Its brevity and banality make the authenticity of John Masefield's text (1906) unusually certain:

O do you know old Reuben Ranzo?
Ranzo, boys, Ranzo;
O do you know old Reuben Ranzo?
Ranzo, boys, Ranzo.

Old Ranzo was a tailor.

Old Ranzo was no sailor.

So he shipped aboard of a whaler.

But he could not do his duty.