In 2022, Edinburgh University Press published what must be the definitive edition of Allan Ramsay’s once hugely influential pastoral comedy and ballad opera The Gentle Shepherd.The product of years of detailed research and assiduous editing by Steve Newman and David McGuinness, it reproduces the text along with analysis of all the sources and other material.
Ramsay’s romanticised tale of 18th century rural life is now little known and rarely performed. However, in the 1700s it was hugely popular, enjoying hundreds of performances all over the UK, particularly in London. Even throughout the 19th century, The Gentle Shepherd remained a popular work for performance in provincial towns and villages throughout the Scottish Lowlands, in English cities and even overseas in the US, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
In August 2022, in a chance conversation with Professor Murray Pittock of the University of Glasgow, I mentioned that amongst old family documents passed down from my late father was an extraordinary cast photograph . These performances were produced by the ‘Palnackie Players’ or ‘Palnackie
