Interesting.

When I first saw the words a few years ago I searched on the internet and found a PDF with a two part harmony titled "hope bowdler song - trad? 2A + 1B" (just like that) with A and B having 16 bars of 3/4. I looked at it this afternoon but it doesn't fit the rhythm of the words very well so I set it aside.

I don't know where I found it and I can't find it now. It may be a red herring but if not it might hint at something other than four line stanzas.