1 note
[Note 148.5] "E. Foster and J. Knowles did go":- E Foster and J Knowles could be the Eli Foster and Jonathan Knowles who, together with Benjamin Foster, funded the building of the church opened in 1846 [Ref: https://denholme.org/history-of-denholme/denholme-brief-history/]
[Note 148.6] "Our large hotels of course will be, Houses of call for the gentry, Who come our moorlands for to see":- The author's confidence may have been boosted by the use of the nearby Keighley and Worth Valley railway (opened in 1867) by literary tourists visiting the home of the Bronte sisters. [ref http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keighley_and_Worth_Valley_Railway]
[Note 151.2] "It was eighteen hundred and thirty eight, We began to prepare to make the shaft right" :- Work on New Engine Pit began in 1833 [Ref: http://cmhs.org.uk/27-05-2013-haswell-plough-colliery/]. The steam powered cages probably began operating in 1838 (see note 3 below). A. L. Lloyd (in Folk Song in England) says that it was printed by George Walker in Durham during or soon after 1839 when Walker began printing. See note 4 for additional evidence that the song was written in 1839.
[Note 151.1] "concerning this new invention, Of winding up coals in a cage " :- The system of hoisting and lowering men and material in cages by steam power was first used at Haswell colliery.
[Note 151.5] "Now the young men and maids sometimes take a trip, Out to sea in fine weather aboard a steam ship" :- Paddle steamers had been providing pleasure trips for some years (see bar106~Eagle Steam Packet and bar054~Changes on the Tyne). Haswell miners clearly had disposable income. (See note 3)