Here Comes Sally Down Our Alley

Here comes Sally down our alley;
Here comes Sally down our alley;
Here comes Sally down our alley,
Down in North Carolina!

Hands on shoulders, prominade;
Hands on shoulders, prominade;
Hands on shoulders, prominade,
Down in North Carolina!

Extra girls play the part of "Sallys." Sallys stand in the center of the circle. During the first verse, Sallys skip clockwise around in the alley while the pairs of boys and girls clap.

At the end of "Down in North Caroli-na!" each Sally will steal a partner by skipping up to a nearby boy and placing her hand on his shoulder.

Then in the next verse, all the boy-girl pairs turn and skip in prominade fashion, "Hands on shoulders, prominade," around the circle.

Any girls who are not part of a boy-girl pair become the new Sallys. They go to the center and wait for an alley to formed again.

Girls take turns skipping between rings, as the others sing as they come "down our alley."

Here Comes Sally Down Our Alley is a traditional North Carolina singing game. This version can be found in Nancy & John Langstaff, Sally Go Round the Moon: Revels Songs and Singing Games for Young Children, 1970, 1986.

For those who wonder why there are so many "Sallys" in some of this Southern folk material--Sally was a very popular first name for girls in the USA South. It was, apparently, particularly popular during the late 19th century and up through the first half of the 20th century into the 1960's.

As a girl's name,"Sally" is of British origin. In Britian, Sally was originally an affectionate "pet-name" or "nick name" used for someone with the name, "Sarah." The biblical name "Sarah" was viewed as a fine, Christian name.

Eventually, "Sally" was not only a variant of "Sarah," it became used as a name in its own right durring the 18th century. Like Sarah, Sally is said to mean "princess."

The biblical name, "Sarah," is from the Hebrew sarar which meant "princely" or "to rule," thus sarah indicated a member of the royal court, i.e. "princess."

Common variants of Sally also include, "Sallie," "Sal," Sallee," and "Salley."

Little Sally Walker
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