[Illustration: ALLAN RAMSAY.]
THE
GENTLE SHEPHERD.
A Pastoral Comedy.
BY
ALLAN RAMSAY.
WITH A LIFE OF THE AUTHOR,
_AND THE OPINIONS OF VARIOUS EMINENT MEN ON THE WORK_.
TO WHICH IS ADDED,
A GREATLY IMPROVED GLOSSARY,
AND A CATALOGUE OF THE SCOTTISH POETS.
"_Away sic fears! Gae spread my fame,
And fix me an immortal name;
Ages to come shall thee revive,
And gar thee with new honours live;
The future critics, I foresee,
Shall have their notes on notes on thee;
The wits unborn shall beauties find,
That never entered in my mind._"
ALLAN RAMSAY TO HIS BOOK.
"The Gentle Shepherd has exhibited rusticity without vulgarity,
and elegant sentiment without affectation. Like the heroes of
Homer, the characters of this piece can engage in the humblest
occupation without degradation. Its verses have passed into
proverbs, and it continues to be the delight and solace of the
peasantry whom it describes."
W. ROSCOE.
[Illustration]
NEW YORK: WILLIAM GOWANS.
1852.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852,
BY WILLIAM GOWANS,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States
for the Southern District of New York.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
PREFACE, v
LIFE OF ALLAN RAMSAY, BY WILLIAM TENNANT, xi
Remarks on the Writings of Ramsay, by Wm. Tennant, xxv
ESSAY ON RAMSAY'S GENTLE SHEPHERD, BY LORD WOODHOUSELEE, xxxi
OPINIONS AND REMARKS ON THE GENTLE SHEPHERD, BY
VARIOUS AUTHORS, lxi
John Aikin, LL. D., ib.
James Beattie, LL. D., ib.
William Tytler, lxii
Hugh Blair, D. D., lxiii
John Pinkerton, lxiv
Joseph Ritson, lxvi
William Roscoe, lxvi
Thomas Campbell, lxvii
Leigh Hunt, lxviii
Anecdote of Lady Strange, lxxiii
List of Allan Ramsay's Works, lxxiv
Dedication to the Countess of Eglintoun, by Ramsay, i
Dedication to the Countess of Eglintoun, by Wm. Hamilton, of
Bangour, iv
Epistle to Josiah Burchett, ix
THE GENTLE SHEPHERD, 1
Notes, 89
Glossary, 95
PREFACE.
The Publisher being desirous to present the American public with a
correct edition of the "GENTLE SHEPHERD," considerable pains have been
taken to ascertain the best or standard text. Fortunately, there were,
within reach, several of the best editions, as well as others of
inferior character. A careful examination of these satisfied us, that,
the subscription edition in quarto, printed for the Author by Thomas
Ruddiman, in 1728, has higher claims to be considered the standard
one, than any other within our knowledge.
For this conclusion, perhaps it might be a sufficient reason to state,
that, it was so considered by Andrew Foulis, of Glasgow, who reprinted
it in David Allan's celebrated quarto of 1788, undoubtedly the most
sumptuous edition of the "GENTLE SHEPHERD" ever published.[1] From the
well-known intelligence and proverbial accuracy of the Foulis', and
from the fact that the same house reprinted the 10th edition of the
Pastoral in 1750, (about eight years before the Author's death,) there
can be very little doubt that Andrew Foulis possessed both the means
and the inclination to ascertain which was the genuine text, and did
so accordingly. But, besides this, the publishers of the octavo of
1798, who seem to have taken unusual pains to give a correct text,
have adopted the same edition as the standard, and have given a
reprint, still more literal than that of Foulis. Moreover, the same
text has been selected for the very elaborate edition of 1808, in two
volumes, royal octavo; as well as for the royal quarto, printed by
Ballantyne in the same year. It is true the orthography of both these
editions of 1808 is altered; that of the octavo being considerably
Anglicised; while that of the quarto is changed throughout to the mode
of spelling adopted by Burns. The verbal changes, however, are very
few.
[Footnote 1: The poet Burns writes of it thus:--"I once, and but once,
got a glance of that noble edition of the noblest pastoral in the
world; and dear as it was, I mean dear as to my pocket, I would have
bought it; but I was told that it was printed and engraved for
subscribers only."
[Burns to Mr. Cunningham, 3d March, 1793.]
The text of the editions of 1761, 1800, and 1850, differs, in several
places, from that of the editions before-mentioned. A list of the
principal variations, with some further remarks, will be found in the
Notes to the present edition. We have searched diligently for an
explanation of the origin of these variations, but without success.
They may belong either to the first edition, or, to some one
subsequent to 1728. But, be this as it may, we cannot look upon them
as improvements.
Neither have we been able to see any warrant for changes in
orthography, such as those we have alluded to: we have rather supposed
that readers generally, and especially the admirers of Ramsay, would
prefer to see his best poem in precisely the same dress in which he
ushered it into the world when his poetical powers were in their
prime.
In accordance with these views, we have adopted, as the standard text,
the quarto of 1728; of which the present edition is nearly a literal
reprint. Some obvious typographical errors we have corrected, and a
very few changes in orthography have been made; all of which, with one
exception, are authorized by the editions of 1788 and 1798. Some what
greater liberties have been taken with the punctuation, but in this
also, we have been guided by the same editions, with the aid of the
octavo of 1808.
