simply announces that he is to come with her. In neither option does he have any choice but there is no real suggestion of resistance. Don't all men dream of being whisked away by a beautiful woman? Yet in some versions, after the kiss her appearance changes to that of an old woman.

To add to the confusion, there are two possible locations for the abduction. The first, and most popular locally, is the site marked by the "Thomas the Rhymer Stone", erected in 1929 by the Melrose Literary Society (relocated in 1970 although it doesn't mention how far it was moved) on the easternmost of the hills, and additionaly marked by a tourist plaque explaining the story. This was originally the site of the "Thomas the Rhymer Tree", a large oak tree under which he is supposed to have sat, although this tree is hardly likely to have survived from the mid 13th century! In any case, the tree is also now dead and the stone sits at the roadside under a newly planted sapling. Nonetheless you can tell why this site appeals, with its sweeping views of the surrounding country.

The other location is the one mentioned in the song - "Huntly Bank". The Huntly Stream runs down the western side of the westernmost of the hills, behind what is now the local hospital. This site also carries a local tradition, named "Rhymers Glen", although it obviously didn't appeal to the Literary Society and has neither stone nor plaque. There's not much of a view from here but its a great place for a tryst - a little tinkling stream, surrounded by trees, running through a secluded glen down the side of the lowest of the three hills.

James Murray claims that these two sites are within sight of each other, but he must have visited a different place to me. Perhaps the stone has been moved a long way from its original site, because as the two locations currently appear they are on opposite sides of the hills, seperated by the highest of the three. But this is beside the point. Both oak trees and stream banks are magical places in folklore - the oaks places of worhsip and magical rites for the druids in pre-Christian times, streams places of safety and refuge for various spirits. Thomas, in lingering in either place, was inviting (whether knowingly or not) a visit of some kind. Maybe he got more than he bargained for.