Rumncoke, the song is called "Jowl and Listen" which was collected by Walter Toyn and popularised by Jack Elliott of Birtley and the rest of the family. The verse in question is
"The deputy crawls from flat to flat,
The putter rams the tyum'uns,
But the man at the face must knaa his place,
Lke a mother knaas her young'uns"

tyum'uns (sometimes chummuns)are empty tubs.