I notice that:

James Baines was born 26 Oct 1823 in Liverpool (died broke in 1899). He built the 3rd Black Ball Line, the 1850 clipper one from Liverpool to Australia (not the American, NY-Liverpool packet line of 1817)

ALSO: The first announcement of sailings of the Old Line (it didn't generally become known as the Black Ball Line until about 1840) of New York, was in The "Evening Post", New York 27 October, 1817.

so this is a good week to sing the song. Black Ball Line

Not that it matters much but I wonder which one (it has to be one of these two - there were two additional lines that ripped off the name) the song is most likely about.

The only clue I have from the verses I happen to have is that one of the line's ships (unnamed unfortunately) could apparently get her speed to 14 knots.

Question: Was that a good clip for a packet ship (1817) or for a clipper ship (1850)?