Thanks, mg!

I was hoping to find some work songs as well but apparently when this ballad was composed the ice was brought up from river level to the huge ice sheds by steam engine, utilizing a structure called an elevator: a ramped chute containing an endless chain with lags. There is quite a glossery of terms unique to this operation. Maybe they used work songs earlier in the 19th century before they adopted steam.

Getting the ice back down the chutes was easier when it came to loading the ships for transporting ice blocks down the coast and even overseas. Gravity was of great assistance.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble