Welsh Mining Superstitions

Wales has a sizeable mining community that brings with it many superstitions. Here are some of them:

If a miner saw a pig on his way to work, he was to turn around and go back dwelling. This was a sign of something bad about to happen. White rabbits and black dogs crossing your path on the way to the mine were also necessary signals to prevent going to work.

Birds had been regarded as ominous signs when spotted about the pithead. It was an in particular bad sign if they had been pigeons, robins, or doves. These "corpse birds" were mentioned to have been observed before the Senghenydd Explosion in 1913, when more than 400 people today were killed. Birds have been seen just before a number of mining disasters.

At the Morfa Colliery in the early months of 1890, there were various strange happenings. There was a rose-like smell in the mines, mentioned to be coming from "death flowers". A number of said that they saw ghosts and heard ghostly cries for aid. There had been flickering lights called "corpse candles" seen in the tunnels. These omens were so powerful that over half of the morning crew stayed house on March 10th. Later that day, there was an explosion and 87 miners had been buried alive and died.

Some miners also believe that there are goblins or mine fairies. Some of these goblins had been menacing and would lead a single miner away from the rest of the crew. Some would move tools about or hide them on the miners. These mine fairies could also be beneficial. They could be heard knocking on the walls in the places where precious metals or minerals could be identified.