Your Lancashire connection seems to be the more likely now.

However as mentioned above our website (Yorkshire Garland) mentions the Version sung by the Redmire Singers (Probably your Teesdale performers), which I suppose would have been something like a male voice choir, and these northern village choirs were in touch with each other, and swapped songs, and indeed referred to songs that they received a version from as that village's 'anthem', 'chorus' etc. The song itself exists in many versions in England. On our folk scene it is mainly referred to as The White Cockade but early versions covered the whole spectrum of coloured cockades. The earliest I have is late 18th century.

The Polwarths' version is very probably the Newcastle version which tends to be sung a lot faster (jig time?) than in other parts of the country. I have 3 of the little Polwarth books but unfortunately not that one. I'll look out for it now I know it exists.

I'm now interested in this version from Bradshaw, Lancashire, as I specialise in song histories. I would certainly like a look at their version.

BTW a Durham version was printed in Dixon's Ancient Poems about 1846 and this would have helped to spread the song, as well as the many broadsides. In various nineteenth century Yorkshire Anthologies versions were published.