"Hugill... mentions a version from Sharp that goes; "Oh, you long-tailed black man poke it up behind me" & another version from Terry that goes; "O! ye long-tailed black man poke it up behind" "

"And there it is, a version of Whip Jamboree, "Somerset Folk-Song, collected and arranged by Cecil J Sharp" - with the chorus:
"Whip jamboree, whip jamboree,
O you long-tailed black man, poke it up behind me,
Whip jamboree, whip jamboree,
O - Jenny get your oat-cake done." "

These are all the same version - collected by both Sharp and Terry from John Short of Watchet in 1914 [see the Short Sharp Shanties projects - again!] - apart from Whall [different text] this is the only version up to Hugill that I am aware of.

With the 'long-tailed' line being freely sung by Short, it seems unlikely that he would then bowdlerise the 'oat-cakes' line. Which leads us to believe that 'oat-cakes' does not need 'ammendment' or 'restoring' - besides, reference to 'getting oat-cakes done' is not uncommon in minstrel texts! Methinks the revival has decided to re-invent a bolder last line while censoring the line before it.

TomB