hy lawyer, Mr. James Ross, was placed in possession when he was
called on to decide whether his friend, the 'poetically-minded
wigmaker,' should be regarded as a _persona grata_ from the point of
view of a prospective son-in-law. That the 'pedigree' of the young
aspirant was accepted as satisfactory may be regarded as certain from
the fact that the marriage of Allan Ramsay and Christian Ross was
celebrated during the New Year festivities of 1712. A woman, at once of
considerable personal attractions, sound common sense and practical
knowledge of the world, a capital housewife withal, and though not
devoid of a certain modicum of literary appreciation, by no means a
blue-stocking, such, in brief, was the lady who for thirty years was to
be the faithful partner of Ramsay's fortunes, rejoicing with him in
success, sympathising with him in reverse--one who merited to the full
the glowing lines wherein he described her. The song of 'Bonny Chirsty'
was written after nearly seven years of wedded life. The sentiments
therein expressed speak better than comment as to the happiness of
Ramsay's marriage. One verse of it may be quoted--

'How sweetly smells the simmer green!
Sweet taste the peach and cherry;
Painting and order please our een,
And claret makes us merry:
But finest colours, fruits, and flowers,
And wine, though I be thirsty,
Lose a' their charms and weaker powers,
Compared wi' those of Chirsty.'

About a year before his marriage, Ramsay had left the shop in the
Grassmarket, where he had commenced business in 1707, and had
established himself in the High Street in premises already described,
and which exist to this day. There, under his sign of the 'Flying
Mercury,' he toiled and sang, and chatted and cracked jokes with all and
sundry, from sunrise to sunset, his wit and his humour, and, as time
rolled on, his poetic genius, bringing many customers to his shop.
Verily, a sunny-souled man, in whom 'life with its carking cares' could
never extinguish his cheery _bonhomie_ and self-confidence.

CHAPTER IV

THE EASY CLUB; EARLY POEMS; EDINBURGH OF LAST CENTURY--1712-16

Ramsay's marriage was the turning-point of his career. To him, as to
every man who realises not alone the moral but the social obligations he
assumes when undertaking the holy charge of rendering a woman's life
happier and brighter than ever before, the responsibilities of his new
relation crystallise