The long serious poem that Mick Bracken posted above can be seen, in its original typography, in "The Dagonet Ballads: (Chiefly from the Referee.)" by George Robert Sims, 1881, courtesy of Google Book Search.

Note that this must have been what earl.dandy was asking for in the original request.

I suppose the familiar shorter versions were composed as a parody of this one. One of those rather common situations when the parody becomes more famous than the original (although I suppose the original was quite famous at one time).

Say, whatever happened to Mick Bracken?