I used to be in a duo with a guy who insisted on singing " I met my love by the gasworks waft". When I pointed out the original lyric he was adamant that his version was correct. When I asked him to explain "waft" he gave some idea about the draught from the gasworks chimney. I believe he had heard the Pogues indecipherable version and had made his own mistaken interpretation.

I agree with most of the last few posts; Raggytash, Jerry, Paul, Fred and DTG. I also believe that EM chose his words very carefully in this song to include the subtle but discard the obvious. It's a shame that the popular but weak (in my opinion) Pogues version has done a disservice to a great piece of poetry.

Now, what EM was on when he wrote "Kissed her once again at Wapping, after that there was no stopping", I'm sure we'll never know!