I'm really happy to have the lyrics for Twiddley-Aye. Janie sings it sometimes at the Royal Mile Shanty Sing in Wheaton, MD. Here it is with the verses formatted a bit (I hope):

TWIDDLY-AYE (Jainie McNeely, as recorded by Ceilidh's Muse)

When the ships all get to sailing and the men are often gone,

What about the women who are up and left alone?

Do you think they sit and twiddle thumbs until the men come home?

There are other things to twiddle when a girl's left on her own.

Chorus:

And it's twiddly-aye-dee-aye-dee-aye, twiddly-ate-dee-ay,

Often times a man can leave you broken with dismay,

Twiddly-aye-dee-aye-dee-aye, twiddly-ate-dee-ay,

There's other things to twiddle when your man has gone away.

Sweet miss Nancy Johnson was as fair as any maid,

Her true love went a-voyaging, a sailor-man by trade,

"Keep the fires burning, love," those were the words he spoke,

So she found herself another man to keep the fires stoked.
(Chorus)

I remember Nelly, she was young and she was gay,

She won the heart of Captain Dann until he went away,

He left her high and dry with but a kiss upon the chin,

But as his ship was sailing out, another ship sailed in.
(Chorus)

Lucy Duncan's man came home and knocked upon her door,

She was as glad to see him as she'd ever been before,

He left her lying on the bed but Lucy didn't care,

For the fellow in the closet, too, could use a little air.
(Chorus)

Now, you hear a lot of stories 'bout the sailor and his sport,

About how every lad has got a girl in every port,

Well, if you'll add up two and two, you'll figure out right quick,

It's just because a girl has got a lad on every ship.
(Chorus)