...yes like a fresh water sea there should be more shanties, etc.

Edmund Fitzgerals comes to mind

i recall the memnomic (?) to re3member the names fo the great lakes..
the initials spell out H.O.M.E.S.

i also remember a song by Chuck Hall that tells of the
ammunition ship explosion in Halifax where medics and others
from U.S. rushed to the scene to help.

http://www.halifax.ca/Community/explode.html

maybe not actually great lakes, but nautical song (no, not naughty)
with historical information.