Ritchie, it's interesting that you would post that song with the die-dee-o" refrain as I was debating whether to post this song-as an example of an 19th century or earlier African American instructional dance movement songs:

LEAD A MAN *
Lead a man, di-dee-oe, lead a man, di-dee-o;
Lead a man, di-dee-oe, lead a man, di-dee-o;
You swin heads, di-dee-o, I swing feet, di-dee-o
Ain't dat nice, di-dee-o, walkin' on de ice, di-dee-o!

Ladies change, di-dee-o, ladies change, di-dee-o;
Ladies change, di-dee-o, ladies change, di-dee-o.
Ain't dat nice, di-dee-o, ain't dat nice, di-dee-o,
Ain't dat nice, di-dee-o, ain't dat nice, di-dee-o?

Oh my love, di-dee-o, oh my love, di-dee-o.
Oh my love, di-dee-o, oh my love, di-dee-o.
Ain't dat nice, di-dee-o, ain't dat nice, di-dee-o,

[title given as "Dance Song" in Dorothy Scarborough {assisted by Ola Lee Gulledge}, "On The Trial of Negro Folk Songs" { Folklore Associates edition 1963; pp.115, 116; originally published by Harvard University press, 1925}

-snip-

Since these songs were open ended, it wouldn't be difficult to imagine another verse being "Sail away ladies, di-dee-do, sail away ladies, di-dee-do".

Here's another di-dee-do song which is also found in "On The Trial of Negro Folk Songs":

MY MAMMY STOLE A COW
Steal up, young ladies,
My mammy stole a cow.
Steal up, my darlin' chile,
My mammy stole a cow.

Chorus:
Stoled dat cow in Baltimo'.
My mammy stole a cow.
Stoled dat cow in Baltimo'.
My mammy stole a cow.

Steal all around, don't slight no one,
My mammy stole a cow;
Steal all around, don't slight no one,
My mammy stole a cow.

[pg. 116, Scarborough]

Proir to giving these lyrics, Scarborough provided this explanation:

"These words to the next [song] have little coherence or ligucm evidently [they were] being used merely to bring in the directions of stealing up for the dance."
-snip-

I'm not sure what "stealing up for the dance" means. Is it an instruction movement used in square dancing or contra dancing?

Btw, Black social dance songs whose lyrics are based on what steps to do are still quite popular today as one can hear in R&B, dancehall Reggae music and other dances of the African Diaspora {and probably social music from the African continent itself}.