Title: The Magic of the Horse-shoe - With other folk-lore notes
Author: Lawrence, Robert Means
Language: English
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THE MAGIC OF THE HORSE-SHOE



[Illustration: ARMS OF THE TOWN OF OAKHAM, RUTLANDSHIRE, ENGLAND.

[_From an Old Engraving._]]



                                   THE
                         MAGIC OF THE HORSE-SHOE

                       With Other Folk-Lore Notes

                                   BY
                      ROBERT MEANS LAWRENCE, M. D.

                             [Illustration]

                           BOSTON AND NEW YORK
                      HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
                     The Riverside Press, Cambridge
                                  1898

               COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY ROBERT MEANS LAWRENCE.

                          ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.



PREFACE


The study of the origin and history of popular customs and beliefs
affords an insight, otherwise unattainable, into the operations of the
human mind in early times. Superstitions, however trivial in themselves,
relics of paganism though they be, and oftentimes comparable to baneful
weeds, are now considered proper subjects for scientific research. While
the ignorant savage is a slave to many superstitious fancies which
dominate his every action, the educated man strives to be free from such
a bondage, yet recognizes as profitable the study of those same beliefs.
The heterogeneous character of the material drawn from so many sources
has rendered it difficult, if not impossible, to follow any distinctly
systematic treatment of the subject. However, the development in recent
years of a widespread interest in all branches of folk-lore warrants
the hope that any volume devoted to this subject, and representing
somewhat diligent research, may have a certain value, in spite of its
imperfections. The expert folk-lorist may find much to criticise; but
this book, treating of popular beliefs, is intended for popular reading.
It has been the writer’s aim to make the chapter on the Horse-Shoe as
exhaustive as possible, as this attractive symbol of superstition does
not appear to have received hitherto the attention which it merits. This
chapter is the outgrowth of a paper read at the seventh annual meeting of
the American Folk-Lore Society, at Philadelphia, December 28, 1895, an
abstract of which appeared in the Society’s Journal for December, 1896.

Extended quotations are indicated by smaller type.

                                                                 R. M. L.

BOSTON, September 1, 1898.



CONTENTS


                                                 PAGE

    THE MAGIC OF THE HORSE-SHOE                     1

    FORTUNE AND LUCK                              140

    THE FOLK-LORE OF COMMON SALT                  154

    THE OMENS OF SNEEZING                         206

    DAYS OF GOOD AND EVIL OMEN                    239

    SUPERSTITIOUS DEALINGS WITH ANIMALS           279

    THE LUCK OF ODD NUMBERS                       312

    _Topical Index_                               341



THE MAGIC OF THE HORSE-SHOE

    And still o’er many a neighboring door
      She saw the horse-shoe’s curvèd charm.

                                        WHITTIER, _The Witch’s Daughter_.

    Happy art thou, as if every day thou hadst picked up a horse-shoe.

                                                LONGFELLOW, _Evangeline_.


I. HISTORY OF THE HORSE-SHOE

The evolution of the modern horse-shoe from the primitive foot-gear for
draught animals used in ancient times furnishes an interesting subject
for investigation. Xenophon and other historians recommended various
processes for hardening and strengthening the hoofs of horses and
mules,[1] and from this negative evidence some writers have inferred that
the ancients were ignorant of farriery. It seems indeed certain that the
practice of protecting the feet of horses was not universal among the
Greeks and Romans. Fabretti, an Italian antiquary, examined with care
the representations of horses on many ancient columns and marbles, and
found but one instance in which the horse appeared to be shod;[2] and
in most specimens of ancient art the iron horse-shoe is conspicuous by
its absence. But in the mosaic portraying the battle of Issus, which was
unearthed at Pompeii in 1831, and which is now in the Naples Museum,
is the figure of a horse whose feet appear to be shod with iron shoes
similar to those in modern use;[3] and in an ancient Finnish incantation
against the plague, quoted in Lenormant’s “Chaldean Magic and Sorcery,”
occur these lines:—

    O Scourge depart; Plague, take thy flight … I will give thee a
    horse with which to escape, whose shoes shall not slide on ice,
    nor whose feet slip on the rocks.

