The phrase could also possibly be influenced by RLS's memory of some verses from W S Gilbert's 1866 Bab Ballads; The Yarn of the Nancy Bell.

...'Twas in the good ship Nancy Bell
That we sailed to the Indian Sea,
And there on a reef we come to grief,
Which has often occurred to me.

'And pretty nigh all the crew was drowned
(There was seventy-seven o' soul),
And only ten of the Nancy's men
Said 'Here!' to the muster-roll...

Matthew