My mistake in the 1804 verse 4 that I posted- the word is close, not clear, as Malcolm Douglas points out. Should have worn my glasses, and read for the rhyme.

It was George Colman the Younger who produced "Love Laughs at Locksmiths," July 25, 1803, at the Haymarket Theatre.
All of his productions are listed at: "http://www.uwec.edu/mwood/colman/plays.html
Fowke and Johnson in Folk Songs of Canada (Joe Offer post, above) may have mistakenly credited the Elder, in their note about the version they found in Canada.
In "Unfortunate Miss Bailey," Captain Smith referred to himself as a 'gay deceiver'; in the following year Colman produced "Gay Deceivers, or More Laugh than Love" (22 Aug 1804), also at the Haymarket Theatre.

It would be interesting to know if the play was also produced by a troupe in Boston or Philadelphia.