Hmm - last post slightly off-topic, if I may say so.

Back to the song; in both versions, note the number of now protected species on the hunting list: otter, badger (except in SW England), porpoise. Don't try this at home, children!

By the way, I think the 'skull' is more of a basket than a coal-scuttle. The Newhaven fishwives carried their fish in a creel and skull, the latter being the small basket on the top and I think it had a band which went across the forehead, presumably to help steady the load on the back.