A possibility is 'Kismul's Galley' from the Kennedy Fraser collection which was often used as a waulking song on Barra. There is a set of English lyrics posted in the following thread - the name is misspelled though:

Click Here

A lovely recording of the song (in English) was made by Danny Spooner in Oz, with Mick Farrell on uilleann pipes. Danny used to sing it at festivals etc so your Oz schoolteacher may have heard his recording or a performance. Just a thought.

--Stewie.