The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #31335   Message #731848
Posted By: Abby Sale
17-Jun-02 - 09:03 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Bully in the Alley
Subject: Lyr Add: BULLY IN THE ALLEY

At Mystic, a fine, new-to-me group from Michigan yclept 'Hoolie' sang
mostly Lakers' songs (of which most of us only know "Red Iron Ore" but
there's plenty of them) but also a rousing pumping chantey:
          BULLY IN THE ALLEY
(shown here as per Hugill, not as sung)

So 'elp me bob, I'm bully in the alley,
    Way-a-a  a-a-a, bul-ly in the alley!
So 'elp me bob, I'm bully in the alley,
    Bul-ly down in Shinbone Al!

Sally am de gal down in our alley,
Sally am de gal that I spliced nearly,

I'll leave my Sal an' I'll go a-sailin',
I'll leave my Sal an' go a-whalin'.

'bully' = drunk
'bob' generally means more-or-less God & maybe from
'Babe' as in "So help me, Jesus" -- an oath, not as in asking Bob for help.]

They turned v.1 to a chorus & added three more verses to make it a
singable length.  The extra three verses may be put together by one
Tom Lewis.  Hugull just notes that more verses should be improvized
onto this base (as with any chantey).  So ok.

Still, has anyone any other traditional verses for this?  There are a
couple of modern recordings but no attribution, I think.  I see no version
in any of my sea song books except Hugill.

The only older recording I've located so far (thanks to Jane Keefer) are
1.Clam Chowder. Clam Chowder Stewed, Clam Chowder, LP
 (197?), cut#A.02
2.Schneyer, Helen Bonchek. Ballads, Broadsides and Hymns,
 Folk Legacy FSI-050, LP (1974), cut# 8

(Mary-t-F adds that the Clam Chowder was reissued on the CD Spindrift, 1999.

I don't usually think of Hellen Schneyer as a chantey singer, but there
you go.  Sadly I don't have either of these.  Mea culpa, I missed a Folk-
Legacy good one - I thought I had them all.

Would Any have additional words (or tune) from these records or from any
other trad source?

I thank you.