Gibb, remember that early in the last century, the approved commercial as well as artistic way of performing folk songs of all kinds was in choral or bel canto style with formal piano arrangements.

Forgive me for not clarifying what I meant. I don't mean "folk songs" as a style of performance (e.g. "untrained" vocal, guitar, etc.) I mean the concept of Folk music that ties into certain visions of cultural heritage (deemed "important" for its own sake). The 19th century commenters described "wild" and "plaintive" sounds that they connected with, in several cases, Black music. They also were well aware of the minstrel song connections. However, the early 20th c. folklorists filed shanties along with "English folk songs" and ballads. Even if bel canto was the norm, was there not a way to convey, say, "English folk song" versus "American popular song"? Certainly the text they would gravitate towards would be different -- no "Polly's in the garden pickin' peas." Perhaps if shanties were thought of as fleeting pop-music inspired doggerel or truly "uncouth" expression, such choirs would never have given them any attention. Just thinking here.