Bauldy, Symon and Sir William Worthy
David Allan's lively engraving captures a dramatic, slightly comedic moment from Allan Ramsay's famous Scottish pastoral play, 'The Gentle Shepherd.' The character Bauldy (on the far right, looking absolutely terrified with wild hair) is frantically recounting a spooky midnight encounter with a witch named Mause to his friends. You can almost hear his panicked storytelling as he clutches his chest, while the woman waking up in the background bed looks just as startled by the commotion. Allan was a master at bringing Scottish literary characters to life, using expressive faces and rustic details to make these 18th-century stories feel incredibly relatable and fun.
- Technique
- engraving