Craufurd Tait Ramage (1803–1878) was a Scottish
travel writer
The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs.
One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern per ...
and
anthologist
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors.
In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically catego ...
.
Life
Born at Annfield,
Newhaven, Edinburgh
Newhaven is a district in the City of Edinburgh, Scotland, between Leith and Granton and about north of the city centre, just north of the Victoria Park district. Formerly a village and harbour on the Firth of Forth, it had a population ...
, on 10 September 1803, Ramage was educated at the
Wallace Hall Academy,
Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county.
I ...
, and at
Edinburgh High School. He graduated M.A. at
Edinburgh University
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...
in 1825.
While at university Ramage took private pupils, including
Archibald Campbell Tait with whom he maintained a lifelong friendship. After leaving college he became tutor in the family of
Sir Henry Lushington, 2nd Baronet, and spent three years with his pupils in
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
, also touring.
His ''Nooks and By-Ways in Italy'' (1868) was based on a journey of 1828. For 15 years after his return to Scotland he was tutor in the family of
Thomas Spring-Rice.
In 1841 Ramage was appointed vice-master of
Wallace Hall Academy, and he succeeded, on the death of Robert Mundell, to the rectorship in 1842. He was nominated a justice of the peace for Dumfriesshire in 1848, and the degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by the university of Glasgow in 1852. He died at Wallace Hall on 29 November 1878.
Ramage married Mary Paterson of Cheshire in 1839; they had five children.
Works
Ramage published four anthologies, entitled ''Beautiful Thoughts'': respectively "from Greek Authors, with English Translations, and Lives of the Authors", Liverpool, 1864; "from Latin Authors, with English Translations", Liverpool, 1864; 3rd edit. enlarged, 1877; "from French and Italian Authors, with English Translations and Lives of the Authors", Liverpool, 1866; "from German and Spanish Authors", Liverpool, 1868. Other works were:
* ''Defence of the Parochial Schools of Scotland'', Edinburgh, 1854.
* ''The Nooks and Byways of Italy. Wanderings in Search of its Ancient Remains and Modern Superstitions'', Liverpool, 1868. A new abridged edition was published in 1965, edited by Edith Clay. The book has been compared to later works by
Keppel Craven and
Arthur John Strutt.
* ''Drumlanrig Castle and the Douglases: with the Early History and Ancient Remains of Durisdeer, Closeburn, and Morton'', Dumfries, 1876
* ''Bible Echoes in Ancient Classics'', Edinburgh, 1878
He contributed to the ''Quarterly Journal of Education'', the ''
Penny Cyclopædia
''The Penny Cyclopædia'' published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge was a multi-volume encyclopedia edited by George Long and published by Charles Knight alongside the ''Penny Magazine''. Twenty-seven volumes and three sup ...
'', and
''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 7th edition''.
Further reading
*Craufurd Tait Ramage; Edith Clay (ed.), ''Ramage in South Italy: The Nooks and By-Ways of Italy. Wanderings in Search of its Ancient Remains and Modern Superstitions'' (Longmans, 1965). Abridged edition, with an introduction by
Harold Acton; reprinted again by
Academy Chicago Publishers
Academy Chicago Publishers is a trade book publisher founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1975 by Anita Miller and Jordan Miller who continue to select what is published. It was purchased by Chicago Review Press in 2014.
"... Academy Chicago Limited i ...
in 1987.
Notes
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramage, Craufurd Tait
1803 births
1878 deaths
Scottish travel writers
Anthologists