Just across
the A9 road from Dunkeld is the wee village of Inver. It was
here that carriages changed their horses. A carriage accident
at Inver in 1854 killed Count Rochenstart, the last known descendant
of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Inver is, most famously, the home
of Neil Gow. ( 1727 - 1807 ) By far the best known of the Scots
fiddle composers, from whose dance tunes Robert Burns drew many
of the airs for his songs. Gow (the first of a family of Scots
dance music composers) was 60 when Burns met him on his Highland
tour. In his Journal, Robert Burns described Gow, who played
for him, as 'a short, stout-built Highland figure, with his
greyish hair shed on his honest social brow — an interesting
face, marking strong sense, kind open heartedness mixed with
unmistrusting simplicity'. Robert Burns later visited Gow's
house in Inver. Gow's main publications were a Collection of
Strathspey Reels, 1784, 1788 and 1792, and the Complete Repository
of Original Scots Slow Strathspeys and Dances, 1799, 1808, 1822.
Neil was
appointed fiddler to the Duke of Atholl, and, along with his
brother and sons he formed an ensemble which played at Highland
Weddings and balls in the great houses of Britain. Neil
had his portrait painted several times by Raeburn.