 An alternative suggestion is that "the rye" was a long narrow cobblestone paved lane, prone to puddles of water.While the original poem is already full of sexual imagery, an alternative version makes this more explicit.It has a different chorus, referring to a phallic "staun o' staunin' graith" (roughly "an erection of astonishing size"), "kiss" is replaced by "fuck", and Jenny's "thing" in stanza four is identified as her "cunt".