_Thomas Rimour in to the_ Faile _was than,_ _With the mynystir, quhilk was a worthi man:_ _He wsyt offt to that religiouss place._--V. 288.
This passage has been strangely misunderstood. So early as 1594 it had been made to bear quite a different meaning:--
Thomas Rymour _withouttin faill_ was than With the minister, &c.
This error has been followed in subsequent editions. In Edit. Perth, 1790, it is, _in to the ayle_; although it had been properly given, _in to the Faile_, Edit. 1714.
This was a cell or priory of the Cluniacenses in Kyle, Ayrshire, depending on Paisley. Spottiswoode writes it _Feale_. “Our history,” he says, “only remarks, that the prior of this place was one of those who hindred the castle of Dumbarton from being surrendered to the English, anno 1544, in opposition to the Earl of Lenox, then governor of it.” But besides this curious passage, which shows that it was an ancient foundation; it may be added, that “the right of the patronage of the kirk of _Fale_, in the county of Ayr,” is given to James de Lindsay, apparently the ancestor of the Earls of Crawford, in a charter by Robert II. Registr. Mag. Sigill. p. 172. N. 13. The miln of _Faill_, and the crofthead of _Fail_, in the lordship of _Fail_furd, are mentioned in a retour regarding William Wallace, heir of William Wallace, minister of Failfurd, A. 1617. Inquis. Retour. Ayr, N. 162.
Thar _man that day had in the merket bene._--V. 297.
In Edit. 1594, 1620, 1714, and Perth, it is _that_ man; in 1648 and 1673, _this_ man; either of which would immediately refer to Thomas of Ercildon. But _thar_, i.e. _their_ man, respects the servant of the religious fraternity of Faile, as appears from v. 299, which cannot respect True Thomas;
His mastyr speryt, quhat tithingis at he saw.
_And fra the tyme that he of presoune four,_ _Gude_ souir _weide dayly on him he wour:_ _Gude lycht harness, fra that tyme, wsyt he euir._--V. 83.
Instead of _And_ fra the tyme, read, _Ay_ fra the tyme, as in MS.
It is remarkable that in all the copies, without exception, as far as I know, it is _somer_ or _summer weid_, or _weed_. Of what use could this have been to Wallace, when in “sodeyn stryff?” The term is the same with E. _sure_, i.e. secure armour, although light.