Niel Gow (1727 – 1 March 1807) was the most famous Scottish
fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
r of the eighteenth century.
Early life
Gow was born in Strathbraan,
Perthshire
Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...
, in 1727, as the son of John Gow and Catherine McEwan. The family moved to Inver in Perthshire when Niel was an infant. He started playing the
fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
when very young and at age 13 received his first formal lessons from one John Cameron.
In spite of being something of a
musical prodigy
A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain to the level of an adult expert performer. This is a list of young children (under age 10) who displayed a ...
, he originally trained as a
weaver, but eventually gave up that trade to become a full-time musician. He was widely considered the best fiddle player in Perthshire, an area which was renowned for its musicians—the story goes that at age 18 he entered a competition that was being judged by John McCraw, a blind musician, who awarded him the first prize and then went on to claim that he "would ken his bow hand among a hunder
players" (detect Niel's style among a hundred players). This attracted the attention of the
Duke of Atholl
Duke of Atholl, named for Atholl in Scotland, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland held by the head of Clan Murray. It was created by Queen Anne in 1703 for John Murray, 2nd Marquess of Atholl, with a special remainder to the heir male of ...
, who became Niel's patron, and also ensured Niel's employment for balls and dance parties put on by the local nobility. In time he became renowned as a fiddler.
Musical career
According to John Glen (1895), Niel Gow composed, or is credited with composing eighty-seven dance tunes, "some of which are excellent." These tunes form the backstay of
Scottish country dance
Scottish country dance (SCD) is the distinctively Scottish form of country dance, itself a form of social dance involving groups of couples of dancers tracing progressive patterns. A dance consists of a sequence of figures. These dances are ...
music even today. However, it must be said that he was not above claiming good material from other composers as his own; Glen claims that at least a quarter of the eighty-seven tunes are either derived from older tunes or are copies of tunes published earlier elsewhere, often under a different title. The ''Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen'' indicates that Gow's air of ''Locherroch Side'' was the basis for
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
' ballad, "Oh! stay, sweet warbling Woodlark, stay."
["Gow, Niel".''Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen''](_blank)
Volume 2. Glasgow: Blackie & Sons, 1875. p153. Accessed on 2013/08/20. This "borrowing" was a common practice at the time and it did not seem to hurt his reputation;
Henry Raeburn
Sir Henry Raeburn (; 4 March 1756 – 8 July 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland.
Biography
Raeburn was born the son of a manufacturer in Stockbridge, on the Water of Leith: a f ...
was commissioned to paint him several times.
Many of Niel Gow's compositions are still played today at
ceilidhs and
country dances. He himself spelled his name ''Niel'', although others sometimes spell it ''Neil'' or even ''Neal''. The National Records of Scotland attest that Gow himself used the name 'Neil'. To add to the confusion he had a musical grandson (by Nathaniel) who did spell his name "Neil".
The annual Niel Gow Fiddle Festival takes place in
Dunkeld and Birnam
Dunkeld (, sco, Dunkell, from gd, Dùn Chailleann, "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to t ...
, Perthshire, Scotland. It was established in 2004 to celebrate the life and music of Gow, including a fund raising campaign to erect a fitting memorial to him in
Dunkeld and Birnam
Dunkeld (, sco, Dunkell, from gd, Dùn Chailleann, "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to t ...
.
Later life
Niel Gow was married twice. His first wife was Margaret Wiseman, and they had five sons and three daughters. His sons William, Andrew (1760),
Nathaniel
, nickname =
{{Plainlist,
* Nat
* Nate
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Nathaniel is an English variant of the biblical Greek name Nathanael.
People with the name Nathaniel
* Nathaniel Archibald (1952–2018), American basketball player
* Nate A ...
(1763), and John (1764) all followed their father as fiddlers and composers of fiddle music; two of the daughters were Margaret (1759) and Grizel (1761). The youngest son, Daniel (1765), died in infancy; William died in 1791 at age 40, and Andrew died in 1794 at 34. Of Niel's sons,
Nathaniel
, nickname =
{{Plainlist,
* Nat
* Nate
, footnotes =
Nathaniel is an English variant of the biblical Greek name Nathanael.