Of the "SONGS," the 9th, 11th, and 21st, with the verse at page 57,
are the only ones that appear in the quarto of 1728, or in the
preceding editions: the remaining eighteen were added, probably, in
1729. In Foulis' edition of 1788, these additional songs are excluded
from the body of the poem; but are given, with the music, at the end.
Every other edition, that we have seen, contains the whole twenty-one
songs inserted in their proper places, as in the present edition.
Another song (of which the last verse occurs at page 57) was added
subsequently, probably after 1750, for it is not to be found among the
other songs belonging to the "GENTLE SHEPHERD," published in that year
in the "Tea-table Miscellany."[2] It occurs in the edition of 1761,
but it is not in those of 1788 and 1798. We have given it complete in
the Notes at page 90. In a foot-note to the "Life" at page xviii, will
be found a statement, explanatory of the causes why these additional
songs were inserted. We quite agree with the writer of that Note, that
they mar the beauty of the poem; and, in this edition, we would have
preferred to follow the example of David Allan and Foulis in that of
1788; but, it being the opinion of the Publisher, that the Pastoral,
in such a form, would be generally considered incomplete, they have
been inserted in the usual manner.
[Footnote 2: We have before us two editions of the "Tea-table
Miscellany;" one in 3 parts or volumes, 9th edition, London, 1733; the
other in 4 volumes, 11th edition, London, 1750. Near the end of the
second volume this notice occurs in both editions:--
"The following SONGS to be sung in their proper Places on the acting
of the _Gentle Shepherd_, at each the page marked where they come in."
Then follow the first twenty songs; (Song XXI., which concludes the
Pastoral, not being noticed;) at the head of each it is stated by whom
sung, and the page where it "comes in" is given. It would seem,
therefore, that the songs were mainly intended for "_the acting_;" and
that many copies of the Pastoral were extant without the songs, to the
pages of which these references in the "Miscellany" thus formed an
index or guide.]
For these eighteen extra songs we have not had what we can consider a
standard text: they have been printed from the edition of 1798,
collated with those of 1788 and 1808. We also compared them with those
in the "Tea-table Miscellany" of 1733, the oldest copy in our
possession, and found no difference of any consequence.
The GLOSSARIES heretofore appended to the "GENTLE SHEPHERD" have been,
usually, reprints of that given by Ramsay in the quarto of 1728, which
was prepared for his Poems, complete: that in the edition of 1800
being considerably enlarged. In the present edition the Glossary has
been restricted chiefly to those words and phrases which occur in the
Pastoral; of which, upwards of a hundred and fifty have been omitted
in every former edition that we have seen: those are now added, with
explanations. The rest of the Glossary has been carefully examined,
and some corrections made.
In the "LIFE of Ramsay, by Tennant," we have made one or two
corrections; and some additions, derived from various sources, have
been inserted. These are distinguished by being enclosed in brackets.
The elaborate ESSAY by Lord Woodhouselee "on the Genius and Writings
of Allan Ramsay," so far as it refers to the "GENTLE SHEPHERD," we
have given complete, excepting a few quotations in Italian. To this
have been added, opinions and criticisms on the Pastoral, by various
celebrated authors. These are not entirely confined to expressions of
approbation; that of Pinkerton being quite the reverse, although, as
we think, singularly unjust.
The PORTRAIT prefixed to this edition is a careful and accurate copy
of the print given by Cadell and Davies, in their edition of 1800;
respecting which they make the following statement:--"there is
prefixed a portrait of the author, which has been finely engraved by
Mr. Ryder, from a drawing which was made by Allan Ramsay, the poet's
son; the original of which is now in the possession of A. F. Tytler,
Esq., of Edinburgh."
In order that we may not be charged with negligence, we subjoin a list
of all the editions of the "GENTLE SHEPHERD" to which we have had
access during the preparation of the present edition; with a few
slight remarks as to the character of these editions.
POEMS:--"Printed for the Author at the Mercury, opposite, to
Niddry's Wynd;" 1 vol. small 8vo. Edinburgh, 1720-1.
This is, perhaps, the first collected edition. It contains exactly
the same poems (though differently arranged) and glossary, as
the subscription 4to. of 1721. It has the _first_ scene of the
Pastoral, and the 11th Song.
POEMS:--"Printed by Mr. Thomas Ruddiman, for the Author." 2 vols.
4to. Edinburgh, 1721-28.
This is the subscription and, probably, the "_best edition_." The
1st volume has the _first_ scene of the Pastoral, and the 11th
Song: the 2d volume has the Pastoral complete.
*POEMS:--Millar, Rivington, and others; 2 vols. 12mo. London, 1761.
A neat edition, containing exactly the same poems as that of
1721-28.
*POEMS:--Phorson; cheap edition; 2 vols. 12mo. Berwick, 1793.
*POEMS:--Cadell and Davies; 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1800.
This edition is well printed, on good paper: it is commonly called
the "best edition;" but, so far as the "Gentle Shepherd" is
concerned, it is not so.
POEMS AND PROVERBS:--Oliver and Co.; 3 vols. 18mo. Edinburgh, no
date.
Neat edition, with plates, and music to the Songs in the "Gentle
Shepherd."
POEMS AND PROVERBS:--Chapman; 2 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1813.
POEMS:--Fairbairn and Anderson; 1 vol. 24mo. Edinburgh, 1819.
Neat but abridged edition; with Life of Ramsay by Wm. Tennant,
author of "Anster fair."
*POEMS:--Fullarton and Co.; 3 vols. 12mo. London, 1850.
A very neat edition; a reprint of that of 1800, with additions;
appendix, &c.
