Lighter wrote

The late Bruce Olson unearthed the "original" - from about 1690!:

Ah! This is what first came to mind when I started checking out Hugill's "Slack Away Yer Reefy Tayckle." By chance, I had recorded "A Ship-load of Waggery" for the UC Santa Barbara's English Ballad Broadside Archive.
(I am a bit embarrassed by the actual recording; it was run off quite spuriously along with a set of other ballads all with the "Ah Cloris!" air, with the mainly-functional purpose of rapidly logging in realizations of the many broadside texts. I was also cracking up laughing as I was singing, and the recordist had to leave the room eventually so I could compose myself!)

Here is a link to the ballad (link to tune at left side): A Ship-load of Waggery

And because I am hard-pressed to find a recording of "Reefy Tayckle," here's that one:
Slack Away Yer Reefy Tackle

Thanks for this thread, very informative.
Gibb