Violinist and songwriter, born in Inver, Perth and Kinross, E Scotland, UK. He composed nearly 100 tunes, and from his collection of Strathspey reels and singular skill with the bow, his name is still a household word in Scotland.
Biography
Gow was born in Inver, Perthshire, as the son of John Gow and Catherine McEwan. He was widely considered the best fiddle player in Perthshire, an area which was renowned for its musicians - the story goes that at age 17 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, who became Niel's patron, and also ensured Niel's employment for balls and dance parties put on by the local nobility.
Niel Gow was married twice. Niel survived William (who died in 1791 at age 40) and Andrew (who died in 1794). Of Niel's sons, Nathaniel is by far the most well-known and another fine composer of Scottish music, with nearly 200 tunes to his credit. After having been widowed, Niel married Margaret Urquhart from Perth in 1768, and they went on to share a happy married life until she died in 1805. Niel was deeply hurt by her death, and stopped playing the fiddle for a while. Niel died at at Inver on 1st March 1807, aged 80.
Niel Gow composed a lot of dance music - according to John Glen (1895) he put his name to 87 tunes, "some of which are excellent" - much of which forms the backstay of Scottish country dance music even today.
Many of Niel Gow's compositions are still played today at ceilidhs and country dances. (To add to the confusion he had a very musical grandson (by Nathaniel) who did spell his name "Neil".)
The Glen Collection of Scottish Dance Music, republished by the Highland Music Trust, 2001 (ISBN 0-9541478-1-2)Compositions
Niel Gow's Lament For His Second Wife (midi)
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