Aha! Thankyou, Maurice; that was the clue I needed to place the thing. Here it is:

BILL BONES' HORNPIPE

(Tune: traditional German. Words: Alfred H. Body.)

On the harbour wall, in a sailor hat,
Is an old, old man with an old grey cat;
And he dreams all day of the time he twirled
In a sailor's hornpipe round the world.
It was many a weary year ago
When he started off on a nimble toe,
For to win the prize of a silver pound,
If he'd dance the world around.

From the harbour wall he began his dance,
And he took the road on the way to France,
And his old grey cat, for she loved him so,
Did a hornpipe too on tail and toe!
They danced on the deck of a sailing brig
With a hornpipe first and then a jig,
For to win the prize of a silver pound,
If they'd dance the world around.

In the land of France they'd a how-d'ye-do,
For old Billy Bones couldn't parleyvoo,
And the folk all stared at his sailor hat,
And his pigtail tarred and his dancing cat.
From the coast of France to Gay Paree
The Frenchmen cried, "La, la! Oui, oui!
Oh, he'll win the prize of a silver pound,
If he'll dance the world around."

Then the weeks went by, and the months grew long,
And he danced the heathen tribes among;
And the juju men ran away in fear
As the twirling man and his cat drew near.
To the sandy wastes of Timbuctoo
They had sped along in a year or two,
For to win that prize of a silver pound,
If they'd dance the world around.

But the years went by on the harbour wall,
And there came no news of the pair at all;
And the people sighed, and they said, "That, that!"
And forgot Bill Bones and his faithful cat.
But when twenty years had passed away
Came an old, old man and a cat so grey,
For to win the prize of a silver pound
They had danced the world around.

Then the Mayor got up, and the Council too,
And they quickly asked, "Now who are you,
With your ragged clothes and your old black hat,
And your tarred pigtail and your dancing cat?"
"I'm Billy Bones, and my feet are sore,
And I never want to dance no more,
But I've come to claim that silver pound
For I've danced the world around."

From Singing Together, BBC Publications, Spring 1964. The song was quoted from Six Songs of Happiness, Set Two, Novello and Co. Ltd.