Major Play II

Abstract Allan Ramsay’s seminal work The Gentle Shepherd has, since its first publication in 1725, had a long and rather complex performance history. Initially penned as a five-act play, in 1729 it was revised and published as a five-act ballad opera, complete with twenty-two songs. In its ballad-opera form, The Gentle Shepherd was regularly performed throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, though several popular performances condensed Ramsay’s material. The first London performance, produced by English actor and playwright Theophilus Cibber in 1730, was renamed Patie and Peggy, even though much of the content was original to The Gentle Shepherd. Cibber condensed Ramsay’s five acts to two and changed some of the songs, though he made sure to credit Ramsay as the originator of the material. In the performance history of The Gentle Shepherd, adapting, condensing, and even performing single scenes and songs is a relatively common occurrence, and is one of the reasons why Ramsay’s pastoral comedy remained in the performance repertory until the late nineteenth century. Ramsay himself started this tradition, when he adapted the play into a ballad opera, demonstrating that the material could be changed to suit a different format, and that he, as the author, was open to such changes. This chapter will consider why The Gentle Shepherd emerged as one of the most celebrated and influential of eighteenth-century Scottish dramas and will argue that the key to its success was its adaptability.