I wonder if that could be extended to nicknacks, meaning favours, baubles, presents (from the girls). It is widely attested that the young ladies of all classes favoured the soldiers in their scarlet uniforms. (Far from the Madding Crowd) There is still a strong link to the money in the next line which suggests that it is a physical thing like the money. The best bet would probably be finding it in another ballad. I don't have a specific collection of cant songs but I do have some somewhere in other books.