Lighter and Marc, thank you very much for your help!

I really like Geoff (and chorus) 's clip. (Sticking to the chorus), that one does have the syncopation that is characteristic of the modern version.

To put it in lightly more technical/musical terms for comparison:

-Revival/modern version has "KEE" of Cherokee coming on 4th beat.
-Robinson/Colcord has KEE on "and" of 3rd beat.
-Hugill's print version has KEE on 3rd beat

Although "syncopation" is a somewhat subjective term, in the way I am using it, the Revival version and Colcord both have syncopation, though with very different emphases, of course. Incidentally, I think these emphases "set up" different types of movement, work, etc.

Hugill's print version, to my mind, is not syncopated -- and I'm reading Lighter's comment about the 1962 recording the same. Marc's statement does seem to reflect something different -- I very much agree with his comment about "more often than not what is notated in Shanties of the Seven Seas is not a functional melody."

It sounds like Stan may have changed his performance style after time (?) I don't think this would be the only case his modifying one of his chanteys (often the Harding ones?) later on.