No allusion to the horse-shoe is made by early writers on veterinary
topics. But, on the other hand, there is abundant testimony that the
ancients did sometimes protect the feet of their beasts of burden.
Winckelmann, the Prussian art historian, describes an antique engraved
stone representing a man holding up a horse’s foot, while an assistant,
kneeling, fastens on a shoe.[4] In the works of the Roman poet Catullus
occurs the simile of the iron shoe of a mule sticking in the mire.[5]
Contemporary historians relate that the Emperor Nero caused his mules
to be shod with silver,[6] while golden shoes adorned the feet of the
mules belonging to the notorious Empress Poppæa.[7] Mention of an iron
horse-shoe is made by Appian,[8] a writer not indeed remarkable for
accuracy; but the phrase “brasen-footed steeds,” which occurs in Homer’s
Iliad, is regarded by commentators as a metaphorical expression for
strength and endurance. Wrappings of plaited fibre, as hemp or broom,
were used by the ancients to protect the feet of horses.[9] But the most
common form of foot covering for animals appears to have been a kind of
leathern sock or sandal, which was sometimes provided with an iron sole.
This covering was fastened around the fetlocks by means of thongs, and
could be easily removed.[10]

Iron horse-shoes of peculiar form, which have been exhumed in Great
Britain of recent years, have been objects of much interest to
archæologists. In 1878 a number of such relics shaped for the hoof
and pierced for nails were found at a place called Cæsar’s Camp,
near Folkstone, England.[11] In the south of Scotland, also, ancient
horse-shoes have been found, consisting of a solid piece of iron made to
cover the whole hoof and very heavy. In the year 1653 a piece of iron
resembling a horse-shoe, and having nine nail-holes, was found in the
grave of Childeric I., king of the Franks, who died A. D. 481. Professor
N. S. Shaler believes that the iron horse-shoe was invented in the fourth
century, and from the fact that it was first called _selene_, the moon,
from its somewhat crescent-like shape, he concludes that it originated in
Greece.[12] But even in the ninth century, in France, horses were shod
with iron on special occasions only,[13] and the early Britons, Saxons,
and Danes do not appear to have had much knowledge of farriery. The
modern art of shoeing horses is thought to have been generally introduced
in England by the Normans under William the Conqueror.[14] Henry de
Ferrars, who accompanied that monarch, is believed to have received his
surname because he was intrusted with the inspection of the farriers; and
the coat-of-arms of his descendants still bears six horse-shoes.[15]

On the gate of Oakham Castle, an ancient Norman mansion in Rutlandshire,
built by Wakelin de Ferrars, son of the first earl of that name, were
formerly to be seen a number of horse-shoes of different patterns.

The estate is famous on account of the tenure of the barons occupying
it. Every nobleman who journeyed through its precincts was obliged as
an act of homage to forfeit a shoe of the horse whereon he rode, or else
to redeem it with a sum of money; and the horse-shoes thus obtained were
nailed upon the gate, but are now within on the walls of the castle.

These walls are covered by memorials of royal personages and peers, who
have thus paid tribute to the custom of the county.[16]

Queen Elizabeth was thought to have initiated this practice, though this
opinion is incorrect. According to tradition she was once journeying on
a visit to her lord high treasurer, William Cecil, the well-known Lord
Burleigh, at his residence near Stamford. While passing through Oakham
her horse is said to have cast a shoe, and in memory of the mishap the
queen ordered a large iron shoe to be made and hung up in the castle, and
that every nobleman traveling through the town should follow her example.

A similar usage prevails to-day, new shoes being provided of shapes and
sizes chosen by the donors.[17]

While John of Gaunt (1339-99), son of Edward III. of England, was riding
through the town of Lancaster, his horse cast a shoe, which was kept as
a souvenir by the townspeople, and fastened in the middle of the street.
And in accordance with a time-honored custom a new shoe is placed in the
same spot every seven years by the residents of Horse-Shoe Corner.[18]

The practical value of the horse-shoe is tersely expressed in the old
German saying, “A nail preserves a country;” for the nail keeps in place
the horse-shoe, the shoe protects the foot of the horse, the horse
carries the knight, the knight holds the castle, and the castle defends
the country.

The following story from Grimm’s “Household Tales” (vol. ii. p. 303) may
be appropriate in this place, as illustrating the same idea, besides
pointing a moral.

