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

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FAMOUS SCOTS
Scott, who lived in the reign of Queen Mary. But Janet
Ramsay put the matter beyond a doubt before her death
by declaring the poem to have been written by her
father. The merits of The Vision are considerable. The
language is majestic and dignified, the ideas lofty, and
the characters drawn with vigour and precision. Had
the spelling not been so archaic, the poem would have
been much more popular than it is.
For Horace, Ramsay always professed a deep admira-
tion. Upon the style of the great Roman satirist he
sought to model his ' Epistles,' which undoubtedly
deserve something more than mere passing mention.
In them Ramsay endeavours to give the friend, whom
at the moment he addresses, a glimpse into the pursuits
with which, for the time being, he was occupying him-
self. Taking this for his text, he digresses into apt and
amusing dissertations on any subject of public, municipal,
or social interest that might be engrossing the attention
of the town. His epistles to Hamilton of Gilbertfield,
to James Arbuckle, to the Earl of Dalhousie, to Mr.
Aikman, to Sir W. Bennet, to William Starrat, to Joseph
Burchet, to Somerville the poet, to Gay, to Clerk of
Penicuik, and others, are altogether delightful—happy,
cheery, humorous, 'gossipy productions, neither too full
of fun to be frivolous, nor too didactic to be tiresome.
Take, for example, his epistle to Robert Yarde of Devonshire,—how
apt are his allusions, how racy his tit-bits of
local news ! He addresses the epistle
' Frae northern mountains clad with snaw,
"Where whistling winds incessant blaw,
In time now when the curling-stane,
Slides murm'ring o'er the icy plain '
;