The Stream I Go A-Fishing In

"The Stream I Go A-Fishing In," with a title taken from a line from Thoreau, follows the musical career of a Gloucester fisherman, John Jay Watson. A talented fiddler on the port's small schooners of the 1850s, Watson changed course after he survived shipwreck in a devastating gale. He became a professional violinist, reportedly studied under the famed Norwegian Ole Bull, migrated to New York where he taught, performed solo recitals accompanied by his son and daughter, and as an impresario staged concerts in the Cooper Union concert hall. He also wrote a number of popular melodies in the parlor music style popular after the Civil War, but fashions changed and Watson was little remembered when he returned to Gloucester late in life.