Nathaniel Gow (28 May 1763 – 19 January 1831 ) was a Scottish musician who was the fourth son of

Niel Gow Niel Gow (22 March 17271 March 1807) was a Scottish fiddler in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Early life Gow was born in Strathbraan, Perthshire, in 1727, as the son of John Gow and Catherine McEwan. The family moved to Inver in P ...

, and a celebrated performer, composer and arranger of tunes, songs and other pieces on his own right. He wrote about 200 compositions including the popular " Caller Herrin'".

Early life

Nathaniel was born to Niel Gow and Margaret Wiseman, at Inver, near

Dunkeld Dunkeld (, , from , "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 the geological Highland Boundar ...

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

, on 28 May 1763; with brothers William, John, and Andrew also showing early musical talent. He was taught the fiddle at first by his father, but was soon sent to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

where he was taught successively by Robert "Red Rob" Mackintosh, the fiddler Alexander McGlashan, and his elder brother William Gow. He also learnt the

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

under Joseph Reinagle. In 1782 he was appointed as one of His Majesty's herald trumpeters for Scotland.

Career

In 1796, Gow started a music-selling and publishing business with William Shepherd at 41 North Bridge, Edinburgh, which continued until Shepherd's death in 1813. Gow became prominent as the leader of many bands, and was important at many assemblies such as the Caledonian Hunt Balls. His patron was the

Duke of Atholl Duke of Atholl, named after 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 ...

. Between 1799 and 1824, he published a significant number of collections of tunes, including some by Scottish composer

Magdalene Stirling Magdalene Stirling (1765 – 1846) was a Scottish composer best known for ''Twelve Tunes Composed by Miss Stirling of Ardoch'', which she had printed privately in 1796. Stirling was the youngest of five daughters born in Ardoch, Perthshire ...

. Gow played for

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

at the Royal Caledonian Hunt ball during his visit to Scotland in 1822.

Later life

He married twice, and had five daughters and one son by his first wife, Janet Fraser. Their daughter Margaret, in 1810, married Adam Armstrong, a pioneer of the

Colony of Western Australia The human history of Western Australia commenced "over 50,000 years ago and possibly as much as 70,000 years ago" with the arrival of Aboriginal Australians on the northwest coast. The first inhabitants expanded across the east and south of the ...

. By his second wife, Mary Hog, whom he married in 1814, he had three sons and two daughters. Only one of his daughters, Augusta Gow (13 July 1815 – 23 February 1893), followed in the family profession, and became a teacher of music in Edinburgh. She married Frederick Alexander Packer and emigrated to Tasmania; their large family included Frederick Augustus Packer. Gow died in

on 19 January 1831, aged 67, and was buried in

Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 1 ...

. The 20th Century English composer David Gow is a descendant. He commemorated the connection in his ''Six Diversions on an Ancestral Theme''.Obituary, ''The Guardian'', 27 February 1993
/ref>

References

External links

*
Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831) at RegencyDances.org
1831 deaths 1763 births British male violinists Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard Composers for fiddle People from Perthshire Scottish fiddlers {{UK-composer-stub

Early life

Career

Later life

See also

References

External links