There is quite a famous yarn down these parts about North Basset mine. It goes something like this.
In 1850 the miners were becoming increasingly desperate to locate sufficient copper deposits to meet costs. Casually they often mentioned to an elderly local woman, “ Nothing can be done Gracie; we shall have to knack the bal ”. Bur Gracie Mill always made the same reply. “ Take’n try over there, do’ee; that’s where we seed the Jackey Lanterns “. Initially they ignored Grace but in some desperation they finally set to work at the place recommended . The rest is history. From it, profits of £90,000 were made. The old lady was granted 5s a month and a new dress annually by the mine in recognition of her acute ability to ‘read the signs’.(Jenkin 1927: 296). Actually there was nothing particularly new about this. As Jenkins points out (1927: 43), a feature regarded by tinners from earliest times as the favorable indication of mineral was the appearance of the Will-o’-the-Wisp, or Jack-o,-Lanthorn. The clairvoyants were known as ‘dreamers’ and are remembered in the name Wheal Dream. No doubt every mining community had its fair share of dreaming geniuses.
Perhaps you'll get a new pair of wellies annually, Colonel 😉
The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.