The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-04
LOVE OF THE HORSESHOE.
Strange Superstition Concerning
This Emblem of Luck.

(From the Philadelphia Record)
Why is a horseshoe lucky and why is
it hung over the door to bring luck to the
home, and why don't everybody have
one?" demanded the small questioner OF
the household
II seemed an easy matter at first to an
swer this rush of questioning but it was a
surprise to discover, on making a care
full research for horseshoe superstitiors
how widespread and how ancient is the be-
lief in the power of the horseshoe to ward
off evil.
In the long ago" the horseshoe super
stition seems to have had several differ
ent origins, among them being the facts
that its shape was very early considered
an emblem of good luck; it was worn by
the horse, which was looked upon as the
most useful and the most lucky of ami
mails, and 1t is made of iron which is pop
ularly believed to be endowed with pro-
tecting qualities beyond those of any other
metal. Even now the most rabid enemy
of superstition will half-laughingly pick
up an old horseshoe and carry it home
with him.
The horseshoe has often been the means
of saving life. English lore tells how
Queen Margaret watched the battle of
Blore Heath, in 1459. and when she saw
the battle would be lost made her escape
on horseback having the blacksmith re-
verse the shoes of her horse so that IT
would appear she was galloping toward the
scene of the battle instead of away Dur
ing our civil war this scheme was put
into practice, and Yankee wit was credit
ed with originating it, Back in the Middle
Ages, thrty-three years before Columbus
started on his famous voyage. a woman
| was bright enough to think of this plan to
| save her husband and his followers. Thi:
| is the earliest authenticated instance of the
| scheme.
| The Romans drove nails into the walls
| of their cottages as an antidote for the
! plague. The Arabs believe that the evil
| gent which sends the simeon upon them
| can be appeased by the shout, Iron, IRON.
| and when overtaken by that storm that is
| the cry they raise. The Scandinavian con-
| stantly carries In the bottom of his boat
| an open knife or nail driven In reed tC
| ward off the water spirits. Many nations
have long held that iron is potent breaker
of the spell Of witchcraft, so the finding OF
| old iron is lucky, and as old iron is mostly
found in the shape of horseshoes. and as
the horseshoe is the lucky crescent shape
the horseshoe has come to be considered a
| lucky emblem.
IL English folk lore horses were looked
| upon as luck bringers and in Yorkshire il
| is still thought that a disease may be
| cured by burying horse alive, while in
some rural districts it is a common prac-
tice to place horses hoofs under the beds
| of invalids to cure diseases. Near the
close of the last century the belief in the
| power of horseshoes reached its height.
| and in the West End of London a horse
shoe was nailed over the door of almost
| every house. Fifty years later there were
! but half as many. and the present day
| sees only a scsnt few, as education over
-ides superstition.
| over the door of one of the principal
churches OF Suffolk a prominent horseshoe