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16 POPULAR RHYJIES OF SCOTLAND.
Where a three-thumbed wight, by the reins, shall hald
Three kings' horse, baith stout and bauld,
And the Three Burns three days will i-in
Wi' the blude o' the slain that fa' therein.
Threeburn Grange (properly Grains) is a place a little above
the Press, Berwickshire, where three small rills meet, and
form the water of Ale. ' Thirty years ag"o, this rhyme was
very popular in the east end of Berwickshire ; and about
the time of the French Revolution, a person of the name
of Douglas being born in Coldingham parish with an ex-
crescence on one of his hands, which bore some resemblance
to a third thumb, the superstitious believed that this was to
be the identical ' three-thumbed wight ' of the Rhymer, and
nothing was looked for but a fearful accomplishment of the
prophecy.' *
The following is perhaps not ancient, but it expresses that
gloomy fear of coming evil which marks so many of Lear-
mont's rhymes : —
When the white ox comes to the corse,
Every man may tak his horse.
Similar in spirit is —
Atween Craik-cross and Eildon-tree,
Is a' the safety there shall be.
Varied in Galloway —
A' the safety there shall be,
Shall be atween CrifFel and the sea.
The first space is one of about thirty miles ; the second,
much narrower. Sir Walter Scott relates that the first of
these rhymes was often repeated in the Border counties dur-
ing the early years of the French revolutionary war, when
the less enlightened class of people in rural districts laboured
under the most agonizing apprehensions of invasion. In
the south of Scotland, this prophecy then obtained universal
credence ; and the tract of country alluded to was well sur-
veyed, and considered by many wealthy persons, anxious to
save their goods and lives, as the place to which they
would probably fly for refuge ' in case of the French
coming ! ' The danger of invasion having long passed
away like an unburst storm-cloud, leaving serenity and
* Historj' of Berwickshire Niitiiralists' Club, p. 147.
Where a three-thumbed wight, by the reins, shall hald
Three kings' horse, baith stout and bauld,
And the Three Burns three days will i-in
Wi' the blude o' the slain that fa' therein.
Threeburn Grange (properly Grains) is a place a little above
the Press, Berwickshire, where three small rills meet, and
form the water of Ale. ' Thirty years ag"o, this rhyme was
very popular in the east end of Berwickshire ; and about
the time of the French Revolution, a person of the name
of Douglas being born in Coldingham parish with an ex-
crescence on one of his hands, which bore some resemblance
to a third thumb, the superstitious believed that this was to
be the identical ' three-thumbed wight ' of the Rhymer, and
nothing was looked for but a fearful accomplishment of the
prophecy.' *
The following is perhaps not ancient, but it expresses that
gloomy fear of coming evil which marks so many of Lear-
mont's rhymes : —
When the white ox comes to the corse,
Every man may tak his horse.
Similar in spirit is —
Atween Craik-cross and Eildon-tree,
Is a' the safety there shall be.
Varied in Galloway —
A' the safety there shall be,
Shall be atween CrifFel and the sea.
The first space is one of about thirty miles ; the second,
much narrower. Sir Walter Scott relates that the first of
these rhymes was often repeated in the Border counties dur-
ing the early years of the French revolutionary war, when
the less enlightened class of people in rural districts laboured
under the most agonizing apprehensions of invasion. In
the south of Scotland, this prophecy then obtained universal
credence ; and the tract of country alluded to was well sur-
veyed, and considered by many wealthy persons, anxious to
save their goods and lives, as the place to which they
would probably fly for refuge ' in case of the French
coming ! ' The danger of invasion having long passed
away like an unburst storm-cloud, leaving serenity and
* Historj' of Berwickshire Niitiiralists' Club, p. 147.
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| Early Gaelic Book Collections > J. F. Campbell Collection > Popular rhymes of Scotland > (24) |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/81374882 |
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| Description | Original poems / by Robert Chambers. |
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| Shelfmark | Cam.1.f.9 |
| Additional NLS resources: | |
| Attribution and copyright: |
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| Description | Volumes from a collection of 610 books rich in Highland folklore, Ossianic literature and other Celtic subjects. Many of the books annotated by John Francis Campbell of Islay, who assembled the collection. |
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| Description | Selected items from five 'Special and Named Printed Collections'. Includes books in Gaelic and other Celtic languages, works about the Gaels, their languages, literature, culture and history. |
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