GENTLE SHEPHERD:--Printed by A. Foulis; 4to. Glasgow, 1788.
An elegant and correct edition, with David Allan's plates, and the
songs set to music.
GENTLE SHEPHERD:--Geo. Reid and Co.; 8vo. Edinburgh, 1798.
A very accurate edition, with 5 plates.
GENTLE SHEPHERD:--A. Constable and Co., and others: printed by
Abernethy and Walker; 2 vols. roy. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1808.
One of the best editions, with many plates and an elaborate
dissertation on the scenery, &c. Understood to have been edited
by Robert Brown, Esq., advocate.
GENTLE SHEPHERD:--Watt and Baillie, Leith: Printed by Jas.
Ballantyne and Co.; Edinburgh. roy. 4to. 1808.
A good edition, (with copies of David Allan's plates,) but the
orthography much changed.
GENTLE SHEPHERD:--Griffin and Co.; 32mo. Glasgow, 1828.
In all the above editions, with the exception of those of 1788 and
1798, the orthography of the "GENTLE SHEPHERD" is more or less changed
from that of the original quarto of 1728.
The editions marked thus (*) follow a different text of the "GENTLE
SHEPHERD" from that of the present edition. See the Notes.
THE LIFE
OF
ALLAN RAMSAY.
_Born 1686.--Died 1758._
Allan Ramsay, the restorer of Scottish Poetry, was born on the 15th
day of October, 1686, at Leadhills, in the parish of Crawfordmoor, in
Lanarkshire. His father, John Ramsay, superintended Lord Hopetoun's
lead mines at that place; and his grandfather, Robert Ramsay, a writer
or attorney in Edinburgh, had possessed the same appointment: his
great-grandfather, Captain John Ramsay, was the son of Ramsay of
Cockpen in Mid-Lothian, who was brother of Ramsay of Dalhousie. His
mother, Alice Bower, was daughter of Allan Bower, a gentleman of
Derbyshire, whom Lord Hopetoun had brought to Scotland to instruct and
superintend his miners. His grandmother, Janet Douglas, was daughter
of Douglas of Muthil. In his lineage, therefore, our Poet had
something to boast of, and, though _born to nae lairdship_, he fails
not to congratulate himself on being sprung from the loins of a
Douglas. He did not long enjoy the blessing of paternal care and
instruction; for, shortly after his birth, his father died, leaving
the widow and family in a condition rather destitute. His mother soon
after married a Mr. Crichton, a petty landholder of the same county,
by whom she had several children. Under these unfortunate
circumstances, young Allan entered upon the career of life; and, for
fourteen years he remained in the house of his stepfather, with no
other education than was supplied by the school of the parish. Here,
surrounded by wild and mountainous scenery, and amid an artless and
secluded people, whose manners and language were of patriarchal
simplicity, his childhood received those pastoral and Arcadian
impressions, which were too lively to be effaced by future habits,
however uncongenial, and of which he in his manhood, amid all the
artificial life of the city, made so lively and fascinating a
transcription.
Of his progress and attainments at school, we have no record. It does
not appear that he read much poetry prior to his twentieth year; and
his emulation, and _ambitious thoughts_, of which he says _he had
some_, seem to have slumbered in inactivity, till they were awakened
to unceasing exercise by the society and the excitements of Edinburgh.
To Edinburgh he was sent in his fifteenth year, when the felicity of
his boyhood had been broken by the death of his mother. We have the
assurance of undoubted testimony, that at that early age, when his
mind was beginning to search about for the choice of a profession, his
wishes were to be a painter; a circumstance too little known, and too
little noticed by his biographers, but strongly indicative, in our
opinion, of the aspirations of his youthful disposition. While yet in
the country, he had been in the practice of amusing himself with
copying such prints as he found in the books of his mother's house.
This early predilection for an art kindred to that wherein he
afterwards excelled, very likely followed bins through life, and led
him to devote his son to that favourite study, from which he himself
was so harshly precluded. For his stepfather, little consulting the
inclination of young Allan, and wishing as soon as possible, and at
any rate, to disencumber himself of the charge of his support, bound
this nursling of the Muses apprentice to a wig-maker. Lowly as this
profession is, it has been vindicated by one of Ramsay's biographers
into comparative dignity, by separating it from the kindred business
of barber, with which it is vulgarly, and too frequently confounded.
Ramsay was never, it seems, a barber; his enemies never blotted him
with that ignominy; his calling of "scull-thacker," as he himself
ludicrously terms it, was too dignified to be let down into an
equality with the men of the razor.
Thus from the beginning his business was with _the heads of men_. We
know not on what authority it is asserted by some of his biographers,
that he abandoned this profession on finishing his apprenticeship: he
is called wig-maker in the parish record down to the year 1716; and we
suspect he continued so till the year 1718, or 1719, for in one of
Hamilton's letters to him, dated 24th of July, 1719, mention is made
of his "new profession."
He was in 1712 induced, as one of his biographers observes, _by the
example of other citizens_, to enter into the state of marriage. His
wife's name was Christian Ross, daughter of a writer in Edinburgh, who
brought him, year after year, a numerous family of three sons and five
daughters. Of this family, Allan, the eldest, and the only son who
survived him, inherited the genius of his father, and, having received
a liberal education, became afterwards conspicuous as a scholar, and a
painter.[3]
[Footnote 3: Allan Ramsay the painter studied his art both at London
and Rome. He was the projector and founder of the Select Society of
Edinburgh in 1754. In 1767 he was appointed portrait painter to his
Majesty. On his return from Italy he died at Dover, on the 10th of
August, 1784, leaving a fortune of £40,000. He was twice married,
first to Miss Bayne, daughter of Professor Bayne of Edinburgh, and
sister of the late gallant Capt. Bayne of the Navy. She brought him
one daughter, who died young. His second wife was the eldest daughter
of Sir Alexander Lindsay of Evelich, Baronet, by Emilia, daughter of
the Viscount of Stormont, and niece to the great Earl of Mansfield;
she was also the sister of the late Sir David and Sir John Lindsay.
