Just a bit more on Alden & "Away, Rio!" before moving on.

Alden was apparently still on the staff of the N.Y. Times when an unsigned article appeared on Jan. 27, 1884, called "Minstrelsy on the Sea." The fact that the few shanty words given differ from those in Alden's 1882 article in Harper's indicates, however, that he was unlikely to be responible for the Times article, which, BTW, does not make the suggestion that shanties might have been dying out.

Alden estimated in 1882 that a good shantyman knew "at least seventy-five song." The 1884 article estimates a more modest "score or more."

Among a few shanties mentioned is the milkmaid version of the song with the (partial) chorus, "I was bound for the Rio Grande."

The entire article is worth reading:

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=980DE2D61538E033A25754C2A9679C94659FD7CF