In order to avoid unnecessary dissension I am prepared to accept "in the style of the tradition" - and that lets many Tawney things in.

Chicken on a Raft of course is pretty damned miserable, about the sufferings of a submariner's life (as much of Tawney's output was), in this case the misery of Monday morning after the weekend on the booze, and the faithlessness of women, the only high point being the possibility of future adultery with sister from Maryhill.

My traditions, since I am English, militate against the inclusion of too much material from other traditions, and therefore I am likely to be less enthused about material from the American tradition, although I do do some (including "Fall RIver Hoedown, which is not traditional, but might be thought of as in the style of the American tradition). Hootchie Cootchie Man, for example, is quite alien to the English tradition, and somehting similar could be said about many of the usgestions of Janice from NJ (but thanks anyway). Quite a number of the American suggestions here I've never heard at all.

While I'm on that list, I'm puzzled by the inclusion of Santa Ana "Heave away, Santa Ana, they're killing your soldiers below...(etc)", and while I enjoy a bit of skiffle, I don't think Putting on the Agony or Rock Island Line really qualify (although I have a friend who does quite a lot of enjoyable material from the extended category of folk-meets-skiffle (sometimes dubbed "Fiffle")). Drunken Sailor is of course a list of the Navy's more unpleasant punishments: some idea of cheerful!

However, we do indeed have some cheerful traditional stuff, and I suppose one might add the Threshing Machine and Maids when you're Young, too, and quite a bit of consciously West Country Comic material from (for example) Adge Cutler.

From Australia I guess another possible would be "Rye Buck Shearer" if I could only carry all of the tune...