She died in 1782, and left by Allan Ramsay two daughters and a son.
One of his daughters was married to the late General Sir Archibald
Campbell, K. B. of Inverneil in Argyleshire, and the other to Colonel
Malcolm. His son, John Ramsay, has attained the rank of
Lieutenant-General in the army.
Of our Poet's daughters only two survived him; Christian, who died
about the year 1800, and Janet, who died in New-street, Canongate,
Edinburgh, on the 14th of January, 1804.]
About the year 1711 or 1712 our Poet seems first to have ventured into
the regions of rhyme. The clubs and societies of Edinburgh had
provoked in him this new passion, and his earliest effort, so far as
is known, is an Address, supplicatory of admission, "To the most happy
members of the Easy Club," a production bearing every mark of
unskilfulness and juvenility. Of this club he was afterwards appointed
poet-laureate, in which capacity he was wont to recite to that jolly
fraternity his successive productions, for their criticisms and their
applause.
Many of these poems were published in a detached form at a penny
a-piece, and his name became by this means celebrated in the city.
About the year 1716, and ere he relinquished his avocation of
wig-maker, he published an edition of the excellent old poem of
"Christ's Kirk on the Green," with a second canto by himself. Having
thus associated himself in the walks of humour with the King of
Scotland, he was induced, by the approbation which he gained, and the
rapid sale of the book, to "keep a little more company with these
comical characters," and to complete the story, by adding afterwards a
third canto. This attempt was crowned with all the success he
anticipated, and numerous editions of the work afforded him
satisfactory proof, that, in the public opinion, he had not unworthily
put himself into partnership with the royal humourist.[4]
[Footnote 4: A passage in one of those modern cantos of Ramsay's,
describing a husband fascinated homewards from a scene of drunkenness
by the gentle persuasions of his wife, has been tastefully selected by
Wilkie, and been made the subject of his admirable pencil.
Hogarth dedicated to Ramsay, in 1726, his twelve plates of Hudibras.]
Elevated by the distinction his productions had now procured him, and
losing at last all liking to a business which was at utter variance
with his ambition and darling amusements; he commenced bookseller,
most probably in the year 1718, when he was in the thirty-second year
of his age. This was a trade at once more congenial to his habits, and
more likely to be lucrative, on account of his being already
recommended by his authorship to the buyers of books. His first shop
as a bookseller was in the High-street opposite to Niddry's-wynd, with
the figure of Mercury for his sign. From this shop proceeded, in 1721,
a collection of his various poems in one quarto volume, published by
subscription, which contained every eminent name in Scotland. It was
thus advertised in the Edinburgh Evening Courant: "The poems of Allan
Ramsay, in a large quarto volume, fairly printed, with notes, and a
complete glossary (as promised to the subscribers), being now
finished; all who have generously contributed to carrying on of the
design, may call for their copies as soon as they please, from the
author, at the Mercury, opposite to Niddry's-wynd, Edinburgh."
From the sale of this volume he realized 400 guineas, which was in
those days a very considerable profit on a book of Scottish poetry. In
1722 he gave to the world his Fables and Tales; in the same year his
tale of The Three Bonnets; and in 1724 his poem on Health. In January,
1724, he published the first volume of the Tea-table Miscellany, being
a collection of Scottish and English songs; this volume was speedily
followed by a second; [in 1727] by a third; [and some years afterwards
by a fourth; all] under the same title. Hamilton of Bangour, and
Mallet, assisted him by their lyrical contributions. Encouraged by the
popularity of these books, he published, in October, 1724, the
Evergreen, "a collection of Scots poems written by the ingenious
before 1600." For the duties of an editor of such a work, it is
generally agreed that Ramsay was not well fitted. For, neither had he
a complete knowledge of the ancient Scottish language, nor was his
literary conscience sufficiently tender and scrupulous to that
fidelity, which is required by the office of editor. He abridged, he
varied, modernized, and superadded. In that collection first appeared
under a feigned signature his Vision, a poem, full of genius, and
rich with Jacobitism, but disguising the author and his principles
under the thin concealment of antique orthography.
At length appeared in 1725 his master-work, the Gentle Shepherd, of
which two scenes had been previously printed, [the first] in 1721,
under the title of Patie and Roger, and [the second] in 1723, under
that of Jenny and Meggy. [In the quarto of 1721, there is likewise to
be found (Sang XI.) the dialogue song between Patie and Peggy,
afterwards introduced into the second act.] The reputation he had
obtained by these detached scenes, and the admonitions of his friends,
who perceived how easily and how happily they could be connected,
induced him to re-model and embody them into a regular pastoral drama.
Its success corresponded to his own hopes, and to his friends'
anticipations. [In the following letter, (published for the first time
by R. Chambers in his Scottish Biographical Dictionary, 1835,) it will
be seen that he was engaged on this task in spring, 1724.
ALLAN RAMSAY to WILLIAM RAMSAY, of TEMPLEHALL, Esq.
"Edinburgh, _April_ 8th, 1724.
