| Creature information | |
|---|---|
| Other name(s) | Knacker Tommyknocker |
| Grouping | Mythological creature Fairy Sprite |
| Origin | |
| Country | Britain |
| Region | Cornwall andDevon |
| Details | Mines |
TheKnocker,Knacker, orTommyknocker (US) is a mythical, subterranean,gnome-like creature inCornish andDevon folklore. TheWelsh counterpart is thecoblyn. It is closely related to theIrishleprechaun,Kentish kloker and theEnglish andScottishbrownie. The Cornish describe the creature as a little person 2 ft 0 in (0.61 m) tall, with a disproportionately large head, long arms, wrinkled skin, and white whiskers. It wears a tiny version of standardminer's garb and commits random mischief, such as stealing miners' unattended tools and food.
Cornish miners believed that the diminutive Knockers beckoned them toward finding richveins of tin. As miners changed from independent, family-owned operators to hired laborers for large industrialized companies, there was an increased concern for safety, reflected in the knockers' new role. They knocked on the mine walls to warn of impending collapse.[1][2]
Generally considered benevolent, they were alsotricksters who would hide tools and extinguish candles.[3] They are similar to thecoblynau ofWelsh miners.[4]
One interpretation holds that they are mine-spirits, believed to be the ghosts of the Jews who worked the mines in the 11th and 12th centuries;[4] another view is that they are the spirits of those killed in a mine.[5] To show appreciation, and to avoid future peril, the miners cast the last bite of their tastypasties into the mines for the Knockers.[6]
In the 1820s, immigrantWelsh andCornish miners brought tales of the Tommyknockers[7] and their theft of unwatched items and warning knocks to westernPennsylvania. Cornish miners, much sought after in the years following thegold andsilver rushes, brought them toColorado,Nevada, andCalifornia. The underground elves became part of the folklore of miners throughout theAmerican West, not just those of Cornish background.[1]
When asked if they had relatives who would come to work the mines, the Cornish miners always said something along the lines of "Well, me cousin Jack over in Cornwall wouldst come, could ye pay 'is boat ride", and so these immigrant miners came to be calledCousin Jacks.[8] The Cousin Jacks refused to enter new mines until assured by the management that the knockers were already on duty. Even non-Cornish miners, who worked deep in the earth where the noisy support timbers creaked and groaned, came to respect the Tommyknockers. The American interpretation of knockers seemed to be moreghostly thanelfish.[9]
Belief in the knockers in America remained well into the 20th century. When one large mine closed in 1956 and the owners sealed the entrance, fourth, fifth, and sixth generation Cousin Jacks circulated a petition calling on the mineowners to set the knockers free so that they could move on to other mines. The owners complied.[10] Belief among Nevadan miners persisted amongst its miners as late as the 1930s.[9]
Tommyknocker Brewery inIdaho Springs, Colorado owes its namesake to the mythical creature, and began serving in 1994.[11]
Knocker also appeared as a name for the same phenomena, in the folklore ofStaffordshire miners.[citation needed]
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