MacColl and Seeger recorded this from the great Norfolk singer, Sam Larner in the 1960s
Ewan always used it as an example of the precise nature of the language of folk song.
The title repeated line, "Just as the tide was flowing" is not just a throwaway or there to make up the poetry, but a precise reference to the time of day - essential to those who made their living from the sea.
He used it as an argument that singers should examine the words of songs fully when they sang them, especially the singers who visualise their songs when they sang them.
I'm pretty sure that they interviewed Sam talking about the phrase at some length
Jim Carroll