I no more know what this song is than anyone else here, but I have a suggestion for where to look if someone can find the book: The Thomas Armstrong songbook ("25 Popular Songs"). Armstrong (1848-1920) was a labour poet with a strong interest in mining, author e.g. of "The Durham Strike." He was a miner who was born in Durham. There is a short biography here: http://www.pitmanpoet.org.uk/TommyArmstrong/TommyArmstrong.htm.

That's not a guarantee, but he seems a reasonable candidate for the author.