I don't pretend to know if any book ever really existed, but on the subject of reconstructing bowdlerised songs, I recall standing with Stan Hugill at the back of the Peanuts Club in Birmingham in about 1967 while one of Brum's finest 'shantymen' was busy a-shantying like mad. Stan turned to me and said, 'They always try and guess the dirty bits and they always guess wrong. We were far dirtier than that'.
On the same occasion we got onto the same topic at the place where Stan was staying after the gig. Under much pressure he finally agreed to sing us the unexpurgated 'Bollocky Bill the Sailor'. He started well, but began to falter and finally stopped and said, 'It's no use! I can't do it. You young buggers were brought up to sing filth in front of ladies, but I can't!'