KNOCKERS

Knockers (known as Tommyknockers in America) derive from similar origins as leprechauns and brownies. Legends claim they’re only 2ft tall and live underground. They dress like miners and steal unattended food or tools.
Mining was incredibly dangerous work. Poisonous gases, pools of water, and collapses provided plenty of hazards on a daily basis. Naturally, miners were constantly alert to the sounds of cave-ins. Creaking earth or timbers would strike fear into their hearts. Such ‘knocking’ was attributed to the knockers as a warning of an impending cave-in. Miners took care to leave part of their dinner, usually a Cornish pasty, for the knockers.
Some don’t believe the knockers are part of the fairy folk. In these legends, they’re the ghosts of those lost in mine accidents. These helpful spirits passed on warnings to save miners from suffering the same fate.