Cornwall has an unusually large amount of folk lore associated with its past.

Piskeys and knockers are part of that folk lore.

It’s said that knockers were little elf-like things, a bit like piskeys but uglier! They inhabited the mines, knowing the good and bad about the workings and guiding miners dependent on whether or not they provided the knockers with food.

Simple really, food for safe passage and possibly reward in the form of being pointed at a seam of ore. On the other hand, no food = bad luck in the form of disasters or simply not finding any ore.

This knocker is on the wall of a shop that sells wooden ones to tourists. Strangely, their story has been massaged a bit to make them sound like lovely, happy little things with not an ounce of malice in their hearts. I suppose it’s a case of ‘tell them what they want to hear’ and no-one wants to hear of miners being led to their death or losing their worldly goods!

Anyway, whatever, the knight of the knockers is, in this portrayal, a handsome beast rather than the ugly critter of legend. I reckon that if I see one skipping about in my garden, ugly or not, I’ll be nice and offer sustenance – don’t want to go falling down any big holes now do I?

A year ago, I was living the life of a fool.