Another variant, that Henry {aka Hyam} Morris, singer-guitarist and skiffle-group leader of the mid-50s used to sing, with actions on the chorus not unlike Tommy Makem's, was ~~

I sit and mend shoes for a living
My wife drinks whisky and gin
And as fast as I makes any money-i
She spends it down at the Sun Inn

To my rye-tie-diddle-i
My rye-tie-a-dooral-i-day
To my rye-tie-a-dooral-i-diddle-i
My rye-tie-a-dooral-i-day


My wife has become a teetotaller
She doesn't drink whisky no more
So now when I makes any money-i
I saves it up by the galore

Chorus

Has anyone else come across that version, or does anyone know any more of it?

~Michael~