Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852,
By William Gowans,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District
of New York.
CONTENTS. | |
| page | |
| Preface, | [v] |
| Life of Allan Ramsay, by William Tennant, | [xi] |
| Remarks on the Writings of Ramsay, by Wm. Tennant, | [xxv] |
| Essay on Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd, by Lord Woodhouselee, | [xxxi] |
| Opinions and Remarks on the Gentle Shepherd, By Various Authors, | [lxi] |
| John Aikin, LL. D., | ib. |
| James Beattie, LL. D., | ib. |
| William Tytler, | [lxii] |
| Hugh Blair, D. D., | [lxiii] |
| John Pinkerton, | [lxiv] |
| Joseph Ritson, | [lxvi] |
| William Roscoe, | [lxvi] |
| Thomas Campbell, | [lxvii] |
| Leigh Hunt, | [lxviii] |
| Anecdote of Lady Strange, | [lxxiii] |
| List of Allan Ramsay's Works, | [lxxiv] |
| Dedication to the Countess of Eglintoun, by Ramsay, | [i] |
| Dedication to the Countess of Eglintoun, by Wm. Hamilton, of Bangour, | [iv] |
| Epistle to Josiah Burchett, | [ix] |
| The Gentle Shepherd, | [1] |
| Notes, | [89] |
| Glossary, | [95] |
PREFACE.
The Publisher being desirous to present the American public with a correct edition of the "Gentle Shepherd," considerable pains have been taken to ascertain the best or standard text. Fortunately, there were, within reach, several of the best editions, as well as others of inferior character. A careful examination of these satisfied us, that, the subscription edition in quarto, printed for the Author by Thomas Ruddiman, in 1728, has higher claims to be considered the standard one, than any other within our knowledge.
For this conclusion, perhaps it might be a sufficient reason to state, that, it was so considered by Andrew Foulis, of Glasgow, who reprinted it in David Allan's celebrated quarto of 1788, undoubtedly the most sumptuous edition of the "Gentle Shepherd" ever published.[1] From the well-known intelligence and proverbial accuracy of the Foulis', and from the fact that the same house reprinted the 10th edition of the Pastoral in 1750, (about eight years before the Author's death,) there can be very little doubt that Andrew Foulis possessed both the means and the inclination to ascertain which was the genuine text, and did so accordingly. But, besides this, the publishers of the octavo of 1798, who seem to have taken unusual pains to give a correct text, have adopted the same edition as the standard, and have given a reprint, still more literal than that of Foulis. Moreover, the same text has been selected for the very elaborate edition of 1808, in two volumes, royal octavo; as well as for the royal quarto, printed by Ballantyne in the same year. It is true the orthography of both these editions of 1808 is altered; that of the octavo being considerably Anglicised; while that of the quarto is changed throughout to the mode of spelling adopted by Burns. The verbal changes, however, are very few.