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Kay's Originals Vol. 2

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376 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. No. CCXCVII. MR. JOHN AUSTIN, AUTHOR OF A “ SYSTEM OF STENOGRAPHIC MUSIC.” MR. AUSTIN was born at Craigton,’ where his fathe? was gardener to John Baird, Esq.; but what were his means of education, or in what capacity he at first entered upon active life, we have not ascertained. At an early period he became a citizen of Glasgow, and was long known, in an extended circle of acquaintances, for his musical skill, and an inventive, speculative genius. Possessed of a jovial disposition, his company was greatly prized, and he was ever ready to take part in a catch or glee. It was not till comparatively late in life that Mr. Austin produced his ‘( System of Stenographic Music ”-a work of considerable ability, though his ideas of improvement were probably more theoretical than sound or practicable. The principal object of the author was to simplify the prevailing method of notation. In place of five lines, his system consisted of only one, written upon by certain characters (six in number), which, “reversed and inverted,!’ were held capable of expressing every variety in music. Besides the Introductory Essay, and an Analysis of Tone, the work contained a great many songs, written in the shorthand character. In the Scots Magazine for 1803, it is stated that “Mr. Austin’s exertions have been great, and every lover of the art will now have an opportunity of gratifying himself, with far less labour than is necessary upon the old system. The Stenographic Music has obtained the approbation of those connoisseurs to whom it has been submitted ; it has already begun to be taught in some of the first boarding-schools in Edinburgh, and, by permission of the Lord Provost, the Magistrates and Managers of Heriot’s and Watson’s Hospitals, it has been adopted in these seminaries.” Notwithstanding the flattering prospect thus held forth, Mr. Austin’s system does not appear to have experienced much encouragement; and at this day, we believe, the author and his work are equally unknown in the musical world. In 1806 we find Mr. Austin eagerly engaged in a very different, but certainly not less important speculation. This was the invention of a powerloom for weaving cotton, of which he presented a model to the Society of Arts, accompanied by the following memorial :- 1 Craigton is situated a few miles west of Glasgow, and waa afterwards possassed by Henry Dunlop, Esq., Lord Provost of that city.
Volume 9 Page 501
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