Whats the meaning to these lyrics?

"Dabtoes" and "dustmen" are Navy colloquialisms for various clean-up jobs. The dabtoes, I think, are swabbing the deck and the dustmen throwing trash off the aft. Chicken on a raft is poached eggs on toast. Go to the source. Most of Tawney's songs are full of Brit Navy (the real "Grey Funnel Line") jargon.