In ancient Mexican temples the serpent symbol is frequently seen. The approach to the temple of El Castillo, at Chichen in Yucatan, is guarded by a pair of huge serpent heads, and a second pair protect the entrance to the sanctuary. Figures of serpents also appear in the Mosaic relief designs of the façades, and within on the sanctuary walls. So, too, in the temples of Palenque and other southern Mexican towns, serpents are everywhere plentiful in the decorations and sculptures.[134]

Representations of snakes are to be seen on the walls of houses in many parts of India at the present day, and villages have their special ophite guardians.

The fifth day of the first or bright half of the lunar month S’ravana, which nearly corresponds with August, is celebrated by the Brahmins in honor of the naga or cobra. Some interesting details of the ceremonies on these occasions are given in Balfour’s “Cyclopædia of India.” We learn from this source that native women are wont at such times to join in dancing around snake-holes, and also to prostrate themselves and invoke blessings; while others bow down before living cobras at their own homes, or worship figures of serpents.

Visits from snakes are highly appreciated as auspicious events, and the reptiles are sure of a hospitable reception, because they are looked upon as tutelary divinities.

Thus the serpent was held sacred by the nations of antiquity, being a prominent feature in every mythology and symbolizing many pagan divinities.

The Vlach women of European Turkey, who inhabit villages in the mountain ranges of Thessaly and Albania, treat serpents with great respect and even with veneration. If one of the harmless white snakes which abound in the country chances to enter a cottage, it is provided with food and allowed to depart unharmed, its appearance indoors being accounted a lucky event. Such friendly treatment often results in the snake’s becoming domesticated and receiving the title of “house-serpent.”[135] The Carinthians, too, are wont to treat snakes as fondlings, for they consider that these reptiles bring good luck proportionate in degree to their bodily diameter; hence they are fed with care and provided with bowls of milk twice a day.[136]

Indeed, in many countries the serpent or dragon, originally a guardian of treasure, is considered a house-protector. The same conception is embodied in the grotesque dragon-headed gargoyles so common in mediæval architecture.[137]

Dr. Daniel G. Brinton, in speaking of the emblematic significance of the serpent among American aborigines, remarks that this symbol has ever been associated with religious mysteries.

Many derivatives from the Hebrew and Arabic words for serpent signify the practice of sorcery, consultation with familiar spirits, and intercourse with demons.[138]

It would seem, therefore, not improbable that the horse-shoe amulet has acquired some portion of the magical influences ascribed to it through its serpentine form.

The serpent-symbol has furnished a theme for many writers, and sumptuous volumes attest its deep interest.

The chief points which relate to our present subject are briefly: (1) The similarity of form between the horse-shoe and a serpentine coil, and (2) the association of ideas resulting therefrom in the popular mind. The horse-shoe, when allied symbolically to the serpent, represents a creature which has ever been an object of superstition, whether as a deity, household guardian, or embodiment of evil. Hence it suggests magical power, whether good or evil, but chiefly the idea of beneficent, protective influence.

X. THE HORSE-SHOE ARCH IN ANCIENT CALEDONIAN HIEROGLYPHICS

The horse-shoe arch was a common emblem on pagan monuments, and is frequently seen in Caledonian sculptured hieroglyphics, where it is believed to have had a special significance as a protective symbol. Lieutenant-Colonel Forbes Leslie, in “The Early Races of Scotland,” remarks that the horse-shoe arch was probably emblematic of the serpent as a protecting and beneficent power, because this arch closely resembles a peculiar mark or attribute of the so-called Nagendra, the hooded serpent-king, a chief deity in the mythical lore of Ceylon. It would appear quite unnecessary to refer to the Cingalese mythology in this connection, inasmuch as the close resemblance between the shape of the horse-shoe and the arched body of a snake has already been commented on. As illustrative of the somewhat unique theory which claims the ancient horse-shoe arch, itself a talismanic symbol, as the original source of all the superstitions associated with the modern iron horse-shoe, it may be appropriate to quote a few lines from the authority above mentioned:—

The historian Diodorus Siculus said that the Chaldeans imagined the earth as having the shape of a round boat turned upside down. The boats still used on the rivers Tigris and Euphrates resemble in form a beehive with a considerable bulge in the middle. Gerald Massey (“The Natural Genesis,” vol. ii. p. 63) says that this conception of the earth’s figure

The Rev. C. Vernon Harcourt, in his “Doctrine of the Deluge” (vol. i. p. 141), suggests that the moon was anciently regarded as particularly sacred when in the first quarter, because at that period it resembled most closely the ark of Noah, which was crescent-shaped.

