Hello again!

Billy Riley: SHARP 58: I have no variants of this and I know of no other published version. TERRY2.26: Sung to me by Mr. Short. I have not found any other sailor who knows it. FOX-SMITH p52: I have come across very few of the younger generation of sailormen who have heard it. This version sung in 1850s. 3 verses. COLCORD p74: Halyard shanty. 3 verses. HUGILL: remarkable resemblance between Billy Riley and Tiddy High O! Billy Riley probably started life as a cotton-hoosiers song, but at sea it was used at halyards. 4 verses

Fox-Smith's comment is interesting - she published 'A Book of Shanties' in 1927.

TomB