Allan Ramsay. [A biography.] - National Library of Scotland

ALLAN RAMSAY 139
general happiness, Sir William pronounces the usual
moral admonition, without which no pastoral of the time
was complete
—
* My friends, I'm satisfied you'll all behave,
Each in his station as I'd wish and crave.
Be ever virtuous, soon or late ye'U find
Reward and satisfaction to your mind.
The maze of life sometimes looks dark and wild,
And oft when hopes are highest we're beguiled ;
Oft. when we stand on brinks of dark despair
Some happy turn with joy dispels our care.'
The relative proportions of the various characters
have been preserved with rare skill, and the individuality
of each is as firmly and clearly differentiated in a few
rapid incisive strokes, as though he had expended pages
of description on each, like Pope and Gay. Patie's
cheery bonhomie and vivacious nature, his love of
learning and his wise views of life and its duties, find
an excellent foil in the slow, bashful, phlegmatic Roger,
whose very ' blateness ' denies him the bliss he covets
in Jenny's love. Peggy is altogether charming,—a lovely,
pure-souled, healthful, sport-loving maiden, with enough
of her sex's foibles in her to leave her a very woman,
yet with as few faults as it is possible for faulty human
nature to be without. One of the most delightful
heroines in pastoral poetry is Peggy. Jenny's prudish
airs and affected dislike to the sterner sex are delicately
yet incisively portrayed, while the staunch fidelity of
Symon, the cheery chirpiness of Glaud, the bucolic
ignorance and superstition of Bauldy, the cankered
impatience of Madge—a spinster against her will, and
the pathetic, age-worn weariness of Mause, are depicted
with the assured hand of a master. Many of the lyrics