230 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
No. XCVI.
MR. THOMAS NEIL, WRIGHT AND PRECENTOR,
IN THE CHARACTER Or “THE OLD WIFE.”
IT is now thirty-six years since this (‘ son of song” departed to the ‘( world of
spirits ; ” yet he is well remembered by many of the old inhabitants of Edinburgh.
He was forty years a precentor in the Old Church ; and, it is believed,
the last time he oficiated was at the re-opening of that place of worship, at the
close of last century, after it had undergone some extensive repairs.
Perhaps no man in Edinburgh of his time possessed greater local notoriety
than “ TU NEIL.” He was a universal favourite, and seemed formed for the
very purpose of “ smoothing the wrinkled brow of care ; ” and although his wit .
may not have been of the most brilliant description, yet there was in the manner
of the humourist an inimitable archness, which irresistibly compelled even the
most serious of his auditors to “hold their sides” for a time.
The clear, strong, musical
voice with which he was endowed peculiarly adapted him for the desk, and no
derogatory tongue has yet dared to say that he did not perform his duties regularly
and with propriety ; but there was a solemnity in the walls, and a dulness
in the long faces of a church, which by no means comported with his own mirthcreating
features. There, in
giving due effect to some humorous Scottish ditty, his whole powers of music
and mimicry found ample scope. He could also sing, with great pathos, many
of our most pathetic national melodies : but Tam had not a heart for sadness.
“He possesses the knack of setting off his songs with so much drollery,”
is the remark of Kay in his notes, “ and such a singular peculiarity of manner,
that in all probability he will never have an equal or successor. He has the
art of adapting not only his voice, but his very features, so much to the subject
of the song-especially where it will admit of mimicry-that a stranger, who
may have seen him in the Old Man’s WGh in one company, would not know
him half an hour after as the Old Fife in another,-so very different a turn
does he give to his voice, features, and action.”
The latter of these songs, in the character of which he is represented in the
Print, was one of his particular fwourites. With a handkerchief wrapped over
his head, his lips compressed, and his long chin set prominently forward, his
imitations of the querulous voice of age were quite inimitable.
There was another production (a catch), familiar to the vocalists of the present
day, called “TheMerry Christ’s Church Bells,” in which Neil displayed,
with wonderful effect, the compass and harmony of his voice ; and so peculiar
As we have already said, Tam was a precentor.
It was in the tavern that Tam was glorious!
