[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.[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.[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.[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.[5] Cope.[6] To this library Mr. Sibbald succeeded, who greatly augmented it. It is now (1819) in possession of Mr. Mackay, High-street.[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.)[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.)][9] Unwilling.[10] A feeble ill-grown person.[11] Unwilling.[12] Shaking.[13] Stretching.[14] Chambers' Scottish Biographical Dictionary.[15] Of a dark complexion.[16] Neat.[17] Exchange.[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.)[19] Sir John Sinclair's Statistical account of Scotland; Vol. XVII., appendix.[20] Coats.[21] A sort of bridle.[22] A stout staff.[23] Great.[24] Dangled.[25] Thigh.[26] Shining[27] Strong.[28] Over.[29] Shoulder.[30] White.[31] Waving locks of hair.[32] Climbed.[33] Started up from bed.[34] Breeches.[35] Stallions.[36] Written in 1800.[37] To the last three of these we owe the words of some of the best of the Scotish songs, which are to be found in the collection published by Ramsay, called The Tea-table Miscellany.[38] See Observations on The Vision, by William Tytler, Esq., of Woodhouselee, in the first volume of the Transactions of Scotish Antiquaries; where that poem, and The Eagle and Robin Redbreast, are proved to be both written by Allan Ramsay.[39] I am convinced, however, from a comparison of many of Ramsay's interpretations, both in the Glossary to the Evergreen, printed in 1724, and in that, which is subjoined to his Poems, with the interpretations given by Ruddiman in the Glossary to G. Douglas's Virgil, that Ramsay had made frequent use of the latter for the explanation of the most antiquated words; though he does not seem to have studied it with that care, which his duty as an editor of ancient Scotish poetry certainly required. In proof of this, his obligations to Ruddiman's Glossary, the reader has only to compare, with the interpretations in that work, the following, given by Ramsay in the Glossary to his Poems: Bodin, Brankan, Camschough, Dern, Douks, Dynles, Elritch, Ettle, Freck, Gousty, Moup, Pawky, Withershins; and the following, in the Glossary to the Evergreen: Crawdon, Galziart, Ithandly, Ourefret, Ruse, Schent, &c.[40] See "A Yorkshire Dialogue in its pure natural dialect;" printed at York, 1684.[41] A learned writer has published, in the Transactions of the Society of Scotish Antiquaries, a Dissertation on the Scoto-Saxon Dialect; of which, as the work is not in every body's hands, the reader may not be displeased with a short account. The author maintains this proposition; that the Scoto-Saxon dialect was, at the time of the union of the two nations, equal in every respect, and in some respects superior, to the Anglo-Saxon dialect. He lays it down as a principle, that three things constitute the perfection, or rather the relative superiority, of a language: richness, energy, and harmony. He observes, that a language is rich in proportion to the copiousness of its vocabulary, which will principally depend, 1. on the number of its primitive or radical words; 2. on the multiplicity of its derivations and compounds; and, 3. on the variety of its inflections. In all, or almost all of these respects, he shows the superiority of the Scotish dialect of the Saxon to the English. The Scots have all the English primitives, and many hundreds besides. The Scots have derivatives from diminution, which the English entirely want: e. g. hat, hatty, hattiky; lass, lassie, lassiky. The degrees of diminution are almost unlimited: wife, wifie, wifiky, wee wifiky, wee wee wifiky, &c. Both the English, and Scots, dialects are poor in the inflections; but the Glossary to Douglas's Virgil will shew that the Scotish inflections are both more various, and less anomalous, than the English. Energy is the boast both of the English, and the Scotish, dialects; but, in this author's opinion, the Scotish poetry can furnish some compositions of far superior energy to any cotemporary English production. With respect to harmony, he gives his suffrage likewise in favour of the Scotish dialect. He observes, that the sh rarely occurs; its place being supplied by the simple s, as in polis, punis, sal, &c. The s itself is often supplied by the liquids m or n; as in expreme, depreme; compone, depone. Harsh combinations of consonants are avoided: as in using sel, twal, neglek, temp, stown or stawn, for self, twelve, neglect, tempt, stolen. Even the vowel sounds are, in this author's opinion, more harmonious, in the Scots, than in the English, dialect; as the open a, and the proper Italic sound of i. For further elucidation of this curious subject, the Dissertation itself must be referred to, which will abundantly gratify the critical reader. It is proper here to observe, that the remarks of this writer are the more worthy of attention, that he is himself an excellent Scotish poet, as the compositions subjoined to his Dissertation clearly evince. Three Scotish Poems, with a previous Dissertation on the Scoto-Saxon Dialect, by the Rev. Alexander Geddes, LL.D., Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. i., p. 402.[42] In the quarto of 1728, the following note is subjoined to the first scene of the Gentle Shepherd:—"This first scene is the only piece in this volume that was printed in the first: having carried the pastoral the length of five acts, at the desire of some persons of distinction, I was obliged to print this preluding scene with the rest."[43]
When the sentiments are drawn from nature, it is not surprising
that, where the subject is similar, there should be a concurrence
of thought between two genuine poets, who never saw each other's
works. How similar is the following passage of the 10th satire of
Boileau to the imagery of this beautiful family picture!
