A belief in the existence and mischievous propensities of the fairy tribe was formerly amongst the chief superstitions. These troublesome elves were supposed to milk the cows at night, to check them from yielding milk at morn, and prevent the butter from forming in the churn. They changed the infant left in the cradle, during the sleep or absence of its nurse, and performed many other acts peevish, envious, and wicked. But the exploits of this pigmy race are not peculiar to Wales, nor was their existence as confidently believed here at any period as it still is in other countries. One species peculiarly Welsh, are called _knockers_, from their continued knocking or hammering under ground. This noise is often heard by miners, and is invariably said to discover to the miner a rich _load_ of ore. There is also a deep roaring of the sea, which is believed to be a forewarning of some dire calamity. The inhabitants of Llandudno heard this strange noise immediately previous to the melancholy wreck of the Hornby Castle, and many other instances of remoter dates could be adduced in support of this superstitious notion. Sometimes also a _warning_ light is seen to shine out before a traveller, and conduct him in the precise direction of his journey, distinguished from jack-o’-the-lanthorn in this respect, that the latter cruelly “lures us to our doom.” However vain and obsolete most of these phantoms may now be considered, some curious fancies are still entertained by the simpler part of the population. A story is often propagated through the parish of a funeral procession having passed along in a particular direction, without the aid of horses or bearers. Carriages, without horses, are said to have been seen and heard rolling along the road or round the village cross, the coachman, passengers, and all other circumstances being disposed as usual; and, many similar tales, obtain a ready credence amongst the peasantry in several parts of North Wales even at the present period.