More Cornish mining traditions by Herbert Richards.

About a century ago, when mining was in full swing in Cornwall, Cornish miners were very superstitious. To this day many of the old beliefs remain.

In the old mining days it was considered unlucky to make the form of a cross on the side of a mine, and on no account must one whistle for fear of vexing the "knackers" and by so doing bring ill luck; but one could sing or even swear, without producing any ill effect.

In one mine, a black cat was often seen to descend, but was never seen at the bottom of the mine. A white rabbit forbode an accident; a hand clasping the ladder and coming down with or after a miner foretold misfortune.

Snails were known in West Cornwall as bullhorns and if a miner met one on his way to the mine he always dropped a bit of his dinner or some grease from his lantern before him, for good luck.

Strange dreams were sometimes related, warning miners from going underground on certain days with their comrades, when serious accidents have happened and many miners lost their lives.

Rich lodes, too, were said to have been discovered through the dreams of fortunate women who have been shown in them where their male comrades should dig for the hidden treasure.

A miner going down the mine with his shoes on would drive all the mineral out of the mine.

In 1886, at St. Just-in-Penwith, two men of Wheal Drea, had their hats burnt on Monday morning after the birth of their first children.

Three hundred fathoms down at Cooks Kitchen Mine, near Camborne, swarms of flies, known by the miners as Mother Margarets, could be heard buzzing, being bred in the dark; they had a great dislike to light.

Swallows were said to spend the winter in deep and disused Cornish mines. It was their custom to sing at seeing the first swallow appear.

A water-wagtail, called by miners "a tinner," perched on a window-sill, was the sign that a stranger was coming. Part of an old song often sung by miners was: "Here's to the Devil
With his wooden spade and shovel,
Digging tin by the bushel
With his tail cocked up."

Dowsing in West Cornwall with a hazel was used to discover a vein of ore. The twig was held closely in the hand, the point towards the dowser's breast. It turned round when the holder stood over a vein of metal.

The Cornishman, 15th March 1945.