Rhymer's Tower

Rhymer's Tower sits in the garden of a cafe in the Border village of Earlston. It is difficult to tell the fact from folklore, when researching this mysterious tower.

The land where the tower stands was in the village of Erceldoune which is now named Earlston. It is believed that the lands here were owned by the Lindsay family in the 12th century, the Dunbar's in the 13th century and the Purves by the 14th century. It was created the 'Barony of Earlston' in 1489.

The materials and building methods suggest that the tower was built in the 16th century, although an earlier 13th century tower was reputed to have stood here and be owned by the Thomas the Rhymer.

The scant remains of the 16th century tower house are mostly of the south west wall. The walls were around 1.5m thick and the tower would have had a vaulted basement.

The tower is linked to 'Thomas the Rhymer', or to give him his proper name, Thomas Learmon of Erceldoune.

Thomas was a 13th century local poet and reputed prophet from the area. He became famous for his predictions including the death of Alexander III in 1286. Both Walter Scott and Robert Chambers have published collections of his prophecies. It is difficult to say for certain whether Thomas did own a tower house here, or whether it is just local folklore.

The Rhymer's Tower Cafe had become one of our regular breakfast stops when travelling to the Highlands. Over the years we have seen it go from a run down dumping yard, to a beautiful garden area accessible for cafe customers.

However, we went expecting our usual tasty breakfast and Greggs have bought it and were refurbishing the building. I investigated whether Greggs are still using the outdoor seating area, and it appears they do. If they are closed, you can always take a sneaky peek over the side wall and fence.

Rhymers Tower is a Category B Listed Building with Historic Environment Scotland.