posed is it that Ramsay had lived six-and-twenty years of
his life without having practised, and we have no doubt enjoyed, the
widespread conviviality of the period. Hence, though the Easy Club was
the first of the social gatherings wherewith he actually informs us he
was connected, we have no reason to doubt he had been associated with
several of them before. In fact, in that poetical 'Essay' of his which
stands first in the chronological order of composition, though not of
publication, the _Elegy on Maggy Johnston_, who died anno 1711--an
alewife whose little farm and hotel were situated in the village of
Morningside, just beyond the Bruntsfield Links,--he seems to imply that
a club of some kind met there. The third stanza runs as follows--

'And there by dizens we lay down;
Syne sweetly ca'd the healths aroun',
To bonny lasses, black or brown,
As we loo'd best:
In bumpers we dull cares did drown,
An' took our rest.'

But to the Easy Club[1] must be assigned the honour of having stimulated
the nascent genius of the poet to achieve something that would convey to
its members the fact that it was no ordinary tradesman who solicited
admission into the charmed circle of the Society. James Ross, whose zeal
for the poetic young wigmaker's social recognition was now materially
increased, used all his influence to obtain for his son-in-law an
_entree_ into the Club of which he was himself a member. Questionable,
indeed, it is, when we consider the exclusive character of the
association in question, the high social position of its members, and
their avowed Jacobitical tenets, if even the influence of James Ross,
powerful though it was, would alone have secured for Ramsay admission.
But an inspiration, as happy as it was original, prompted him to embody
his petition for admission into the Club in a poetical address. Such a
course was of itself sufficient to recommend him to men like Dr.
Ruddiman and Dr. Pitcairn. The poem, addressed to 'The Most Happy
Members of the Easy Club,' proceeded, in a felicitous strain of gentle
satire, blended with genial humour not unlike Gay at his best, to plead
his own cause why he should be admitted as 'an _Easy_ fellow.' His
application was successful, and he was duly enrolled as a member. The
following lines extracted from it will exhibit the character of the
piece, which takes rank as the earliest of his published poems--

'Were I but a prince or