Annotation:Banks of Allan (The)
X:1 T:Banks of Alan M:6/8 L:1/8 B:The Calvert Collection (1799, p. 10) Z:Nigel Gatherer K:D D|TFGF FED|FA[AF] [A2F2] d|TBdd Add|Bdd Add| TFGF FED|FA[AF] [A2F2] d|TBcd AGF|FEE [A,2E2]|| d/e/|~fgf fed|fa[af] [a2f2]g|~fgf fed|gbb b2 g| Tfaa efg|{c}ded fed|TBcd AGF|FEE [A,2E2]||
BANKS OF ALLAN, THE. AKA and see "Bog of Allen (3) (The)," "Swallows in Flight." AKA - "Banks of the Allan (Water)." Scottish, Country Dance Tune (6/8) or Jig. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Calvert): 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 Allen (3) (The)," "Swallows in Flight" and "Tailor’s Thimble (1) (The)." An early version was published in 1799 by Thomas Calvert, a musician from Kelso, Scotland. A note with his collection states that Calvert supplied "a variety of music and instruments, instruments lent out, tun'd and repaired."
