Biography:John Lowe
John Lowe
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| Given name: | John |
| Middle name: | |
| Family name: | Lowe |
| Place of birth: | Brechin |
| Place of death: | Perth |
| Year of birth: | |
| Year of death: | |
| Profile: | Composer, Editor, Musician, Publisher |
| Source of information: | https://www.regencydances.org/paper024.php |
Biographical notes
JOHN LOWE is credited by John Glen with the well-known Scottish compositions, "Sir David Davidson of Cantray," “Archie Menzies” and “Rachel Rae” and was the father of Joseph Lowe who published several influential collections in the 1840's. There were four Lowe brothers born to John Low (who did not use an 'e' at the end of his name) of Brechin and his wife, Ann Clark, who married in 1786. She died in May, 1829, with the Perthshire Courier recording that she was "Ann Clark, relict of the late Mr John Lowe, teacher of dancing," indicating she survived John by an unknown number of years. The elder John was also a master shoe-maker, admitted in 1785 as a Master Shoemaker to the Incorporated Craft of Shoemaking, although he taught dancing at several Highland towns and had a dancing school in Perth. The four brothers (there may have been a fifth Lowe son, who died at sea, and a daughter, Ann, born in 1787) followed their father's trade to become dancing masters and musicians in their own right, dispersing to various regions of Scotland. The eldest, also named John (1793-1839), remained in Perth where he opened his own dancing school. He also sponsored balls (some in conjunction with his brother Robert) and collaborated in family music publishing projects. John also had a reputation as a fine violinist, as reported in the Perthshire Courier of March 4th, 1830, after a ball in Dundee where he assisted his brother James:
The Music was excellent, Mr John Low, from Perth, being the leader, whose abilities as a player on the violin are well known. We have seldom an opportunity of hearing such music in Dundee as that of the Messrs Lowe, and to their skill in this department no little of their great success as teachers of dancing may fairly be attributed.