Ah, Jon, but you can now see from this thread how much fun the family has been missing out on, by not inventing complicated rationalizations for every floating verse in their repertoire. Thanks Grishka and Mike for some good laughs (Mike, you have almost convinced me), but my mind's eye still likes to see the 'Phoebe' verse as a simple celebration of the joys of a sunny morning, to balance the equal joy of slumping into a drunken stupor, desperately clutching an empty - but still beloved - bottle.

I hate to spoil the party by mentioning the Roud Index, but it's interesting how rare this song seems to be: only two sightings other than the Coppers, and no broadside copies. I wonder whether it's in an obscure book somewhere? So, not much chance to corroborate 'new act' or Phoebe / Phoebus etc from another version, without tracking down a couple of tricky sources.