Biography:John French
John French
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|---|---|
| Given name: | John |
| Middle name: | |
| Family name: | French |
| Place of birth: | Cumnock, Ayrshire |
| Place of death: | |
| Year of birth: | 1753? |
| Year of death: | 1803? |
| Profile: | Composer, Musician |
| Source of information: | |
Biographical notes
Little is known of John French, fiddler-composer of Cumnock, Ayrshire, who was born in 1752 or 1753, and who died around the year 1803.
Robert Burns knew John French and it is thought that the composer played the fiddle for the dance classes reluctantly attended by the poet as a young man in Ayrshire. Burns evidently held his musicianship in esteem, and mentioned him in a handwritten note addressed to Provost Edward Whigham of Sanquhar [printed in The Works of Robert Burns, vol. 2, 1895], which reads in part:
Mem. — To get from John French his sets of the following old Scots airs — (1) The auld yowe jumpt o'er the tether. (2) Nine nights awa, welcome hame my dearie. (3) A' the nights o' the year, the chapman drinks nae water. If Mr Whigham will, either of himself, or through the medium of that hearty veteran of original wit, and social iniquity — Clackleith — procure these airs, it will be extremely obliging to — R. B."
French was also a friend of James Boswell, Dr Johnson’s amanuensis, and the composer dedicated many of his compositions to him and to his wife. These, and other, of his compositions were issued in a Collection of New Strathspeys, Reels etc., dedicated to Mrs Boswell of Auchinleck. The volume was published in Edinburgh by Gow & Shepherd in around 1801, "for behoof of Mr French’s widow and children", which suggests that the composer had recently died, and that his family may have been left in needy circumstances. There are no composer attributions in the volume, but it is considered that much of the music was composed by French himself.