~KRANDLEKEEP~
The Wisconsin Gnomelore Database
The Tommyknockers
"After eating lunch, miners often left the crust of their pasty behind for the knockers to eat."
From There Be Hodags, by C.A. McAllister:
Knockers have their origin in Cornish folklore, as little people who aided Cornish tin miners. They were sometimes said to be the spirits of deceased miners, in some cases said to be the ghosts of Jewish miners in specific. Their legends spread with Cornish miners to the Americas, where they became known as “tommyknockers” and became a part of the folklore of Cornish-American mining culture. In Wisconsin, this manifested as a part of the lead mining culture of the state. Tommyknockers were seen as so essential to a safe and successful mining operation that Cornish miners reportedly refused to enter new mines unless assured that the tommyknockers were already on duty within the tunnels. Eventually stories of the tommyknockers would spread even to the non-Cornish lead miners.
The tommyknockers appeared as tiny, ugly, wrinkled men with long, white whiskers. They wore tinier versions of the standard miner’s attire. Tommyknockers could either be helpful or harmful. If a miner had a helpful tommyknocker, the knocker could lead the miner to rich veins of lead. Helpful tommyknockers would also warn miners of impending cave-ins, signaling danger whenever they made more than three knocking sounds at one time, thereby warning the humans in the mine to evacuate. An angry tommyknocker might steal hats or tools, cause lead veins to dry up, pelt miners with stones, and blow out candles. In extreme circumstances they might even tamper with dynamite fuses or cause cave-ins. A miner could gain the favor of the tommyknockers by leaving the leftover crusts of his pasty pie in the mines as an offering to the knockers, or by leaving clay statuettes of the tommyknocker at the entrance to the mine.
The tommyknocker can be compared with many different legendary creatures of Wisconsin which guarded valuable mineral deposits, such as the mizauwaubeekummoowuk, the mining gnomes, the underwater panther, and the iron and copper spirits. Of these, they are most similar to the mining gnomes, which were also known to guide humans to mineral riches if they were of a friendly disposition. The tommyknockers can also be compared to the iktómi, another type of subterranean little people which could be detected by tapping or knocking noises. They can also be compared to Badger Bill, a legendary giant and lead miner, the only other legendary creature from Wisconsin to be associated with lead mining in specific.
From "Beware the Tommyknockers!", by the Wisconsin Historical Society
CRAAACCKK!
Deep underground in a mine, the sound of creaking timbers and cracking rock meant it was time to bolt for safety! If you made it out before the cave-in, you could thank the tommyknockers for the warning!
Many of Wisconsin’s early European miners came from Cornwall, England. They had developed their skills in the coal mines of their homeland. These skills made the Cornish miners highly sought after in the lead-mining territory of southwestern Wisconsin.
When people travel from one place to another, they bring with them many things that help them settle into their new homes. This includes practical things, like quilts and tools, but it also includes things that remind them of home, like pictures and diaries.
Miners also brought their traditions with them. They made the pasties, or meat- and vegetable-filled pies, that they remembered from home. They told stories to remind them of their heritage. One of these stories concerned tiny elves who lived in the mines. The knackers, also called tommyknockers or knockers, were sometimes helpful, and sometimes not.
Cornish miners firmly believed in these small, ugly, wrinkled, underground beings. An angry knocker wasn’t something you wanted on your hands. They might steal your tools or cause the vein of lead you were following to suddenly run out. They might even cause a cave-in!
The knockers could also be helpful if you treated them right. After eating lunch, miners often left the crust of their pasty behind for the knockers to eat. Having them in your mine was a good sign because they worked only the best ground. Hearing them might mean you were on the right track to finding mineral riches! Some say the noises the knockers made before a cave-in probably saved many miners’ lives.
Today, miners don’t believe in the tommyknockers. Science and engineering have helped make mining safer, and the knockers have become another piece of folklore from Wisconsin’s past.
Or have they?
CRAAACCKK!
Also Documented In: