The knocker is one of the many kinds of Cornish faery. It is an ugly creature with a hooked
nose that stands no more than three feet tall and lives underground in the Cornish tin mines. They
are known as knockers because of the knocking sound they made with their picks and shovels as they
too mined the tin.
A wise Cornish miner would set aside a small portion of his meal to win the favour of the local
knockers as it was well known that the knockers knew where the richest veins of tin were
located, and would make them known to those whom they favoured.
Some say that they are the spirits of old miners, others that they are the souls of the Jews
who crucified Christ condemned to spend the rest of eternity in limbo. Which is why, it is said
that on certain days of the year such as Christmas Day and Easter Day they can be heard
singing carols in the mines as their penance.