The Big Ship Sails on the Ally-Ally-Oh

THE big ship sails on the ally-ally-oh,
The ally-ally-oh, the ally-ally-oh;
The big ship sails on the ally-ally-oh,
On the last day of September.

The captain said it will never, never do,
Never, never do, never, never do;
The captain said it will never, never do,
On the last day of September.

The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea,
The bottom of the sea, the bottom of the sea;
The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea,
On the last day of September.

We all dip our heads in the deep blue sea,
The deep blue sea, the deep blue sea;
We all dip our heads in the deep blue sea,
On the last day of September.

This rhyme, usually sung by children during skipping games, is thought to have been inspired by the building of the Manchester Ship Canal (hence ‘alley’ or ally-ally-oh), first used in 1894 to enable huge trading vessels (big ships) into the centre of Manchester via the port of Liverpool. This created the unusual sight of massive steam ships pulling into the centre of a city far from the sea. The last day of September marks the end of the fair weather of summer and the start of the winter storms, which could spell disaster for any ship (The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea).

The final verse suggests a watery end for the crew of a shipwrecked vessel (We all dip our heads in the deep blue sea). Hence ‘dipping’ is most likely a euphemism for drowning, but it also has an echo of another kind of dipping –part of the ancient rituals of the communities who live and make their living by the sea. In Catholic countries, holy statues are still often carried down to the port on special days and dipped (along with the more enthusiastic worshippers) in the waves in order to seek protection against shipwreck and disaster in the year to come.