    _The Nail._

    A merchant had done a good business at the fair; he had sold
    his wares and lined his money-bags with gold and silver.
    Then he wanted to travel homeward and be in his house before
    nightfall. So he packed his trunk with the money on his horse
    and rode away. At noon he rested in a town, and when he wanted
    to go farther the stable-boy brought out his horse and said:
    “A nail is wanting, sir, in the shoe of its left hind foot.”
    “Let it be wanting,” answered the merchant; “the shoe will
    certainly stay on for the six miles I have still to go; I am
    in a hurry.” In the afternoon, when he once more alighted and
    had his horse fed, the stable-boy went to him and said, “Sir, a
    shoe is missing from your horse’s left hind foot; shall I take
    him to the blacksmith?” “Let it still be wanting,” answered the
    man, “the horse can very well hold out for the couple of miles
    which remain; I am in haste.” He rode forth, but before long
    the horse began to limp. It had not limped long before it began
    to stumble, and it had not stumbled long before it fell down
    and broke its leg. The merchant was forced to leave the horse
    where it was, and unbuckle the trunk, take it on his back, and
    go home on foot. And there he did not arrive until quite late
    at night. “And that unlucky nail,” said he to himself, “has
    caused all this disaster.” Hasten slowly.


II. THE HORSE-SHOE AS A SAFEGUARD

    Your wife’s a witch, man; you should nail a horse-shoe on your
    chamber-door.—SIR WALTER SCOTT, _Redgauntlet_.

As a practical device for the protection of horses’ feet, the utility
of the iron horse-shoe has long been generally recognized; and for
centuries, in countries widely separated, it has also been popularly used
as a talisman for the preservation of buildings or premises from the
wiles of witches and fiends.

To the student of folk-lore, a superstition like this, which has exerted
so wide an influence over men’s minds in the past, and which is also
universally prevalent in our own times, must have a peculiar interest.
What, then, were the reasons for the general adoption of the horse-shoe
as a talisman? It is our purpose to consider the various theories
_seriatim_.

Among the Romans there prevailed a custom of driving nails into cottage
walls as an antidote against the plague. Both this practice and the
later one of nailing up horse-shoes have been thought by some to
originate from the rite of the Passover. The blood sprinkled upon the
door-posts and lintel at the time of the great Jewish feast formed the
chief points of an arch, and it may be that with this in mind people
adopted the horse-shoe as an arch-shaped talisman, and it thus became
generally emblematic of good luck.

The same thought may underlie the practice of the peasants in the west of
Scotland, who train the boughs of the rowan or mountain-ash tree in the
form of an arch over a farmyard gate to protect their cattle from evil.


III. HORNS AND OTHER TWO-PRONGED OBJECTS

The supernatural qualities of the horse-shoe as a preservative against
imaginary demons have been supposed to be due to its bifurcated shape,
as any object having two prongs or forks was formerly thought to be
effective for this purpose. As with the crescent, the source of this
belief is doubtless the appearance of the moon in certain of its phases.

Hence, according to some authorities, is derived the alleged efficacy
as amulets of horse-shoes, the horns and tusks of animals, the talons
of birds, and the claws of wild beasts, lobsters, and crabs. Hence,
too, the significance of the oft-quoted lines from Robert Herrick’s
“Hesperides:”—

    Hang up hooks and sheers to scare
    Hence, the hag that rides the mare.

The horn of the fabulous unicorn, in reality none other than that of the
rhinoceros, is much valued as an amulet, and in west Africa, where the
horns of wild animals are greatly esteemed as fiend-scarers, a large horn
filled with mud and having three small horns attached to its lower end is
used as a safeguard to prevent slaves from running away.[19]

In the vicinity of Mirzapur in central Hindostan the Horwas tie on the
necks of their children the roots of jungle plants as protective charms;
their efficacy being thought to depend on their resemblance to the horns
of certain wild beasts.

The Mohammedans of northern India use a complex amulet, composed in part
of a tiger’s claw and two claws of the large-horned owl with the tips
facing outward,[20] while in southern Europe we find the necks of mules
ornamented with two boar’s tusks or with the horns of an antelope.

Amulets fashioned in the shape of horns and crescents are very popular
among the Neapolitans.[21] Elworthy quotes at some length from the
“Mimica degli antichi” of Andrea de Jorio (Napoli, 1832), in illustration
of this fact. From this source we learn that the horns of Sicilian
oxen and of bullocks are in favor with the nobility and aristocracy
as evil-eye protectives, and are frequently seen on their houses and
in their gardens; stag’s antlers are the favorites with grocers and
chemists, while the lower classes are content with the horns of rams and
goats. The Sicilians are wont to tie pieces of red ribbon to the little
horns which they wear as charms, and this is supposed vastly to increase
their efficiency.

