Hello Mick, from just down the road in Buffalo. The Erie Canal Museum is a wonderful resource.

Bruce Springsteen did indeed change the melody a bit for "Low Bridge Everybody Down," and, of course, he sang what is more or less the "folk revival" version of the lyrics which you can find easily online.

If you'd like to see the original music and lyrics for the song (5 verses and 5 distinct choruses!), I put a webpage together a few years ago which you can find right here.

There are a few musicians around the state who have spent decades researching, performing, and contextualizing the music of the Erie Canal, using it to tell stories about the canal's history and importance. You can find George Ward here as "georgeward" and Bill HUllfish from Brockport NY is another one. I can provide you his email address if you'd like to PM me. His book is likely the one you saw in the gift shop at the museum.

And, there are a fair number of canal song posts here on Mudcat where people have contributed their knowledge.

Hope that's helpful.