Banks of Allan (The)

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BANKS OF ALLAN, THE. AKA and see "Bog of Allan [3]." AKA - "Banks of the Allan." Scottish, Country Dance Tune (6/8) or Jig. D Major. Standard tuning. ABB (Sharp): AABB (Gow, Karpeles, Kerr, Raven). The river Allan is a tributary of the Forth of Firth that flows through Perthshire and Stirlingshire before it empties into the Forth near Bridge of Allan. The Scots poet Robert Burns wrote a love song (appearing in Thomson's Scottish Airs) to the tune "Allan Water" that begins:

>By Allan-side I chanc'd to rove,
While Phoebus sank beyond Benledi;
The winds were whispering thro' the grove,
The yellow corn was waving ready....

"This tune is also suitable as an accompaniment to Rapper Sword Dance" (Karpeles). See also the Irish variants "Bog of Allan [3]" and "The Tailor's Thimble [1]." An early version was published in 1799 by Thomas Calvert, a musician from Kelso, Scotland (see abc below). A note with his collection states that Calvert supplied "a variety of music and instruments, instruments lent out, tun'd and repaired." Source for notated version: the tune was popularized in the mid-1980's in the Portland, Oregon, dance community by accordion player Dennis Rothrock, then with the band Fiddle Head Rock; Rothrock learned it from the Battlefield band recording [Songer].

Printed sources: Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 530. Gow (Complete Repository), Book 2, 1802; pg. 38. Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; pg. 26-27. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 1; No. 7, pg. 31. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 75. Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), 1909/1994; pg. 59. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; pg. 22.

Recorded sources: Topic 2052, Battlefield Band - "Stand Easy" (1979). Topic TSCD468, Battlefield Band - "Opening Moves" (compilation CD).

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