Thanks for your knowledge, Rumncoke! (And Fossil, too!)

Out of curiosity, which is the part that doesn't make sense? Is it the "laid in" part?

If that's the case, may I be the pedant and remind again on not getting in a twist based on lines in inauthentic sources (i.e. Ewan MacColl's recording).

On the other hand, to hazard a guess, perhaps the singer of the line was (incorrectly or not) not thinking of taking in sail, but trying to say that the woman "lay" (she was lying down).