The song was collected by John Bell, John (b.1783 d.1864) between 1824 and 1860
synopsis: A celebration of the Stockton-Darlington railway bridge, the passage of the Act that enabled the construction of the Stockton and Darlington railway; and the concomitant failure of a rival scheme.
[Note 422.1] In 1825 George Stephenson built the first public steam railway, which ran from Stockton to Darlington.
[Note 422.2] The Act authorising the construction of the Darlington to Stockton railway, received royal assent on 19th April 1821. So the song was probably written soon thereafter. However some sections of the route were outside the 'limits of deviation' imposed by the original Act, and so a further application to Parliament was necessary, Royal Assent being given on 23 May 1823. http://www.haggerleases.co.uk/history_1.html.
[Note 422.3] The foundation stone of bridge over the River Skerne in Darlington. was laid on 6th July, 1824.
[Note 422.4] Vane family of colliery owners. Bar 153, Hetton Coals, also mentions the Vane family.
[Note 422.5] Either Robert Eden Duncombe Shafto (1776-1848) or his son Robert Duncombe Shafto (1796-1888),
[Note 422.6] Local politics and commercial rivalries were important factors in the choice of railway routes. There were two proposed routes; one passed through Darlington and Yarm, the other avoided them.
[Note 422.7] The song was written to promote both local enterprise and to float shares in particular schemes. Over three-quarters of the original £120,000 invested came from the Darlington area. http://spartacus-educational.com/RAstockton.htm
[Note 422.8] "whether tide be high or low" and "we heed not what wind blow" suggests that coal could be loaded onto ships at Stockton on Tees at all states of the tide. Steam tugs were used on the Tyne (less than 50 miles for the Tees estuary) from 1818 so it is possible taht they were operating on the Tees when this song was written.
[Note 422.9] a town near Stockton on tees
gloss Freeholder A person who owns land and thereby, and thereby had the right to vote.
The song was collected by John Bell, John (b.1783 d.1864) between 1824 and 1860
The Farne Archive http://www.asaplive.com/archive/detail.asp?id=N0114501
gloss - 'squires Esquire: A man belonging to the higher order of English gentry, ranking immediately below a knight or A landed proprietor, (country) ‘squire’[OED]
The use of the future tense suggests that the song was written before the line opened in 1825.