Looking at this again, it seems worth pointing out that while all the lyrics mention Newcastle, and the notes mention the 1844 Durham strike, the DT notes say "Lancaster."

From the sleeve notes to "Shuttle and Cage" (10T13) (MacColl & Seeger), on the Working Class Movement Library (Salford) site:

4.
The Coal-owner and the Pitman's Wife

This ballad is believed to date from the Durham strike of 1844 and to have been written by William Hornsby, a collier of Shotton Moor, Durham. The ballad was discovered among a collection of papers relating to the strike by a studious Lancashire miner, J. S. Dell. The tune was supplied by J. Dennison of Walker and together with the text can be found in A. L Lloyd's 'Come all ye Bold Miners'.

~ Becky in Tucson