In the mid to late forties we sang "The big ship sails through the Illy Ally Oh, the Illy Ally Oh, the Illy Ally Oh, The big ship sails through the Illy Ally Oh, all on a Sunday morning - I don't remember any more but we sang it in York. Carol Guest's suggestion that it originated in Manchester and refers to the Ship Canal certainly makes sense and could well be the origin. Cheers!