DaisyA: 'The Widow and the Devil' aka 'The Widow's Promise' was written by Mick Ryan, who is still going strong. It sounds much older, the mark of an excellent traditional-style songwriter.
Mollificent: My dad had a 78rpm (remember those?) with the memorable line, "The Admiral's daughter is waiting by the water; she wants to ride his dinghy." Related to the song you quote?
Besides the fantastic Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey, there was a woman called Rusty Somebody who had a 40s LP called "Knockers Up."
There is also a great song by Janie Meneely the gist of which is that if a sailor has a girl in every port, it is because she has a guy on every ship. Do the math. It is on thread 0.7742 but I have not mastered the blicky for threads.
I know that birthday is long past but this topic needs more!