Out of interest, I ended up with something a bit like this (gracenotes and some note lengths are very approximate).

X:4
T:Lord Allenwater
M:6/8
Q:1/4=90
L:1/8
K:G
z2D|G2G/G/ GA3/2B/|AGED2G|A/B3/2cd{ed}cB|
A3z3|A3/2B/cdde|dBAG{AG}FG|
A2B/A/GE2|D2z||

Only 14 verses, and it seemed to go OK (nobody walked out, anyway). Someone (Les of Chorlton, more specifically) commented that it sounded a lot like Peggy and the Soldier. I have to confess I don't know the song - can anyone point me to an ABC?