In southern Spain, particularly in Andalusia, the stag’s horn is a
very favorite talisman. The native children wear a silver-tipped horn
suspended from the neck by a braided cord made from the hair of a black
mare’s tail. It is believed that an evil glance directed at the child is
received by the horn, which thereupon breaks asunder, and the malevolent
influence is thus dissipated.[22]

Among the Arabs the horn amulet is believed to render inert the malign
glance of an enemy, and in the oases of the desert the horned heads
of cattle are to be seen over the doors of the Arab dwellings as
talismans.[23]

In Lesbos the skulls of oxen or other horned creatures are fixed upon
trees or sticks to avert the evil eye from the crops and fruits.[24]

In Mongolia the horns of antelopes are prized on account of their alleged
magical properties; fortune-tellers and diviners affect to derive a
knowledge of futurity by observation of the rings which encircle them.
The Mongols set a high value upon whip-handles made from these horns, and
aver that their use by horsemen promotes endurance in their steeds.[25]

Inasmuch as the horns of animals serve as weapons both for attack and
defense, they were early associated in men’s minds with the idea of
power. Thus in ancient times the corners of altars were fashioned in the
shape of horns, doubtless in order to symbolize the majesty and power of
the Being in whose honor sacrifices were offered.[26]

Apropos of horns as symbols of strength, the peasants of Bannú, a
district of the Punjab, believe that God placed the newly created world
upon a cow’s horn, the cow on a fish’s back, and the fish on a stone; but
what the stone rests upon, they do not venture to surmise. According to
their theory, whenever the cow shakes her head, an earthquake naturally
results.[27]

The Siamese attribute therapeutic qualities to the horns and tusks of
certain animals, and their pharmacopœia contains a somewhat complex
prescription used as a febrifuge, whose principal ingredients are
the powdered horns of a rhinoceros, bison, and stag, the tusks of an
elephant and tiger, and the teeth of a bear and crocodile. These are
mixed together with water, and half of the resulting compound is to be
swallowed, the remainder to be rubbed upon the body.[28]

The _mano cornuta_ or anti-witch gesture is used very generally in
southern and central Italy. Its antiquity is vouched for by its
representation in ancient paintings unearthed at Pompeii.[29] It consists
in flexing the two middle fingers, while the others are extended in
imitation of horns. When the hand in this position is pointed at an
obnoxious individual, the malignity of his glance is believed to be
rendered inert.[30]

In F. Marion Crawford’s novel, “Pietro Ghisleri,” one of the characters,
Laura Arden, was regarded in Roman society as a _jettatrice_, that is,
one having the evil eye. Such a reputation once fastened on a person
involves social ostracism. In the presence of the unfortunate individual
every hand was hidden to make the talismanic gesture, and at the mere
mention of her name all Rome “made horns.” No one ever accosted her
without having the fingers flexed in the approved fashion, unless,
indeed, they had about them some potent amulet.

It is a curious fact that the possession of the evil eye may be imputed
to any one, regardless of character or position. Pope Pius IX. was
believed to have this malevolent power, and many devout Christians, while
on their knees awaiting his benediction, were accustomed slyly to extend
a hand toward him in the above-mentioned position.[31]

In an article on “Asiatic Symbolism” in the “Indian Antiquary” (vol.
xv. 1886), Mr. H. G. M. Murray-Aynsley says, in regard to Neapolitan
evil-eye amulets, that they were probably introduced in southern Italy
by Greek colonists of Asiatic ancestry, who settled at Cumæ and other
places in that neighborhood. Whether fashioned in the shape of horns or
crescents, they are survivals of an ancient Chaldean symbol. It has been
said that nothing, unless perhaps a superstitious belief, is more easily
transmissible than a symbol; and the people of antiquity were wont to
attribute to every symbol a talismanic value.[32]

The modern Greeks, as well as the Italians, wear little charms
representing the hand as making this gesture.[33]

But not alone in the south of Europe exists the belief in the peculiar
virtues of two-pronged objects, for in Norway reindeer-horns are placed
over the doors of farm-buildings to drive off demons;[34] and the fine
antlers which grace the homes of successful hunters in our own country
are doubtless often regarded by their owners as of more value than mere
trophies of the chase, inasmuch as traditional fancy invests them with
such extraordinary virtues.

In France a piece of stag-horn is thought to be a preservative against
witchcraft and disease, while in Portugal ox-horns fastened on poles are
placed in melon-patches to protect the fruit from withering glances.

Among the Ossetes, a tribe of the Caucasus, the women arrange their hair
in the shape of a chamois-horn, curving forwards over the brow, thus
forming a talismanic coiffure; and when a Moslem takes his child on a
journey he paints a crescent between its eyes, or tattooes the same
device on its body. The modern Greek, too, adopts the precaution of
attaching a crab’s claw to the child’s head.[35] In northern Africa the
horns of animals are very generally used as amulets, the prevailing idea
being everywhere the same, namely, that pronged objects repel demons and
evil glances.

