Annotation:Big Ship (The)

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BIG SHIP, THE. AKA and see "Glise à Sherbrooke," "Reel de Tadoussac." English, Polka, Air (2/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Originally the Quebecois reel "Reel de Tadoussac," here rendered as a polka. Peter Kennedy evidently adapted it for the children's game-song called "The Big Ship Sails," "There's a Big Ship Sailing" and similar titles. Several Irish and British versions are extent, but all go along the lines:

The big ship sails through the alley-alley-o
The alley-alley-o, the alley-alley-o;
The big ship sails through the alley-alley-o
On the last day of September.

Mother, father, may I go
May I go, may I go?
Oh mother, father, may I go
On the last day of September?

The captain says that'll never never do
Never never do, never never do.
The captain says that'll never never do
On the last day of September.

The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea
The bottom of the sea, the bottom of the sea;
The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea
On the last day of September.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book, vol. 2), 1954; p. 25.

Recorded sources:

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