THIEVES' CHARMS AND SUPERSTITIONS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 132, 22 September 1876, Page 2

THIEVES' CHARMS AND SUPERSTITIONS.

.(Graphic.) If ignorance be the parent of superstition, the mental condition of our criminal classes must be something deplorable, for the belief in charms and omens prevails among them to a far greater extent than is generally imagined in these days of popular intellectual enlightenment. But there is nothing strange in this. From the earliest times crime and superstition have invariably been found closely allied, the apparent fearlessness displayed by many infamous characters being attributable less to their personal courage than to an implicit faith in the efficacy of some charms possessed by them. . Only the other day, in one of the metropolitan police-courts, a police detective, giving evidence in a <?ase of alleggd robbery, produced a piece of i.coaHwhich he had taken from the waisteoat~pqcket "of the accused, and stated .that:-practical thieves carried that " kind of charm for good luck." They did the'same in the time of the old Bow-street runners and it,.is said that several of the most notorious criminals captured by Townsehd " were in the habit of carrying peculiarly-shaped black pebbles, which they fancied would ensure them immunity from detection and inevitable;*-.arrest. About the period when Hogarfchr.produced his famous pictures ofL" Tiie Idle and Industrious Apprenticed,the belief -in charms was almost universal among criminals of every'class, fromi'the " gentleman highwayman " to the humble footpad, professional fortune-tellers» and- wandering jgipsies being the principal, sources from iCwhence the supply of these superstitious .articles were, obtained. Pieces; of bone from the skeletons of malefactors hung in chains great request anions thieves of " every'grade, who believed that "the possession of these .would render certain, the -success of'any nefarious enterprise -'they might .happen to be engaged. The hand'of a~eonvicted murderer was regarde'd' "as a most -powerful charm one - which; -jiiever lost , its efficacy. • It was known as "the liand"of glory." Possessed of. this a "criminal imagined himself secure against 'failure in the - perpetration of, the, most "Uudacious deeds, nor did repeated captures .pf.-evil-Hoers with' such charms concealed jibout their, persons : speedily destroy the. faith of the dangerous classes in these;dry,'; shrivelled relics of fallen humanity. .The hands were generally cut from the bodies.; •of-murderers recently executed, and ' it' was often found necessary to station' guards near the gibbets for the.purpose "of.preventing such mutilations .of criminals;

. . Pieces of the rope with which a criminal has -been.Mmg. are sometimes regarded as' charms, a fact which explains the readi-' ness withiwhich a re'cently-us'ed halter can occasionally be disposed of,'and which has' frequently been attributed to 'the'-'exist-ence of a morbid taste among purchasers';;: although we doubt whether Mar wood will" ever gain for his "hempen collars" such' prices as were obtained during the period when executions were of almost daily occurrence. Lockets . containing the haiivof executed criminals fwere also regarded as charms ; and, according 'to ' an account in' an old magazine, even" portions "of the shroud in which some-notorious criminal who had escaped the full; penalty "of. the law was buried,- were sought-for a similar purpose.- The belief in charms appears, singularly enough, to _ have been less prevalent amongst female criminals than amongst those of -tlie-- opposite' sex ; but their deficient; faith&in; this ,'respect wa's more .than.", counterbalancedby their habitual custom ;of;;]f: consulting the fates," in the shape - ofcrja •. pack' of--playing- cards, before any illegal enterprise. But they weuo/not above wearing fingerrings containing the hair of notorious.;i'pbbers and murderers, or' carrying white pebbles picked from a miming' brook dtiring ..$ successful. .plunderjjig. foray. -T-lie faith in* diviriatro'n •- by - m£anV of cards survives to , thb . present day ; although thS efficacy of this mode of determining the. advisability.; of attempting arobb'eiy is not quifce'sp generally believed in, especially-among ; the niore educated - class of female othieves. But if the " fates " are less frequently " consulted " than-formerly, the old belief in omens prevails' largely among habitualcriminals of both sexes. If a professional burglar, while on a housebreaking" expedition, experiences, as isnot unlikely, an involuntary feeling of trembling at the • unexpected appearance of a policeman, it is regarded, and with very good reason, that the enterprise cannot be prosecuted without increased risk,: In one of the northern counties a well-known housebreaker was' in the habit of walking through one of the iby-streets of-the town at a certain hour of ithe counting the number of him. ft thel number was i^M : ; %fe ; it as a sign that success #dz|[9.ratlenHi liis next exploit; an even looked upon as van; indication of:. failure. t>uring the earlier part of century., a . notorious pickpocket- watched person who passed : him a -likgly victim. Another member of the. same fraternity ascribed his'serest to his having forgotten to leave a snuff-box' belonging to a companion who had, "during the previous week, been' sentenced i.ta transportation. The tossing of coins is frequently resorted to for the 'of determining whether an attempt.at housebreaking or other foym of crime shall be made or not. Some thieves keep a coinusually a penny-piece—Expressly for this purpose in their pockets;"''"' The belief * in the ""evil eye," so coifimon among the criminal classes of the last century, is 'comparatively little known ' among those who at the pre-sent-moment forai ' our great social problem; and is fount? principally in the ruraldistricts, where superstition and crime are niore closely associated than in

the metropolis. There is; more than one district where the fear of the " evil eye" will make an arrant coward of the bolder poacher, and where stolen ducks and pilfered linen have been mysteriously restored to their "owners on its becoming noised about that the evil eye was on the evildoers. Curiously enough no member of any police force has ever been credited with the possession of this dreaded visual organ. Many criminals, when commencing their nefarious career, experience a considerable amount of nervousness at the critical moment. To prevent this, some tie a piece of string round their wrist; others, again, slightly prick their arms with a needle ; while a few will place a sprig of rosemary in their waistcoat pockets. Among juvenile criminals many of the charms and superstitions common among the uneducated are found influencing the mode in which petty thefts are perpetrated. Some lads will not attempt a robbery in any thoroughfare where they have had to pass under a ladder, or in which they may accidentally stumble. In the provinces, especially in towns of limited size, the sudden appearance of a crow is regarded as a warning that any nefarious enterprise commenced within the next twenty-four hours will be attended with immediate danger to all concerned. Perhaps this may be the reason why thievish prowlers are not in too great a hurry to remain in a neighbourhood where crows are numerous, but we should be loth to place too much confidence in the deterring influence of the omen. All thieves are not believers in charms, nor influenced by superstitious fears.