Also well covered in the Advent thread: Twenty Years at Sea; or, Leaves from My old Log Book," a story for boys, Hill, Frederic Stanhope, 1898.

“The cotton had already been subjected to a very great compression at the steam cotton presses in Mobile, which reduced the size of the bales as they had come from the plantations. fully one half. It was now to be forced into the ship, in the process of stowing by the stevedores, with very powerful jackscrews, each operated by a gang of four men, one of them. the "shantier," as he was called, from the French word chanteur, a vocalist. This man's sole duty was to lead in the rude songs, largely improvised, to the music of which his companions screwed the bales into their places. The pressure exerted in this process was often sufficient to lift the planking of the deck, and the beams of ships were at times actually sprung.

A really good shantier received larger pay than the other men in the gang, although his work was much less laborious. Their songs, which always had a lively refrain or chorus, were largely what are now called topical, and often not particularly chaste. Little incidents occurring on board ship that attracted the shantier's attention were very apt to be woven into his song, and sometimes these were of a character to cause much annoyance to the officers, whose little idiosyncrasies were thus made public.

One of their songs, I remember, ran something like this: —”
Note: Lyrics to Hie Bonnie Laddie follow.

Caveat: Twenty Years... is typically cited as 1840s nonfiction. It is 1890s young adult fiction. Hill is coming from the same side of the pirate opera hokum aisle as Martial, Wallack & Wagner. Based on a true story, but not the truth.

More than a few of the previously posted chanteur references above also appear in the Advent thread. However, none linking to the older salomare, celéustes &c (Landelle, Lorenzo et al.)

The one other Hie Bonnie Laddie return from a Mudcat search, also from the American Gulf Coast as it happens, there may well be others: Lyr Req: Let the Bulgine Run - New York fire?