You know guys, the more I look at the lyrics of Tom Bowling, the more I'm inclined to believe that the song my grandfather sang was not Tom Bowling, but a parody of it. My mother was quite adamant that it was Johnny's Gone Aloft and her mind is still sharp at age 79. She said she recalled a reference to a Captain and that Tom was not manly but "womanly", with big blue eyes. As my grandfather only sang this song when drunk and in the company of his old ex RN buddies, I'm inclined to believe it had some naughty bits along the lines of "the cabin boy, the cabin boy, the dirty little nipper". It might also explain why my brother recalled it as Tom Bowline. Anybody recall any rugby songs along this line that might be a parody of this song?