John: At a Philadelphia Festival manyyears ago, iwas sitting on a hillside with a well-known Scottish singer, now resident in the US, who may prefer to remain anonymous, when some group on the stage began playing "Scotland the Brave." My Scottish friend immediately launched into:
    There was a lassie wi' a big hairy bessie
    Wha was drivin' her auld faither's coo tae the bull.
   
    There was a laddie wi' a big steamin' tattie (potato)
    Wha was goin' tae shag the lassie wi' the big hairy bessie
    Wha was drivin' her auld faither's coo tae the bull.

I no longer remember all of the words (it's not a song I think of often enough to keep it fresh in my mind), but the verses that followed had the wifie wi' the big carving knifie, and so on, accumulatively. I can check with my "informant", if you'd like, to see if he would be willing to contribute this version to you collection. No discernible Australian influence here.
    Sandy