2020-02-01_Fortean_Times

Arthur Machen (1863-1947)

wrote supernatural tales

consideredbymanytobe

amongthe finestofthe genre.

Heexplored the occult but

remained independent of the

esotericfads andfancies of

thetimes,and in the end no

order could claim him. Machen

alsohad akeeneyefor the

fortean snippetsinthe dailies,

and through himwelearnof

averystrange case of small

humanoidsseenaround a

BritishmineinGloucestershire

in 1926.

At thetime theseincidents

becamebrieflyknown as‘the

manikin of the mine’ or ‘the

little man of the Collerie’.

Thosefamiliar with Machen’s

writings mayrecallthe opening

lines ofTheGreatReturn

(1915): “Thereare strange

things lost andforgotten

in obscurecorners of the

newspaper.” Fast forward

aboutadecade to 1926,and

thesewordsseem prophetic.

That year,Machen discussed

anumber of strange accounts

from the dailies that hadcome

to hisattention inTheGraphic,

an illustratedweekly published

in London.One subject was

witchcraft,whichheconsidered

a‘survival’:“Survivals are

always interesting.Therewas

aprosecutionfor witchcraft

somewheredowninthe country

aweek or twoago.The pigwas

ill,orthe creamrefused to turn

intobutter, or the victimwas

attackedbyshootingpains:

whateveritwas, thesuitwas

broughtand the wizard and

the witchappeared beforethe

court.The benchdismissedthe

case, and nomorewas said,

though,tothe best ofmybelief,

the prosecutormight himself

have beenprosecuted...”^1

Even inhislifetime, Machen

noted, therewerepeoplewho

stillbelieved in witchcraft

and theability ofone person

to injureanotherby,what

he called “theexerciseofa

malignant will”. But there was

another, much weirderreport

in the dailies that attracted

his attention.This concerned

sightings of somevery small

humanoids.“Thiswasthe

businessofthe LittlePeople

in theForest of Dean, down

in Gloucestershire...Two

specimens of the LittlePeople

hadbeenobserved, one in the

spring, another quiterecently.

Therewere,perhaps, six or

sevenwitnesses to thefacts,”

Machen observed.^2

Thelocation of these

puzzlingeventswas theNew

Hawkins Colliery, an ancient

mineinGloucestershire.

According toaForest of

Deancorrespondentfromthe

Western Mail,never before

had such an “extraordinary

thing”beenfoundduring

mining operationsaswhat

hadrecentlycome to light

at PoolwayCoalLevel, the

property of one Mr Amos

BrownofWynolls Hill.The

Levelran back foradistance

of some500 yards, with miners

working in an old pit known as

“theNew HawkinsColliery”

thathadbeenclosedfora

number ofyears. “The miners

were engagedonasolid piece

of coal 5ft 6in [1.7m]thick,

whenLeslieJonesapparently

knocked afossilwith his

shovel, andwasstartledby

amovement.Thecreature

swerved round, andJones

threw it on topofthe coal

bankwithhis shovel.”With

thehelp ofaco-workerand Mr

Brown, they examined the tiny

humanoid: “Theyfoundthat

the bodyresembled that of a

human being, and measured

about 14in [36cm] in length.

It hadaroundheadabout the

sizeofthatofapeacock; looked

quite human; hadtwo eyes,

eyebrows, andeyelashes; little

round ears;aflat nose; mouth

withafull set of whiteteeth,

andatonguerounded offlike

ahuman being’stongue.Ithad

aboutafourth of an inch[6mm]

of soft brownhair on its head,

and the skinof itsface wasthe

colour of that ofahalf-caste.It

hadashortneckand no arms,

nor could it befoundthat it

ever had any, though ithad

shoulders.Thetrunkwasabout

six inches [15cm]inlength and

19in [48cm]incircumference

andwascoveredwithhair

likeabeing of prehistoric age.

It had legsalmostfour–five

inches [10-13cm]long andthey

resembled those ofahuman

being.It wasperfectlyjoinedat

the knees and ankles.The feet

were about three-quartersof

an inch [19mm]inlength, each

having fivetoeswithtoenails.

Jones statedthat blood came

from wherethe shovelstruck

the creature, which livedfor

nearly an hour.Itmadeno

noisewhatever, and lifewas

onlydistinguishedbythe slight

movement of the body.”^3

Themysterious creature

wasleft where theyhad found

it. When theysearchedforit

thefollowing morning it had

disappeared.“Naturally, many

discredited such astory; but

Mr Ames Brown, awell-known

collieryproprietor,eventoday,

as well as theworkmen, are

firmlyconvinced that the

creaturewas amember of

asub-human, subterranean

tribe.^4 In support of their

story,another sighting of a

tinyhumanoidsurfaced,as

toldbyMrs TGwilliam and her

familyatEastbourneHouse:

“Thefamilywerealarmedby

amovementcomingfroma

scuttle of coal, and then from

the coal emergedaterrifying

looking creature.Thedaughter

screamed,and one member of

thefamily hurled thescuttle

and its contents throughthe

front doorontothe drive

leading to the house. Mrs.

Gwilliam said that when the

‘thing’ poseditself on thecoal

scuttle it lookedexactly like

alittle collier.She wasunable

to give adetaileddescription

of the creature;but,she said,

EO HOPPE

/E

DWARD GOOCH

/H

UL
TO
NA

RCHIVE

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ETTY IM

AG

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THEOPAIJMANSfinds Arthur Machen assessing newsreportsabout the LittlePeople from theForestofDean

BLASTS FROM THE PAST

FORTEAN TIMES BRINGSYOU THENEWSTHATTIME FORGOT

(^77) MACHEN AND THE MANIKIN OF THE MINE
“ThiswasthebusinessoftheLittle
PeopleintheForestofDean,downin
Gloucestershire...Twospecimensof
theLittlePeoplehadbeenobserved...”
LEFT:ArthurMachen, photographed
around 1905 andafirsteditionofThe
Bowmenfrom1915.