Someone sang Cob 0' Coalin' the other night- leaving me a touch puzzled about the words. His version ran:

Down in yon cellar
There's an owd umberella,
There's nowt on yon cornice
But an owd pepper pot...

Cornice being dialect for mantelpiece, and the obvious warm place to keep the salt and pepper dry. No knicknacks or ornaments, hence poverty and a good reason to give them a few coppers.

But "pepper pot, pepper pot, mornin' till neet"? This is deeply philosophical. What would Lancashire folk expect a pepper pot to do, change to a capo di monte shepherdess now and again?