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GOW, NEIL, a celebrated
violin player and composer of Scottish airs, was the son of John Gow and
Catharine M’Ewan, and was born at Inver, near Dunkeld, Perthshire, on
the 22d of March, 1727. He was intended by his parents for the trade of a
plaid weaver, but discovering an early propensity for music, he began the
study of the violin himself, and soon abandoned the shuttle for the bow.
Up to the age of thirteen he had no instructor; but about that time he
availed himself of some lessons from John Cameron, a follower of the house
of Grandtully, and soon placed himself at the head of all the performers
in the country; although Perthshire then produced more able reel and
strathspey players than any other county in Scotland. Before he reached
manhood, he had engaged in a public competition there, and carried off the
prize, which was decided by an aged and blind, but skilful minstrel, who,
in awarding it, said, that "he could distinguish the stroke of
Neil’s bow among, a hundred players." This ascendancy he ever
after maintained, not only in his native place, but throughout Scotland,
where it has been universally admitted that, as a reel and strathspey
player, he has no superior, and, indeed, no rival in his own time.
Neil Gow was the first of
his family, so far as is known, who rendered the name celebrated in our
national music; but his children afterwards proved that in their case at
any rate, genius and talent were hereditary. Although Neil was born, and
lived the whole of a long life in a small village in the Highlands of
Perthshire, with no ambition for the honours and advancement which, in
general, are only to be obtained by a residence in great cities; and
although he was in a manner a self-taught artist, and confined his labours
chiefly to what may be considered a subordinate branch of the profession
of music; yet he acquired a notoriety and renown beyond what was destined
to many able and scientific professors, of whom hundreds have flourished
and been forgotten since his time, while his name continues, especially
in. Scotland, familiar as a household word.
Many causes contributed to
this. The chief ones, no doubt, were his unquestioned skill in executing
the national music of Scotland, and the genius he displayed in the
composition of a great number of beautiful melodies. But these were
enhanced in no small degree by other accessory causes. There was a
peculiar spirit, and Celtic character and enthusiasm, which he threw into
his performances, and which distinguished his bow amid the largest band.
His appearance, too, was prepossessing—his countenance open, honest, and
pleasing—his figure compact and manly, which was shown to advantage in
the tight tartan knee-breeches and hose, which he always wore. There was
also an openness and eccentricity in his manner, which, while it was
homely, easy, and unaffected, was at the same time characterised by great
self-possession and downrightness, and being accompanied by acute
penetration into the character and peculiarities of others, strong good
sense, and considerable quaintness and humour, and above all, by a perfect
honesty and integrity of thought and action, placed him on a footing of
familiarity and independence in the presence of the proudest of the land,
which, perhaps, no one in his situation ever attained, either before or
since. Many who never heard him play, and who are even unacquainted with
his compositions, fired by the accounts of those who lived in his time,
talk to this day of Neil Gow as if they had tripped a thousand times to
his spirit-stirring and mirth-inspiring strains.
Living in the immediate
neighbourhood of Dunkeld house, he was early noticed and distinguished by
the duke of Athol and his family, which was soon followed by the patronage
of the duchess of Gordon, and the principal nobility and gentry throughout
Scotland. But while his permanent residence was at Inver, near Dunkeld, he
was not only employed at all the balls and fashionable parties in the
county, but was in almost constant requisition at the great parties which
took place at Perth, Cupar, Dumfries, Edinburgh, and the principal towns
in Scotland. So necessary was he on such occasions, and so much was his
absence felt, that at one time, when indisposition prevented him attending
the Cupar Hunt, the preses called on every lady and gentleman present to
"dedicate a bumper to the better health of Neil Gow, a true Scottish
character, whose absence from the meeting, no one could sufficiently
regret." We have already said, that he lived on terms of great
familiarity with his superiors, in whose presence he spoke his mind and
cracked his jokes, unawed by either their rank or wealth—indeed, they
generally delighted in drawing out his homely, forcible, and humorous
observations; and while he, in turn, allowed all good humoured freedoms
with himself, he at the same time had sufficient independence to repel any
undue exhibition of aristocratic hauteur, and has brought the proud
man to his cottage with the white flag of peace and repentance, before he
would again consent to "wake the minstrel string" in his halls.
