Another one of those originless puzzles? Something for the Dr. Bill Detective Agency! The earliest date I could find is 1706.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) :

Lobscouse \Lob"scouse`\, n. [Written also lobscourse from which
lobscouse is corrupted.] [Lob course.] (Naut.)
A combination of meat with vegetables, bread, etc., usually
stewed, sometimes baked; an olio.


From WordNet (r) 1.7 :

lobscouse
n : a stew of meat and vegetables and hardtack that is eaten by
sailors [syn: lobscuse, scouse]

from The American heritage Dictionary of the English language:

lobscouse

SYLLABICATION: lob·scouse
PRONUNCIATION: lobskous
NOUN: A sailor's stew made of meat, vegetables, and hardtack.
ETYMOLOGY: Perhaps dialectal lob, to bubble scouse, of unknown origin.