Incidentally, as far as I am aware, the last reported hearing of anything resembling a shanty being sung to accompany work (not by folkies, that is) was in Dublin, some time in the sixties. Collector Tom Munnelly watched a gang of navvies pulling a cable through a pipe laid under the pavement and singing/chanting to mark time as they worked.

In 1978/79 when we were installing Pulse-8 radio-navigation stations on the west coast of Ireland, to cover the Porcupine Bank oil exploration, we sang to coordinate hauling up the antenna sections. The riggers (either Joe Breen or Vince Gallager) would stand at the top of the sections (triangular cross-sections of about 15 inches a side) already guyed off vertical, and coordinate us pulling the next 40 foot section up to them with a gin pole by singing a refrain where we'd pull on the chorus. It was usually something like "Haul Away Joe"...especially when Joe Breen was on the mast! They'd then bolt that 40 foot in place and climb it (unguyed) before bringing up the guy wires and guying off, repeating until we had the full 300 feet up.

We installed 300 foot masts at Mizzen Head, Erris Head and Hags Head in that way, singing to coordinate hauling throughout.