"The Rose of Allandale" (also “The Rose of Allendale”)

"The Rose of Allandale" (also “The Rose of Allendale”),

is an English folk song, with words by Charles Jefferys and music by Sidney Nelson, composed in the 1830s and appearing in Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine in 1833. Because the song has been recorded by Paddy Reilly and Mary Black, many people mistakenly believe the song to be a (traditional) Irish song. It is also often believed to be of Scottish origin.

 

Background

The Allandale referenced in the song is likely fictitious, and does not refer to a real place. Ambiguity comes partly due to the popular belief that the English song lyrics are about a maiden from the town of Allendale, Northumberland. It is also erroneously associated with Allandale, Scotland, a village which did not exist at the time of the song’s creation. It should be mentioned that the piece is not a traditional folk song from any particular region, although the lyrics do suggest that the 19th century writer had a Northern British setting in mind due to the mention of highlands.

 

In the British tradition of love songs, the rose is regarded as a beautiful and romantic flower. "Nicknames" are often given to the nicest or prettiest young woman or women of a region or village, e.g. "the Rose of...", "the Flower of...", "the Pride of..."  (e.g. "the Rose of Tralee" and "the Flower of Magherally"). Similarly, in Phil the Fluther's Ball by Percy French, we find "The flower of Ardmagullion, and the pride of Pethravore."

 

Similarities with a translated version of an older German folk song having a comparable melody have led some to suggest that the song is rooted in an old "altwürttembergische Melodie" from the Rems valley. The Rems song is a soldier's farewell to his beloved, reflecting the unstable times of war.

 

Recordings

The song has been recorded by Paddy Reilly and Mary Black who are both Irish singers so the mistaken belief the song is a (traditional) Irish song is common. It is also often believed to be a Scottish song (because of the variant with Allandale).

 

The song was also recorded by the popular Scottish folk singers The Corries, and the Irish band The Dubliners (e.g. on their 1987 album 25 Years Celebration)  as well as in bagpipe versions, e.g. Grampian Police Pipe Band on their album Pipes and Drums of Scotland, song no. 13.  Jean Redpath (a Scotswoman) recorded the song on her 1980 album Lowlands.

The Rose of Allandale-John McDermott

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzCrQ4ob2cY

 

The Rose of Allandale sung by Andy Mackie

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds8kwh7_CXk

 

mary black singing rose of allendale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbeZZ98eRYA

 

The Rose of Allendale - The Corries

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MTVD6NbAKI

 

Rose of Allendale - The Dubliners | Festival Folk (1985)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf7rBWclo-A

☘️ Festival Folk was a six-part series featuring The Dubliners, with special guests Jim McCann and Paddy Reilly recorded in concert at the National Stadium in Dublin. ☘️

This episode of Festival Folk was broadcast on 21 October 1985 on Irish Television Channel RTÉ.

 

Lyrics

 

The moon was bright, the night was clear
No breeze came over the sea
When Mary left her highland home
And wandered forth with me
The flowers be-decked the mountainside
And fragrance filled the vale
But by far the sweetest flower there
Was the Rose of Allendale

 

Oh the Rose of Allendale
Sweet Rose of Allendale
By far the sweetest flower there
Was the Rose of Allendale

 

Where e'er I wandered east or west
Though fate began to lour
A solace still was she to me
In sorrow's lonely hour
When tempests lashed our lonely barque
And rent her quivering sail
One maiden's form withstood the storm
'Twas the Rose of Allendale

 

Oh sweet Rose of Allendale
Sweet Rose of Allendale
One maiden's form withstood the storm
'Twas the Rose of Allendale

 

And when my fever'd lips were parched
On Afric's burning sands
She whispered hopes of happiness
And tales of distant lands
My life has been a wilderness
Unblessed by fortune's wheel
Had fate not linked my love to hers
The Rose of Allendale

 

Oh sweet Rose of Allendale
Sweet Rose of Allendale
Had fate not linked my love to hers
The Rose of Allendale