"Sir,--These come to bear you my very heartyest and grateful
wishes. May you long enjoy your Marlefield, see many a returning
spring pregnant with new beautys; may everything that's excellent
in its kind continue to fill your extended soul with pleasure.
Rejoyce in the beneficence of heaven, and let all about ye
rejoyce--whilst we, alake, the laborious insects of a smoaky city,
hurry about from place to place in one eternal maze of fatiguing
cares, to secure this day our daylie bread--and something till't.
For me, I have almost forgot how springs gush from the earth.
Once, I had a notion how fragrant the fields were after a soft
shower; and often, time out of mind! the glowing blushes of the
morning have fired my breast with raptures. Then it was that the
mixture of rural music echo'd agreeable from the surrounding
hills, and all nature appear'd in gayety.
"However, what is wanting to me of rural sweets I endeavour to
make up by being continually at the acting of some new farce, for
I'm grown, I know not how, so very wise, or at least think so
(which is much about one), that the mob of mankind afford me a
continual diversion; and this place, tho' little, is crowded with
merry-andrews, fools, and fops, of all sizes, [who] intermix'd
with a few that can think, compose the comical medley of actors.
"Receive a sang made on the marriage of my young chief.--I am,
this vacation, going through with a Dramatick Pastoral, which I
design to carry the length of five acts, in verse a' the gate, and
if I succeed according to my plan, I hope to tope[5] with the
authors of Pastor Fido and Aminta.
[Footnote 5: Cope.]
"God take care of you and yours, is the constant prayer of, sir,
your faithful humble servant,
"ALLAN RAMSAY."]
A second edition followed next year, and numerous impressions spread
his fame, not only through Scotland, but through the united kingdom,
and the colonies. His name became known, principally through this
drama, to the wits of England, and Pope took delight in reading his
pastoral, the obscurer phraseology of which was interpreted to him by
Gay, who, during his residence in Scotland, had been careful to
instruct himself in its dialect, that he might act as interpreter to
the poet of Twickenham.
In 1726 our Poet, now a thriving bookseller, removed from his original
dwelling at the Mercury opposite Niddry's-wynd, to a shop in the east
end of the Luckenbooths, which was afterwards occupied by the late Mr.
Creech, (whose Fugitive Pieces are well known), and, after his death,
by his successor Mr. Fairbairn. With his shop he changed his sign, and
leaving Mercury, under the protection of whose witty godship he had so
flourished, he set up the friendly heads of Ben Jonson and Drummond of
Hawthornden. Here he sold books, and established a circulating
library, the first institution of that kind, not only in Scotland, but
we believe in Great Britain.[6] The situation being near the Cross,
and commanding a full view of the High-street, his shop became the
resort of all the wits of the city; and here Gay, who is described by
Mr. Tytler, as "a little pleasant-looking man, with a tyewig," used
to look out upon the population of Edinburgh, while Ramsay pointed out
to him the principal characters as they passed. Of this house no
vestiges now remain, for as the beauty and magnificence of the
High-street had been long disfigured by the cumbrous and gloomy
buildings called the Luckenbooths, they were, a few years ago,
completely removed, and the street cleared of that misplaced mass of
deformity.
[Footnote 6: To this library Mr. Sibbald succeeded, who greatly
augmented it. It is now (1819) in possession of Mr. Mackay,
High-street.]
In 1728 he printed in quarto a second volume, containing, [his
portrait by Smibert, and,] with other poems, a Masque on the Marriage
of the Duke of Hamilton, one of his most ingenious productions; [also
the Gentle Shepherd, complete.[7]] Of this quarto an octavo edition
followed next year; and so extended was now the circle of his
reputation, and so universal the demand for his poems, that the London
booksellers published an edition of his Works in 1731, and two years
after an edition also appeared at Dublin. His collection of thirty
Fables appeared in 1730, when he was in his 45th year, after which
period the public received nothing from his pen. "I e'en gave o'er in
good time," he says, in his letter to Smibert, "ere the coolness of
fancy attending advanced years made me risk the reputation I had
acquired."
[Footnote 7: ["Soon after the first edition, in octavo, of this
pastoral was published, and about the time of the publication of his
second volume in quarto, the 'Beggar's Opera' made its appearance,
with such success that it soon produced a great number of other pieces
upon the same musical plan. Amongst the rest, Ramsay, who had always
been a great admirer of Gay, especially for his ballads, was so far
carried away by the current as to print a new edition of his pastoral,
interspersed with songs adapted to the common Scotch tunes, He did not
reflect at the time that the 'Beggar's Opera' was only meant as a
piece of ironical satire; whereas his 'Gentle Shepherd' was a simple
imitation of nature, and neither a mimickry nor mockery of any other
performance. He was soon, however, sensible of his error, and would
have been glad to have retracted those songs; but it was too late; the
public was already in possession of them, and as the number of singers
is always greater than that of sound critics, the many editions since
printed of that pastoral have been almost uniformly in this vitiated
taste. He comforted himself, however, with the thought that the
contagion had not infected his second volume in quarto, where the
'Gentle Shepherd' is still to be found in its original purity."
(General Biographical Dictionary, Vol. XXVI.)]
[The following letter was first published in the Scots Magazine,
August, 1784: we give it verbatim et literatim.
ALLAN RAMSAY To MR. JOHN SMIBERT,[8] in BOSTON, NEW ENGLAND.
"Edinburgh, _May_ 10, 1736.