Again, the horse-shoe form is believed to be a survival of an ancient religious symbol often seen in Assyrian and Egyptian sculptures, signifying the mystical door of life.

From a scientific standpoint, therefore, the horse-shoe, when used as a protective symbol, should be placed with its convex arch uppermost; but as a luck token, the reverse position is the proper one, else, according to a popular notion, the luck may be spilled out.

In northern Germany and Bavaria figures of horse-shoes are sometimes cut on boundary stones, as for example, on a stone which separates the hamlets Ellerbek and Wellingdorf, suburbs of Kiel; and, again, on one between the estates of Depenau and Bockhorn, in middle Holstein. In these cases the idea involved is probably that of the beneficent horse-shoe arch, impartially guarding the interests of both villages or estates.

XI. THE HORSE-SHOE AS A SYMBOL OF THE HORSE

But the efficacy of the horse-shoe as a protector of people and buildings depends not solely upon its arched shape, nor on its bifurcated form, nor yet upon its fancied resemblance to a snake. Its relation to the horse also gives it a talismanic value; for in legendary lore this animal was often credited with supernatural qualities. An English myth ascribes to the horse the character of a luck-bringer, and horse-worship was in vogue among the early Celts, Teutons, and Slavs.

In Hindostan, also, the horse is regarded as a lucky animal; and when an equestrian rides into a sugar-cane field in the sowing season, the event is considered auspicious. In the same region the froth from a horse’s mouth is thought to repel demons, which are believed to have more fear of a horse than of any other animal. The natives of northern India also believe that the horse was originally a wingéd creature, and that the horny protuberances on his legs indicate where the wings were attached.[140]

In the Norse mythology almost every deity has his particular steed, as have most of the heroes of antiquity, for the heathen nations regarded the horse as sacred and divine.[141]

Tradition says that when the city of Carthage was founded by Dido, the Phœnician queen, in the ninth century B. C., a priestess of Juno dug in the ground, by command of the oracle, and discovered the head of a bullock. This was considered unsatisfactory, because bullocks and oxen were servile animals under the yoke. Thereupon the priestess again turned up the soil and found a horse’s head, which was reckoned auspicious, for the horse, although sometimes yoked to the plough, was also symbolic of war and martial glory. Therefore a temple of Juno was built on the spot, and the figure of a horse’s head was adopted as an emblem by the Carthaginians and stamped upon their coins.[142]

Dr. Ludwig Beck, in his “History of Iron,” states that in Teutonic legends the horse was sacred to Wodan or Odin, who always rode, while Thor either drove about in his chariot or went afoot. Thence it is, says this writer, that the Devil of the Middle Ages is represented with the hoofs of a horse.

The reputation of the horse as a prophetic and divinatory animal, even among Christian peoples, is shown by various German traditions, of which the following is an example. When the inhabitants of Delve, a village in the Duchy of Holstein, were about to build a church, the choice of a site was determined in this manner: An image of the Virgin was fastened upon the back of a parti-colored mare, which was then allowed to roam at will; and it was agreed that the church should be erected upon the spot where the mare should be found the next morning. This proved to be a neighboring bramble-thicket, and the new edifice was accordingly placed there, and dedicated to “Our beloved Lady on the Horse.”[143]

The ancient belief in the oracular powers of the horse is well shown by a custom formerly in vogue among the Pomeranians. On the outbreak of a war a priest laid three spears at equal distances upon the ground in front of the temple. Two other spears were then leaned transversely across them, with their points resting in the earth. After a prayer the high priest led up a sacred horse, and if he stepped with his right foot foremost thrice in succession over the spears without stumbling, it was accounted a good augury, otherwise not.[144]

A dragon-headed horse, emblematic of grandeur, having on its back the civilizing book of the law, is one of the four great mythic animals of the Chinese; and the Tibetans have a like symbol, which they use as a luck-bringing talisman.

