Since this thread started out nearly four years ago, the following piece has become available online:

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~exy1/fh_material/cutlery_and_cutlers.html

The article is from the English Illustrated Magazine for August 1884: 'Cutlery and Cutlers at Sheffield', by Henry J Palmer. It includes some information about the Grinders Misfortune Society and quotes a verse of the song, explaining that a "dairy-maid is the slang of the hull for the water-wheel".