Thanks to Bob Lusk for reviving this thread; there seems to be a large group of songs with similar form, dating back to the 16th c.

The earliest verses asociated with the Irish potato famine seem to be c. 1848.
The song may have been bewailing the small size of the potato in crops 'over there', a pre-famine complaint.

It is one I would like to know more about.

I could find only notes about the copy at Levy, posted by Joe, but neither sheet music nor lyrics.

david kidd 18 songs