Knockers (aka Knackers, Tommy Knockers, Tommyknockers, and, oddly, Tommy Hilfiger), are small creatures derived from Welsh folklore — the complement to Irish leprechauns and British brownies (mmmmm... British brownies...).

For you see, when you work in the mines of the 1800s, you don't just have poor WiFi, you have the constant threat of cave-ins. And really, even if the mine isn't about to collapse, it's going to make all kinds of settling noises — creeps, cracks, creaks and, yes, a kind of knocking.

When we encounter these kinds of things, even today, it seems much more comforting to imagine it's the work of a mischievous imp than, y'know, the reality that the mine is collapsing! The mine is collapsing! The mine is collapsing! Thus the mythical gnome, elf, fairy things.

But we don't really care about all them. Just the Knockers. For you see, the Welsh believed that the Knockers were the reincarnated souls of the Jews who crucified Jesus.

Could it be? Ought there to be a little brown fellow on a cereal box labeled Unlucky Charms (with marshmallow stars and torahs, no doubt)?

Well, on the one hand, we've got short people with exaggerated facial features who seem happy to help their fellow man.

On the other, we have Jews. In mines.

So that would be a no.