Leicestershire, Northumberland, Manchester (1927)

 Some queer beliefs about birds are given in "Bird Facts and Fallacies," by Lewis R. W. Loyd, which Hutchinson and Co. publish at 10s 6d to-day.

Migrating birds have often conveyed the impression to the poetically minded that they contain the "souls of departed spirits," and, with regard to the lapwing, Mr. Loyd declares that some people believe these birds are metamorphosed old maids, and the green sandpipers metamorphosed old bachelors.

Some interesting stories are told of the plover, and it is stated that "Leicestershire colliers who hear the cry of these birds refuse to go down into the mine until the next day, and that they gave warning of the great colliery explosions at Hartley and Wigan."

Staffordshire Sentinel, 11th February 1927.

Pontypool, Monmouthshire, 1904.

Ghost Scare in a Mine.

The presence of a supposed ghost at Brace's Level, Pontypool, has caused quite a scare amongst the eighty workmen employed at the mine, says a contemporary. The level is owned by Messrs. Baldwin, Limited, and in the course of business some workings about 150 years old have been reopened. The colliers were startled and alarmed to see a figure with a naked light in its forehead walking about the workings, tapping the roof, and examining the sides. The workmen fled in terror from the scene, and one of them says he heard unearthly groans in the old workings. The story of the ghost has affected some of the employees to such an extent that they positively refuse to work alone. The strange part of the business is that the man with the light in his forehead can only be seen from one direction. The women living near the colliery are, of course, in a state of fear over what has become known as "Brace's ghost."

Witney Gazette and West Oxfordshire Advertiser, 17th December 1904.

Newcastle, 1917

 Gossip by Elfin.

The Earth and the "Evil One."

Following upon what I had to say yesterday regarding the long-established custom among miners of laying the pit idle when a fatality occurs in the mine, a correspondent reminds me that to understand the organisation of such a custom we must go back to the ancient beliefs in the oldest traditions; that the earth belongs to the Evil One, and that this spirit of the earth demands a sacrifice before any displacement of the rocks or the crust of the earth demands a sacrifice before any displacement of the rocks or the crust of the earth can take place for a building. 

The Church has perpetuated this belief in two familiar customs, that of consecrating the burial place of the dead, and of placing coins under the foundation of sacred buildings. It was an old belief that the "Evil One" claimed the first corpse that was buried in a new churchyard, and to avoid this calamity a dog was usually taken into the enclosure and then buried alive, thus cheating Satan of his due.

There is, however, historic evidence to verify the custom of burying human remains in the foundations of new buildings, which were the offering to the God of Earth, and which took the form of a favourite dog, slave, or the child of a vassal being built into the foundation walls of the building. The Romans were the first to substitute images and busts for the animal form.

Haunted Mines.

An old miner told my correspondent many years ago that he firmly believed that the mines were haunted by evil and mischievous spirits that dwelt in the old workings, and that he had experienced the result of their strange doings, when all the men's picks were blunted, and frequently the spectre was heard rushing through the mine with a sad, moaning sound, which made all tremble with fear. It is related that miners have turned pale at the recollection of the fright they got, yet the same men when the terrible accident took place at Hartley Colliery, and upwards of 200 men and boys lost their lives, faced death in search for their entombed fellow workmen. 

And this was the locality where "Cutty Soams," the spirit of the mine, was a familiar tradition and belief. A belief in the old superstitions of the past does not necessarily make men cowards; but all evidence goes to prove that the custom has come down from the far-off ages, when miners in all parts of the world believed that the Spirit of Evil claimed a sacrifice for the invasion of the earth under his sway.

"Cutty Soams."

The older generation in Northumberland are, of course, familiar with the legend of "Cutty Soams" to which my correspondent refers, but the younger people may scarcely have heard of it in these days, when the old fashioned superstiitons are seldom talked of. You could not get anybody to believe in these enlightened times that "Cutty" ever existed, but in the long ago he doubtless exercised the imagination of our forebears as something very real, and was regarded as one of the mischievous goblins that haunted the bowels of the earth. Like many another spell of a bygone era, "Cutty" is obsolete, and his antics are but as a tale that is told. 

He's "vanished like the baseless fabric of a vision," / His occupation gone - completed his last mission. / The light of science he disdained to brook / And fled- when other phantoms took their hook.

Newcastle Daily Chronicle, 20th March 1917.

Mixed leads

 Ghosts in Mines.

On referring to one of my scrap-books for 1876, containing my contributions to the Weekly Chronicle in the above year, I find that I wrote at least half a dozen articles on this subject, entitled "Miners' Superstitions and Traditions." Most interesting notes on the same subject, supplementary to mine, were also written by W P S, South Durham; and G. Halliwell, Seaham Harbour. If U V, Houghton, can gain access to the file of the Weekly Chronicle for 1876, the earlier months of the year, he will find ample details about "Ghosts in Mines" in Northumberland, Durham, North-East Lancashire, Devonshire, Cornwall, &c., including the Northern "Cutty Soams," "Blue Cap" (the spectral hewer), the "Seven Whistlers," and other supposed "uncanny" disembodied denizens of mines.

H. Kerr, Bacup, Lancashire.

Newcastle Chronicle, 6th February 1886.

Midlands and Northern England, 1880

 The pitmen in the Midland Counties have or had a belief, unknown to the North, in aerial whistlings, warning them against the pit. Who or what the invisible musicians were nobody pretended to know, but for all that they must have been counted and found to consist of seven, as the seven whistlers is the name they bear to this day.

