Glen Collection of printed music > Printed text > Allan Ramsay

CHAPTER IX
CLOSING YEARS OF LIFE; HIS HOUSE ON CASTLEHILL ;
HIS FAMILY; HIS PORTRAITS — 1740-58.
Little more of a biographical character is there
to relate. The last seventeen years of Ramsay's hfe
were passed in the bosom of his family, and in attention
to his business. His son, Allan — afterwards an artist
of great celebrity, and portait painter to George III., —
after studying, as the proud father informs his friend
Smibert in a letter about this time, with Mr. Hyffidg in
London, and spending a little time at home 'painting
like a Raphael,' had been sent to Rome, where he made
good use of his opportunities. The father's heart yearns
over the boy, and he pathetically adds : ' I'm sweer to
part with him, but canna stem the current which flows
from the advice of his patrons and his own inclination.'
His three daughters were growing up into ' fine,
handsome girls,' while 'my dear auld wife is still my
bedfellow.'
What a beautiful picture we get of the kindly old
poet, drawn unconsciously by himself in this letter.
Domesticity and parental affection were two qualities
pre-eminently present in Ramsay's nature.
From Mrs. Murray of Henderland we also receive a
delicious side-peep into Allan's character. In 1825 she