Gow, Niel

1727-1807

Scotch violinist and composer; born at Inver, near Dunkeld; began at nine years of age to learn the violin without a teacher, and persisting till he was thirteen, he then took some lessons from John Cameron, a retainer in the Grandtully family. While he never became an educated musician, his natural gifts lent to his performance of Scotch airs and dancemusic an individual charm which brought him into great repute. His four sons inherited their father's talents, and the compositions of all the family were included in various collections, some edited by Niel, others by his son Nathaniel. Six of these collections, principally of strathspey reels, with other dances, are ascribed to the elder Gow.