A friend just asked me if I could fill in some information about "Blow the Man Down" and while searching for an answer for him, I went to the San Francisco Maritime Museum and Hyde STreet Pier to see if I could find info about the Maritime Festival that is (or was?) held there. I came upon our Mudcat friend and Park Ranger Peter Kasin and found recordings of him with several sea chanties --- he has been known to lead singing on board the historical ships docked at that Pier, but apparently covid has put a damper on that, so this is now avaialble. ChanteyRanger.... https://www.nps.gov/safr/learn/photosmultimedia/shelter-in-chantey-series.htm                                                          There were three principal types of shanties: short-haul, or short-drag, shanties, which were simple songs sung when only a few pulls were needed; halyard shanties, for jobs such as hoisting sail, in which a pull-and-relax rhythm was required (e.g., “Blow the Man Down”); and windlass, or capstan, shanties, which synchronized footsteps in jobs such as hoisting anchor (e.g., “Shenandoah,” “Rio Grande,” “A-Roving”).
Most of the shanties before the 19th century are of British origin; most of those from the 19th are American. Shanty singing declined in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when steam-powered ships replaced sailing vessels.