Llanferres is a village on the Mold to Ruthin road, below the eastern slopes of the Clwydian hills, in country that has been mined for lead since Roman times. Welsh miners believed the workings were shared with small beings called coblynau, knockers, who dressed like miners, were heard tapping in the rock, and could lead men to rich veins.
The story recorded by Curious Clwyd begins with a mining engineer looking for lead near the village. Close to the church he found an old cutting in the ground that did not appear on any plan. He asked about it, and a local man told him that his brother had seen something strange at that exact place.
The brother had been walking through the churchyard one evening when, in front of him, a ladder came up out of the ground. Up it climbed a tiny figure, dressed just like a miner, holding a greasy, spluttering candle. It was a coblyn. Everyone knew what that meant: the fairy miners showed themselves where there was ore.
The tale spread and money followed. Investors backed a venture to sink a shaft where the coblyn had appeared. They did find some lead, but the vein was thin and poor, and the people who had put money in lost a great deal of it.
The account is retold from 19th century sources and involves unnamed people. It is included as a traditional mining tale from a real lead district.
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