I should be more convinced about that, Dave, if they had got the wigs [see above] right. Funny thing is, the scriptwriter [whose identity appears to be a profound secret ~ just you try & find it out] knew about gentlemen wearing wigs ~ 'you would look funny in a wig' said Silver's wife to him at one point as he went on about his ambitions; but there was no sign of one at any point on any gentleman's head, tho no gentleman could be seen without one mid-C18, and the novel refers several times to Dr Livesey's eccentric habit of taking his off when worried. I agree the chants were rather tuneless; but the anachronism I ref'd above was rather RLS's than the adaptors': he has much ref to the Captain's (Billy Bones') singing, later repeated at the capstan bars. Hugill does not suggest that shanties sprang from nowhere, and cites much precedence from earlier periods; but his chronology appears pretty well-informed, IMO.

~M~