Chapter 1 of The Gentle Shepherd: A Pastoral Comedy is here in full — 377 sentences across 76 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Gentle Shepherd: A Pastoral Comedy is here in full — 377 sentences across 76 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
GENTLE SHEPHERD. A Pastoral Comedy. ALLAN RAMSAY. _AND THE OPINIONS OF VARIOUS EMINENT MEN ON THE WORK_. AND A CATALOGUE OF THE SCOTTISH POETS.
Chapter 1 of The Gentle Shepherd: A Pastoral Comedy is here in full — 377 sentences across 76 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/75 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
make an itemized list or catalog of; classify
From this reading “AND A CATALOGUE OF THE SCOTTISH POETS.”
light and humorous drama with a happy ending
From this reading “A Pastoral Comedy.”
standing above others in quality or position
From this reading “_AND THE OPINIONS OF VARIOUS EMINENT MEN ON THE WORK_.”
plural of “opinion” — a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty
From this reading “_AND THE OPINIONS OF VARIOUS EMINENT MEN ON THE WORK_.”
of or relating to a pastor
From this reading “A Pastoral Comedy.”
plural of “poet” — a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry)
From this reading “AND A CATALOGUE OF THE SCOTTISH POETS.”
the dialect of English used in Scotland
From this reading “AND A CATALOGUE OF THE SCOTTISH POETS.”
a clergyman who watches over a group of people
From this reading “GENTLE SHEPHERD.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “_AND THE OPINIONS OF VARIOUS EMINENT MEN ON THE WORK_.”
In this reading “AND A CATALOGUE OF THE SCOTTISH POETS.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading A Pastoral Comedy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ALLAN RAMSAY.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading _AND THE OPINIONS OF VARIOUS EMINENT MEN ON THE WORK_.
make an itemized list or catalog of; classify
From this reading AND A CATALOGUE OF THE SCOTTISH POETS.
light and humorous drama with a happy ending
From this reading A Pastoral Comedy.
standing above others in quality or position
From this reading _AND THE OPINIONS OF VARIOUS EMINENT MEN ON THE WORK_.
soft and mild; not harsh or stern or severe
From this reading GENTLE SHEPHERD.
the force of workers available
From this reading _AND THE OPINIONS OF VARIOUS EMINENT MEN ON THE WORK_.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading _AND THE OPINIONS OF VARIOUS EMINENT MEN ON THE WORK_.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading _AND THE OPINIONS OF VARIOUS EMINENT MEN ON THE WORK_.
plural of “opinion” — a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty
From this reading _AND THE OPINIONS OF VARIOUS EMINENT MEN ON THE WORK_.
of or relating to a pastor
From this reading A Pastoral Comedy.
plural of “poet” — a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry)
From this reading AND A CATALOGUE OF THE SCOTTISH POETS.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ALLAN RAMSAY.
the dialect of English used in Scotland
From this reading AND A CATALOGUE OF THE SCOTTISH POETS.
a clergyman who watches over a group of people
From this reading GENTLE SHEPHERD.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading _AND THE OPINIONS OF VARIOUS EMINENT MEN ON THE WORK_.
of many different kinds purposefully arranged but lacking any uniformity
From this reading _AND THE OPINIONS OF VARIOUS EMINENT MEN ON THE WORK_.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading _AND THE OPINIONS OF VARIOUS EMINENT MEN ON THE WORK_.
Chapter 1 of The Gentle Shepherd: A Pastoral Comedy by Allan Ramsay holds 377 sentences, grouped into 76 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 1 holds 377 sentences of The Gentle Shepherd: A Pastoral Comedy, unabridged, divided into 76 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Gentle Shepherd: A Pastoral Comedy by Allan Ramsay exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 377 sentences, grouped into 76 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 76 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 76 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Gentle Shepherd: A Pastoral Comedy by Allan Ramsay on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3583 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40639 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40639, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 298 minutes of reading across 717 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Gentle Shepherd: A Pastoral Comedy section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in The Gentle Shepherd: A Pastoral Comedy, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
