A 10ft high statue sculpted from an 18 ton Carrara marble block by Sir John Steell.

Allan Ramsay is depicted standing with a book in his left hand and a pencil in his right. He has a plaid over his shoulder and is wearing a silk night-cap rather than a wig. Ramsay (1686-1758) was an Edinburgh poet and publisher and involved in the early 18th century revival of Scots vernacular poetry. As a poet he is best remembered for his five-part work, 'The Gentle Shepherd'.

The monument was built at the instigation of Lord Murray, a descendant of Allan Ramsay, who met the costs personally. He died in 1859, and his wife finished the project. It was originally to be sited in Ramsay Gardens where the poet lived but the foundations there collapsed in 1860. It was unveiled by Sir John McNeil on the 25th March 1865 at a dual ceremony to inaugurate the Professor John Wilson statue on the other side of the Royal Academy.