I would like to make a very brief acknowledgement of your mention of the Bristol Shantymen vis-a-vis Polish shanty groups, since I sing with the Bristol Shantymen and it's very gratifying to get a mention on Mudcat - a first, I believe.

I was not in the line-up when the group sang at the Cracow Festival of the Sea in the late 80s-early 90s (at any rate during the Glasnost era before the fall of the communist state there). They were utterly astounded by the enthusiastic reception they had from Polish audiences, who, it seems, had not heard very much at all from Western singers. At one concert they sang for 5000 people. For a short time their rendition of "John Cherokee" was a national hit, and pretty high on the charts, if not number one. As "Roller Bowler" was, and still is, in our repertoire, and as very warm and mutually appreciative contacts were made with Polish shanty singers, it may well be that that is how it became known there.

As for "rig-a-jig", a nautical meaning has never entered my head, but I suppose there must be something in it. The phrase is in the chorus of our version of "Bullgine" - "To me hey rig-a-jig in a sporting car .. etc". As "jig-a-jig" is a more or less international term for bonking, I had always assumed that the chorus was about having it off with a young woman in a hired pony and trap on a jaunt around Central Park. Oh well, must be wrong again ...