Quelle joie en effet, quelle douceur extreme
De se voir caresser d'une epouse qu'on aime;—
De voir autour de soi croitre dans la maison,
Sous les paisibles loix d'une agrÉable mere
De petits citoyens dont on croit Être pere!
Quel charme au moindre mal qui nous vient menacer
De la voir aussitot accourir, s'empresser, &c.[44] So little has Ramsay borrowed from the ordinary language of pastoral, which is generally a tame imitation of the dialogue of Virgil and. Theocritus, that in the whole of the Scotish poem there are (I think) only three passages that bring to mind those common-places which, in the eclogues of Pope, we find almost in every line:
The bees shall loath the flower, and quit the hive,
The saughs on boggie-ground shall cease to thrive,
Ere scornful queans, &c. Act 1, Scene 1.
I've seen with shining fair the morning rise,
And soon the sleety clouds mirk a' the skies.
I've seen the silver spring a while rin clear,
And soon in mossy puddles disappear.
The bridegroom may rejoice, &c. Act 3, Scene 3.
See yon twa elms that grow up side by side,
Suppose them, some years syne, bridegroom and bride; &c.
Act 1, Scene 2.[45] Aikin's Essays on Song-Writing, p. 33.[46] Beattie's Essays, p. 652. Ed. 1776.[47] Poetical Remains of James 1st of Scotland; p. 189.[48] Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric, vol. iii. p. 126.[49] Ancient Scotish Poems. Vol. I. London, 1786.[50] Ritson's Hist. Essay on Scotish Song, p. lxiii.[51] Roscoe's Life of Lorenzo de' Medici, vol. i. p. 296.[52] Campbell's British Poetry, vol. v. pp. 344-346.[53] A Jar of Honey from Mount Hybla, by L. Hunt, p. 106. London, 1848.[54] Lives of Eminent Scotsmen. London, 1821.[55] We are indebted for this anecdote to the venerable George Thomson, Esq., the correspondent of Burns and publisher of his finest songs, now living and in the 93d year of his age, who had it from—Macgowan, Esq., a gentleman formerly well known in this city, as having been told him by Lady Strange herself.
[Ramsay's Poems. Ed. 1850[56] "This is the same dignified lady, to whom, at the age of eighty-five, Johnson, and Boswell, offered their homage; whose powers of pleasing continued so resplendent as to charm the fastidious sage into a declaration that, in visiting such a woman, he had spent his day well. This celebrated patroness of poets was the accomplished daughter of the noble house of Kennedy, who having married, in 1708, Alexander the Earl of Eglinton, by whom she had three sons, two of whom succeeded to the earldom, and seven daughters who married into honourable families, died on the 18th of March, 1780, at the patriarchal age of ninety-one."—Geo. Chalmers' Life of Ramsay, page xxxiv., edition of 1800.[57] To weaker sight, set these, &c.
Having done me the honour of turning some of my pastoral poems into English, justly and elegantly.[58] Frae his pen.
His valuable Naval History.][59] In some editions, Madge.