"My dear old friend, your health and happiness are ever ane
addition to my satisfaction. God make your life ever easy and
pleasant--half a century of years have now row'd o'er my pow; yes,
row'd o'er my pow, that begins now to be lyart; yet, thanks to my
Author, I eat, drink, and sleep as sound as I did twenty years
syne; yes, I laugh heartily too, and find as many subjects to
employ that faculty upon as ever: fools, fops, and knaves, grow as
rank as formerly; yet here and there are to be found good and
worthy men, who are an honour to human life. We have small hopes
of seeing you again in our old world; then let us be virtuous, and
hope to meet in heaven.--My good auld wife is still my bedfellow:
my son, Allan, has been pursuing your science since he was a dozen
years auld--was with Mr. Hyssing, at London, for some time, about
two years ago; has been since at home, painting here like a
Raphael--sets out for the seat of the Beast, beyond the Alps,
within a month hence--to be away about two years.--I'm sweer[9] to
part with him, but canna stem the current which flows from the
advice of his patrons and his own inclinations.--I have three
daughters, one of seventeen, one of sixteen, one of twelve years
old, and no waly-dragle[10] among them, all fine girls. These six
or seven years past, I have not wrote a line of poetry; I e'en
gave o'er in good time, before the coolness of fancy that attends
advanced years should make me risk the reputation I had acquired.
[Footnote 8: [John Smibert, who drew his first breath in the
Grass-Market of Edinburgh, was the son of a dyer, and bred a coach
painter: but travelling into Italy for instruction, he painted
portraits, on his return, at London, till he was induced, by the
fascination of Bishop Berkeley, to emigrate with him to Bermuda, and
thence to New England. Smibert was born in 1684 and died at Boston, in
1751.
(Life of Ramsay by George Chalmers, in Works, Edition of 1800.)]]
[Footnote 9: Unwilling.]
[Footnote 10: A feeble ill-grown person.]
"Frae twenty-five to five-and-forty,
My Muse was nowther sweer[11] nor dorty;
My Pegasus wad break his tether,
E'en at the shakking[12] of a feather,
And through ideas scour like drift,
Streaking[13] his wings up to the lift:
Then, then my saul was in a low,
That gart my numbers safely row;
But eild and judgment 'gin to say,
Let be your sangs, and learn to pray.
[Footnote 11: Unwilling.]
[Footnote 12: Shaking.]
[Footnote 13: Stretching.]
"I am, sir, your friend and servant,
"ALLAN RAMSAY."]
He now therefore intermeddled no longer with the anxieties of
authorship, but sat down in the easy chair of his celebrity to enjoy
his laurels and his profits. After a lapse of six years of silence,
and of happiness, his ardour for dramatic exhibitions involved him in
some circumstances of perplexity, attended, it is believed, with
pecuniary loss. As Edinburgh possessed as yet no fixed place for the
exhibition of the drama, he endeavoured to supply that deficiency to
the citizens, by building, at his own expense a theatre in
Carrubber's-close. Shortly after, the Act for licensing the stage was
passed, which at once blasted all his hopes of pleasure and advantage;
for, the Magistrates availing themselves of the power entrusted to
them by the Act, shewed no indulgence to the author of the Gentle
Shepherd, but, in the true spirit of that puritanism which reckons as
ungodly all jollity of heart, and relaxation of countenance, they shut
up his theatre, leaving the citizens without exhilaration, and our
poet without redress. This was not all; he was assailed with the
satirical mockery of his laughter-hating enemies, who turned against
him his own weapons of poetical raillery. Pamphlets appeared,
entitled, "The flight of religious piety from Scotland, upon the
account of Ramsay's lewd books, and the hell-bred playhouse comedians,
who debauch all the faculties of the soul of our rising
generation;"--"A looking-glass for Allan Ramsay;"--"The dying words of
Allan Ramsay." These maligners, in the bitterness of their
sanctimonious resentments, reproached him with "having acquired
wealth,"--with "possessing a fine house,"--with "having raised his kin
to high degree;" all which vilifications must have carried along with
them some secret and sweet consolations into the bosom of our bard.
Amid the perplexities caused by the suppression of his theatre, he
applied by a poetical petition to his friend the Honourable Duncan
Forbes, then Lord President of the Court of Session, in order that he
might obtain some compensation for his expenses; but with what success
is not recorded by any of his biographers.
His theatrical adventure being thus unexpectedly crushed, he devoted
himself to the duties of his shop, and the education of his children.
He sent in 1736 his son Allan to Rome, there to study that art by
which he rose to such eminence. In the year 1743 he lost his wife, who
was buried on the 28th of March in the cemetery of the Greyfriars. He
built, probably about this time, a whimsical house of an octagon form,
on the north side of the Castle-hill, where his residence is still
known by the name of Ramsay-Garden. [The site of this house was
selected with the taste of a poet and the judgment of a painter. It
commanded a reach of scenery probably not surpassed in Europe,
extending from the mouth of the Forth on the east to the Grampians on
the west, and stretching far across the green hills of Fife to the
north; embracing in the including space every variety of beauty, of
elegance, and of grandeur.[14]] This house he deemed a paragon of
architectural invention. He showed it with exultation to the late Lord
Elibank, telling his Lordship at the same time, that the wags of the
town likened it to a "goose-pye:" "Indeed, Allan," replied his
Lordship, "now that I see you in it, I think it is well named."
[Footnote 14: Chambers' Scottish Biographical Dictionary.]
