I've been doing a little work on "The Dodger." In addition to getting 4 versions from the LC's AFC Archive online in our blog, I've also answered some of the thorny questions in the above thread, including finding what will probably be the closest we come to the "first version" of this song, from an English play of the early 1840s. Here are the two posts. The first introduces the song and gives the archival recordings. The second presents the new evidence about origins and early history:

Post 1

Post 2