Horns are used in eastern countries as ornaments to head-dresses, and
serve, moreover, as symbols of rank. They are often made of precious
metals, sometimes of wood. The _tantura_, worn by the Druses of Mount
Lebanon in Syria, has this shape.[36]

In the Bulgarian villages of Macedonia and Thrace the so-called wise
woman, who combines the professions of witch and midwife, is an important
character. Immediately upon the birth of a child this personage places a
reaping-hook in a corner of the room to keep away unfriendly spirits; the
efficacy of the talisman being doubtless due partly to its shape, which
bears considerable resemblance to a horse-shoe.

And in Albania, a sickle, with which straw has just been cut, is placed
for a few seconds on the stomach of a newly born child to prevent the
demons who cause colic from exercising their functions.[37]

The mystic virtue of the forked shape is not, however, restricted to its
faculty of averting the glance of an evil eye or other malign influences,
for the Divining Rod is believed to derive from this same peculiarity of
form its magical power of detecting the presence of water or metals when
wielded by an experienced hand.


IV. THE SYMBOL OF THE OPEN HAND

It is worthy of note that the symbol of an open hand with extended
fingers was a favorite talisman in former ages, and was to be seen, for
example, at the entrances of dwellings in ancient Carthage. It is also
found on Lybian and Phœnician tombs, as well as on Celtic monuments in
French Brittany.[38] Dr. H. C. Trumbull quotes evidence from various
writers showing that this symbol is in common use at the present time in
several Eastern lands. In the region of ancient Babylonia the figure of
a red outstretched hand is still displayed on houses and animals; and in
Jerusalem the same token is frequently placed above the door or on the
lintel on account of its reputed virtues in averting evil glances. The
Spanish Jews of Jerusalem draw the figure of a hand in red upon the doors
of their houses; and they also place upon their children’s heads silver
hand-shaped charms, which they believe to be specially obnoxious to
unfriendly individuals desirous of bringing evil either upon the children
themselves, or upon other members of the household.

In different parts of Palestine the open-hand symbol appears alike on
the houses of Christians, Jews, and Moslems, usually painted in blue
on or above the door.[39] Claude Reignier Conder, R. E., in “Heth and
Moab,” remarks on the antiquity of this pagan emblem, which appears on
Roman standards and on the sceptre of Siva in India. He is of the opinion
that the figure of the red hand, whether sculptured on Irish crosses,
displayed in Indian temples, or on Mexican buildings, is always an
example of the same original idea,—that of a protective symbol.

A white hand-print is commonly seen upon the doors and shutters of
Jewish and Moslem houses in Beyrout and other Syrian towns; and even the
Christian residents of these towns sometimes mark windows and flour-boxes
with this emblem, after dipping the hand in whitewash, in order to “avert
chilling February winds from old people and to bring luck to the bin.”[40]

In Germany a rude amulet having the form of an open hand is fashioned out
of the stems of coarse plants, and is deemed an ample safeguard against
divers misfortunes and sorceries. It is called “the hand of Saint John,”
or “the hand of Fortune.”

The Jewish matrons of Algeria fasten little golden hands to their
children’s caps, or to their glass-bead necklaces, and they themselves
carry about similar luck tokens.

In northwestern Scotland whoever enters a house where butter is being
made is expected to lay his hand upon the churn, thereby signifying that
he has no evil designs against the butter-maker, and dissipating any
possible effects of an evil eye.[41]

As a charm against malevolent influences, the Arabs of Algeria make use
of rude drawings representing an open hand, placed either above the
entrances of their habitations or within doors,—a symbolical translation
of the well-known Arabic imprecation, “Five fingers in thine eye!”
Oftentimes the same meaning is conveyed by five lines, one shorter than
the others to indicate the thumb, thus [Illustration].[42]


V. CRESCENTS AND HALF-MOON-SHAPED AMULETS

The alleged predominant influence of the moon’s wax and wane over the
growth and welfare of vegetation was formerly generally recognized. Thus
in an almanac of the year 1661 it is stated that:—

    If any corn, seed, or plant be either set or sown within six
    hours either before or after the full Moon in Summer, or before
    the new Moon in Winter, having joined with the cosmical rising
    of Arcturus and Orion, the Hædi and the Siculi, it is subject
    to blasting and canker.[43]

Timber was always cut during the wane of the moon, and so firmly rooted
was this superstition that directions were given accordingly in the
Forest Code of France.

