The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #3628   Message #1273721
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
16-Sep-04 - 11:59 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Sally in our Alley
Subject: RE: Sally in our Alley
"Sally in Our Alley" by Henry Carey is best and most completely presented in The Oxford Book of English Verse, on line by Bartleby, and linked by Wolfgang.

There is a broadside in the Bodleian Collection with the title "Sally of Our Alley," printed by J. Pitts, London, c. 1802-1819, with the first line 'Of all the girls in our town' rather than the usual 'Of all the girls that are so smart,' which seems to be the line Carey wrote, and which rhymes with 'heart' in the third line. It includes the 'we'll bed' verse which is left out in Chappell.

The abbreviated version in the DT is a sad little fragment that should be replaced.