Cobbling or clouting - no water is involved ;-). Cobbling means repairing, so CJB's version does not apply to Henry VIII.

As for the shoes of the fisherman, Morris West's eponymous bestselling novel 1963 and the film starring Anthony Quinn should be mentioned. West did not coin the phrase, but helped it become widely known in this special wording.

"Grey Funnel Line" is from Cyril Tawney's collection. It is a work of individual poetry, although the author is not mentioned. We may think of a British Navyman of Anglican or Methodist confession, who knows his Bible. Either he was unfamiliar with Roman terminology and misunderstood that metaphor, or he recaptured it on purpose. Anyway, it seems an individual act to me, not an alternative folk tradition as Joe assumed back in '00. And it's not about piety here, just poetry.