2010 collection. Shanties are the work songs that were used on the square-rigged ships of the Age of Sail. Their rhythms coordinated the efforts of many sailors hauling on lines. Much loved by modern sailors and Folk musicians, they are rarely used as work songs today.  Kimber's Men are a group of singers specializing in maritime material. It would be unfair to call them simply a 'shanty group', although shanties are the bulk of their repertoire, because they range through nautical ballads and broadsides to modern songs. Xtra.