The association of the horse with luck is prominent in Indian myth as well:—

Among the lower classes of the Hindus of Bombay, a notion is prevalent that spirits are frightened by the sound of a horse’s hoofs; and this superstition has been thought to explain the custom, in vogue among the Hindus generally, of having a bridegroom ride a horse when on his way to the bride’s residence.[146]

In Bokhara, when a horse stumbles in fording a stream, and the rider thereby gets an involuntary wetting, it is considered a most fortunate occurrence instead of a mishap. In the same country it is also accounted lucky to meet an equestrian.[147]

One reason in favor of the theory which ascribes the horse-shoe’s weird powers to its connection with a luck-bringing animal is the fact that various portions of the equine frame serve as amulets in different localities. Thus not only the horse-shoe but the hoof, or even a single bone of the foot, may be used for this object.

In the island of Montserrat the two incisor teeth of a horse are carried about as charms.[148] The popular belief of many people credits equine hair with special virtues. “Honor abides in the manes of horses” is a saying of Mohammed, and in Turkey a horse’s tail as an emblem is significant of dignity and exalted position.

In certain villages of Brandenburg every new-born boy, before his first bath, is placed upon a horse, the animal being brought into the chamber for the purpose. This is thought to impart to the child manly qualities for life. In other districts small children are allowed to ride a black foal to facilitate the cutting of their teeth; and the neighings of horses are believed to be of favorable import if listened to carefully. The popular belief on this subject is exemplified in the German saying, “He has horse-luck,” in reference to a piece of extraordinary good fortune.[149]

The Irish think that the reason for the horse-shoe’s magical power is because the horse and the ass were in the stable where Christ was born, and hence are evermore blessed animals.

The romantic literature of Ireland affords evidence of the existence of a species of horse-worship in that country in former ages, and tradition says that in the olden time there were horses endowed with human faculties.[150] We learn from Tacitus, moreover, that the Teutonic peoples

The horse is seen among the insignia of Kent, the first of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and is displayed at the present time on the shields of the houses of Hanover and Brunswick.[152]

One of the most solemn forms of oath taken on the eve of battle required a warrior to swear “by the shoulder of a horse and the edge of a sword” that he would not flee from the enemy even if the latter should be superior in strength.[153]

At the time of the conquest of Peru, the Indian aborigines were amazed at the sight of the Spanish horsemen, believing that man and horse were one creature. And it is said that Pizarro owed his life to this superstitious belief; for on one occasion, when pursued by the natives, he fell from his horse, and the Peruvians who witnessed the mishap, believing that one animal had by magic divided itself into two, gave up the pursuit in dismay.[154]

M. D. Conway, in his “Demonology and Devil-Lore,” asserts that the Scandinavian superstition known as the “demon-mare” is the source of the use of the horse-shoe against witches. In Germany there is a saying in reference to the morbid oppression sometimes experienced during sleep or while dreaming, and which is a symptom of indigestion, “The nightmare hath ridden thee.”

This elvish mare rides horses also, and in the morning their manes are found all tangled and dripping with sweat.

Grimm says that the traditional idea of the Nightmare seems to waver between the ridden animal and the riding, trampling one, precisely as the Devil is sometimes represented as riding men, and again as taking them on his back after the manner of a horse.

According to a Bavarian popular belief, the Nightmare is a woman, who is wont to appear at the house-door of a morning, invariably requesting the loan of some article. In order to get rid of her at night, one should say: “Come to-morrow and receive the three white gifts.” The next morning the woman comes, and is given a handful of flour, a handful of salt, and an egg.[155]

In the north of England, naturally perforated stones are hung up by the side of the manger to prevent the Night Hag from riding the horses. In a rare book of the sixteenth century, entitled “The Fower Chiefest Offices belonging to Horsemanship, by Tho. Blundenill, of Newton Flotman, in Norffolke,” the following curious charm is given as a remedy for horses affected with the nightmare:—

Drink offerings were anciently poured from vessels made from horses’ hoofs; and witches are popularly supposed to drink with avidity the water which collects in equine hoof-tracks. German writers on early traditions and folk-lore agree in ascribing to the horse-shoe divers magical properties, whose origin is vaguely connected with the ancient pagan conception of the horse as a sacrificial animal.[156]

According to a popular poetic fancy of the ancient Teutons, horses, Wodan’s favorite and darling animals, were endowed with the gifts of speech and prophecy during the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany. At this holy season they were wont to put their heads together, and impart to each other confidentially their experiences and trials of the past year; and this communion of equine spirits was the sole pleasure vouchsafed to the noble animals, and atoned in a measure for the hard work which was their lot.

