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13 Jan 04 - 12:58 PM (#1091944) Subject: Lyr Req: june tabor's young allan From: Roberto I'd lie to get the text of the ballad Young Allan (Child #245) as sung by June Tabor. Many of the words in my transcription I'm not sure of, and some I miss. Please, help. Thank you. Roberto All the skippers in Scarsburgh Sat drinking at the wine They fell to boasting one by one Unlucky (?) was the time And some there praised their hawk, their hawk And some there praised their hound But Young Allan he praised his comely cog That lay upon the strand There's not a ship in Scarsburgh Can sail along with mine Except it be the Burges Black Or the Small Cordvine There's not a one among you a' Can sail along with me But the comely cog o Hecklandhawk And the Flower o Germanie And the Black Snake o leve (?) London They a' can outsail me (?????) Then it's up and spoke a little wee boy: So loud I hear you lie My master has a coal-carrier Can take the wind from thee For she'll sail in at your foremast And out at your fore-lee And nine times in a winter's night She'll take the wind from thee And it's then they fell to wagering Full fifty tuns of wine And aye as much o' the good black silk Would clothe their ladies fine But they had not sailed a league, a league A league but barely three When through the side of the bonny ship They saw the green walled sea Then Young Allan he cried and he wrung his hands For he knew not what to do The wind is loud and the waves are proud We'll all sink in the sea O where can I get a little wee boy Will take my helm in hand? And who will steer my bonny ship And bring it safe to the land? I'll give him the half of all me gold And a third part of me land And if he'll bring us safe ashore I'll give him me daughter Ann O here am I, the little wee boy Will take your helm in hand And I will steer your bonny ship And bring it safe to the land Take fifty ells of the canvas broad And wrap it all around And as much of pitch and as much of tar To make her hale and sound Spring up, spring up, me bonny ship And bring us safe to land For every iron nail in you With silver you shall have ten .... (????) To beat (?) the red gold in Now the ship she listened all the while And hearing of her hire She .... (????????) the salt salt sea As sparks do from the fire And the first land they came upon 'Twas bonny Aberdeen The pipes and drums did sweetly play To welcome Young Allan in O bring to me the little wee boy That took my helm in hand And who did steer my bonny ship And bring it safe to the land I'll give him the half of all me gold And a third part of me land And since he brought us safe ashore I'll give him me daughter Ann O, here am I, the little wee boy That took your helm in hand 'Thoug I'll have none of your land or gold I'll wed your daughter Ann Forty ships went out that night Forty ships and five But none of one of them come back But Young Allan and I |
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13 Jan 04 - 01:02 PM (#1091947) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: june tabor's young allan From: GUEST,Mad4Mud at work There are two listings for this title in the DT. Have you checked them both? |
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13 Jan 04 - 01:54 PM (#1092007) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: june tabor's young allan From: Malcolm Douglas Of the DT texts, the first is relevant here. The second acknowledges no source of any kind, but it is the text that James Duncan (The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection, II, 1983, no. 326R) got from Mrs Margaret Gillespie, without a tune. The DT midi provided belongs to a different version (Miraladen (326B), which Gavin Greig got from Mrs Thain, 1908). The DT mentions a "missing verse", which requires some amplification; so I quote from Greig-Duncan, II, p.578: "Mrs Gillespie adds a note at the end: 'There should be another verse, stating that he drowned him, instead of giving him his daughter. Perhaps you will find it some-where else.' Duncan comments: 'Mrs Gillespie never heard such a verse, however; she was only told that it existed. William [Duncan] says that this specified additional verse is a mistake between this ballad and the sinking of the 'French Gallee'." June Tabor's arrangement of the song (and it would not be a bad idea to name the recording on which it appears; we are not all fans) is an anglicised collation, so far as I can see, made of bits from the various texts in Child; including his example C (The first DT file) and A. |
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13 Jan 04 - 03:36 PM (#1092090) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: june tabor's young allan From: Roberto The recording is June Tabor ON AIR - BBC, Strange Fruit SFRSCD074, recordings 1976-1990, published 1998. |
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14 Jan 04 - 03:04 AM (#1092473) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: june tabor's Young Allan From: Joe Offer I guess it might be an idea to post the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index. -Joe Offer- 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 surviveAUTHOR: 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 Go to the Ballad Search form The Ballad Index Copyright 2003 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. |
