I stumbled on this discussion today. Some years ago I attempted a compilation of several versions of the Ballad of Eskimo Nell and put it on my personal web-site. I tried to preserve only those lines with good scansion because, like several contributors, I was told (ca 1955) it was written by a "real" poet - Coward was named as a possible. The lines I removed are still preserved at the end of the file if you prefer another version. Anyone interested can get it on my web-site at http://www.low.net.au/eskimo.html with compliments.
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