HORSES AND "BRASSES."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19280, 19 March 1926, Page 18

HORSES AND "BRASSES."

HISTORY OF THE CUSTOM. A custom that declines to die is that of attaching various " brasses" to the harness of horses. To-day these brasses are regarded as merely decorative, yet their use goes back 8000 years or more—-they are referred to in the Old Testament—and they remind one of the belief of the ancients in the " evil eye." . From the. earliest days horses were regarded as being peculiarly susceptible to witchcraft, and these shining and symbolcarrying brasses were used to avert the danger. The glitter of the brass was to divert the malign glance of the " evil eye," and the jingle was to frighten away other and unseen dangers. The shapes of the brasses had their special significance. The crescent was the symbol of Diana, the goddess of hunting. The round flat disc was the symbol of Apollo, the Grecian sun-igod and the guardian of horses. It is extraordinary that to-day, in rural parts, face-brasses are still called " sun-pieces." Further, the old belief that even numbers were unlucky still persists. To-day's " brasses" are always in odd numbers, although carters could not say why.