With the duke of Athol and his family, a constant, kindly, and familiar
intercourse was kept up; indeed, so much did the duke keep his rank in
abeyance when Neil was concerned, that, when the latter was sitting for
his portrait to the late Sir Henry Raeburn, his grace would accompany him
to the sitting, and on leaving the artist, would proceed arm in arm with
the musician through Edinburgh, as unreservedly as he would with one of
the noble blood of Hamilton or Argyle. The duke and duchess walked one day
with Neil to Stanley hill, in the neighbourhood of Dunkeld, when his grace
began pushing and struggling with him in a sportive humour, until the
latter at last fairly tumbled down the "brae." The duchess
running to him, expressed her hope that he was not hurt, to which he
answered, "Naething to speak o’,—I was the mair idiot to wrestle
wi’ sic a fule !" at which they both laughed heartily. The duke,
lord Lyndoch, and the late lord Melville, one day calling at Neil’s
house, were pressed to take some shrub. Lord Melville tasted it, and was
putting down the glass, when his host said, "ye maun tak’ it out,
my lord, it’s very good, and came frae my son Nathaniel— I ken ye’re
treasurer o’ the navy, but gin ye were treasurer o’ the universe, ye
maunna leave a drap." The duke at the same time smelling his glass
before he drank it, Neil said, "ye need na put it to your nose; ye
have na better in your ain cellar, for Nathaniel sends me naething but the
best." Being one day at Dunkeld house, lady Charlotte Drummond sat
down to the piano-forte, when Neil said to the duchess, "that lassie
o’ yours, my leddy, has a gude ear." A gentleman present said,
"I thought Neil you had more manners than to call her grace’s
daughter a lassie." To which our musician replied, "What wud I
ca’ her? I never heard she was a laddie;" which, while it more
astonished the gentleman, highly amused the noble parties themselves. On
another occasion in Athol house, after supper was announced, a portion of
the fashionable party lingered in the ball room, unwilling to forsake the
dance. Neil, who felt none of the fashionable indifference about supper
and its accompaniments, soon lost patience, and addressing himself to the
ladies, cried out, "Gang doun to your supper, ye daft limmers, and
dinna haud me reelin’ here, as if hunger and drouth were unkent in the
land—a body can get naething dune for you." These sayings are not
repeated so much to support any claim to humour, as to illustrate the
license which his reputation, popularity, and honest bluntness of
character procured him among the highest of the land."
When at home, during the
intervals of his professional labours, he was frequently visited by the
gentlemen of the county, as well as by strangers, whose curiosity was
excited by the notoriety of his character. They would remain for hours
with him, in unconstrained conversation, and partaking of whisky and
honey, commonly called Athol brose, or whatever else was going. The late
Mr Graham of Orchill, used to sit up whole nights with Neil Gow, playing
reels with him, and on one occasion Neil exclaimed, "Troth, Orchill,
you play weel;—be thankfu’, if the French should overturn our country,
you and I can win our bread, which is mair than mony o’ the great folk
can say." On one occasion, when the duchess of Gordon called for him,
she complained of a giddiness and swimming in her head, on which he said,
"Faith, I ken something o’ that mysel’, your grace; when I’ve
been fou the night afore, ye’ wad think that a bike o’ bees were
bizzing in my bonnet, the next mornin’."
In travelling he was
frequently spoken to by strangers, to whom description had made his dress
and appearance familiar. At Hamilton, once, he was accosted by two
gentlemen, who begged to know his name, which having told them, they
immediately said, "Oh! you are the very man we have come from -- to
see." "Am I," replied Neil, "by my saul, ye’re the
mair fules; I wadna gang half sae far to see you." On another
occasion, when crossing in one of the passage boats from Kirkaldy to
Leith, several gentlemen entered into conversation with him, and being
strangers, instead of Neil, as was usual, they always addressed him
as Master Gowl. When about to land, the Dunkeld carrier, happening
to be on the pier, said, "Ou Neil, is his you?" "Whisht
man," answered Neil, with a sly expression, "let me land or ye
ca’ me Neil; I hae got naething but Maister a’ the way o’er."
There are few professions
where persons are more exposed or tempted to habits of indulgence in
liquor, than those whose calling it is to minister music to the midnight
and morning revel. The fatigue of playing for hours in crowded and heated
rooms—at those times too, which are usually devoted to sleep—requires
stimulants; and not a few have fallen victims to habits acquired in such
situations. But, though exposed to these temptations as much as any man
ever was, Neil Gow was essentially sober and temperate. He never indulged
in unmixed spirits, and when at home, without company, seldom took any
drink but water. At the same time, he was of a social disposition, and
delighted in the interchange of friendly and hospitable intercourse; and
it befits not the truth of our chronicle to deny, that prudence, though
often a conqueror, did not on every occasion gain the race with good
fellowship, or in plain words, that Neil did not find at the close of some
friendly sederunts, "the maut aboon the meal." At least we would
infer as much, from an anecdote that has been told of him.— Returning
pretty early one morning from Ruthven Works, where he had been attending a
yearly ball, he was met with his fiddle under his arm, near the bridge of
Almond, by some of his friends who lamented the length of the road he
had to walk to Inver, when Neil exclaimed, "Deil may care for the length
o’ the road, it’s only the breadth o’t that’s fashin’ me
now." It was, perhaps, with reference to the same occasion, that a
friend said to him, "I suspect Neil, ye’ve been the waur o’
drink." "The waur o’ drink?" responded the musician,
"na! na, I may have been fou, but I ne’er was the waur o’t."