Having for several years before his death retired from business, he
gave himself up in this fantastical dwelling to the varied amusements
of reading, conversation, and the cultivation of his garden. Being now
"loose frae care and strife," he enjoyed, in the calmness and
happiness of a philosophical old age, all the fruits of his many and
well rewarded labours. A considerable part of every summer was spent
in the country with his friends, of whom he had many, distinguished
both for talents and rank. The chief of these were, Sir Alexander Dick
of Prestonfield, and Sir John Clerk of Pennycuik, one of the Barons of
Exchequer, a gentleman who united taste to scholarship, and had
patronized and befriended Ramsay from the beginning. This amiable
gentleman died in 1756, a loss which must have been severely felt by
our Poet, and which he himself did not long survive. He had been
afflicted for some time with a scorbutic complaint in his gums, which
after depriving him of his teeth, and consuming part of the jaw-bone,
at last put an end to his sufferings and his existence on the 7th of
January, 1758, in the 72d year of his age. He was interred in the
cemetery of Greyfriars' church on the 9th of that month, and in the
record of mortality he is simply called, "Allan Ramsay, Poet, who died
of old age."
Of his person, Ramsay has given us a minute and pleasant description.
He was about five feet four inches high,
"A blackavic'd[15] snod[16] dapper fallow,
Nor lean, nor overlaid with tallow."
[Footnote 15: Of a dark complexion.]
[Footnote 16: Neat.]
He is described by those who knew him towards the latter part of his
life, as a squat man, with a belly rather portly, and a countenance
full of smiles and good humour. He wore a round goodly wig rather
short. His disposition may be easily collected from his writings. He
possessed that happy Horatian temperament of mind, that forbids, for
its own ease, all entrance to the painful and irascible passions. He
was a man rather of pleasantry and laughter, than of resentment and
moody malignancy. His enemies, of whom he had some, he did not deem
so important as on their account to ruffle his peace of mind, by
indulging any reciprocal hostility, by which they would have been
flattered. He was kind, benevolent, cheerful; possessing, like Burns,
great susceptibility for social joys, but regulating his indulgences
more by prudence, and less impetuous and ungovernable than the
impassioned poet of Ayrshire. By his genius he elevated himself to the
notice of all those of his countrymen who possessed either rank or
talents; but these attentions proceeded spontaneously from their
admiration of his talents, and were not courted by any servilities or
unworthy adulations. Never drawn from business by the seductions of
the bowl, or the invitations of the great, he consulted his own
respect, and the comfort of his family, by attending to the duties of
his shop, which so faithfully and liberally rewarded him. His vanity
(that constitutional failing of all bards) is apparent in many of his
writings, but it is seasoned with playfulness and good humour. He
considered, indeed, that "pride in poets is nae sin," and on one
occasion jocularly challenges superiority in the temple of Fame, even
to Peter the Great of Russia, by saying, "But haud, proud Czar, I
wadna niffer[17] fame."--He is called by Mr. William Tytler, who
enjoyed his familiarity, "an honest man, and of great pleasantry."
[Footnote 17: Exchange.]
Of learning he had but little, yet he understood Horace faintly in the
original; a congenial author, with whom he seems to have been much
delighted, and in the perusal of whose writings he was assisted by
Ruddiman. He read French, but knew nothing of Greek. He did not,
however, like Burns, make an appearance of vilifying that learning of
which he was so small a partaker; he bewailed his "own little
knowledge of it;" and, like the Ayrshire bard, he was sufficiently
ostentatious and pedantic in the display of what little he possessed.
He composed his verses with little effort or labour; his poetry seems
to have evaporated lightly and airily from the surface of a mind
always jocose and at its ease. And as _it lightly came_, he was wont
to say, _so it lightly went_; for after composition, he dismissed it
from his mind without further care or anxiety.
In 1759 an elegant obelisk was erected to the memory of Ramsay, by Sir
James Clerk, at his family-seat of Pennycuik, containing the following
inscription:
Allano Ramsay, Poetae egregio,
Qui Fatis concessit VII. Jan. MDCCLVIII.
Amico paterno et suo,
Monumentum inscribi jussit
D. Jacobus Clerk.
Anno MDCCLIX.
At Woodhouselee, near the [supposed] scene of the Gentle Shepherd,[18]
a rustic temple was dedicated, by the late learned and accomplished
Lord Woodhouselee, with the Inscription
ALLANO RAMSAY, et Genio Loci.
[Footnote 18: "According to Mr. Tytler, this supposition is founded in
error; and the estate of New Hall in the parish of Pennycuik, was to a
certainty the legitimate parent of the pastoral. This fact has been
since farther confirmed, in a dissertation[19] from the elegant pen of
Sir David Rae, Lord Justice-Clerk; a descendant of Sir David Forbes,
proprietor of New Hall, and contemporary of Ramsay. Even without such
respectable evidence, however, we would inevitably be led to the same
conclusion, by the poet's well known acquaintance with the natural
beauties of the landscape at New Hall, where he was a constant and
welcome visitor; and because within the boundaries of that fine
estate, there is actually to be found all the peculiar scenery, so
graphically and beautifully described in the drama."
(Gentle Shepherd, edition of 1828.)]
[Footnote 19: Sir John Sinclair's Statistical account of Scotland;
Vol. XVII., appendix.]
REMARKS ON THE WRITINGS OF ALLAN RAMSAY.
BY W. TENNANT.