Even nowadays many peasants do not venture to harness their horses at Christmas time, and do not even speak of the animals by name, but make use of pet epithets and circumlocutions when they have occasion to refer to them. On Christmas night, hostlers often sleep in the manger or under it, and their dreams at such times are prophetic for the coming year, for in their sleep they can hear what the horses are saying.

In order to impart health and vigor to the animals without incurring the expense of extra fodder, the hostler walks at Epiphany season by night three times around the village church, carrying in his uplifted hands a bundle of hay, which he afterwards feeds to the horses; or on Christmas night he steals some cabbage, which is then mixed with the fodder; or, before going to the midnight Christmas Mass, he lays on the manure-heap a quantity of hay called the “Mass hay,” and on his return from church this is given to the horses. Some peasants have a yet more simple method of promoting the welfare of their horses, which consists in laying the cleaning-cloth upon a hedge on the evenings of Christmas, New Year’s Day, or Epiphany, and afterwards grooming the animals with the dew-laden cloth.[157]

In the popular mind horses are credited with extraordinarily keen faculties for detecting ghosts and haunted places, which they instinctively scent from afar. The Thuringian peasant does not beat his horse when the latter refuses to proceed along some gloomy forest road; for the whip is useless against spiritual obstacles, whereas a Paternoster devoutly repeated is usually much more effective.

It is a Bohemian superstition that a horse sees everything magnified tenfold, and that this is the reason why the noble animal submits to being led by a little child.[158]

When a Brandenburg rustic has bought a horse in a neighboring town and rides him homeward, he dismounts at the boundary line of his own village, and, gathering a handful of his native soil, he throws it backward over the line to prevent the animal’s being bewitched. In Bohemia the chief signs of bewitchment in a horse are thought to be shivering, profuse sweating, and emaciation. A charm against this consists in drawing one’s shirt inside out over one’s head, and using it as a wherewithal to groom the animal,—a method which may be acceptable to superstitious jockeys and hostlers, but which will hardly commend itself to a fastidious horse-owner.[159]

XII. HORSES’ HEADS AS TALISMANS

In early times it was customary to use horses’ heads as talismans, by means of which also the ancient heathen nations practiced various magical arts. Grimm says in his “Teutonic Mythology” that the Scandinavians had a custom of fastening a horse’s head to a pole, with the mouth propped open with a stick. The gaping jaws were then turned in the direction whence an enemy was likely to come, in order to cast over him an evil spell. This contrivance was known as a spite-stake, or nithing-post. In Mallet’s “Northern Antiquities” (p. 156, 1890), it is related that Eigil, a famous Icelandic bard, on being banished from Norway in the ninth century, fixed a stake in the ground and fastened thereon a horse’s head, saying meanwhile: “I here set up a nithing-stake, and turn this my banishment against King Eirek and Queen Gunhilda.” Then, pointing the horse’s head toward the interior of Norway, he uttered a solemn imprecation against the protecting deities of the land, invoking evil upon them, and expressing a wish that they might be compelled to wander about and never find rest until they had driven forth the hated king and queen. In these cases the horse’s head was magically employed as an instrument for working evil upon an enemy, but later the same symbol was widely used among northern peoples as a talisman against evil.

