If you have found your way to, and through(!) this thread then you are definitely interested in sea chanties and their history. I want to recommend to you a new blog from our friend, Gibb, called "Wild Chants With Doggerel Words":

http://shantiesfromthesevenseas.blogspot.com/

It looks like this blog is going to bring together the fantastic collection of sung/performed chanties from Stan Hugill's collection that Gibb has been doing on YouTube over the last several years, and his in depth historical research that he has been doing here on Mudcat, on this thread, but especially on his "Advent and Development" thread, along with a bunch of others. This looks like another huge project, so check it out and give him your support.