I was driven off line last night by the first Spring thunderstorm of the season. Given these early references to "Round the corner, Sally", which include two possible mentions by Dana, and the ones by Reynolds and Lucett, I am going to suggest that this chanty is one that *could* have been used on board the "Julia Ann" on her voyages in 1853-1855. I think that it is particularly significant that all three of these sources are from the Pacific/South Pacific area. And there is a sense that "Round the corner, Sally" is well-known and well-established as a ship-board working song. It is not so clear what the function of the song was at that point. It's also not clear what the relationship was to the later (?) blackface minstrel song by Dan Emmett called "My Ole Aunt Sally". And the same is true with regard to the corn-shucking song about "Round the corn, Sally".

It does seem that this phrase, "round the corner, Sally", from one or all three of these sources (chanty, blackface, corn-shucking) became a popular saying. Here are two examples. The first is from 1873, from REMINISCENCES OF THE LEWS; TWENTY YEARS' WILD SPORT IN THE HEBRIDES, by "Sixty-One":

http://books.google.com/books?id=K_cPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA183&dq=%22Round+the+corner,+Sally%22&lr=&cd=33#v=onepage&q=%22Round%20the%20c

And the second one, from a much later book (which seems to be incorporating earlier material ?), by Ralph Moody about the Overland Stage travel called STAGECOACH WEST (1967):

http://books.google.com/books?id=OX4lEodmmMkC&pg=PA122&dq=%22Round+the+corner,+Sally%22&lr=&cd=24#v=onepage&q=%22Round%20the%20c

With regard to the last reference I am keeping in mind Lighter's principles of critical research and not basing any conclusions on this reference about earlier historical evidence. Finally, here is one other reference to "Round the corn, Sally" in relation to corn-shucking in 1848 (from the South):

http://books.google.com/books?id=PCpKAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA287&dq=%22Round+the+corn,+sally%22&lr=&cd=23#v=onepage&q=%22Round%20the%20cor