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

74
FAMOUS SCOTS
who, dazzled by the promises the other makes as to the
good things he will receive after the wedding, surrenders
his bonnet, which Joukum lays with his own at the feet
of Rosie. The latter agrees to wed Joukum, and a vivid
picture is drawn of the neglected state of poor Bawsy
after this is accomplished. Rosie proves a harridan,
leading Joukum a sorry dance ;
and the poem concludes
with the contrasted pictures 'of the contented prosperity
of Bristle—Scotland as she might have been had she not
entered the Union—and the misery of Bawsy, represent-
ing Scotland as she then was. Somewhat amusing is it
to conjecture what Ramsay's feelings would be on this
subject could he for an instant be permitted to witness
the progress of Scotland during the past hundred and
thirty years, and the benefits that have accrued to her
from the Union.
Amongst his metrical tales, one of the finest, without
question, is The Lure^ a satirical fable or allegory, whereof
the moral, as may best be stated in the poet's own
words
—
'shews plainly,
That carnal minds attempt but vainly
Aboon this laigher warld to mount,
While slaves to Satan.'
The narrative, however, though possessing many merits,
is too indelicate for latter-day taste even to be sketched
in outline.
In 1 723 appeared his poem The Fair Assembly, directed
against the Puritanic severity of that section of the
community which took exception to dancing and such
pleasant amusements, alike for young and old. Nothing
reveals to us more vividly the strange contrasts in the