Stan Hugill picked up this Plattdeutsch song either at sea or from the German shanty collection Knurrkahn. It is a sort of catalog of the deerns (prostitutes) of David Street, where they are cheaper, and the Groote Freiheit, where they operate indoors. He explains that the nitrate traders of the late nineteenth century enjoyed this song.
Davidstrasse, St. Pauli fishmarket, and Grosse Freiheit are still identifiable in Hamburg today.