1857-59 
‘DARBY JOE 
67 
found in the bed of the Tyne thirty feet deep 
'vhilst the Tyne Dock was being made. This 
considered a testimony to the antiquity of man, 
the fossil tree was certainly cut by man’s hand, 
^nd there were fossil chips lying around in the mud, 
^nd the stump, which bore marks of chopping, 
^as covered with silt to a great depth. R., with 
usual caution, listened to the various accounts, 
^ad then inquired if any workmen had ever been 
^rnployed there before. At last he ascertained that 
Northumberland workman called “ Darby Joe” 
and his gang had been employed about a year ago 
*■0 make a horizontal cutting before draining the 
''’hole area. This excavation had then been filled 
''P- 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, 
hlarby Joe considered a moment, and then said he 
^’nmembered perfectly coming across a tree which 
^as in his way — “ the hardest bit of wood he ever 
See — and hacking at it with his adze. “ And 
^here did this take place ? ” “ Oh, hereabouts,” said 
afby 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 
tree did you cut from the stump ? ” “ About 
nnr feet, sir.” R. then instituted a search for the 
nut-off piece, and after a bit they found it, and 
ded it on to the old stump ! So much for the 
