I found a little book of chanties, "what Do you Do With A Drunken Sailor", edited by Douglas Morgan, Swordsmith Books, 2002.

Claims to be unmodernized versions of chanties. I dont know what it think. Sure does open my eyes though.. I'm glad they aren't sung like that anymore, as there would be an even smaller audience for them. As long as the records exist somewhere.

There are a few in there that ive heard sung as they appear in the book, and I am not offended by them simly because that is how I grew up hearing them, like "Cruising 'Round Yarmouth". The metaphor probably wouldn't escape anyone over the age of seven.

There are a few that I haven't ever heard sung in public, that I suppose are "beyond repair", such as "Baltimore Whores".

and then, most interestingly, there are the chanties that I have accepted in their edited versions, such as "Whup Jamboree", thinking all this time that jenny should keep her ring tail warm, or fetch the oat cakes! And somehow I feel lied to, when I learn the original versions, but I understand, and am greatfull at the same time.

Just as long as they are sung, I think, do whatever you want. That is what tradition is all about.