Not alone in remote antiquity, but throughout the Middle Ages, the old pagan device of the spite-stake continued to be employed by the Teutonic peoples; and even after the Reformation, as late as the year 1584, a mare’s skull placed upon a pole was a favorite means for driving away rats and other vermin in Germany. The principle involved appears to have been always the same, namely, the power of averting evil supposed to be a magical attribute of horses’ heads; and this power was not only effective against human enemies, but likewise against the spirits of evil.[160]

When the Roman general Cæcina Severus reached the scene of Varus’s defeat by the German tribes under their chieftain Arminius, in the year 9 A. D., near the river Weser, he saw numbers of horses’ heads fastened to the trunks of trees. These were the heads of Roman horses which the Germans had sacrificed to their gods.[161]

In the fifteenth century a savage tribe known as the Wends had a practice of placing a horse’s head in the crib or manger to counteract the influence of evil spirits, and to prevent their horses from being ridden by the Night Hag. And in many countries analogous notions, veritable relics of paganism, exist in full force to-day. Thus in Mecklenburg and Holstein it is a common usage to place the carved wooden representations of the heads of horses on the gables of houses as safeguards, and when fixed upon poles in the vicinity of stables they are thought to ward off epizoötics. In Mecklenburg, also, horses’ heads, when placed beneath the pillows of the sick, are believed to act as febrifuges, and in Holland they are hung up over pigsties. The fore-parts of horses are to be seen on the gables of old houses in the Rhætian Alps, “carved out of the ends of the intersecting principals.”[162]

The use of horses’ heads as talismans is thought to have some connection with the ancient pagan sacrificial offerings of horses. Adherence to the latter custom was formerly regarded as a pledge of loyalty to heathenism, and conversely its renunciation was a sign of adopting the new religion. In the tenth century the Norwegian king Hakon Athelstan, known as “Hakon the Good,” endeavored persistently to extirpate heathen idolatry in his kingdom, but without much success, owing to the vigorous opposition of his people. At one of their great Yule-tide festivals the king was urged to eat some horse’s flesh as a proof of devotion to the old faith, and on his refusal to do this they wished to kill him.

On another occasion King Hakon so far yielded to the importunities of his people as to inhale the steam from a kettle of horse-broth. He also drank some Yule-beer, holding the cup in his left hand, while with his right he made the sign of the cross, which the pagan mind conceived to be the symbol of Thor’s hammer. Finally he was even induced to eat a couple of mouthfuls of horse-flesh, an act which his people accepted as a satisfactory guarantee of his orthodoxy.[163]

Among the newly converted Northern nations the use of horse-flesh as food fell into disrepute, and the practice was looked upon as a secret sacrifice to the old idols, while those indulging in it were punished as obdurate pagans.[164]

The employment of horses’ heads as talismans, a custom doubtless originating in heathendom, has been thought not only to suggest the sacrificial offering of a horse, but also to symbolize the religious dedication of a building placed under the protective influence of such a symbol. For among the ancient Teutons the horse was held to be the most holy of animals, and auguries were derived from the neighings of white horses in their sacred groves. There exists, moreover, among German peasants a widespread belief that the placing of carved wooden representations of horses’ heads upon house-gables is an act of homage to the Deity, whose blessing and benediction are thereby invoked upon the dwellings thus adorned, and upon the inmates as well. When, however, the heads are directed outwards, in order to ward off evil, the principle involved is evidently akin to that of the pagan spite-stake, of which mention has been made.

Professor Christian Petersen, of Hamburg, who investigated this subject some years ago, expressed the belief that among the pagans every dwelling was protected by three talismanic emblems, namely: (1) on the gable a horse’s head, or the representation of some other animal or bird; (2) by the side of the entrance door a broom, as a preservative against lightning; and (3) on the threshold a horse-shoe.

The German botanist, Karl Friedrich von Ledebour, who visited the Altai Mountains early in the present century, wrote that among the Kalmuks, a nomadic people inhabiting that region, he observed numerous horses’ heads and hides, relics of sacrifices, placed upon scaffolds; and the direction of the horses’ heads, pointing east or west, indicated whether the sacrificial offering was made to a good or evil deity.[165]

Formerly in some parts of Germany, especially in the north, it was customary to place a horse’s head above the stable door; sometimes also horses were killed and their bodies buried beneath the corner-stone of a building, in order to bring good luck. In the same region the association of horses and horse-shoes with lucky influences is everywhere apparent: a horse-shoe when found is either carried about as an amulet, or placed on the chamber wall or threshold; and a young girl who finds a certain number of horse-shoes in a year, or who sees a hundred white horses within the same period, will be married before the year is out.[166]

