Thanks Joe -- DT version 1 is the Hugill. Taking a peek in his book, he mentions the Oxford Book (and Doerflinger), and concludes it's a "Negro" shanty.

He says he is going to give his version, but gives no further details of when or from whom he learned it.

Hugill's is the first I'm seeing with "Nelson's blood." Was "Nelson's blood" even a phrase used before Hugill's time?