Pixies and pasties (with some astronomy on the side)

[Ken Hutchinson]

No: HPFGUIDX 157361

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboyminn at ...> wrote:
>
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Ken Hutchinson" <klhutch@>
> wrote:
> >
> >  "Geoff Bannister"<gbannister10@> wrote:
> > >  
> > > Cornish pixies on the other hand are mischievous little
> > > characters, often portrayed as men with pointed hats and 
> > > possibly distant relatives of leprechauns.
> > > 
> > > ...
> > >
> > 
> > Ken:
> > 
> > Geoff, I admit our local schools are woefully inadequate 
> > when it comes to teaching us the folklore of Cornwall. 
> > Perhaps you can enlighten us further. ... Apparently our 
> > good Wisconsin mines were infested with creatures known 
> > as Tommyknockers .... Tommyknockers do not seem to be 
> > mentioned in HP and here is where you could help. Is a 
> > Tommyknocker the same thing as a Cornish Pixie, or a
> > relative, perhaps?
> > 
> > Ken ;-)
> >
> 
> 
> bboyminn;
> 
> Wikipedia to the rescue...
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommyknocker
> 
> Knockers, Knackers, Bwca (Welsh),Knockers, Bucca 
> (Cornish) or Tommyknockers (US) are the Welsh and 
> Cornish equivalent of Irish leprechauns and English & 
> Scottish brownies. About two feet tall and grizzled, 
> but not misshapen, they live beneath the ground and are 
> most active in and around the mines. Here they wear 
> tiny versions of standard miner's garb and commit 
> random mischief, such as stealing unattended tools 
> and food.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixie_%28folklore%29
> 
> Pixies are mythical creatures of English folklore, 
> considered to be particularly concentrated in the areas 
> around Devon and **Cornwall**, suggesting some Celtic 
> origin for the belief and name. In regional dialect, 
> these mischievous little folk are sometimes referred to 
> as piskies/piskeys or the little people. They are usually 
> depicted as wingless, with pointed ears, and often 
> wearing a green outfit and pointed hat. Sometimes their 
> eyes are described as being pointed upwards at the temple 
> ends.
> 
> So, it seems that JKR did not simply make up 'Cornish 
> Pixie', pixies have always been associated with Cornwall.
> 
> Whether they are one in the same, I can not say, but it 
> doesn't seem like it.
> 
> Just passing it along.
> 
> Steve/bboyminn
>

Ken again:

You must see more difference between the Wikipedia entries than I do.
Geoff says the Pixies are related to Leprechauns and our tour guide at
Mineral Point said the same of Tommyknockers, as does Wikipedia.
Wikipedia says Pixies are also known as the little people and I
believe that is how the Irish describe Leprechauns. I admit I did not
think to consult Wikipedia but I was hoping to tap into Geoff's more
local knowledge. For all we know the Wikipedia article was written by,
gasp, an American! Of course if Tommyknocker is a US corruption of the
Cornish term Geoff won't be able to help us.

I also confess that Wikipedia's credibility took a tumble for me when
I read this in their entry on the Black Family Tapestry:

"A very large number of the Black family are named after stars,
constellations and other heavenly objects (for example, Sirius,
Arcturus, Alphard, Regulus, and Pollux are stars, while Andromeda is a
galaxy, and Orion, Cassiopeia, and Cygnus are constellations)."

Andromeda is a constellation, not a galaxy. There *is* a large, bright
galaxy located in the constellation Andromeda and it *is* often called
the Andromeda Galaxy in honor of the constellation it appears to lie
in. From a dark sight you can glimpse it with your naked eyes as a
fuzzy patch. In fact it is the most distant object that you can see
with your naked eyes. It is a spiral galaxy like our own Milky Way and
perhaps twice as large. Together with the Milky Way galaxy it
dominates the Local Group, a small cluster of galaxies that are
gravitationally bound together. These are the sorts of things I wish
Hogwarts taught their astronomy students rather than having them
tediously plot the positions of stars and planets. They could buy
tremedously accurate and detailed star charts in any decent London
Muggle bookshop. Muggle computer stores have excellent planetarium
programs that will plot planetary positions over a 50,000 year period,
or they could download Cartes Du Ciel free from the internet. Better
yet Hogwarts could buy a few modern Muggle goto telescopes and the
students could view anything they liked at the touch of a button like
Muggle children can. It's almost like magic!!

Oh well, I've drifted considerably from the topic of the thread but
I'd trust Geoff's opinion over Wikipedia's in this case.

Ken