Hmm... As to the tune... In basic training Fort Dix NJ, 1960, I met a guy from Lowell MA, near where I now live, who sang me Johnny Verbeck as he'd learned it in his French-Canadian household. (He looked approximately like Henry Winkler, so you can picture it.) His tune was quite different. It strongly reminds me of some song, but can't place it. Great tune, though, used for both verse and chorus. In alpha notation, key of C, for the chorus as Oh, Mr. Johnny Verbeck etc.:

G E G 'E 'E 'E 'C, 'C 'D 'E 'D 'C A,

A B B B B B B B B A G G A G,

G E G 'E 'E 'E 'C, 'C 'D 'E 'D 'C A, (same as line 1)

'C B B B B B B B A G G G A B 'C

I love this tune, have sung it ever since, and can any of you tell me--assuming my notation is sufficiently comprehensible--what song it comes from?