In Moldavia the head of a horse or of an ass is much esteemed on account of its reputed magical properties, and is believed to be a powerful agent not only for the production of witchcraft, but conversely as a powerful antagonist of evil.[167] Inclosures where animals are kept are very commonly protected by one of these talismans placed upon a forked stake; and the same device is popular as a safeguard against wolves and robbers.[168] In Roumania the skull of a horse is placed over a court-yard gate as a preservative against ghosts, and in Tuscany it is also used as a charm.[169]

The Christmas festivities at Ramsgate, in Kent, formerly included a peculiar feature called “going a-hodening.” A horse’s head fixed on a pole was carried through the town by a party of young people, grotesquely attired and ringing hand-bells. By pulling a string attached to the lower jaw, the horse’s mouth was made to open and shut with a snapping sound. In this case the horse’s head was typical of the good Demon, threatening and overcoming the powers of darkness.[170]

It appears that a modern counterpart of the ancient heathen practice of hanging equine heads upon trees, as tributes to Wodan, still exists in Sussex, where the bodies of horses are suspended by the legs from horizontal tree-branches, as a means of bringing luck to the cattle. And the evident analogy between the two customs of widely separated epochs, the sacrificial offering of horses upon trees in order to avert evil or to invoke protection, has not escaped the attention of modern writers.[171]

The Ostiaks of southern Siberia were wont to suspend horses’ heads from the branches of trees, and to protect bees from witchcraft they also placed them near the hives.[172]

In Bulgaria and among the Osseten, an Asiatic tribe, the same talismans are affixed to the palings inclosing farmyards. The ancient Teuton placed a horse’s head on the weather-vane of his barn, while he hung up a horse-shoe in some consecrated place, as a deprecatory offering to the god of thunder and storms;[173] and the Tartars of the Chinese province of Koukou-Nor seek to protect their bees from the “evil eye” by hanging up near the hives either a skull, a foot, or in fact any bone of a horse.

In Mecklenburg one remedy for the delirium of fever consists in placing a horse’s skull under the bed; and in some parts of Prussia certain spinal affections of children are treated by bathing the patient in rain-water in which a horse’s head has been dipped thrice daily for three successive Thursdays.[174] In a curious old work by M. Fugger (1854), the writer says that a mare’s skull, fixed on a pole and placed in a garden, has a wonderful effect in promoting the growth of plants and vegetables, and, moreover, insures freedom from rats and caterpillars.[175]

The Magyar shepherds place horses’ and asses’ skulls as talismans about their sheepfolds to keep wolves away from their flocks, and also to prevent herbaceous animals other than their sheep from eating the grass of their pasture lands. Also when, as occasionally happens, some hill or upland region gains an unsavory reputation among the peasants as an alleged meeting-place of witches, horses’ skulls are placed there in order to prevent such unseemly orgies, for, according to the popular report, where witches meet grass will not grow. Whoever has the courage to visit such a place on the midnight of Good Friday with a so-called Luciastuhl, a peculiar chair or stool made during Christmas week, may see the witches at their revels, and may easily disperse them by throwing a horse’s skull into their midst.[176]

The gypsies inhabiting lands bordering on the eastern Danube are wont to fasten the skulls of horses and cattle upon the fence-palings which surround their farmyards, to prevent witches and evil spirits from entering the inclosures. So, too, the Transylvanian gypsies bury horses’ skulls beneath the floor of the earth caverns which they occupy in winter; and the tribes of southern Hungary place similar talismans upon the graves of their kindred, that no witch may tread upon the sanctified ground.[177]

The wizards and conjurers of the Shamans pretend to be experts in sorcery, and to possess a secret knowledge which enables them to control the actions of evil spirits. They wear a long elk-skin robe adorned with many fetich objects, such as bells and pieces of iron; and to assist them in their magic rites they carry staves, whose tops are carved into the shape of horses’ heads, and by means of these staves they are enabled to leap high into the air.[178]

XIII. THE HORSE-SHOE AS A FAVORITE ANTI-WITCH CHARM

The universality of the use of the horse-shoe as a safeguard against evil spirits is indeed noteworthy.

