Hugill also writes that one of his British seafaring correspondents, referring to the 1890s, concurred that "Sailors...sang 'Rye-O' not 'Ree-O,' for though they well knew it was called 'Ree-O,'that word was not a 'mouth-opener' like 'Rye-O.'" In "A-Rovin'," Hugill prints "ru-eye-in."

Colcord, who virtually "grew up" at sea in the '90s wrote in 1924 that "the American sailor disdained any other pronunciation than 'Ry-o.'" But she doesn't say anything about "Early" in "Drunken Sailor."

Captain Leighton Robinson, a Cornishman also at sea in the '90s, sang
"Oh, Rye-O Grand' lies far away! Way-ay, Rye-O!"

C.F. Smith too insists (1927) that sailors sang "'Ry-o' not 'Ree-o.'" But she also seems to prefer the spelling "early."

Hutchinson's notes made in 1886 also prescribe "Rye-O."

The other authentic authorities, including Whall, Terry, and Doerflinger, seem to be silent on these matters. Sailors sang the songs as they learned them and "eye" in certain words must have been a common but not universal practice.

To make what Howard said more emphatic, there is absolutely no evidence that sailors (including pirates)said "earlye" or "ru-eye-in" in ordinary talk. "Rye-O" may be an exception, since 19th C. practice, unlike today's, was generally to anglicize the sound of foreign words. Byron expects us to pronounce "Don Juan" like "Don Joo-un." So "Rye-O" may have been so familiar that few writers thought it was worth mentioning.