His son Nathaniel frequently sent him presents of shrub and ale. In
acknowledging one of them, he wrote, "I received the box and twenty
bottles of ale, which is not good,—more hop than faith—too
strong o’ the water, &c. My compliments to Meg, and give her a
guinea, and ask her which of the two she would accept of first."
He was a man most exemplary
in all the private relations of life—a faithful husband, an affectionate
parent, and a generous friend. In more cases than one, he refused lands
which were offered to him at a trifling purchase, and which would have
been worth thousands to his successors, and chose the more disinterested
part, giving money to the unfortunate owners to enable them to purchase
their lands back. He not only had religion in his heart, but was
scrupulous in his external observances. He was constant in his attendance
at divine worship, and had family prayers evening and morning in his own
house. In regard to his private character altogether, we may quote from a
very elegant biographical sketch from the pen of Dr Macknight, who knew
him well, and which appeared in the Scots Magazine in 1809. "His
moral and religious principles were originally correct, rational, and
heartfelt, and they were never corrupted. His duty in the domestic
relations of life, he uniformly fulfilled with exemplary fidelity,
generosity, and kindness. In short, by the general integrity, prudence,
and propriety of his conduct, he deserved, and he lived and died
possessing as large a portion of respect from his equals, and of good will
from his superiors, as has ever fallen to the lot of any man of his
rank."
In a professional point of
view, Neil Gow is to be judged according to circumstances. He never had
the advantage of great masters, and indeed was almost entirely
self-taught. It would be idle to inquire what he might have been had he
devoted himself to the science as a study. He did not, so far as is known,
attempt the composition of difficult or concerted pieces; and it is
believed, did not do much even in the way of arrangement to his own
melodies. He was one of nature’s musicians, and confined himself to what
genius can conceive and execute, without the intervention of much science—the
composition of melodies: and, after all, melody is the true test of
musical genius; no composition, however philosophical, learned and
elaborate, can live, if it wants its divine inspiration, and the science
of Handel, Haydn, and Mozart would not have rescued their names from
oblivion, had the soul of melody not sparkled like a gem through all the
cunning framework and arrangement of their noble compositions. He composed
a great number of tunes, nearly a hundred of which are to be found in the
collections published by his son Nathaniel at Edinburgh. The greater
portion of them are of a lively character, and suited for dancing, such as
reels, strathspeys, and quick steps. It would not be interesting in a
notice like this to enumerate the titles of so many compositions; but we
may safely refer to the beautiful air of "Locherroch side," to
which Burns wrote his pathetic ballad of "Oh! stay, sweet warbling
woodlark, stay," and which is equally effective as a quick dancing
tune—to the "Lament for Abercairney," and his "Farewell
to Whisky" - as specimens which entitled him to take his place among
the best known composers of Scottish music, which our country has
produced.
As a performer of Scottish
music on the violin, we have already said that he was acknowledged to have
been the ablest of his day; and we cannot do better than once more quote
from the biographic sketch written by Dr M’Knight, himself a skilful
violinist, and who frequently heard Neil play, to illustrate the peculiar
character of his style: "There is perhaps no species whatever of
music executed on the violin, in which the characteristic expression
depends more on the power of the bow, particularly in what is
called the upward or returning stroke, than the Highland
reel. Here accordingly was Gow’s forte. His bow-hand, as a suitable
instrument of his genius, was uncommonly powerful; and when the note
produced by the upbow was often feeble and indistinct in other
hands, it was struck in his playing, with a strength and certainty, which
never failed to surprise and delight the skilful hearer. As an example,
may be mentioned his manner of striking the tenor C, in ‘Athol House.’
To this extraordinary power of the bow, in the hand of great original
genius, must be ascribed the singular felicity of expression which he gave
to all his music, and the native highland gout of certain tunes,
such as ‘Tulloch Gorum,’ in which his taste and style of bowing could
never be exactly reached by any other performer. We may add, the effect of
the sudden shout, with which he frequently accompanied his playing
in the quick tunes, and which seemed instantly to electrify the dancers;
inspiring them with new life and energy, and rousing the spirits of the
most inanimate. Thus it has been well observed, ‘the violin in his
hands, sounded like the harp of Ossian, or the lyre of Orpheus,’ and
gave reality to the poetic fictions, which describe the astonishing
effects of their performance."
Such was the estimation in
which Neil Gow was held, that the late Sir Henry Raeburn, the most eminent
portrait painter then in Scotland, was employed first to paint his
portrait for the county hall of Perth, and afterwards, separate portraits
for the duke of Athol, lord Gray, and the honourable Mr Maule of Panmure,
besides his portrait, now in possession of his grand-daughter Mrs Luke,
and many copies scattered through the country. His portrait has also been
introduced into the "View of a Highland Wedding," by the late Mr
Allan, along with an admirable likeness of his brother Donald, who was his
steady and constant violoncello.
