Good stuff Malcolm.......The tune is quite close on the one to the Niles tune. Really not enough to make it a variant, more perhaps an interpretation. I really found the Barnes recording pretty poor, not for quality of recording, but it is a bit, shall we say, out of tune?? In any case, it makes a case for being a virtual match with JJN (who I also have always found hard to listen to). You're probably right on "Sailor's Life" which may have provided the original in some form, also lending credence to English origins of course....and does the tune and the Clyde refersnce make it more likely Scots?

Thanks,

Spaw