Have looked thru Hugill, Mr Gibb, in attempt to find any ref to "Booble Alley" in any other shanty than "Haul Away For Rosie", without success. Should be grateful if you could point me to one; until which I shall persist in my belief that that was likely to have been the one Melville intended to portray the crew as singing in Ch 22.

IIRC he points out also that not all shanties had a precise purpose, and that the shantyman might have recourse to one whose rhythm was suitable for the task in ☞ even if that not its conventional usage: which I take to imply that a shanty which referred to hauling might even on occasion be applied to heaving if that is what came to the shantyman's mind while he was intent on keeping things moving. A heave and a haul both involve a momentary effort followed by a pause, after all.

≈M≈

This merely intended respectfully to suggest possibilities, rather than to dispute your obviously superior knowledge on the topic.