Here's the version in Ord's Bothy Songs and Ballads (1930). Ord has no tune, and no background notes.


YOUNG ALLAN

A' the young sailors o' merry Ardeen
As they sat drinkin' wine,
They fell a-reesin' amang themsels
At an unlucky time.

Some o' them reesed their horse, their horse,
And some o' them reesed their hound;
But young Allan he reesed his bonnie new ship
It cost him mony a pound.

Oot then spak' a little wee boy
At the fit o' young Allan's knee—
"Ye lee, ye lee, young Allan," he said,
"Sae loud as I hear ye lee.

"My father has a bonnie ship
To-morrow it will sail wi' thee."
"What will the wager be, brave boys,
What will the wager be?"

Thirty pints o' guid red wine,
And drunken it shall be;
There's no a ship in all the seas
To-morrow will sail wi' me;

"Except the Duke o' Dermondee,
Or the Rose o' Auchlingene,
The Black Snake o' the Leelangin—
That three we winna tak' in."

They drank late, and they drank ear',
And they drank Marsindene,
And they took farewell o' their ladies gay.
And left their girls at hame.

They sailed up and they sailed doon,
Through mony a stormy stream,
Till they saw the Duke o' the Dermondee.
She sank and never was seen.

Young Allan he grat and he wrang his hands
And he didna ken hoo to dee;
For the winds blew loud, and the waves beatroud,
And we'll a' be lost at sea.

"0, where will I get a bonnie boy
To tak' my helm in hand,
Till I gang up to yon high topmast
To look out for some dry land?

"He'll hae the ae half o' my gear,
And the third part o' my lan',
And if we do get safe on shore,
He'll wed my daughter Ann."

"Here am I, a bonnie wee boy,
That'll tak' your helm in han',
Till ye gang up to yon high topmast
To look out for some dry lan'.

"I'll hae the ae half o' your gear,
And the third part o' your lan',
And if we do get safe on shore,
I'll wed your daughter Ann."

"Come down, come down, my master dear,
Ye see not what I see;
It's throch-and-through your bonnie new ship
The green-wall seas do gae."

"Ye'll tak' four and twenty feather beds
And busk the bonnie ship roun',
And ye'll tak' as much o' the canvas cloth
As keep her safe and soun'.

"And where ye want an oaken spell,
Ye'll beat the yellow gold in;
And where ye want an iron nail,
Ye'll drive a silver pin."

They took four and twenty feather beds
And buskit the bonnie ship roun',
And they took as much o' the canvas cloth
As keepit her safe and soun'.

And where they wanted an oaken spell,
They beat the yellow gold in;
And where they wanted an iron nail,
They drove a silver pin.

The ship she hearkened to their voice,
To her helm answered she;
And she gane skippin' out owre the waves
As a bird gangs owre the lea.

The first kent shore that we cam' to
Was at the Rose o' Linn,
Wi' guns and swords they kept us out,
And they wadna let us in.

The next kent shore that we cam' to
Was bonnie Aberdeen;
Wi' dancin' and wi' harpin' loud,
They welcomed young Allan in.

The sailors they danced on the green
Wi' their new buckled sheen,
To see their bonnie ship back again
Through twenty ships and ane.

There were four and twenty bonnie ships,
They a' set sail frae hame,
But nane o' them cam' back again
But just young Allan his lane.

"Where is now the bonnie boy
That took my helm in han',
Till I went up yon high topmast
To look for some dry lan'?

"He'll hae the ae half o' my gear,
And the third part o' my lan',
And since we've now got safe on shore
He'll wed my daughter Ann."

"Here am I, the bonnie wee boy,
That took your helm in han',
Till ye gaed up yon high topmast
To look out for some dry lan'.

I'll no hae the ae half o' your gear,
Nor the third part o' your lan';
But since we've now got safe on shore
I'll wed your daughter Ann."

Hey, it's one of those rare ballads with a happy ending. Nice story.
-Joe Offer-