For those who missed it on the James Carpenter shanties thread(and might for some perverse reason be interested), this is kind of what old Scots sailor Andrew Salters sang for Carpenter in 1929. The recording is awful.

                   CHEER UP, MRS. RILEY

Bad luck to those atavvies [sic] and away to sea I'll go,
And bad luck we're out of barley soup, we'll all bow low;
For they come like gales in summer, like the buds in the month of May,
And they go for ???????? some have a job at one and eight a day.

Chorus:      
Well, cheer up, Mrs. Riley – don't give way to the blues,
For you and I will cut a shine, we'll sport our Sunday shoes;
???????? and no more shall I ?????????
?????? down the ???????? better and [?we'll drink to] Paddy ????

My old man's a gay old boy as nimble as a fox,
???????????? claim he'd rather work [?as if he'd] ?????
????????????????????????????????????????????????? you bet,
????????????????????????????? job ????????? poverty yet

Oh, the wintertime is over and ?????? go back to work,

[After that there's "feet go bare" and "tomatoes." Maybe.]

If "atavvies" is any indication, the song was garbled when Salters learned it. But that didn't stop him. What's audible isn't always close to the original lyrics.