way to the
hunting-field.

Now she would blow her horn until the echoes answered merrily,
merrily; now she would trill her songs, until the wild birds
answered gaily, gaily.

Thomas of Ercildoune gazed, and Thomas of Ercildoune listened,
and his heart gave a great bound as he said to himself, 'Now, by
my troth, the lady is none of mortal birth. She is none other
than Mary, the Queen of Heaven.'

Then up sprang Thomas from the little woodland brook and away
sped he over the mountain-side, that he might, so it were
possible, reach her as she rode by the Eildon tree, which tree
grew on the side of the Eildon hills.

'For certainly,' said Thomas, 'if I do not speak with that lady
bright, my heart will break in three.'

And in sooth, as she dismounted under the Eildon tree, Thomas met
the lady, and kneeling low beneath the greenwood, he spoke, thus
eager was he to win a benison from the Queen of Heaven.

'Lovely lady, have pity upon me, even as thou art mother of the
Child who died for me.'

'Nay now, nay now,' said the lady gay, 'no Queen of Heaven am I.
I come but from the country thou dost call Elfland, though queen
of that country in truth I am. I do but ride to the hunt with my
hounds as thou mayest hear.' And she blew on her horn merrily,
merrily.

Now Thomas did not wish to lose sight of so fair a lady.

'Go not back to Elfland; stay by my side under the Eildon tree,'
he pleaded.

'Nay,' said the Queen of Elfland, 'should I stay with thee, a
mortal, my fairness would fade as fades a leaf.'

But Thomas did not believe her, and, for he was a bold man, he
drew near and kissed the rosy lips of the Elfland Queen.

Alas, alas! no sooner had he kissed her than the lady fair
changed into a tired old woman.

She no longer wore a skirt of beautiful green, but a long robe of
hodden grey covered her from head to foot. The light, bright as
the summer sun that had shone around her, faded, and her face
grew pale and thin. Her eyes no longer danced for joy, they gazed
dull and dim before her. And on one side of her head the long
black hair had changed to grey.

[Illustration: Under the Eildon tree Thomas met the lady]

It was a sight to make one sad, and Thomas, as he gazed, cried,
as well he might, 'Alas, alas!'

'Thyself hast sealed thy doom, Thomas,' cried the lady. 'Thou
must come with me to Elfland. Haste thou therefore to bid
farewell to sun and moon, to trees and flowers, for, come weal,
come woe, thou