It is the anti-witch charm par excellence, as well as the approved symbol of good luck, and, used for these purposes, it is to be seen throughout a large portion of the world. The horse-shoe is most commonly placed over the entrance-doors of dwellings; but stables likewise are thought to be effectually protected by it, for “witches were dreadful harriers of horse-flesh.” In William Henderson’s “Folk-Lore of the Northern Countries of England” we read of a Durham farmer who was convinced that one of his horses had been ridden by hags, as he had found it bathed in sweat of a morning. But after he took the precaution to nail a horse-shoe over the stable-door, and also to hang some broom above the manger, the witches had not been able to indulge in clandestine rides on his horses. While many an honest fellow in England and elsewhere is a firm believer in witches and magical horse-shoes, very few of them can give plausible reasons therefor.

The Lancashire farmer thinks that mischievous fairies not only ride horses by night, but drive cows out of the barn, steal the butter, and eat up the children’s porridge; so he, too, affixes horse-shoes to his buildings.

Any one visiting the hamlets of Oxfordshire can hardly fail to notice the numerous horse-shoes affixed to the picturesque thatched-roofed cottages; and the countryfolk in this neighborhood are not always content with one of these popular safeguards, for two or three of them are often to be seen on the walls of a dwelling, invariably placed with the prongs downward.

In Brand’s “Popular Antiquities” (vol. iii. p. 19, 1888) may be found a clipping from the Cambridge (Eng.) “Advertiser,” which relates that one Bartingale, a carpenter and resident of Ely, suspected a woman named Gotobed of having bewitched him, and of being the cause of an illness which he had recently had. Thereupon, at a consultation of matrons of the neighborhood held in his chamber, it was decided that the most efficient means of protecting him from the evil influence of the suspected sorceress was to have three horse-shoes fastened to the door. A blacksmith was accordingly summoned, and

Miss Georgiana F. Jackson says, in “Shropshire Folk-Lore,” that, in the home of her childhood at Edgmond, the stable-door was decorated with three rows of horse-shoes arranged in the form of a triangle; and the grooms used to say that they were placed there to exclude witches.

In this region, too, an old horse-shoe placed above the door of a bedroom is a preventive of the nightmare.

In Shrewsbury, the ancient county town of Shropshire, horse-shoe talismans are to be seen not only above the house-doors, but also on the barges which navigate the river Severn.

In quite recent times a case has been reported of a poor girl of Whatfield, in Suffolk, who had experienced a long illness, during which she was visited daily by an old woman who appeared to be very solicitous as to her welfare. At length the girl’s family began to suspect that this old woman was none other than a witch; they therefore caused a horse-shoe to be fastened to the sill of the outer door. The precaution was successful, so runs the tale, for the reputed witch could never thereafter cross the threshold, and the girl speedily recovered her health.[179]

Aubrey, in his “Remains of Gentilisme,” describes the horse-shoe as a preservative against the mischief or power of witches, attributing its magical properties to the astrological principle that Mars, the God of War and the War Horse, was an enemy of Saturn, who according to a mediæval idea was the liege lord of witches.[180]

During the witchcraft excitement in Scotland, one Elizabeth Bathcat was indicted for having a horse-shoe attached to the door of her house “as a devilish means of instruction from the Devil to make her goods and all her other affairs to prosper and succeed well.”[181]

According to an old legend St. Dunstan, the versatile English ecclesiastic of the tenth century, who was a skilled farrier and the owner of a forge, was requested by the Devil to shoe his “single hoof.” Dunstan, who recognized his customer, acceded, but during the operation he caused the Devil so much pain that the latter begged him to desist. The request was heeded on condition that the Devil should never enter a place where a horse-shoe was displayed.[182] The popular belief is that his Satanic Majesty has always faithfully kept the contract, and quite naturally all lesser evil spirits have followed his example.

In Scotland, even as late as the beginning of the nineteenth century, the peasantry believed that witches were able to draw milk from all the cattle in their neighborhood, by tugging at a hair-rope in imitation of the act of milking. Such a rope was made of hairs from the tails of several cows, whose exact number was indicated by knots in the rope. While tugging at the rope the witches repeated either the following or a similar charm:—