"made it up for publication" = disingenuous in presenting it as a "halliard chanty." It also contains the funny "a-ray" chorus that is an earmark of Alden's version via Smith. Remember that Masefield was sure that "A-rovin'" derived from "The Rape of Lucrece", so if he assumed Lowlands must come from the broadside, he would have no qualms about creating a ballad-like (i.e. concise narrative) version of Lowlands that "must have" been sung. Perhaps he didn't, but he offers plenty of reasons to be skeptical that his texts were traditional or in practical use.

I suppose Hugill could have also done a better job when he lifted Masefield's verses and added some rhymes to them!

Out of curiosity, what do you think of Masefield's line in "Rio Grande"?:

I'm afraid you're a bad one, kind sir, she replied

Also, do you guys have any thoughts on why Masefield would have included all the piano accompaniments by Davis/Tozer in his article, but gave none of the actual singing melodies? Perhaps he didn't have access to anyone with musical abilities, and assumed that Tozer's scores would be close enough to match to his own lyrics...and then the editor forgot to print the melodies.