Hi Barry,

I don't know if you're mis-reading my post or if I am mis-reading yours.

Yes, "[Mister] Stormalong" -- let's call it the "default version" -- is there in plenty; it's NOT necessarilly a "rare" chantey in the oral tradition at all. Incidentally, Bob Robert's rendition is VERY similar to Hugill's printed version, whereas many other recorded versions that I've heard have a different tune. So I wouldn't be surprised if Hugill was his source. For comparison purposes, here is my rendition of that. here In this case I ignored versions of the tune that I'd heard and just went directly from Hugill's text. The result is surprisingly similar to Bob Roberts'.

"Way Stormalong John" is the uncommon one, the one where I raised my question about its lineage and Lloyd/MacColl's role in transmitting it.

The first one Hugill learned in the cradle; the second one, so he says, he learned from Harding.