Allan Ramsay was born around 15 October 1684 (some sources cite 1685 or 1686) in the rugged mining village of Leadhills, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He entered the world in a place defined by the harsh rhythms of lead extraction, where the hills echoed with the labor of men toiling for the Hopetoun estates. His father, Robert Ramsay, served as manager of Lord Hopetoun’s lead mines, a position of modest responsibility that…
“I e'en gave over in good time, before the coolness of fancy that attends advanced years, should make me risk the reputation I had acquired.”
Neighbourhood:
Georgian Poets, Nature Poets, Scottish Poets
Emotional landscape: Joy, Tenderness, Peace
Oliver Goldsmith, born probably on 10 November 1728 and dead on 4 April 1774, lived only forty-five years, yet he became one of the most various, humane, and enduring voices in eighteenth-century English literature. He was an Irishman who made his reputation in London, a clergyman’s son who never settled into a profession, a medical student who rarely practised medicine, a chronically indebted writer who produced som…
“Life is a journey that must be travelled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations.”
Neighbourhood:
Augustan Poets, Irish Poets, Light Verse Poets, Nature Poets, Social Justice Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Sorrow, Despair
