Abstract
Traces the history of Ramsay commemoration, from the obelisk at Penicuik with an inscription from 1759 onwards, and successive attempts to identify actual settings for scenes and incidents in his ballad opera The Gentle Shepherd, in illustrations (notably by David Allan for the Foulis edition of 1788), other editions and memoirs, and competing contributions by the ministers of rival parishes to the Statistical Account of Scotland, giving particular attention to the roles in the "battle over Ramsay country" of two local landowners, Alexander Fraser Tytler (Lord Woodhouselee) and Robert Brown of Newhall; providing maps and illustrations to clarify the debates; with a brief conclusion on the significance and potential of literary topography for the current and future public awareness of Ramsay's importance.
Recommended Citation
Lamont, Craig
(2020)
"'Some Few Miles from Edinburgh': Commemorating the Scenes of The Gentle Shepherd in Ramsay Country,"
Studies in Scottish Literature:
Vol. 46:
Iss.
2, 40–60.
Available at:
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/ssl/vol46/iss2/5