Surely it is rather more fitting to ask where the term "Pinks and Posies" comes from in that shanty, seeing as the first verse of the chorus has so many variations?
Still rather academic, as it is a cast iron certainty that we aint never gonna know what was in the minds of the original singers.
But any words that would lend themselves to a good strong PULL on a rope
and therefore see the job done - that is what was important.