This was followed, in 1804, by the metrical romance _of Sir Tristrem_, the
original of which was by Thomas of Ercildoune, of the thirteenth century,
known as _Thomas the Rhymer_: it was he who dreamed on Huntley bank that
he met the Queen of Elfland,
And, till seven years were gone and past,
True Thomas on earth was never seen.
The reputation acquired by these productions led the world to expect
something distinctly original and brilliant from his pen; a hope which was
at once realized.
THE LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL.--In 1805 appeared his first great poem, _The
Lay of the Last Minstrel_, which immediately established his fame: it was
a charming presentation of the olden time to the new. It originated in a
request of the Countess of Dalkeith that he would write a ballad on the
legend of Gilpin Horner. The picture of the last minstrel, "infirm and
old," fired by remembrance as he begins to tell an old-time story of
Scottish valor, is vividly drawn. The bard is supposed to be the last of
his fraternity, and to have lived down to 1690.
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