Cornish Knockers

In other posts on this blog stories about American western mine spirits known as Tommyknockers are shared here and here.

The belief in these spirits originated with tin miners in Cornwall, England. Cornish miners called these mischievous spirits Knockers because they were heard

Cornish Knocker

deep within tin mines knocking.

These Knockers lived in the darkest part of mines and were described as thin-limbed, two feet tall with long hooked noses. To miners they liked, they would appear. They were described as wearing miniature versions of miners’ clothes.

Cornish miners to appease these spirits would share part of their meal with them. In Cornwall, miners ate pasties, which are a spiced meat and potato mixture enclosed in a pastry. Often at one end, an apple mixture was placed inside as well--making the pasty a complete meal.

This pastry was turned over and crimped at the edges. It is said the miners would touch their pasty just along this crimp with their dirty hands--thereby keeping the rest of their meal clean. They would then throw the soiled crimped part down for the knockers.

Cornish Pasty

When it was time to eat “Oggy Oggy Oggy” would be shouted down the mine shaft by a maiden above, then the miners would call back, “Oi Oi Oi.” Oggy means pasty.

When this knocking was heard, it was a good omen. For where 

Tin Miners in Cornwall

these spirit's knocks were heard showed the miners --rich new veins. These knocks also warned miners of impending danger.

One Cornish story, about a Knocker told the story of a man who bought a home in the mining district. It wasn’t long before he began to awake to the sounds of heavy boots walking up and down his stairs. When he looked out of his bedroom, he saw no one.

When these noises persisted, he questioned his servants. One young maid told him what he was hearing were just Knockers. They were alerting people to the fact that there was a lode under his house that needed to be worked. This turned out to be true for under this man’s house was one of the richest tin lodes found.

One Cornish miner working deep within a tin mine was wielding a heavy hammer. He heard a sharp voice calling his name between each stroke he took. When this crying became urgent, he threw down his hammer and walked in the direction of the noise.

After he had taken a dozen steps, he heard a loud crash behind him. In the spot where he had been hammering a large number of rocks had fallen down.

One superstition connected to Knockers states if a person hears them outside a mine it is a warning a death is about to occur.

A night watchman was working at an accounting house in the village of Breage in West Cornwall when he heard the distinct sounds of knocking. This was followed by what sounded like someone turning over a trash bin.

When this worker looked out, he saw nothing disturbed. When he told his friends about this the next day, they listened and nodded their heads gravely. Within days this night watchman fell ill and died.

Geevor Tin Mine

With the decline of tin mining, reports of encounters with Knockers have diminished. But people believe even today that they still reside in the deepest parts of abandoned mines.