G'day Barbara,

Er .. well, I forgot to add that the song found in Australia uses the general theme and structure in a way that reflects a story significant to our particular history. In this case the female is transported - and her male lover proposes going to Australia to be with her. (Most unlikely, I would have thought, in most cases ... but this seems to be a music hall confection, almost certainly based on earlier material.)

What I forgot to suggest was the possibility that there may well have been another version (if only in the mind of the author of the 1863 book!) where the words are from the viewpoint of the parents seeing their daughter transported ... and with their (equally unlikely) decision to take ship and follow her.

I know of no song in collection (recorded ... or in written form) that actually fills the bill. I was just surmising that this song model could have been (locally?) reset to suit some actual instance (a characteristic handling of "folksong") - or one was imagined by the author.

Regards,

Bob