I'm not sure which of the two threads this should be posted on, but I'll try this one. 'Pulling Hard Against the Stream' was sung in 1867 by the prolific music hall artist Harry Clifton, who also claimed its authorship. I don't see any reason to doubt the claim but so many of his songs have gone into oral tradition (some may,perhaps, have originated this way) that the idea of 'authorship' can get a bit fluffy at the edges. Many of his songs had a 'motto'character, as with 'Pulling Hard...', 'Always do As I Do', 'As Long as the World Goes Round', 'Bear it Like a Man', 'Work Boys Work and be Contented', 'Paddle your Own Canoe', 'Where There's a Will There's a Way' and so on... Clifton's songs were so popular that they were much borrowed and parodied.