The first Scottish opera. The first ballad opera. A pastoral masterpiece which was ubiquitous on London and Edinburgh stages throughout the eighteenth century. Allan Ramsay's "The Gentle Shepherd" is perhaps the most important work from the British Isles that you've never heard of! Peasants Peggy and Patie plan to wed, but when their liege Sir William Worthy returns from fighting for a noble cause, he upends their lives by revealing Patie's birthright. Will true love prevail? Brilliantly realized by Makaris-specialists in the music of galant-era Scotland-"The Gentle Shepherd" finally receives it's first recording in 2025, on the 300th anniversary of it's initial publication.