The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-08-05
HoRsEsHoEs AND LUCK.
Right Way and Wrong Way TO Invoke
Goddess of Fortune.

From the London Evening Standard.
There is a right way and a wrong in the
picking up of horseshoe l was walk
ing with a countrybred boy along a
Somerset lane and saw one lying In the
crumbling summer rut There is a horse
shoe" said l. The lad sprang forward
but stopped suddenly before his fingers
touched the iron. But l won't pick It
up" said he, "or l shall spoil your luck. "
II may perhaps have been only point
of etiquette, but he assured me that a
horseshoe of my finding could bring luck
neither to him nor to me If he touched 1t
before me
The origin of this superstition, now
lingering chiefly as a saying and a jest.
is perhaps earlier than the horseshoe. and
has nothing whatever to do with it. 1t
was from the influence of the new
moon that good was to be expected,
and still there are some who turn
the money In their pockets when they
first see her in the sky. The early
horseshoe was a simple crescent, and
the superstition has fingered around
an object that at first was only
convenient symbol
1t was to the protection of some
moon goddess. therefore, that the
householder first trusted when lie
kept the witch out of his dwelling
by hanging horseshoe on the door.
Neither spell nor maliglnent wish,
nor the power of the evil eye could
cross the threshold in the presence of
her symbol. Even the pixies, who
brought a certain whimsical merri-
ment into their practical Joking, were
no good in the face of that. Cheated
out of their nocturnal rides they
might as well retire under ground at
once IL a horseshoe barred their entry
to the stable.
For these troublesome elves in days
gone by, had way OF working the cat
tie by night for their own amusement,
and when the good man came In the
morning he found the poor beasts all
terrified like, an out In a lather o sweat.
And they had even a worse trick than
his They would get at the good wife 8
vat and wantonly spoil the brew. To pre-
vent this she drew with her finger two
hearts and a criss-cross upon the mash,
and thus the beer was saved. whether
crescent or cross. no matter. The pixies
would stink away abashed ythe sign
of II.
To this day there are horseshoes on the
doors OF many cottages in quiet villages.
Doubtless the cottagers do but put them
nm for a whim or in the same half Jocu-
lar half serious spirit, yet with secret
satisfaction too. In which so many OF
us perform obsolete practices Just for
luck" And why not ], who ma secret
delight in its forgotten Significance
II was rusty. with a crooked horse nall
still hanging In one of the holes. There
are some who think there Is virtue in the
r,,st But that is nonsense polished
mine until It VAS bright as the silver
moon and indeed might almost be mis-
taken for the metal sacred to Diana.
There is a right way and wrong in put
ting IN the horseshoe on your door One
thing is thoroughly established: If you
turn 1t upside down 1t cannot hold the
luck.
And where ough~- 1t to be placed2
The old world folk often nailed It on the
threshold. The growing moon has ner
horns always toward the left and only
on the wane does she point them to the
right. I would have this a true crescent.
waxing every day.