I grew up in Yorkshire and an elderly man I had a lot to do with in his capacity as owner of the local riding stables often said "Well, I'll go to aar 'ouse" so perhaps it is just irony like the Aussie expression that something which is perhaps not quite as good as you were hoping for (e.g. your horse won and you collected the princely sum of $2) is "better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick."