Reminiscences Of Scottish Life And Character

by Edward Bannerman Ramsay

Reminiscences Of Scottish Life And Character by Edward Bannerman Ramsay. This work, arising from a lecture delivered in 1857 and expanded from notes contributed by distinguished Scottish citizens, offers a reflective panorama of Scottish social life over roughly fifty years. Ramsay structures his reminiscences around five practical changes in religious feeling and observance, shifts in convivial habits, the evolving relationship between masters and servants, the evolution of dialect and language, and the transformation of Scottish humour. Through extensive anecdotes and portraits of lairds, old servants, clergy, and country folk, the author traces outward manifestations of Scotland’s past—church architecture and ceremonial beauty, the temperance movement, the fading of feudal and clan bonds, and the gradual assimilation of Scottish speech with English. While acknowledging progress and improved manners, Ramsay also laments the loss of distinctive Scottish character, inviting readers to consider what should be preserved as the nation moves toward a more cosmopolitan world.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

124 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1857

About the author

Rev Dr. Edward Bannerman Ramsay FRSE LLD, usually referred to as Dean Ramsay, was a clergyman of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and Dean of Edinburgh in that communion from 1841, has a place in literature through his Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character, which had gone through 22 editions at his death. It is a book full of the personality of the author, and preserves many traits and anecdotes.

Ramsay was educated at Durham and at Cambridge and became a curate of St. George's, Edinburgh. In 1841 he was appointed Dean of Edinburgh, which office he held until his death in 1872.