| Kernow: Land of Myths |
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Page 7 of 8 The Little People and Tom Trevorrow As well as common or garden Faeries, Kernow has its very own varieties of the ‘little people.’  Zennor Church. Picture by Kelly Hancock. There were Piskies, no higher than an inch, who helped the old and needy but could be mischievous pests to everyone else. Less benign were the Spriggans, ugly gnome like creatures that could do all kinds of harm; whether setting traps and raising storms to hamper lone travelers or even stealing babies. And then there were the Knockers, an ancient race of dwarf like creatures who inhabited the mines particularly in Penwith. Like Piskies, the Knockers could be a great help to miners but they too had the capacity for mischief if not down right malice. Novice miners were advised to both believe in and respect the Knockers. To do otherwise was very unwise indeed…. as Tom Trevorrow discovered… Tom was a miner who came seeking work in the mines near St. Just. Tom was dubious about the existence of the Knockers, yet as he worked his seam he became aware of the sound of little shovels and picks working away nearby. Over the weeks the sounds grew louder until he could ignore them no longer. Worse still, whenever he dropped a load or slipped over he heard the sound of sniggers and giggling echoing down the mine. Eventually he’d had enough and threw handfuls of stones into the darkness cursing the ‘sperrats’ that were haunting him. He thought that had got rid of them, but when he sat down with his boy to take lunch voices called out of the darkness: ‘Tom Trevorrow, leave some of thy fuggan, or bad luck will follow thee.’ To spite the Knockers they ate all their lunch, after which Tom had a nap. When he awoke he was surrounded by the Knockers, but other than pulling faces (a favourite pastime) and scaring him senseless they did no harm and eventually vanished, just as quickly as they had appeared. Tom and his boy ran for their lives. That might have been an end to it, but from that day forth Tom was plagued by ill fortune. He was beset by mysterious rock falls and collapsing timbers and eventually, when he took his hard earned ore to the surface, the whole lot, plus his tools, disappeared down a hole that had suddenly appeared. Tom gave up mining, but fared no better as a farmer until a white witch lifted the curse. The moral of the story was clear: respect the sprites of the mines. It became custom for the miners to leave a small piece of their meals in the mine at the end of the day, a good way of keeping on the right side of the Knockers. |
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