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The Bruce Mines, as they were collectively known, produced hard-rock copper. The mining companies employed mostly Cornish miners, recently emigrated from England, with hard-rock mining and engineering experience. The year was 1847 and the Cornish were leaving Cornwall to come to Canada because of periodic mining depressions in their homeland. The men would come over first, with their families following when accommodations were available. They would work eight-hour days and receive a wage that was average for the time.2
The following poem depicts a common Cornish miner superstition.Tommy Knockers
'Av you 'eard of the Tommy Knockers
In the deep dark mines of the west,
Which the Cornish miners 'ear,
An' 'tis no laughin' jest.
For I am a Cornish miner,
An' I'll tell you of it today.
The knock-knock-knock of a tiny pick
As we work in the rocks an' clay.
We go down in the skips with our buckets,
With 'earts which nothing fazes.
Each with a candle to light the way
Through the tunnels, winzes an' raises.
An' the stale air smells of powder,
An' the mine is full of sound.
But 'tis only the noise of the Tommy Knockers
Which makes our 'earts rebound.
Pick... pick... pick,
'As someone be'ind us knocked.
Pick... pick... pick -
No, 'tis souls of dead miners locked.
For they're locked in the earthen wall,
Those that found death down there.
And 'tis the knock-knock-knock of their pick
W'ich makes on end stand our 'air.
So we leave the 'aunted place,
For we won't work w'ere they be.
An' we'erever we 'ear them knockin'
We sure will always flee.
For it means w'oever 'ears it
Will be the next in line.
For the pick, pick, pick of the Tommy Knockers
Is a last an' awful sign.
-Anthony Fitch
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