The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-10-16
THE HORSESHOE FOR LUCK
FACTS ABOUT THE ONE UNIVERSAL
SUPERSTITION.
It hates Hack Thrcc Hundred Years
Its Csc in Various Ways-A Safe
gunrd and n Chnrm.

from thy THRESHOLD" is a friendly wish
more than 800 years old. 1t dates back
to the time of witches and witchcraft.
To find horseshoe and hang it behind
the house door was considered to bring
good luck to the household and protec-
ton from witchcraft or evil eye. In
Hudibras, the conjuror could
Chase evil spirits away by dint
OF sickle, horseshoe, hollow flint,
An old writer says the houses in Lon
don were protected against witchcraft
by horseshoes nailed over the door, and
he adds, that to be ctlicacious the shoe
must be an old one, and accidentally
| picked up by its possessor. One of the
commonest sights in the rural districts Of
this country, particularly in the older
states, is a horseshoe nailed over the
barn or stable door. This is TO keep
away the witches, whose great delight it
is to knot up the names of the horses.
Lord Nelson was a great believer in the
horseshoe as a lucky omen, and one was
nailed TO the mast of his famous
ship Victory. Harriet Mellon, the
actress, who married the great banker
Coutts, grandfather of the Baroness
Burdett- Coutts, and after his death
married the Duke of St. Adams, pinned
her faith upon the horseshoe, and had
two OF them nailed on the outer gate of
Holly Lodge, her country seat. If
horseshoe could bring good luck it GER
tainly did to her. \ poverty strickcn
Irish girl, her childhood was passed in
wretchcdness and misery, which some
years life as stroling actress did not
mucn alleviate. Whether she found her
horseshoe during this period her vera
cious Diographer does not disclose, but
She finally obtained an engagement at
Drury Lane, and shortly after drew
prize in lottery. Then followed her
acquaintance with the great banker and
fortune smiled on her for the remainder
of her life. She was not great actress,
nor woman of extraordinary beauty,
but she was the luckiest of ali the
actresses ever raised to the English
peerage.
DR.. James, of London, many years
ago invented fever powder. He was
poor, and desired to get prominent
chemist named Newleny to sell the
powder for him. In going to Newberrvs
house one morning DR.. James found
horseshoe, which he picked up and put
in his pocket Newberry became his
agent for the sale of the powder, and
DR.. James made an immense fortune.
He ascribed all his success to the horse
shoe, which he subsequently adopted as
the crest on his carriage.
In the large beer shops OF London
horscshoes may be be seen, and there
has been considerable discussion among
believers as to whether the horseshoe
was most effective nailed behind the
door or upon the first step of the door
Both positions have their advocates, and
instances of extraordinary luck re-
counted as having attended them.
have horscsh} prominently Visible
over door or window, and there are proba-
bly, few families who have not at one
time or another placed considerable con-
fidence as a source of good fortune in
this peculiar piece Of irion. AS charm
and as a scarf-pin, the miniature horse
shoe meet with the readiest sale at the
jewelers. The origin of the belief
is somewhat difficult to trace, and nu-
merous theories more or less wild have
been preached. Some have thought
that the virtue lay in the shape
which is similar to the halo around the
head Of the saints. Another theory was
that Mars, the goa of war, and the war
horse, was an enemy to Saturn, who was
the protector of witches. In China it
is the horses hoof, and not the shoe,
that is the symbol OF luck, and the peo-
pie there hang up horses hoof in their
houses as charm. There has always
been a certain amount of good or bad
luck attached to horses. particularly
. Nui WI 81
rhyme runs:
One white foot, buy a horse:
Two white feet, try a horse;
Three white feet, look well about him;
-Four white feet, do without him.
In some parts of England it is looked
upon as unlucky TO meet a white horse
on leaving home, and in order to avert
the i'll omen one must spit on the
ground.
Iron horseshoes are not very ancient
invention. The practice of shoeinG
horses was introduced into England by
William the Conquerer- that was in the
eleventh century, and it is said that
Henry de Ferrars, who accompanied
William to England, received that sur
name because he was the inspector oil
farriers. The coat of arms of the family
bore six horseshoes and they were
granted a peculiar prcrogative, which
is still held by them. Their seat is al
Oakham, in Rutlandshire, and they claim
a horseshoe or its value from every noble
or royal personuge who lodges within the
walls or passes through the streets Of
Oakham. In the ancient Norman Hal
may be seen these souvenirs of disting
uished visits, some adorned witt
a coronet and marked with the names o
donors, from Queen Elizabeth down tc
the Princess of Wales. In 1888 tn,
Princess Victoria, on a visit to Oakham
paid horseshoe, as her uncles, George
". and the duke of York had done lonl
before, and the London Times of Marcel
8, 1891, has this paragraph; 'In accord
ance with an ancient custom the Princess
of Wales has presented horseshoe t.
, Oakham castle, in commemoration of he
visit The shoe, which was manufac
tured at the works of Lord Aveland, anC
III hoe met hoon foetoOol ono n