Of Ramsay's Poems, the largest, and that on which his fame chiefly
rests, is his _Gentle Shepherd_. Though some of his smaller poems
contain passages of greater smartness, yet its more general interest
as a whole, and the uniformity of talent visible in its scenes, render
it one of the finest specimens of his genius. We have no hesitation in
asserting, that it is one of the best pastoral dramas in the wide
circle of European literature; an excellent production in a department
of writing in which the English language has as yet nothing to boast
of. While other modern tongues have been enriching themselves with
pastoral, the English, copious in all other kinds, continues, in this,
barren and deficient. No English production, therefore, can enter into
competition with the Gentle Shepherd. We must look to the south of
Europe for similar and rival productions, with which it can be
compared. The shepherd plays of Tasso, and Guarini, and Bonarelli,
contain more invention, and splendour, and variety of incident and of
dialogue, than our Scottish drama; but they have also more conceit and
flimsiness of sentiment, more artifice of language, more unnatural and
discordant contrivance of fable. _In its plot_, the Gentle Shepherd is
simple and natural, founded on a story whose circumstances, if they
did not really happen, are at least far within the compass of
verisimilitude. Its development is completed by means interesting but
probable, without the intervention of gods, or satyrs, or oracles, or
such heathenish and preposterous machinery. _The characters_ of the
Gentle Shepherd are all framed by the hand of one evidently well
acquainted with rural life and manners. They are not the puling,
sickly, and unimpressive phantoms that people the bowers of Italian
pastoral; they are lively, stirring creatures, bearing in their
countenances the hardy lineaments of the country, and expressing
themselves with a plainness, and downright sincerity, with which every
mind sympathizes. They are rustics, it is true, but they are polished,
not only by their proximity to the metropolis, but by the influence of
the principal shepherd, who, besides the gentility of blood that
operates in his veins,
----also reads and speaks,
With them that kens them, Latin words and Greeks.
The situations in which the persons are placed are so ingeniously
devised, as to draw forth from their bosoms all those feelings and
passions which accompany the shepherd, life, and which are described
with a happiness and a simplicity, the truer to nature, on account of
its being removed from that over-wrought outrageousness of passion
which we sometimes think is the fault of modern writing. The
tenderness of correspondent affections,--the hesitation and anxiety of
a timid lover,--the mutual bliss on the mutual discovery of long
concealed attachment,--the uneasiness of jealousy, with the humorous
and condign punishment of its evil devices,--the fidelity of the
shepherd notwithstanding his elevation to an unexpected rank,--the
general happiness that crowns, and winds up the whole, are all
impressively and vividly delineated.
With regard to _its sentiments_, the Gentle Shepherd has nothing to be
ashamed of; though in a very few places coarse, the thoughts are
nowhere impure; they have somewhat of the purity of Gesner, with
rather more vivacity and vigour. There is no affectation; every
character thinks as country people generally do, artlessly, and
according to nature. With regard to _its language_, we know not
whether to say much, or to say little. Much has been already said, to
redeem from the charge of vulgarity a language once courtly and
dignified, but now associated with meanness of thought, and rudeness
of manners. We do not think it necessary, however, to stand up in
defence of a dialect which has, since the days of Ramsay, been
ennobled by the poems of Burns, and is eternized more lately in the
tales of that mighty genius, who sits on the summit of Northern
Literature, and flashes forth from behind his cloud his vivid and his
fiery productions. In the use of this dialect, Ramsay is extremely
fortunate; for Scottish shepherds he could have employed none other;
and he wields his weapon with a dexterity which we do not think has
been since exceeded. Out of his own familiar language, he is indeed
heavy and wearisome; English armour is too cumbrous for him; he cannot
move in it with grace and activity. We find, accordingly, that in his
Gentle Shepherd the most unskilful passages are in English, without
beauty or energy; whereas his Scottish has in it a felicity which has
rendered it popular with all ranks, and caused his verses to pass with
proverbial currency among the peasants of his native country.
Next in value to his Gentle Shepherd, we think, are his imitations of
Horace. To this good-humoured author Ramsay had, from congeniality of
mind, a strong predilection; and he in some places has fully equalled,
if not surpassed, his prototype in happy hits of expression. Pope
himself is not so fortunate. Take for instance,
Daring and unco stout he was,
With heart _hool'd in three sloughs_[20] of brass,
Wha ventur'd first on the rough sea,
With _hempen branks_,[21] _and horse of tree_.
Again,
Be sure ye dinna quat the grip
O' ilka joy when ye are young,
Before auld age your vitals nip,
And _lay ye twafald o'er a rung_.[22]
[Footnote 20: Coats.]
[Footnote 21: A sort of bridle.]
[Footnote 22: A stout staff.]
In his _Vision_ there is more grandeur, and a nearer approach to
sublimity than in any other of his poems. He is indeed, here, superior
to himself, and comes nearer to the strength and splendour of Dunbar,
whose antiquated style he copied. The 5th stanza may be a specimen.
Grit[23] daring dartit frae his ee,
A braid-sword schogled[24]at his thie,[25]
On his left arm a targe;
A shinnand[26] speir filld his richt hand,
Of stalwart[27] mak, in bane and brawnd,
Of just proportions large;
A various rainbow-colourt plaid
Owre[28] his left spawl[29] he threw,
Doun his braid back, frae his quhyte[30] heid,
The silver wymplers[31] grew.
[Footnote 23: Great.]
[Footnote 24: Dangled.]
[Footnote 25: Thigh.]
[Footnote 26: Shining]
[Footnote 27: Strong.]
[Footnote 28: Over.]
[Footnote 29: Shoulder.]
[Footnote 30: White.]
[Footnote 31: Waving locks of hair.]