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14 Jan 04 - 03:29 AM (#1092479) Subject: ADD Version: Young Allan From: Joe Offer 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- |
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14 Jan 04 - 04:18 AM (#1092498) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: june tabor's Young Allan (Child 245) From: Roberto Thank you, Joe. Ord's text helps me to make a step forward in the 14th stanza, although I still can't complete it: Spring up, spring up, me bonny ship And bring us safe to land For every iron nail in you With silver you shall have ten And where you want an oaken .... I'll beat the red gold in. I'm not a June Tabor's fan, as Malcolm seems to think, but this is a fine recording (and I know no other recording of this ballad): I hope someone has got the CD and is going to help me with this transcription. |
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15 Jan 04 - 04:05 AM (#1093141) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: june tabor's Young Allan (Child 245) From: Roberto Now I've reached a complete text, but with some doubts, especially on the 15th and 4th stanzas. All the skippers in Scarsburgh Sat drinking at the wine They fell to boasting one by one Unlucky was the time And some there praised their hawk, their hawk And some there praised their hound But Young Allan he praised his comely cog That lay upon the strand There's not a ship in Scarsburgh Can sail along with mine Except it be the Burges Black Or the Small Cordvine There's not a one among you a' Can sail along with me But the comely cog o Hecklandhawk And the Flower o Germanie And the Black Snake o Leve London They a' can outsail me (?) Then it's up and spoke a little wee boy: So loud I hear you lie My master has a coal-carrier Can take the wind from thee For she'll sail in at your foremast And out at your fore-lee And nine times in a winter's night She'll take the wind from thee And it's then they fell to wagering Full fifty tuns of wine And aye as much o' the good black silk Would clothe their ladies fine But they had not sailed a league, a league A league but barely three When through the side of the bonny ship They saw the green walled sea Then Young Allan he cried and he wrung his hands For he knew not what to do The wind is loud and the waves are proud We'll all sink in the sea O where can I get a little wee boy Will take my helm in hand? And who will steer my bonny ship And bring it safe to the land? I'll give him the half of all me gold And a third part of me land And if he'll bring us safe ashore I'll give him me daughter Ann O here am I, the little wee boy Will take your helm in hand And I will steer your bonny ship And bring it safe to the land Take fifty ells of the canvas broad And wrap it all around And as much of pitch and as much of tar To make her hale and sound Spring up, spring up, me bonny ship And bring us safe to land For every iron nail in you With silver you shall have ten And where you want an oaken bolt I'll beat the red gold in Now the ship she listened all the while And hearing of her hire She sprang as fast oot (?) the salt salt sea As sparks do from the fire And the first land they came upon 'Twas bonny Aberdeen The pipes and drums did sweetly play To welcome Young Allan in O bring to me the little wee boy That took my helm in hand And who did steer my bonny ship And bring it safe to the land I'll give him the half of all me gold And a third part of me land And since he brought us safe ashore I'll give him me daughter Ann O, here am I, the little wee boy That took your helm in hand 'Thoug I'll have none of your land or gold I'll wed your daughter Ann Forty ships went out that night Forty ships and five But none of one of them come back But Young Allan and I |
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15 Jan 04 - 05:19 PM (#1093610) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: june tabor's Young Allan (Child 245) From: Wolfgang Roberto, I don't have the recording so I can't really help, but I now very well your feelings for I often do try to transcribe songs and even one line whihc is not perfect bothers me. With Child Ballads I often go to this place and look at the different versions. None of these versions has exactly your two missing lines, but some are quite close and might give you an idea. To me both lines make sense in your version but as I said I don't have the recording. Good luck. Wolfgang |
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16 Jan 04 - 12:59 PM (#1094257) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: june tabor's Young Allan (Child 245) From: Roberto Thank you, Wolfgang, for your solidarity. I had already checked the Child texts, and that site is one I often use. I think by now my transcription is almost complete. The first question mark is because I'm not sure of the meaning: is Young Allan saying that he can beat every ship except for the three he mentions? The secon question mark is because I think I hear "oot", but I'm not sure June Tabor uses such a scotticized word, although she also sings "a'" for "all" and uses other Scots words and expressions. |