Miners in general, I might say almost universally, are a most tumultuous, sturdy people, greatly impatient of control, very insolent, and much void of common industry. Those employed in the lead mines can scarcely, by any means, be kept to the performance of a regular business; upon the least disgust, they quit their service, and try another. No bribes can tempt them to any other industry after the first performance of their work, which leaves them half a day for idleness, or rioting in the alehouse.
Arthur Young (1770) in Speakman/Dales, 1981
THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT 
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