We have found 5 versions collected in Maine -the earliest is 1924- but one man claimed to have learned it from his father who "escaped from a British Man-o-war" We published one in our recent book "Songs of Ships & Sailors" with these notes

"A particularly graphic song of an encounter between a merchantman and a pirate, this seems to originate in Scotland, appearing in the Greig/Duncan Collection, and migrating to Ireland, Maritime Canada, and Maine. One feature which does not occur in all versions is that of the oblivious young lady below decks singing to the accompaniment of her harp or guitar. The ruthless pirate captain ends her concert with a stroke of his sword, apparently to prevent a fight amongst the sailors. The subject of her song “Home, Sweet Home” suggests the piece is no older than that ditty, namely 1828. Two other sets of lyrics, collected by Phillips Barry and Fannie Eckstorm circa 1924, are published in Minstrelsy of Maine. One of the singers, Horace Priest, learned songs from his father who, he says, escaped a British man-o’-war while off Boston due to harsh treatment and then came to the Maine woods (Minstrelsy of Maine, p. 259).
Two rows of teeth = the cannon ports in the ship’s side. Sometimes ships would disguise themselves by covering their gunports with a canvas curtain.