What is "borinage"

The Borinage is an area in the Walloon province of Hainaut in Belgium. The provincial capital Mons is located in the east of the Borinage. In French the inhabitants are called Borains, but there was a great sociological difference between Mons and the Borains of all the villages around Mons.

Charles White wrote, when describing the Belgian revolution, "The Borains, like the dark spirits of the melo-drame, rose from their mines, and helter-skelter pushed upon the capital", but he was using this name for all the inhabitants in the Province of Hainaut, which is an error.