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Lullabies and Other Lilting Melodies for Dulcimer
Lullabies, Folk, and Classical Selections
by Lorinda Jones

A Rose for February

Rose of Allendale for Mountain Dulcimer

February is the month of Valentine's Day. What better way to honor it than to play a romantic ballad? This song has everything: romance, adventure and most importantly, a wonderful chorus perfect for sing a-longs! This is not as old as most of the songs in my book English Songs and Ballads for Appalachian Dulcimer. I suspect that it is a Victorian era ballad.

(The) "Rose of Allendale" is a great song that has gone through the folk clubs and pubs of England and Scotland for years. I first heard it in 1986 at the Cambridge Folk Festival when I was lucky to catch a performance of John Tam's band, "Home Service." The band and the song were so incredible I rushed up to the booth and bought their album "Alright Jack," which to this day is one of my favorite recordings.

This summer, my daughter and I were at the Kindred Gathering Dulcimer Festival in Port Townsend Washington. It was hosted by Robert Force. Robert had asked Andy Mackie to perform and teach at the festival. Andy is a living legend. His foundation has as a mission, the teaching of music to children. Andy plays the harmonica and holds the record for creating the world's largest harmonica band. Andy gives away harmonicas by the thousands and teaches anyone to play. He is an elderly Scotsman (although young at heart). On a cold Sunday morning, as we gathered around the fire pit at the Fog Farm, someone called out, "Give us a song, Andy!" Andy began singing The Rose of Allendale and I had the honor of accompanying him. Andy did the song in G and played the breaks on his harmonica. I wish I had a recording of that morning.

A note about the recording; the vocalist is Robin McCreavy Banks. I was fortunate to have played with Robin in the Portland Oregon Band "No Seamus" for four years. We were both a dance band that played at Irish ceilis and played various taverns and festivals throughout the Northwest. After we disbanded, I brought the members of the band together along with the legendary Nancy Curtin and Lizbeth McLoughlin into the recording studio and did the accompanying recording for the English Songs and Ballads book. The recording was also released separately as a CD and is available through CD Baby as a CD or digital download. The book is out of print but it too is available as a digital download through Mel Bay. The collection is one of my favorite projects as I love these songs!

This song is in the key of F. The tuning is one that is called "reverse Ionian". Tune the dulcimer CFC. It can also be played in the key of G. Simply tune your dulcimer DGD. I love this tuning as to the chordal harmonies it produces. When you play the tablature, the descending chord lines are truly beautiful to hear.

About the Author
Lance Frodsham makes his home in the Pacific Northwest. He has taught, played and written about the dulcimer ever since his debut in 1983 on the Kicking Mule Records label. Like many others, Lance was first introduced to the mountain dulcimer through the recordings of Richard Fariņa. While in high school, Lance hitchhiked up Highway 1 from his home in Glendale, California in order to meet Richard Fariņa. Surprised to find that Fariņa had died two years previously, Lance nevertheless made Pacific Grove his home after graduation. He bought a Capritaurus dulcimer from a drunk on Cannery Row and found his way up to Felton, California, where The Capritaurus Dulcimer Shop was the center of the West Coast dulcimer revival. Lance has written and appeared in three books published by Mel Bay and has recorded LPs and CDs for Kicking Mule Records, Wizmak and Mel Bay. Lance has taught at many festivals including the Kindred Gathering, the Claremont Folk Festival, the California Traditional Music Festival, Stringalong Festival in Wisconsin and the Appalachian State University Dulcimer Workshop in Boone, NC. Lance has hosted the Kindred Gathering twice. The Kindred Gathering is a thirty year old moving dulcimer festival which appears somewhere on the West Coast every August, Lance Frodsham can be contacted at his web page, http://www.e-z.net/~frodsham