trad
Published in 1812 in a collection by John Bell. Byker Hill and Walker Shore are former coal mines near Newcastle upon Tyne. Elsie Marley is a well-known Northumbrian dance. Geordie Charlton was apparently a local character and has an identical mention in a sea shanty as having a pig that did a dance when he hit it with a shovel.
Young Tradition: The Young Tradition – Byker Hill (Oberlin 1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seA6KTNjUoY
If I had another penny I would have another gill, I would make the piper play the bonny lass of Byker Hill Chorus Byker Hill and Walker Shore, collier lads for ever more (2x) The pitman and the keelman trim They drink bumble made from gin. Then to dance they do begin To the tune of Elsie Marley When first I went down to the dirt I had no cowl nor no pitshirt. Now I’ve gotten two or three Walker Pit’s done well by me Geordie Charlton, he had a pig, He hit it with a shovel and it danced a jig. All the way to Walker Shore To the tune of Elsie Marley The poor coal cutter gets two shillings The deputy get half a crown And the overman gets five and sixpence That’s just for riding up and down