The Birkdale Shepherds. From the Teesdale Mercury, November 20th, 1872.

The following simple and affecting ballad, from the pen of a youthful rustic poet, was [MS] printed at Middleton, and such was its popularity in Teesdale and elsewhere that more than a thousand copies were disposed of in a very short time. It has now, however, become so exceedingly scarce that the offer of a great price has recently been found insufficient to acquire a copy. At the earnest request of some of our readers, and with the author's permission, we gladly reproduce it in the columns of the Mercury, from a manuscript provided by a correspondent.

The Birkdale Shepherds. An Account of the Sufferings of W. Ritson and the
Death of J. Allinson, at Birkdale, November 23rd, 1836. By Thomas Raine.

Durham County Record Office Catalogue;

Ref: D/HH 10/17/523
The Birkdale Shepherds or An account of the sufferings of W. Ritson and death of J. Allinson. by Thomas Raine, 23 November 1836

From Music at the Heart of Teesdale;

Joan Littlewood / Ewan MacColl        1949        
John Cowland (sic)/ Thomas Raine        Middleton-in-Teesdale        
Typed Script        Fourpence A day                
Original script (Tracking Down Folk-songs in Teesdale 5th June 1949) says
singer is Johnny Dowland (sic). Only three verses which EM says is the complete song. EM records song late 1950 on a Topic Records 78rpm with the three verses. After that 2 more verses are added.

From mysongbook.de; From Joan Littlewood, Joan's Book (1994)

Well, at least Teesdale was new to me [as the subject of a BBC radio programme by J. L.]. I amused myself collecting fragments of an old song and got Jimmie [Ewan MacColl] a job completing it:

Fourpence a day, my lads, and verra hard to wark
With never a pleasant look from a scruffy-looking Turk
His heart it may fail, his conscience may give way
And he'll raise us our wages to fivepence a day

From the Workers' Music Association Topic Songbook (1951?);

Fourpence a day (Five verses)
Fourpence a day, my lad, and very hard to work
And never a pleasant look from a gruffy looking Turk.
His conscience it may fail and his heart it may give way,
Then he'll raise us our wages to ninepence a day.

Attributed to Thomas Raine, lead miner and bard of Teesdale, Yorks. Taken down from the singing of John Gowland (sic), retired lead miner, of Middleton-in-Teesdale, by Joan Littlewood and Ewan MacColl.

From the Alan Lomax Archive;

High Force Agricultural Show Middleton-in-Teesdale (Durham), North-east (England) 4/20/1951
Original Format: Reel to Reel
Session Notes: 1 - Ballads and local songs in dialect sung by Mark Anderson and Thomas Raine; dance tunes played by Anderson (melodeon), Robert Beadle (piano), and Tommy Beadle (fiddle).

Background Information

From the Northern Echo; From about 1750 to 1850 lead mining was big business and Britain was the world's leading producer. The North Pennine lead field comprising Teesdale, Weardale, South Tynedale and the Derwent valley formed the most important lead producing area in the country. By the 1850s, the best lead ore was removed in Britain and cheaper ore was available from the United States, Germany and most significantly from Spain. Many Northern mines closed in the 1870s and some miners sought work abroad, notably in the United States.

From the Working Class Museum & Library; Still current in North-East Yorkshire, this song is attributed to Thomas Raine, lead-miner and bard of Teesdale. The washing racks, where the lead-bearing rocks were separated from the clay and gravel were usually operated by young boys or old disabled miners. Mine owners were said to have become so incensed by the song that they closed the pits and imported leadminers from Germany.

From derbyshireuk.net; Matlock Bath was formerly a lead mining settlement but three centuries ago turned to tourism using the warm water from its springs and old mines as an attraction. At its most fashionable period around 1800, former miners vied with each other to take visitors underground, for about a shilling a time, then the best part of a miner's pay for a day.

From museum.wales; Coal mines in the 1840s
"My employment is to cart coals from the head to the main road; the distance is 60 yards; there are no wheels to the carts; I push them before me; sometimes I drag them, as the cart sometimes is pulled on us, and we get crushed often." Edward Edwards, aged 9, Yskyn Colliery, Briton Ferry.
For this a drammer would earn about 5p a day.

The words relate, perhaps, to the mid-nineteenth century. And it does appear unlikely that the composer of the Birkdale Shepherds was also the singer recorded at Middleton-in-Teesdale in 1951. But if there were two local writers/performers called Thomas Raine then, without further information, I cannot be certain that the composer of the Birkdale Shepherds was also the composer of Fourpence A Day. HP