You need to consider what the term meant in Ravenscroft's time, not what it might have meant if it had been written last week in Barnsley or Burnley.

No, Les, Chappell isn't the oldest source. That is Ravenscroft; see the other, earlier discussions on the song (links above) for more info. Chappell reprinted the long-forgotten song in the mid 19th century; it remained mostly forgotten until introduced to the folk clubs in (I think) the 1960s. Meanwhile, similar songs turned up occasionally in tradition; it is from one of these, for instance, that the famous bull-milking verse was borrowed.