I have read this debate with interest. As an authoritive source of north east England dialect I refer you to Griffiths, Bill (2005)'A Dictionary of North East Dialect' 2nd edition, Northumbria University Press,Newcastle upon Tyne. With particular reference to 'hinny', please see p.84. Clearly, 'hinny' is a dialect corruption of honey. As one who has lived in the area allegedly referred to in the song, the ferry(long since defunct between Barrasford and Haughton Castle I can confirm that 'hinny' is consistently used as a corruption of the word honey when used as a term of endearment.