I guess it might be an idea to post the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index.
-Joe Offer-

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Young Allan [Child 245]

DESCRIPTION: In a drunken gathering, Allan boasts of the speed of his ship. Challenged, he takes part in a race and is caught in a storm. Allan calls on a "bonny boy" to steer the ship (with offers of reward), then begs the ship to rescue him. Somehow, all survive
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (Skene ms.)
KEYWORDS: ship storm gambling escape
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Child 245, "Young Allan" (5 texts)
Bronson 245, "Young Allan" (16 versions)
Ord, pp. 320-322, "Young Allan" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 608-611, "Young Allan" (1 text)
DBuchan 58, "Young Allan" (1 text)
DT 245, YNGALAN* YNGALAN2*
Roud #242
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sir Patrick Spens" [Child 58] (lyrics)
Notes: Child sees analogies between this ballad and mythical vessels which sailed at the will of their masters (e.g. the Phæacian ships in Odyssey viii.557 or the Scandinavian Elliða). Given, however, the sorry state of the versions in Child, one may doubt how much of this is tradition and how much simply confusion. - RBW
File: C245

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2003 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.