About this artwork

Niel Gow, Scotland's most famous fiddler and composer of strathspeys and reels, lived in the cottage where he had been born, just outside Dunkeld in Perthshire, but travelled all over the country playing at balls and festivities. He was known for accompanying his playing with an occasional sudden shout, which would startle and excite the dancers. The poet Robert Burns visited Gow the year this portrait was painted, was struck by the sitter's open heartedness and honest, simple appearance,

Updated before 2020

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Sir Henry Raeburn

Sir Henry Raeburn