The renowned Scottish fiddler Niel Gow (1727–1807) appears in several portraits. One painted by his compatriot David Allan (1744–1796) shows him next to his brother Donald, playing a cello.
The date of this portrait is uncertain but Allan embedded it in, or extracted it from, another painting titled Highland Wedding at Blair Atholl, dated 1780. Gow was the fiddler at Blair Castle and the Duke of Atholl was his patron, making this a plausible depiction in both social and musical regards. (There is also a piper on a refreshment break behind the Gows.)
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