It occurred to me that that could be the meaning - but you would think if it were going to be mentioned at all in that sense, that somewhere along the line some songster/poet/wag would have made a little more of it. And, to me, that meaning just seems somehow at odds with the general tenor of the song - although it is not totally illogical, either.

How do the rest of you interpret it - is old Tom Moore an unholy prophet, a walking object lesson, a sandwich man, or what?