l and one
or two minor details can be identified as corresponding to the natural
features of the scenery in the poem; in the second, every feature named
by Ramsay is full in view. Here are 'the harbour-craig,' 'the trottin'
burnie,' 'the little linn' making 'a singin' din,' 'the twa birks,'
'the pool breast-deep,' 'the washing-green,' 'the loan,' 'Glaud's
onstead,' 'Symon's house,' 'the craigy bield,' 'Habbie's Howe' or house,
and many others. Another strong point is that in Act ii. scene 2 of _The
Gentle Shepherd_, Glaud threatens to set his biggest peat-stack on fire,
through sheer joy over Sir William Worthy's prospective return. Around
the Glencorse site for the action of the drama, there is not a peat to
be dug in the whole parish; at the Carlops 'scene,' peat is the staple
fuel of the district. Near by, also, is Newhall, the estate which in
Ramsay's days was in possession of the Forbes family, who had purchased
it from Dr. Pennecuik, the author of the _Description of Tweeddale_ and
other works. John Forbes of Newhall was one of Ramsay's dearest friends,
and many relics of the poet are still preserved at the mansion house;
but it was with the Pennecuik family Ramsay associated his poem. In _The
Gentle Shepherd_, Sir William Worthy is described as having had to fly
into exile--

'Our brave good master, wha sae wisely fled,
And left a fair estate to save his head;
Because, ye ken fu' weel, he bravely chose
To stand his liege's friend wi' great Montrose.'

Newhall was purchased by Dr. Pennecuik's father two years before Charles
I. was beheaded. The doctor himself was contemporary with Cromwell,
Montrose, Monk, and Charles II., all of whom appear so distinctly in the
pastoral as associated with the action of the piece. He had to go into
hiding during the Commonwealth, for his support of Charles I., and for
sheltering Montrose after the battle of Philiphaugh. Pennecuik the
younger (great-grandson of the doctor), in his _Life of Ramsay_, states
that the poet appeared to have been indebted to Dr. Pennecuik for the
_Story of the Knight_, but to have drawn the character from that of his
friend Sir David Forbes.

The issue of the successive editions of _The Gentle Shepherd_, though
occupying a large share of his time not engrossed by the cares of
business, did not altogether preclude him from writing some fresh pieces
when occasion arose. In 1727 appeared a 'Masque,' which was performed at
the celebration