RAMSAY (Allan), the Scots pastoral poet, was a barber in Edinburgh in the early part of the present century. His taste in poetry, however, has justly raised him to a degree of fame that may in some measure be considered as a recompense for the frowns of fortune. His songs are in universal esteem; as is also the only dramatic performance attributed to him, viz. Patie and Roder, or The Gentle Shepherd, a Scots pastoral. He died in 1743; and was father to the ingenious Mr Ramsay, a celebrated painter of the present age, and who has likewise distinguished himself by some well-written tracts on various branches of polite literature, particularly the Investigator.