...he Clancy-Makem version with the awkward "To me" in the chorus...

Love it!

Thanks for the briefing. It certainly reads as a use of these chanties that's based in contemporary narratives of where they came from, how they should go, etc. Interesting.


Charley--

Thanks for your time. That *does* clarify the situation. Funny that Shay found it necessary to reproduce the ballad to make his point. He loses some credibility with me when he says the White Americans were complaining that the Blacks were getting paid more. It's as is he could only envision Whites singing the song, and then he had to explain why *they'd* be complaining about wages.