Re 'Bully In The Alley', The notes currently drafted to go with the new recordings of John Short's versions of the shanties read: -
"BULLY IN THE ALLEY (mss.2936) crops up only from Short via Sharp ("I have no variants of this nor do I know of any printed version of it") – except for one other version that Hugill 'picked up in the West Indies'. Judging by extant recordings and the internet, all revival versions seem to have the same structure, and stem from Hugill. Hugill's version gives Shinbone Al as a location in his text, and Shinbone Alley in is St. George's, Bermuda. There also appears to be a consensus opinion that 'bully' in the context of this shanty, means drunk and incapable. Short's version gives no location and no indication of drunkenness. The fragments of Short's text are more reminiscent of Sally In Our Alley (the composition by Henry Carey published in 1726, which became very popular in the U.S. in the nineteenth century, not the Gracie Fields 1931 song) than of Bermudan alchoholism – but either 'explanation' of the shanty is probably grasping at straws and ultimately pointless. Hugill comments, on the version published by Sharp, that "I feel that this version has all the signs of being in a worn condition, as though Mr. Short's memory, in this case, didn't serve him well." It is certainly a difficult mss to get inside. Sharp does not always mark his mss with 'solo' or 'chorus', nor does he usually mark the stresses – the conclusion must be that when he does so (as he does throughout this shanty) - it is because he has specifically checked it with Short for whatever reason. Sharp's solo/chorus markings and stresses initially did not seem logical – however, the way it seems to work, actually as Sharp recorded/published it, is this:

1) Single solo line with 'Way – ay bully in the alley' chorus all sung twice.
2) The soloist then has a short line followed by a chorus of the 1st line with Way-ay etc.
3) This is followed by another short solo finished by a Way-ay etc. chorus.
4) All stresses are marked on the 'all' of 'alley' – not on other barlines!
5) It also seems likely that the Way-ay tune variations are just that and not fixed in the structure.

This structure is much more a Hoosier's form than the later Hugill form and may therefore endorse Hugill's opinion that the shanty derived from the cotton ports.

SOLO        So help me Bob I'm bully in the alley
CHORUS        Way – ay bully in the alley
SOLO        So help me Bob I'm bully in the alley
CHORUS        Way – ay bully in the alley
        
SOLO        Bully down in an alley
CHORUS        So help me Bob I'm bully in the alley
       Way – ay bully in the alley
SOLO        Bully in Tin Pot Alley
CHORUS        Way – ay bully in the alley

ENDS"