The Superstition of the Horseshoe.

Western Star, Issue 1548, 28 March 1891, Page 2 (Supplement)

The Superstition of the Horseshoe.

The horseshoe was of old held to be o* especial service as a security against tnc attacks of evil spiritß. . Thiß virtue may have been assigned, perhaps, by the rule of contraries, from it being a tning incompatible with the cloven foot of the Evil One ; or from the rude resemblance which the horseshoe bears to the rays 01 Plory which in ancient pictures are made w surround the heads of saints and nng-ela } or, finally, from some notion of its purity acquired'through passing through the fire. The latter supposition receives some countenance from'the method resorted to for the cure of horses that had become vioious, or afflicted by any distemper which village farriery did not understand ; Men disease was invariably attributed to witchcraft, and the mode of cure seems to imply the belief that the imperfect purification by fire of the shoes which the animal wore had afforded an inlet to malevolent influences. Accordingly, the horse was led into the smithy: the door was closed and barred, the shoes were taken off and placed in the fire, and the witch or warlock was speedily under the necessity of removing the spell under which the animal suffered. We have a further proof that the efficacy of fire constituted a part of the virtues inherent in the horseshoe, in the matter of reclaiming bewitched milk. All who have the management of a dairy know that at certain seasons of the year butter will not " come " from cream, nor milk be converted into curd, with the same ease as at others. , The modern reasoners on the causes 01 things look upon this as being occasioned by the sort of food the cattle take ; but all the farmers' wives of last century knew perfectly well that it was the effect of nothing else but some envious person's evil eye, and they took their measures accordingly. On the return of the milkmaids from the loaning with their milking-pails upon their heads, when the foremost took down her vessel in order to pass under the doorway, the mistress was ready to drop a horseshoe heated red-hot into the milk. It was necessary that the ceremony should be performed at the instant when the young woman was lowering the pail; and as it was further required that no one should be aware of the good dame's intention, the troop of milkmaids was often thrown into the utmost dismay by the sudden bubbling and hissing, and the screams of their companion more immediately concerned. The loss of the whole meal of milk was the usual consequence, to say nothing of the work created for the cooper by the crash of the tumbling cogues; but these were matters of inferior importance, the future productiveness of the milk being an ample set-oil against lesser mischances—and that, it need scarcely be added, was invariably secured. A horseshoe was commonly nailed upon the doors of the cow-houses ; but this was not at all times a sufficient protection, as in the summer the cows are not driven home at night, but are milked afield, and shut up in an open inclosure. When people began to be half ashamed of superstition, instead of nailing the horseshoe on the outside, they fixed it to the inside of the doors both of dwelling houses and farm offices, and in that situation it may at this day be detected in many parts of the country. , , „ , Thus the devil, though not openly defied, might come to burn his fingers if he were to attempt an entrance. Sailors are, for the most part, careful to have a horseshoe nailed to the mizen-mast, or somewhere on deck near midships, for the protection of the vessel. . The Chinese have their tombs built in the shape of the horseshoe, as we are informed by Captain Hall, in his voyage to Loo Choo ; which custom is very curious, as it may fairly be regarded as a branch of the superstition long prevailing among ourselves.