It's closer to the broadside texts than the Lomax set, but neither have departed far from the wording of the original song, which seems to have its roots in the London 'supper clubs' that preceded the music halls. It was probably written a little before or after 1830, and was an early example of the mid-19th century vogue for songs about monstrous animals and other things. 'The Great Meat Pie' (Roud 8092), for instance, begins 'You've heard of the wonderful crocodile', and was frequently sung to the same tune; as, apparently, was 'The Wonderful' (sometimes 'Christmas') 'Sucking Pig' (Roud 1615). There were others, not all of which survived in oral currency as well as this one, which has turned up from time to time in most English-speaking countries.

There was at one time a tendency to lump all these 'songs of lies and marvels' together and imagine that they represented some sort of survival of pre-Christian magical beliefs, but, although the 19th century vogue reflects similar fashions in the popular song of previous centuries (and there does seem to be some influence from older songs like 'The Derby Ram') 'The Crocodile' and its like were very much products of the commercial song industry. A later echo of the same theme was R P Weston's 'What a Mouth!' (1906), popularised by Harry Champion and revived in the 1960s by Tommy Steele.

There are various examples from London and provincial printers at Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads:

The Wonderful Crocodile