1857-59 'DARBY JOE' 67 



found in the bed of the Tyne thirty feet deep 

 whilst the Tyne Dock was being made. This 

 was considered a testimony to the antiquity of man, 

 as the fossil tree was certainly cut by man's hand, 

 and there were fossil chips lying around in the mud, 

 and the stump, which bore marks of chopping, 

 was covered with silt to a great depth. R., with 

 his usual caution, listened to the various accounts, 

 and then inquired if any workmen had ever been 

 employed there before. At last he ascertained that 

 a Northumberland workman called " Darby Joe" 

 and his gang had been employed about a year ago 

 to make a horizontal cutting before draining the 

 whole area. This excavation had then been filled 

 up. R. insisted on having the man brought from a 

 distance, where he and his gang were employed, 

 and, when he arrived, asked him if he remembered 

 anything about cutting down a hard or stony tree. 

 Darby Joe considered a moment, and then said he 

 remembered perfectly coming across a tree which 

 was in his way — " the hardest bit of wood he ever 

 see" — and hacking at it with his adze. " And 

 where did this take place ? " " Oh, hereabouts," said 

 Darby Joe. R. showed him the stump of the tree ; 

 and the man exclaimed on looking carefully at it, 

 " Them's my marks, sir." " About how much of 

 the tree did you cut from the stump ? " " About 

 four feet, sir." R. then instituted a search for the 

 cut-off piece, and after a bit they found it, and 

 fitted it on to the old stump ! So much for the 



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