[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