The contents are as follows.
(i) Drafts of poems, of a prose treatise in defence of the theatre (fragmentary, but not ‘Some Few Hints in Defence of Dramatic Entertainments’), and of a letter to a lady, containing a poem. Some of the poems appear to be unpublished; others differ greatly from the printed version. On folio 10 there are marginal references, apparently contemporary, to the pages of ‘Poems by Allan Ramsay’ (Edinburgh, 1728), volume ii. Some of the leaves are paginated, but the set is not complete. They have been arranged conjecturally. A list of contents has been placed at the beginning in which as many of the poems as possible are identified.
(ii) 'The Monk & the Millars Wife' and 'Advice to Mr. -- on his Mariage', a continuous portion of a manuscript, bearing references to pages and signatures which appear to be those of number 78 (1724) in Burns Martin, ‘Bibliography of Allan Ramsay’ (Glasgow, 1931).
Between the lines
'The parish priest of reverend fame
In active courtship with the dame'
and
'To lengthen out description here
Would but offend the modest ear'
is a gap, with the instruction, in Ramsay's hand, 'Leave room here for 8 lines'. These lines were never supplied in print, and this may account for the slight discrepancy in the pagination between Ramsay's manuscript and the printed version described by Martin.
