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True Thomas

from Haunting by Christina Stewart

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about

A ballad from the Scottish borders (hence Huntly bank and the Eildon tree, connected with strange goings-on in folklore) which sets the background story for Thomas the Rhymer. After his visit to fairyland, Thomas returns unable to lie and tells the future, even when it is not in his or anyone else's interest. What seems to some a blessing can turn out to be a curse. In his corresponding spoken track, "Encounters with Fairies", Iain Campbell explains how deep-rooted belief in the wild fairies of the Highlands can be.

lyrics

True Thomas lay on Huntly Bank
A fairly he spied wi his e’e
An there he saw a lady bricht
Com ridin doon by the Eildon Tree

Her skirt was o the grass green silk
Her mantle o the velvet fine
At ilka tett o her horse’s reins
Hung 50 siller bells an nine

True Thomas he pu’ed off his cap
an louted low upon his knee
Sayin ‘Hail to thee, Mary Queen of Heaven’
For yer peer on earth could never be

‘Oh no, oh no, Thomas,’ she said
‘That name does not belang tae me,
I’m but the queen o fair Elfland,
That’s hither come tae visit thee.’

‘Harp an carp, Thomas,’ she said,
‘Harp an carp alang wi me,
For if ye dare tae kiss my lips,
Sure of yer body I will be.’

‘Well, betide me weel or betide me woe,
That weird shall never daunten me!’
An he has kissed her ruby lips
All underneath the Eildon Tree

‘Now ye maun come wi me,’ she said
‘True Thomas ye maun come wi me,
An ye maun serve me seven years,
Through weel or woe as might chance tae be.’
She’s mounted up her milk-white steed
An taen True Thomas up behind
An aye whenever her bridle rang
The horse ran faster that the wind

An they rade on an further on
The horse ran faster than the wind
Until they came tae a desert wide
An living land was far behind

It was mirk, mirk night, there was nae starlight
They’ve waded through red blood on either hand
For all the blood that’s shed on earth
Flows through the rivers of that land

She’s gien True Thomas a mantle grey
An gien him shoon o the velvet green
An while seven long years were come and gone
True Thomas on Earth was never seen

credits

from Haunting, released October 31, 2011
Vocal: Christina Stewart

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Christina Stewart Scotland, UK

A voice described as the aural equivalent of ‘sweet, organic honey drizzling slowly from a honey wand’ in Dirty Linen magazine. Christina is a singer, teacher, tradition bearer and musical explorer, singing in Gaelic, Scots and English. She belongs to Inverness, the Highland capital, where the Gaelic and Scots heritages of the north of Scotland meet. ... more

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