Total necroposting in this super old thread but here’s the version my family sings! They’ve been singing it since at least 1970 something

Well we knew that he was dying by the color of his breath And the flowers they were drooping in the mud (all yell: in the mud!) And the doctors all agreed that to save poor Willie’s life they would stop the circulation of his blood

So they dipped him by his head in a boiling pot of lead And laid him aside for to rest (all yell: for to rest!” But the burglars came at night and they came without a light And stole the mustard plaster off his chest (all yell: off his chest!)

So no more upon the map will he wander with his cat Gently between his teeth bite her tail (all yell: bite her tail!) And no more upon the stove will he rub his pretty nose For our darling little Willie’s kicked the pail (all yell: kicked the pail!)

I was always told it was about a dog, but idk!