The song is about Morley, West Yorkshire, and it tells of a father warning his daughter of the dire consequences she can expect if she goes ahead with her plan of marying a young man who works in the Willey 'Ole. The Willey 'Ole was the worst place to work in a mill. It was where the reconstituted rags were blended with oil into a soggy mass which would later be used to make warp threads for shoddy. You could start there at fourteen, but if you were still there two years later the chances were you would work there for the rest of your days.
So the lad this girl wants to marry is in this category. He has worked in the Willey 'Ole for some time and there's no chance of him ever beconing a spinner, overlooker, tuner or some such more skilled job. Indeed he is doubly damned in that not only does he work in the Willey 'Ole but he lives in the "City" area of Morley. This was the singularly inappropriate name given to the very worst slum area.

( This was the introduction by Keith Marsden from the book "Picking Sooty Blackberries" available from Graham Pirt.)