From "About Railways", by William Chambers of Glenormiston. Published by W&R Chambers. Introduction dated Nov. 2 1865
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The construction of a railway is the business of contractors, who execute the works by estimate, according to the plans and specifications of the engineers...........Acting himself as commander-in-chief, he has subordinates called time-keepers, foremen, gangers, and under-gangers, placed over detachments of operatives.


These operatives are a remarkable class of men. Originally from Lincolnshire and Lancashire, they are popularly known as navvies, from having been engaged in excavating navigable canals. The genuine navvy is an interesting specimen of a strong-built, hearty, industrious, and illiterate English rural labourer; his dress, a round felt-hat, coloured plush waistcoat, loose flannel jacket, corduroy breeches, and laced quarter-boots - appetite for beef, fried ham, and ale immense. With muscular strength corresponding to his appetite, the navvy is a proficient at using the pick, shovelling earth, and handling a wheel-barrow, which, with a load of one to two hundredweights, he trundles along a plank, and tips over with uncommon dexterity.