Like Steve Parkes in his August 1999 post, I remember Peter Coe explaining the origins of the song when he was a guest at the Wessex Traditional Club in Bournemouth. He said that he'd come across the opening verse somewhere in print and that from its lyrics, it was obviously meant to be sung to the tune of Waltzing Matilda. He therefore wrote the rest of the song to fit that melody. I still have the poster sized 'broadsheet' of it, along with another of his songs, Joseph Baker.'