Ramsay, Allan (1685-1758)

Scottish anthologist and poet. He was chiefly responsible for the renaissance of Scottish literature in the 18th century. The Ever Green (1724) was an anthology of mainly edited versions of pre-1600 Scottish poetry, including the work of William Dunbar and Robert Henryson. The several volumes of The Tea-Table Miscellany (1724-37) comprised songs and ballads.

Ramsay was born in Leadhills, Lanarkshire. He became a wigmaker and then a bookseller in Edinburgh. He was the father of the painter Allan Ramsay. His Poems was published 1721, and his verse play The Gentle Shepherd 1725.