Allan Water
The Allan Water is a river in Perthshire and ultimately Stirlingshire. It gives a name to Bridge of Allan in the latter county where, unsurprisingly, the river is bridged.
Rising in the Ochil Hills of Perthshire, the Allan runs southwestwards through Strathallan then turns south to Dunblane, after which town it crosses into Stirlingshire and enters Bridge of Allan. At Bridge of Allan the river discharges its waters into the River Forth.
The river is liable to cause floods in lower Bridge of Allan.[1]
Name
The river shares its name with a tributary of the River Teviot. The name is similar too to the Ale Water in Berwickshire, the Allander Water in Stirlingshire, the River Alne and the Ayle Burn in Northumberland, the River Ellen in Cumberland, and several names all across Great Britain from here to Cornwall.[2]
Ptolemy, who wrote his Geographia about 150 AD, may be referring to such rivers when he gave such names as gave Alauna or Alaunos.[3] Ekwall says that Alauna or Alaunos are British (Old Welsh) river names,[4] while Nicolaisen claims that the name Allan is of Pre-Celtic Indo-European origin, perhaps a form '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.[5]
Others say that Alauna was a Celtic river goddess, also found in Brittany.[6]
The river in song
Two broadside ballads refer to the "Allan Water". According to one, the "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."
The other, more familiar, ballad begins "On the banks of Allan Water" and 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). A similar rendition was recorded with church organ accompaniment by Italian singer Ariella Uliano in 2008.
Outside links
- "Forth District Salmon Fishery Board"
- "River Forth Fisheries Trust"
- "Allan Water Angling Improvement Association"
References
- ↑ Allanwater Herald. Report gives options into flood reduction in Bridge of Allan. 3 July 2013.
- ↑ Nicolaisen, W F H (1986) [First published 1976]. Scottish place-names : their study and significance. London: Batsford. pp. 186–187. ISBN 978-0-7134-5234-1. OCLC 19174615.
- ↑ Müllerus, C (Ed) (1883) Claudii Ptolemaei Geographia, Paris.
- ↑ Ekwall, E (1960) The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names, 4th edition. London: Oxford University Press. p.7
- ↑ Nicolaisen, W F H (1986) [First published 1976]. Scottish place-names : their study and significance. London: Batsford. pp. 186–187. ISBN 978-0-7134-5234-1. OCLC 19174615.
- ↑ Monaghan, P (2004) The encyclopedia of Celtic mythology and folklore. New York: Facts on File. p.13
Coordinates: 56°08′30″N 3°57′16″W / 56.14167°N 3.95444°W
