For those with an interest, here is Anderson's original ballad, Jenny's Complaint, which he dated to April 19, 1803.

O, Lass! I've fearfu' news to tell!
What thinks te's come owre Jemmy?
The sowdgers hev e'en pick'd him up
And sent him far, far frae me:
To Carel he set off wi' wheat;
Them ill reed-cwoated fellows
Suin wil'd him in, then meade him drunk--
He'd better geane to th'gallows

The varra seet o' his cockade
It set us a' a-cryin;
for me I fairly fainted tweyce,
Tou may think that was tryin:
My fadder wad ha'e paid the smart
And shew'd a gowden guinea
But lack-a-day! He'd kiss'd the buik,
and that'll e'en kill Jenny

When Nichol talks about the wars,
It's war than deeth to hear him;
I oft steal out, to hide my tears,
And cannot, cannot bear him;
For aye he jeybes, and cracks his jwokes,
and bids me nit forsake him;
A brigadier, or grandidier,
He says, they're sure to meake him.

If owre the stibble fields I gang
I think I see him ploughin,
And ev'ry bit o' bread I eat,
It seems o' Jemmy's sowin';
He led the varra cwoals we burn,
And when the fire I's leetin,
To think the peats were in his hands,
It sets my heart a beatin.

What can I de? I nought can de,
But whinge, and think about him;
For three lang years, he follow'd me
Now I mun live widout him!
Brek, heart, at yence, and then it's owre!
Life's nought widout yen's dearie!
I'll suin lig in my cauld, cauld grave,
For oh! Of life I'm weary!

This has a more believable sequence: Jemmy is recruited, Jenny and her father go with others to try to get him out (hence, the sight of his cockade sets them to crying), but they fail. For this reason, Jemmy is not around for an extended period to talk about the war. Enter Nichol. The Nichol stanza is a little confusing. I think we have to assume that the "him" referred to in the lines "and bids me nit forsake him; A brigadier, or grandidier, He says, they're sure to meake him" is Jemmy, not Nichol. In other words, Nichol seems to be bidding her not to forsake Jemmy. What are friends for?

Certainly in the following stanzas the "him" refers to Jemmy, not Nichol. It is even possible that Anderson himself wrote the third stanza with Jemmy talking about the wars, then realized the "continuity error" that this would entail, and hastily substituted Nichol. This would account for the person being referred to as "him" changing mid-stanza. This is also probably what caused Sedley to think it was garbled.