People with the name Nathaniel
* Nathaniel Archibald (1952–2018), American basketball player
* Nate A ...
is by far the most well-known and another fine composer of Scottish music, with nearly two hundred tunes to his credit.
As a widower, Gow married Margaret Urquhart from Perth in 1768, and they went on to share a happy marriage until she died in 1805, which prompted his composition of one of his most famous tunes: "Niel Gow's Lament for the Death of his Second Wife".
Gow died at Inver on 1 March 1807, aged 80.
Following on from the efforts of the fund-raising campaign, a memorial statue of Gow was commissioned with
David Annand as sculptor. It was finally erected and unveiled in December 2020.
The 20th Century English composer
David Gow
David James Gow CBE (born 1957) is the inventor of the i-Limb prosthetic hand. He was made an honorary Doctor of Science in November 2018 by the University of Edinburgh.
Biography
He was born in Dumfries in 1957 and was educated at Breconbeds ...
is a descendent. He commemorated the connection in his ''Six Diversions on an Ancestral Theme''.
Contributions
Compositions
*''Admiral Nelson''
*''Niel Gow's Lament For the Death of His Second Wife ''
*''Dunkeld Bridge''
*''Farewell to Whisky''
*''The Stool of Repentance''
*''The Duchess of Athole’s Skipper''
*''The Athole Volunteers March''
* ''Miss Stewart of Grantully''
*''Highland Whisky''
*''Niel Gow’s Lamentation for James Moray, Esq., of Abercarney''
*''Major Graham of Inchbrakie''
*''Lady Ann Hope’s Favourite''
Recordings
*''
Quadriga Consort
Quadriga Consort aka Quadriga Early Music Band is an early music ensemble from Austria. Founded in 2001 by harpsichordist Nikolaus Newerkla, the ensemble plays rearranged early British and Irish traditional music performed on period instruments.
...
'' CD "By Yon Bonnie Banks" ORF Early Music Edition, Vienna 2007
*''Scotland's Pete Clark: In the Footsteps of Niel Gow''
[Simmons, Michael]
"Scotland's Pete Clark: In the Footsteps of Niel Gow"
''Fiddler Magazine'', 1 June 1999.
*''Even Now, The Music of Niel Gow'' by Pete Clark, Smiddymade, 1998
*''Niel Gow’s Fiddle'' by Pete Clark &
Muriel Johnstone Muriel Johnstone (born 1 June 1947, in West Hartlepool, England to Scottish parents) is a Scottish pianist and composer. She was raised and schooled in Ardrossan, Ayrshire, Scotland.
Johnstone operates the Scotscores label. She has performed and ...
, Inver 229, 2017
See also
*
Scottish Baroque music
*
Niel Gow's Oak
Niel Gow's Oak is a 300-year-old tree near Dunkeld and Birnam, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is closely associated with the Scottish fiddler and composer Niel Gow, who lived in nearby Inver. Gow is said to have composed many of his most famo ...
References
*''The Glen Collection of Scottish Dance Music'', republished by the Highland Music Trust, 2001 ().
*Clark, Pete. ''Even Now: The Music of Niel Gow''. Smiddymade Recordings, Perthshire, Scotland, 1999 (SMD615). CD album with extensive album notes. Fifteen tunes by Niel Gow played by Pete Clark on Niel Gow's own fiddle and recorded in the ballroom of Blair Castle, a frequent eighteenth-century Niel Gow venue. (The Raeburn portrait above, posted by the author of this article, is part of the Blair Castle Collection.)
*''The Fiddle Music of Scotland'' by James Hunter. Edited by Alastair Hardie and William Hardie published by The Hardie Press, 1988. ()
*''Scottish Fiddle Music in the Eighteenth Century; A Music Collection and Historical Study'' By David Johnson publishes by Mercat Press, 1984. ()
External links
Folk Music Net Biography of Niel GowDunkeld Cathedral Biography of Niel GowNiel Gow Fiddle FestivalFree PDF of 90 of Niel Gow's tunes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gow, Niel
Scottish fiddlers
British male violinists
Scottish folk musicians
Scottish composers
1727 births
1807 deaths
People from Perthshire
18th-century Scottish people
19th-century Scottish people
Paintings by Henry Raeburn
19th-century Scottish musicians
18th-century Scottish musicians
19th-century British male musicians