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

ALLAN RAMSAY 27
for it is matter of tradition that it was the fact of his
family connections which weighed with Writer Ross
in consenting to the union of his daughter with a
tradesman.
In the spring of 1707 Allan Ramsay received back
his indentures, signed and sealed, with the intimation
from the ancient and honourable ' Incorporation of Wig-
makers ' that he was free of the craft. He appears almost
immediately thereafter to have commenced business on
his own account in the Grassmarket, being admitted at
the same time, in virtue of being a craftsman of the
town, a burgess of the City of Edinburgh. Though no
trace can be found that the wigmakers ranked amongst
the forty-two incorporated Societies or Guilds of the
city (for their name does not appear), that they must
have enjoyed the same privileges as the other trades,
is evident from the fact of Ramsay being enrolled as
a burgess, the moment he had completed his apprentice-
ship. -^