regarding cable pulling I saw Indian workers pulling telephone cable by hand in Kolkata (Calcutta) in 2000 outside the Tolley Gunge old people's home and what they sang sounded close enough to a shanty!

BTW I have just finished reading Ted Gioia's book "work songs" and he has a whole chapter on shanties and in his Epilogue points to the importance of such songs to our lives" "the call and response is ... a rich metaphor to consider. But in the world of the work song ... this was more than a metaphor, but an actual way of navigating through the often brutal realities of a hostile environment. For this reason the work song is especially deserving of our attention."

Haul Away Ted!