A bluecap is a mythical

fairy A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

English folklore English folklore consists of the myths and legends of England, including the region's Legendary creature, mythical creatures, traditional recipes, urban legends, proverbs, superstitions, Folk dance, dance, balladry, and Folklore, folktales tha ...

that inhabits mines and appears as a small blue flame. If miners treat them with respect, the bluecaps lead them to rich deposits of minerals. Like knockers or

kobolds A kobold (; ''kobolt'', ''kobolde'', cobold) is a general or generic name for the household spirit (''hausgeist'') in German folklore. It may invisibly make noises (i.e., be a poltergeist), or helpfully perform kitchen chores or stable work. ...

, bluecaps can also forewarn miners of cave-ins. They are mostly associated with the Anglo-Scottish borders. Bluecaps were regarded as hard workers and it was said that they were expected to be paid a working man's wages, equal to those of an average putter (a mine worker who pushes the wagons). This payment was left in a solitary corner of the mine, and they would not accept any more or less than they were owed. The miners would sometimes talk of having seen a flickering bluecap settle on a full tub of coal, transporting it as though "impelled by the sturdiest sinews". Another being of the same type (though less helpful in nature) was called "Cutty Soames"''Labour and the Poor in England and Wales, 1849–1851: Northumberland and Durham, Staffordshire, the Midlands'', Jules Ginswick, Routledge, 1983, , 9780714629605, pp. 65-66 or ''Old Cutty Soames'',''Character Sketches Of Romance, Fiction And The Drama'', Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, Marion Harland, The Minerva Group, Inc., 2004, , , page. 119 who was known to cut the rope-traces or soams by which the assistant putter was yoked to the tub.

References

Citations Bibliography * * Northumbrian folkloric beings Northumbrian folklore Goblins Fairies English ghosts English legendary creatures Supernatural legends Mining spirits {{legendary-creature-stub

See also

References