Allan Ramsay’s ‘The gentle shepherd’ in manuscript and print
Today we are highlighting two recent acquisitions; both items are copies of Allan Ramsay’s popular pastoral ballad opera The gentle shepherd. The first, a 1788 print edition printed by A. Foulis for David Allan, John Murray, and Charles Elliot includes 12 leaves of plates with aquatint illustrations by the artist David Allan, and 18 pages of engraved music. The second copy, a beautiful calligraphic manuscript created in 1819, features miniature color illustrations finely executed after David Allan’s designs. A laid in sheet of mourning stationery notes that the manuscript was created by two young Scottish men, aged 18 and 19:
"And yet we have before us a copy of Allan Ramsays's 'Gentle Shepherd' dated 1819 in manuscript; beautifully executed, with charming coloured illustrations by two lads of eighteen & nineteen, struggling towards culture & mental refinement; through every possibly physical & intellectual disadvantage that could arise from humble circumstances & stern Puritan surroundings. Both became M.A.'s of Glasgow, & men of wide culture & large intellectual growth, & the younger of the two is the special subject of our Memoir," the other was D. Angus Smith.
The gentle shepherd initially appeared as a five act pastoral drama with four songs in 1725. In 1728 an acquaintance of Ramsay’s, the poet John Gay, premiered his Beggar’s opera, the very first ballad opera. Its format of spoken dialogue interspersed with thematically relevant songs was unprecedented and the opera became wildly popular. Ramsay, either inspired by the success of the Beggar’s Opera or enamored of the new form, added 18 Scottish airs to The gentle shepherd, creating a ballad opera with twenty-one songs. The new version of The gentle shepherd was first performed by the students of Haddington Grammar School in 1729. After around 1745 it was performed frequently in Edinburgh and also saw success in London, being performed at the Little Theater in Haymarket during most of the seasons from 1752-1792.
Our two recent acquisitions are interesting to look at beside one another to see how faithfully the artists of the manuscript rendered David Allan’s illustrations. Below you will find images of the title page and frontispiece to the manuscript as well as the illustrated half title page. Continue scrolling down to see several of the illustrations from the manuscript juxtaposed with their counterparts from the printed edition.
It is unlikely that the manuscript was copied from the 1788 print edition; the manuscript includes the song lyrics where they appear in the drama, while the earlier print edition separates them out. After comparing several print editions (paying particular attention to the use or disuse of contractions in the lyrics and inclusion of lyrics within the body of text) from the late 18th-early 19th centuries with the manuscript it seems likely that it was copied from the 1808 edition printed by James Ballantyne and Company, for Watt and Baillie.