Comments: 9

• Aliblu from GillinghamIt's so interesting reading all the comments, to see how varied our interpretations of the meaning of the song are. I always loved the idea of adventure on the high seas. I never knew the last two verses. I suppose only the original writer knows the meaning they wished to convey. Perhaps they're all true. We can just enjoy it for what it evokes in us. Whether it be a happy childhood memory, a historical event, or, as much poetry and verse conveys, a deeper metaphor, about our human experience.
• 1666 Maritime Law from UnderwaterThe song originates at the same time as Londons burning - both songs depict when our common law of the land was taken from us and government installed Maritime law. The law of the sea. In 1666 in 'September' the great fire of London was started. A new 'ship' (lordship) began. The 'berth' certificate was created. When a woman gives 'berth' down the 'berth canal'. The 'berth' certificate is a 'bond' on the 'stock' market. You are now a commodity. When you go to court you stand in a 'dock'. An old paining depicts the great fire of london from a ship heres the details
  
  (Great Fire of London, depicted by an unknown painter (1675), as it would have appeared from a boat in the vicinity of Tower Wharf on the evening of Tuesday, 4 September 1666)
  
  Our head in the deep blue sea means we are now in the control of maritime law. It took away all our right to our land. All laws of the land taken away.
  
  Here is an account -
  The fire pushed north on Monday into the heart of the City. Order in the streets broke down as rumours arose of suspicious foreigners setting fires. The fears of the homeless focused on the French and Dutch, England's enemies in the ongoing Second Anglo-Dutch War; these substantial immigrant groups became victims of street violence. On Tuesday, the fire spread over nearly the whole city, destroying St Paul's Cathedral and *leaping the River* Fleet to threaten Charles II's court at Whitehall.
• Salford Lad from UkIt is about the Manchester ship canal ! From certain viewpoints it looked as though the ships were sailing down the back alleys , ( back entry, ginnel, back, depending on where you came from ! I've seen it and we'd break out singing it as the big ship sailed down the alley. I still remember the ships fog horns in the docks (now Salford quays would you believe?) at Midnight on New Years Eve.
• Jonathan from CambridgeI remember signing this in nursery school in the early seventies. I read all I could find on the origins of this and from what I can piece together, the most logical is this (a hat tip to those that provided pieces to the puzzle)
  
  The big (cargo) ship sailed on the Ally Ally-O (Atlantic Ocean) on the last day of September (trade agreements would specify a price and ship date, which would have to be met or the shipper would be in default. September would be a reasonable date for the long haul across the ocean before winter). The captain said this will never never do (due to bad weather or storms, but was forced to set sail contractually). The big ship sank (as the captain predicted). We all dip our heads in the big blue sea (depicting the sailors drowning and also maybe the motion of ducking one’s head under the arched arms of others in the thread the needle dance).
• Pat from FormbyAli ali o is probably slang for 'Atlantic Ocean'.
• Seth from TacomaI have always though they sailed on the last day of September, since Fiscal year starting in October is not a new modern concept.
• Song Reader from North Of EnglandAs a Mancuinian, having sung it in the playground, the accent would suggest 'down t' canal-ly alley O!' The Captain's reluctance to sail may be compared with that in the Ballad 'Sir Patrick Spens' where he was aware of imminent bad weather and tidal issues caused by the moon's influence.
• Stephen Tricks from TringPossibly based on fact, not just a ditty. There are historical and legal reasons why the big ship sailed on the last day of September. A CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight) contract for the international sale of bulk goods such as wheat or coal would specify the month in which the goods were to be shipped so that the buyer would know roughly when they would arrive. There was of course no electronic communication. September would be a good month for shipments across the North Atlantic or other Northern Hemisphere sea in order for the cargo to arrive before winter. A shipment date of 30 September would be within the contract but a shipment date of 1 October would be a breach of the contract, giving the buyer a right to claim against the seller and the seller a potential claim against the shipowner. The fact that the captain said this will never, never do and that the ship sank to the bottom of the sea suggests that the captain did not want to sail on 30 September either because the ship was not yet seaworthy or because of bad weather, but he was under pressure from the seller and shipowner to sail on that day.
• Alan Hooley from DorsetAt school in the 1950s we were told it referred to the dangerous passage of trade ships (hence the 'big' ship) around the Cape of Storms, before the Suez canal opened, hence the verse about the ship sinking.

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