ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 



983 



questions, " Where do you come 

 "froinr" — " Why do you come 

 *' here?" and, " Where do you go 

 *'. to from hence?" Unsatisfied 

 Avith my answers, that I Avas an 

 Knglishman, come to visit the moun- 

 tains and waterfalls, 1 have often 

 and often been aslicd, with the ut- 

 most simplicity, " Are there, then, 

 " no rocks nor rivers in England?" 

 In all accounts of travels through 

 unfrequented countries, we find this 

 diijposi'ion to curiosity very com- 

 mon, and a slight acquaintance with 

 the nature of the human mind is 

 sufficient to allay any surprise that 

 may be excited in discovering that 

 it is prevalent in Wales. 



" They are much inclined to su- 

 perstition, but in pjl countries wc 

 find that there are multitudes of 

 weak and foolish people. In Eng- 

 land, most of the peasantry swal- 

 low, with credulous avidity, any ri- 

 diculous stories of ghosts, hobgob- 

 lins, and fairies. There is, however, 

 in the Welsh, certainly a greater in- 

 clination to credulity than what, at 

 least, an Englishman can discover 

 among our own jicoplc. There are 

 few, indeed, of the mountaineers of 

 Wales, who have not by heart a 

 string of legendary stories of those 

 disembodied beings. The cavern 

 Lanym3nech-hill, not far from Os- 

 westry, has been long noted as the 

 residence of a clan of fairies, of 

 whom the neighbouring villagers 

 relate many surprising and mischiev- 

 ous pranks. Whilst they have 

 stopped to listen at the mouth of 

 the cave, they have sometimes even 

 heard the little elves in conversa- 

 tion, but this was always in such 

 low whispers, that (with reverbera- 

 tion along tlie sides and roof of the 

 cavern) the words were rendered 

 indistinguishable. The stream that 



runs across a distant part of this ca- 

 vern, is celebratecl as the place 

 where the fairy washer-women and 

 labourers have been heard frequent- 

 ly at work. 



Considerably allied to the fairies 

 is another species of supposed aeri- 

 al beings, called by the Welsh 

 knockers. These, the Widish 

 miners say, are heard underground, 

 in or near mines, and ^ by their 

 noises, generally point out to the 

 workmen a rich vein of ore. The 

 following are extracts from two let- 

 ters on this extraordirary subject, 

 written by Mr. Lewis Morris, a man 

 eminent for his learning and good 

 sense. 



" These are odd assertions, but 

 '' they are certainly facts, though 

 " we cannot, and do not pretend to 

 " account for them. We have no'.v 

 " very good ore at Llwyn Llwyd, 

 " where the knockers Mere heard 

 " to work, but have now yielded 

 " up the place, and are no more 

 " heard. Let who will laugh, we 

 " have the greatest reason to re- 

 " joice, and thank the knockers^ 

 " or rather God, who sends us 

 " these notices." 



" The second letter is as fol- 

 lows: — 



" I have no time to answer your 

 "objection against knockers; I 

 " have a large treatise coileCTed on 

 " that head, and what Mr. Durham 

 " says, is nothing to the purpose. 

 "If sounds of voices, whispers, 

 " blasts, working or pumping, can 

 " be carried on a mile under ground, 

 " they should always be heard in 

 " the same piapc, and under the 

 '• same advantage.';, and not once in 

 " a month, a year, or two years. 

 '< .Inst before the discovery of ord 

 " last week, three men together, in 

 " our work, were car-witnesses of 

 3 R 4 " knockers 



