Thanks Susan. There was one phrase that I distinctly remember from Mick Hanly's version, and it was "To the burning West Indies my course for to steer".
That was the line I was looking for... I have heard many versions of this over the years; Martin Carthy and others, but I always remembered the guitar accompaniment of Mick Hanly, and I'm trying to learn it 'backwards', so to speak: find the words that fit the accompaniment...