Nathaniel Gow was the fourth son of Niel Gow

Niel Gow

Niel Gow was the most famous Scottish fiddler and dancie of the eighteenth century.-Biography:...

, 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

Dunkeld is a small town in Strathtay, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is about 15 miles north of Perth on the eastern side of the A9 road into the Scottish Highlands and on the opposite side of the Tay from the Victorian village of Birnam. Dunkeld and Birnam share a railway station, on the...

, Perthshire

Perthshire

Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...

, on 28 May 1766. He was taught fiddle at first by his father, but was soon sent to Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

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

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

 under Joseph Reinagle

Joseph Reinagle

-Biography:Joseph Reinagle, the son of a German musician resident in England, was born at Portsmouth in 1762. He was at first intended for the navy, but became apprentice to a jeweller in Edinburgh. Then, adopting music as a profession, he studied the French horn and trumpet with his father, and...

. 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

John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl

John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl KT, PC, FRS , styled Marquess of Tullibardine 1764 and 1774, was a Scottish peer.-Background:...

. Between 1799 and 1824 he published a significant number of collections of tunes.
He married twice, and had five daughters and one son by his first wife, Janet Fraser. By his second wife, Mary Hog, whom he married in 1814, he had three sons and two daughters; only Augusta seems to have followed in the family profession, and became a teacher of music in Edinburgh.

Nathaniel Gow died on 19 January 1831, and was buried in Greyfriar's churchyard.