One version of #5238 in the Roud Index is called "Bonny Boy in Blue." I don't have that one, but it's cross-indexed to Sam Henry's Songs of the People:

My Sailor Boy

My boy he is a sailor,
a sailor boy in blue,
I know he has my heart,
And I hope he will prove true.
He's gone away to plough the sea,
To plough the raging main,
And soon he will return again
To his own dear Mary Jane.

My heart it is a-breaking
Until the day will come
When he and I will meet
When he comes rambling home;
His cheeks are red and rosy
And his heart is ever true,
He is the darling of my heart,
My sailor boy in blue.

He promised he would bring me
A monkey and a bear,
and every sort of foreign toy,
And mats all made with hair,
Some flying fish and tortoise shells,
And shells from Timbuctoo,
And such a lot of presents from
My sailor boy in blue.


Singer: Mrs. Delargey (Waterfoot, Glenariff) 11 June 1938


Could this be a version of the song you seek?
-Joe Offer-