What's the problem with Drunken Sailor being called a "shanty" (or chantey)? Hugill clearly categorizes it as a stamp and go (not that Hugill is infallible), and cites a version printed in Olmstead's "Incidents of a Whaling Voyage" which contains a tune that is almost identical to the one we know today. Hugill also says that "the air is from a traditional Irish dance, as well as a march tune" but he doesn't say which one, so it could very well be Oro Se Do Bheatha 'Baile. I like the suggestion that the lyric is a misunderstanding of the Gaelic. I wonder how many other cryptic sea song lyrics came about it such a way.