Chantyranger's comment about Pacific islands is interesting. My thoughts were directed towards the Caribbean as the obvious repository for old English language sea songs, lurking in the huge number of field recordings made there, or still being sung. I'm not too familiar with what is knocking around in the Pacific, but surely theremust be loads of stuff remembered in the islands there as well. Anyone know anything about that? Coincidentally I am going out to eatand sing with the three members of Manuhiri(Pacific women singers, in England for Raise the Spirits festival) tonight. I'll ask them. That's what good about Mudcat, my sights were set on the Caribbean. Thanks for pointing me in another direction.
You'd be surprised where songs turned up. The tape on which I found "The Captain go ashore" had a lot of fabulous obsccure caribbean stuff on, and I was having a bit of transcription difficulty. SoI went to the Caribbean Ladies' Lunch Club in Stoke-on-Trent(industrial city, midddle of England) and asked if any of the elderly ladies could help. Not only could they help, in no time I was listening three Jamaicans singing one of the songs on the tape("Going down Emmanuel Road"), while kneeling on the floor with saucers in their hands, showing me how to play the game associated with the song. None of them had gven the song a thought since leaving Jamaica in the 50's, but there it was, safe in memory in Stoke.