Paul

The version I learned as a child (and which children in my school still use) goes as follows:

The big ship sails through the alley-alley-o
The alley-alley-o, the alley-alley-o;
The big ship sails through the alley-alley-o
On the last day of September.

Mother, father, may I go
May I go, may I go?
Oh mother, father, may I go
On the last day of September?

The captain says that'll never never do
Never never do, never never do.
The captain says that'll 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.

Children thread through an arch for the first three verses so they all end up joined in a line with crossed arms, then make a circle for the last verse and fall to the floor at the end! It's good to see that this is one playground game which is still the same in North Northumberland as it was when I played it thirty years ago

Margaret^^