Well, I've just come across this thread and looked at the original question and thought NO.

I've been going to folk clubs and festivals since 1972 (loads of them in England and Wales) and I've never heard any of the word sets mentioned above. In fact I've never heard any words set to the tune and I've only heard the tune in the last 10 years.

Perhaps it is an example of a tune/song that is well known to a subset of folkies but it is certainly not universal.