It was published in The Oxford Book of Local Verses 1987 p.137. 'A Ballad in Memory of the Fishermen from Hull and Grimsby who lost their lives in the Gale of 8 and 9 February 1889'; by W. Delf, a Grimsby fisherman. It was produced as a broadside by the author - presumably as a fundfaiser. I'd always thought that Mike Waterson had set the tune!