Two goblins were believed to haunt the Northern mines. One was a spiteful elf who indicated his presence only by the mischief he perpetrated; he rejoiced in the name of "Cutty Soams," and appears to have employed himself only in the stupid device of severing the rope traces, or seams [scams?], by which an assistant putter, honoured by the title of 'the fool', is yoked to the tub. -The strands of hemp which were left all sound in the board at 'kenner-time' were found next morning severed in twain. 'Cutty Soams has been at work,' would the fool and his driver say, dolefully knotting the cord. The other goblin was altogether a more sensible, and indeed an honest and hard-working bogie, much akin to the Scotch brownie, or the hairy fiend whom Milton rather scurvily apostrophises as a lubber. 

The supernatural person in question was no other than a ghostly putter, and his name was 'Bluecap'. Sometimes the miners would see a light blue flame flicker through the air and settle on a full coal tub, which immediately moved towards the rolley-way as though impelled by the sturdiest sinews in working. Industrious Bluecap was at his vocation, but he required, and rightly, to be paid for his services, which he modestly rated as those of an ordinary average putter; therefore once a fortnight Bluecap's wages were left for him in a solitary corner of the mine. If they were a farthing below his due, the indignant Bluecap would not pocket a stiver; if they were a farthing above his due, the indignant Bluecap left the surplus where he found it.

The writer asked his informant, a hewer, wehter, if Bluecap's wages were now-a-days left him, he thought they would be appropriated. The man shrewedly answered he thought they would be taken by Bluecap or somebody else.

Cornubian and Redruth Times, 19th November 1880.

Ollersett pit, Derbyshire (1912)

Wraith in the Mine.

Two men on the night shift at Ollersett coal pit, Derbyshire, when creeping on all-fours underneath the dipping rock roof, observed an object standing a few feet away lifting up its arms and uttering loud screams.

The men were paralysed with fright, and before they had recovered from the shock the apparition vanished. Two nights later a white-faced miner, in a state of collapse, stated that he had also seen the wraith. The ghost was reported to be headless, and to resemble the form of a woman, but this was probably due to the fact that some years ago a woman's body with the head severed from the trunk was found in the pit.

The ghost turned out to be a pure white badger, which had made its home in the mine.

Dundee People's Journal, 31st January 1914.

Redruth and Camborne, Cornwall (1912)

 A Cornish Spook!

Miners' Story of a Strange Apparition.

During recent weeks there has been in circulation in the Redruth and Camborne district a story of a ghost having been seen on East Pool and Agar Mine. By most people it has been regarded as a hoax, but that does not alter the fact that several men are convinced they have actually beheld an apparition from the other world. Nobody can persuade these miners - about half a dozen - that they have not seen, while working in the neighbourhood of East Pool shaft, the shadowy semblance of a man, dressed in a long, caped coat of dark material. The "ghost" vanishes when it is approached.

The curious fact is (according to the "Western Daily Mercury") that the men who are certain that they have had the ghostly experience are only a fourth of the number of those who during the week are engaged at night on the spot. The others are inclined to treat their comrades supposed credulity with much levity. Nevertheless, the half-a-dozen tell circumstantial tales, and are certainly to be given credit for their honest belief.

Persons who have gone to the place on several occasions lately have not succeeded in discovering anything, during their ghost-hunting experiments. By some the "ghost" is believed to have been created by the peculiar lighting effects of the place. It is not uncommon for the men to see undesirables of the tramp class searching for a warm corner to rest or sleep in.

Portsmouth Evening News, 23rd February 1912.

A Ghost Story from a Cornish Coal Pit.

Man in a Long Coat.

[...] The "Morning Leader" representative at Redruth, led by persistent rumours, paid a visit to the East Pool and Wheal Agar United Mines, in Illogan parish, where, he says, he gathered some remarkable and well-authenticated facts. 

At least a dozen men, unimaginative Cornish miners, told him that they had seen the ghost in the pit. One of these declared that he could hardly believe the evidence of his own senses, and did not know what to make of his experience. He is as certain as he can be, however, that while working at night in the immediate vicinity of the shaft he beheld the shadowy semblance of a man wearing a long, black, caped coat.

This miner is obviously not at all of an excitable temperament, and not inclined to joke about the matter. The "ghost" is said to vanish on being approached. Another story is that the spectre on one occasion visited the engine-room, and sat down there. About one-quarter of the men who are engaged on night duty near the shaft in the course of the week are ready to swear they have seen the phantom, but the remainder have observed nothing out of the common, and are rather inclined to laugh at the expense of the others. 

An unfortunate pitman was drowned in this part of the mine about eight months ago, and the body was never recovered. Many of the miners who have seen the ghost are inclined to associate the spectre with this man's death.

Sheffield Evening Telegraph, 23rd February 1912.

 

East Pool Miner's Terrible Death.

A verdict of accidental death was returned on Thursday at an inquiry at Pool Institute [...] into the death of James Curnow (21), who was killed by falling 48 fathoms (288 feet) at East Pool Mine the previous day [..]

West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 22nd February 1912.

 

East Pool Horror. Three Miners Instantly Killed.

A terrible accident, involving the instantaneous death of three young miners, occurred at East Pool Mine about 11a.m. on Friday. [...] 

West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 7th March 1912.