Banks of Allan, The
Notation:
Standard Notation
ABC Notation
Mandolin Tablature
Violin Tablature
traditional
PDF Files:
--- choose file type ---
Standard Notation
Mandolin Tablature
Violin Tablature
Tune Sheet
English
Play
MIDI
No audio
available
Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
"The Banks of Allan", also known as "The Bog of Allen" and "The Banks of the Allan Water"<br> is an English and Scottish country dance tune (6/8) or Jig in D Major or E minor (it uses<br> a six-tone scale, omitting the C and ending on E).<br> The parts are played ABB (Sharp) or AABB (Gow, Karpeles, Kerr, Raven).<br> The river Allan is a tributary of the Forth of Firth that flows through Perthshire and<br> Stirlingshire before it empties into the Forth near Bridge of Allan. The Scots poet<br> Robert Burns wrote a love song (appearing in Thomson's Scottish Airs) to the tune<br> "Allan Water" that begins:<br> By Allan-side I chanc'd to rove,<br> While Phoebus sank beyond Benledi;<br> The winds were whispering thro' the grove,<br> The yellow corn was waving ready....<br> Maud Karpeles notes "This tune is also suitable as an accompaniment to Rapper Sword Dances".<br> A rapper sword dance (also known as short sword dance) is a variation of sword dance that<br> emerged from the pit villages of Tyneside in North East England, where miners first<br> performed the tradition. The dances are performed by teams of five with short flexible<br> swords that are each held by two dancers forming a continuous chain. The dancers weave<br> among themselves while clogging.<br> Irish variants are "The Bog of Allen" and "The Tailor’s Thimble".<br> An early version was published in 1799 by Thomas Calvert, a musician from Kelso, Scotland.<br> A note with his collection states that Calvert supplied "a variety of music and<br> instruments, instruments lent out, tun'd and repaired".<br> It was printed in<br> Carlin's The Gow Collection (1986),<br> Gow's Complete Repository, Book 2 (1802),<br> Karpeles & Schofield's A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs (1951),<br> Kerr's Merry Melodies, vol. 1 (1880),<br> Köhlers’ Violin Repository, Book 1 (1881-1885) (appears as "The Banks of the Allan Water"),<br> Raven's English Country Dance Tunes (1984),<br> Sharp's Country Dance Tunes (1909) and<br> Songer's Portland Collection (1997).<br> It was recorded by Battlefield Band on Stand Easy (1979) and Opening Moves.<br>
Click
here
for a full page view.