(The), subs. phr. (old).—Newcastle-on-Tyne: from its trade, coal: the term is now obsolete, but it was common in use at the latter art of the eighteenth century: cf. BLACK DIAMONDS.
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v. BLACK-INDIES, Newcastle, from whence the Coals are brought.
