The Banks Of Allen
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
THE BANKS OF ALLEN (J8x32) 2C (4C set) MMM 11- 8 1L+2M cross RH, 1s+2s ½ turn partner LH on side to prom hold, 2s dance to 1st place as 1s to 2nd place, set, turn to face each other 2s end opposite side
9-16 1s+2s in prom hold turn to sides (1s to Ladies' and 2s to Men's), 1s+2s set and turn to face each other, 1M+2L cross RH and Men change place on the side LH
17-24 1s lead down the middle and back
25-32 1s+2s dance Poussette. 21
(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams
Dance Instruction Videos
The Banks Of Allen - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
The Allan Water (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Alain) is a river in central Scotland. Rising in the Ochil Hills, it runs through Strathallan to Dunblane and Bridge of Allan before joining the River Forth. It is liable to cause floods in lower Bridge of Allan.It shares its name with a tributary of the River Teviot. The name is similar to the Ale Water in Berwickshire, the River Alness in Ross-shire, the Allander Water in Stirlingshire, the River Alne and the Ayle Burn in Northumberland, the River Ellen in Cumbria, and several names in the south of England, Wales and Cornwall. Ptolemy, who wrote his Geography about 150 AD, gave the names of some of these rivers as Alauna or Alaunos. Ekwall says that Alauna or Alaunos are British river names. Nicolaisen says that the name Allan is of Pre-Celtic Indo-European origin. Its original form was Alauna, from the Indo-European root *el-/ol-, meaning "to flow, to stream". Several European rivers and settlements have names that may come from that root. Others say that Alauna was a Celtic river goddess, also found in Brittany; Alaunus was a Gaulish god of medicine and prophesy.
Two broadside ballads refer to the "Allan Water".
The Scottish ballad, Allan Water - Song beginning "Allan Water's wide and deep", anonymous, probable date of publication 1701.
Allan Water's wide and deep,
and my dear Anny's very bonny;
Wides the Straith that lyes above't,
if't were mine I'de give it all for Anny;
But why, O why should she disdain,
since my Heart's Love to her I carry
Tho I had a Thousand Hearts in one
unshar'd I'de give them all to Anny.
The other, more familiar, English ballad On The Banks Of Allan Water - Song (composed by Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775-1818) known as "Monk" Lewis after he wrote his popular terror romance The Monk in 1795) relates the death of a miller's daughter whose soldier lover proves untrue. This version, popularised by C. E. Horn in his comic opera, Rich and Poor (1812), is sung by Bathsheba Everdene at the sheepshearing supper in Thomas Hardy's novel Far From The Madding Crowd (1874).
On the banks of Allan water,
When the sweet spring time did fall,
Was the Miller's lovely daughter,
Fairest of them all.
For his bride a soldier sought her,
And a wining tongue had he;
On the banks of Allan water,
None so gay as she.
The Banks Of Allen Water Song - Information Video
Banks Of Allen Water River - Information Video
The Allan Water Above Bridge Of Allan In Summer, 2013
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Banks of Allan Water article on Wikisource.
Text from this original Broadside Ballad Entitled 'Allan Water' article on https://digital.nls.uk.
Text from this original Banks of Allan Water article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Dumyat, Creative Commons Licence 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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