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

78
FAMOUS SCOTS
quoted here as space will not permit us to refer to the
piece again
—
' Sic as against the Assembly speak,
The rudest sauls betray,
Where matrons, noble, wise, and meek,
Conduct the healthfu' play.
Where they appear, nae vice dare keek,
But to what's good gives way ;
Like night, soon as the morning creek
Has ushered in the day.
Dear Em'brugh ! shaw thy gratitude,
And of sic friends make sure,
Wha strive to make our minds less rude,
And help our wants to cure ;
Acting a generous part and good,
In bounty to the poor
Sic virtues, if right understood.
Should ev'ry heart allure.'
But we must hasten on. In 1724 Ramsay published
his poem on Healthy inscribed to the Earl of Stair, and
written at the request of that nobleman. In it Ramsay
exhibits his full powers as a satirist, and inculcates the
pursuit of health by the avoidance of such vices as sloth,
effeminacy, gluttony, ebriety, and debauchery, which he
personifies under the fictitious characters of Cosmehus,
Montanus, Grumaldo, Phimos, Macro, etc. These were
said to be drawn from well-known Edinburgh roues of
the time, and certainly the various types are limned and
contrasted with a masterly hand. To the cultured
reader, this is the poem of all Ramsay's minor works
best calculated to please and to convey an idea of his
style, though at times his genius seems to move under
constraint,
;