Jim,
'Sea songs like Coasts of Peru show a familiarity with nautical equipment and its uses.'

Some sea songs indeed do just that, but if you can find me a BRITISH version of 'The Coast of Peru' let alone an English one I'd be greatly obliged. We currently sing this American song in the group I sing with.

"I gave some examples myself."

'Mutton Pie' a cornkister from my native East Riding.

Jim, it was you who moved the goalposts over to including the Child Ballads and I pointed out that there weren't that many Child ballads in the corpus under discussion.

I UNDERMINE nothing of the oral tradition and am insulted by your suggestion. What goes on in the oral tradition has very little to do with origins.

I have not refuted any of your suggestions about climbing boys. See my latest comments on this. By the early 19thc most chimneys in ordinary houses were of the narrow type but there were still plenty of the old type in the larger houses where they could affords to employ a cook and probably several other servants. A grown man would have had a job getting up one of the narrow chimneys used by climbing boys and considering there was already a fire lit....I can't believe I'm actually arguing the toss over a fictional ballad obviously originating in the supper rooms in the towns.