Daar kom die Alibama

[2] According to some sources, the song's history dates back to about 1863, and it originally referred to the warship, the CSS Alabama.

[3][4] The English name, Alabama, was respelt in the Cape Dutch vernacular to Alibama.

In the American Civil War, the CSS Alabama sailed under the Confederate States of America flag and raided U.S. commercial shipping, successfully gaining international infamy.

[6][7] The South African journalist and author Lawrence G. Green states that the lyrics' reference to a "reed bed" possibly points to the song having a more humble origin.

[8] Green states that in the 1800s, there was a riverboat based on the Berg River, also named Alabama (Alibama), that once a year used to deliver reeds to the harbor of Cape Town.

A plaque commemorating the visit of the CSS Alabama to Simonstown in 1863. It is commonly believed that the ship's visit to the Cape and its war time activities in the water surrounding it is the origin of the song.