Neil Gow was twice married
- first to Margaret Wiseman, by whom he had five sons, and three
daughters. Of these, three sons, and two daughters died before himself,
but not before two of his sons, William and Andrew, had acquired a
reputation as violin-players, worthy of the name they bore; the former
having succeeded M’Glashan as leader of the fashionable bands at
Edinburgh, and the latter having acquired some wealth in London in
prosecuting his profession. He was kind and affectionate to all his
children, and during his last illness of his son Andrew, he brought him
from London. On this subject he wrote, "If the spring were a little
advanced and warmer, I would have Andrew come down by sea, and I will come
to Edinburgh or Dundee to conduct him home. We will have milk which he can
get warm from the cow, or fresh butter, or whey, or chickens. He shall not
want for any thing." Andrew’s eyes were closed by his father under
the roof where he was born. Neil Gow took as his second wife Margaret
Urquhart, by whom he had no family, and who pre-deceased himself a few
years. He retained his faculties to the last, and continued to play till
within a year or two of his death. About two years before that event, he
seemed to feel the decay of his powers, and wrote to his son Nathaniel –
"I received your kind invitation to come over to you, but I think I
will stay where I am. It will not be long, for I am very sore
failed." He died at Inver, where he was born, on the 1st
of March, 1807, in the 80th year of his age, after acquiring a
competence, which was divided among his children. He left behind him two
sons and a daughter: John, who settled in London as leader of the
fashionable Scottish bands, and died in 1827, after acquiring a large
fortune; Nathaniel, who settled in Edinburgh, and of whom we have given a
brief memoir; and Margaret, now the only surviving child, who is at
present living in Edinburgh. Neil Gow was buried in Little Dunkeld church,
where a marble tablet has been raised to his memory by his sons, John and
Nathaniel.
Here are two chapters about Gow from this
book in which they discuss Gow and Burns
Chapters
IV & V
Niel’s style as a fiddler was very
distinctive. He is credited with the invention of – or at least the
passing on – of the up-driven bow technique. This bowing uses a strong
down bow followed by three notes played on the up bow with the second
note being accented by increased travel and pressure, the last note
being played staccato. Niel was also noted for giving a sudden shout
during a quick dance tune which had the effect of electrifying the
dancers.
Niel Gow’s first wife Margaret Wiseman bore him five sons and three
daughters. Of his sons who followed him into music his fourth son
Nathaniel was the most famous and we can credit him with ensuring that
the Gow name is still held in such high esteem. Nathaniel, though an
equally famous composer and player in his own right, became a publisher
of music and for some forty three years between 1784 and 1827 ensured
that the family’s own music was set down in print. Along with hundreds
of other traditional and contemporary tunes, the Gow’s compositions went
to press saving them from slipping into obscurity.
Due to those publications, some ninety of Niel Gow’s tunes are known
today along with those compositions of his sons William, the eldest,
Andrew, John and Nathaniel along with Nathiel’s own son Niel Gow Junior.
In total, Niel may be credited with 1 Quickstep, 2 Hornpipes, 4 Marches,
8 Jigs, 20 Reels and 53 Strathspeys. Of his Strathspeys only 20 are
played at a dancing tempo with others played at much slower speeds. Well
over half of Niel’s own compositions are to be played slowly as these
were not just dance tunes but tunes to simply be listened to for their
own sake.
Niel himself is credited with being a man of exceptional humour, honest
and forthright he was unconcerned about the distinctions of rank or
wealth and Robert Burns who met Niel in 1787 described him as having
“…an interesting face, marking strong sense, kind open-heartedness,
mixed with unmistrusting simplicity.” His portrait, painted that same
year by Henry Raeburn shows Niel in tartan trews, seated with his
fiddle. This now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery and was
commissioned by the nobility and gentlemen of the Perth Assembly as Niel
was, they thought, looking rather unwell and they wanted a permanent
record of him – just in case. Happily he lived for a further twenty
years. This painting is also thought to be the earliest recorded example
of tartan.
Niel was certainly no stranger to grief or sorrow. He outlived his first
wife, three of his sons and two of his daughters, his brother Donald,
his second wife Margaret Urquhart and many good friends. This is all
reflected in Niel’s Lament for his second wife written only two years
before his own passing. Perhaps the most famous and well known of his
compositions it is immensely sad but reflects a lightness of spirit as
if it were his last dance with no regrets and much happiness.
His immense spirit and character still shine out from his work and
presented here is the most complete collection of his compositions ever
brought to the public in one collection.
You can download the full .pdf file of
The Essential Niel Gow
here |
