Allan Ramsay was an early-eighteenth-century Scots poet who has been generally undervalued in recent times, partly because his best work presents some language difficulties (not serious ones) for modern readers, and partly because he has been overshadowed by the towering figure of his successor, Robert Burns. Yet in his own right Ramsay is of considerable importance. In the historic evolution of Scottish poetry his is a crucial position, since he succeeded almost single-handedly in launching an impressive revival of the Scots poetic tradition--a movement that culminated in the supreme achievement of Burns at the end of the century. In the wider perspective of British literature Ramsay's position, though a modest one, is also secure: he was a pioneer in domesticating the ancient genre of pastoral poetry, and in his masterpiece, The Gentle Shepherd (1725), he produced one of the best pastoral dramas--a play that is still readable and surprisingly...