He started playing the fiddle when very young, and at age 13 received his first formal lessons from one John Cameron of Grandtully.

This attracted the attention of the Duke of Atholl,[2] who became Gow's patron, and also ensured his employment for balls and dance parties put on by the local nobility.

The Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen indicates that Gow's air of Locherroch Side was the basis for Robert Burns' ballad, "Oh!

The annual Niel Gow Fiddle Festival takes place in Dunkeld and Birnam, Perthshire, Scotland.

It was established in 2004 to celebrate the life and music of Gow, including a fund raising campaign to erect a memorial to him in Dunkeld and Birnam.

His sons William, Andrew (1760), Nathaniel (1763),[6] and John (1764) all followed their father as fiddlers and composers of fiddle music; two of the daughters were Margaret (1759) and Grizel (1761).