On the death of shanties: I have a tape somewhere of The Shanty Crew (of Bristol?) singing "The Last Shanty" which starts:

Moden ships they got mighty funny gear
And away, get away you shanty man
I ain't seen a halyard for many's the year!
And they got no work for a shantyman!.

I might have it on disc somewhere - if so I'll post it later.
On "dead man's chest": I have a vague memory of Hugill implying it might refer to a "deadman's face" - a swivel for two anchors? Any evidence for the reef connection, Barry?

Several posts above discuss the problem of "over-tidy" shanties i.e. with the rough edges (musically and content-wise!) taken off. Its a delicate business. The trick is to maintain some trace, at least, of the spirit involved in worksongs. As an example: I very much enjoy the one CD I have of Paul Clayton (Songs of Whaling and Sailing Ships, or similar). He had a fine voice and a folklorist's feel for the sets of words he used. BUT he was no great shanty-singer! His versions appeal because they are very musical. They need to appeal despite being musical! Of course, the reverse is not true - a shanty isn't great just because its bawled out toneless!

I'm beginning to understand why I kept away from this thread for so long. Think I'll just go out to Glasson tomorrow night and sing a few shanties!

Regards

p.s. Many years ago, I ran a shanty-session in Athlone - which is as far away from the sea as you can get in Ireland!