An early English almanac advised farmers to kill hogs when the moon was
growing, as thus “the bacon would prove the better in boiling.”

Even at the present time a host of credulities regarding the moon is
prevalent among the ignorant classes of different lands. Thus, for
example, the negroes in the vicinity of Washington, D. C., believe that
potatoes should be planted before the new moon in order to thrive, and
among the negroes and Indians of the State of Missouri, the proper time
for weaning a baby or calf is determined by the lunar phases.

Moon-worship was one of the most ancient forms of idolatry, and still
exists among some Eastern nations. A relic of the practice is seen in
some parts of Great Britain in the custom of bowing to the new moon.

Astrologers regarded the moon as exerting a powerful influence over the
health and fortunes of human beings, according to her aspect and position
at the time of their birth. Thus in a “Manual of Astrology” by Raphael
(London, 1828), she is described as a “cold, moist, watery, phlegmatic
planet, and partaking of good or evil as she is aspected by good or evil
stars.”[44]

The growing horned moon was thought to exert a mysterious beneficent
influence not only over many of the operations of agriculture, but
over the affairs of every-day life as well. Hence doubtless arose the
belief in the value of crescent-shaped and cornute objects as amulets and
charms; of these the horse-shoe is the one most commonly available, and
therefore the one most generally used.

In astrology the moon has indeed always been considered the most
influential of the heavenly bodies by reason of her rapid motion and
nearness to the earth; and the astrologers of old, whether in forecasting
future events or in giving advice as to proper times and seasons for
the transaction of business affairs, first ascertained whether or not
the moon were well aspected. This was also a cardinal point with the
shrewd magicians of later centuries. And should any one require proof of
the existence of a modern belief in lunar influences, let him consult
Zadkiel’s Almanac for the year 1898. Therein he will find it stated that
when the sun is in benefic aspect with the moon, it is a suitable day for
asking favors, seeking employment, and traveling for health.

Venus in benefic aspect with the moon is favorable for courting,
marrying, visiting friends, engaging maid-servants, and seeking amusement.

Mars, for consulting surgeons and dealing with engineers and soldiers.

Jupiter, for opening offices and places of business, and for beginning
new enterprises.

Saturn, for having to do with farmers, miners, and elderly people, for
buying real estate and for planting and sowing.

For, says the oracle of the almanac, astrologers have found by experience
that if the above instructions are followed, human affairs proceed
smoothly.

In his work entitled “The Evil-Eye” (London, 1895), Mr. Frederick Thomas
Elworthy calls attention to the fact that the half-moon was often
placed on the heads of certain of the most powerful Egyptian deities,
and therefore when worn became a symbol of their worship. Indeed, the
crescent is common in the religious symbolism not only of ancient Egypt,
but also of Assyria and India. The Hebrew maidens in the time of the
prophet Isaiah wore crescent-shaped ornaments on their heads.[45]

The crescent is the well-known symbol of the Turkish religion. According
to tradition, Philip of Macedon (B. C. 382-336), the father of Alexander
the Great, attempted to undermine the walls of Byzantium during a siege
of the city, but the attempt was revealed to the inhabitants by the light
of a crescent moon. Whereupon they erected a statue to Diana, and adopted
the crescent as their symbol.

When the Byzantine empire was overthrown by Mohammed II., in 1453, the
Turks regarded the crescent, which was everywhere to be seen, as of
favorable import. They therefore made it their own emblem, and it has
since continued to be a distinctively Mohammedan token.

In the Mussulman mind the new moon is intimately associated with
devotional acts. Its appearance is eagerly watched for and

    The moment the eye lights on the slight thread of silver in
    the western twilight, it remains fixed there, whilst prayers
    of thanksgiving and praise are offered, the hands being held
    up by the face, the palms upward and open, and afterwards
    passed three times over the visage, the gaze still remaining
    immovable.[46]

Golden crescents of various sizes were among the most primitive forms of
money. Ancient coins frequently bore the likenesses of popular deities or
their symbols, and of the latter the crescent appears to have been the
one most commonly employed.[47] It was the usual mint-mark of the coins
of Thespia in the early part of the fourth century B. C.;[48] is seen on
the coins of the reigns of Augustus, Nero, and other Roman emperors; and
on the silver pieces of the time of Hadrian is found the _Luna crescens_
with seven stars.[49]

A crescent adorned the head of the goddess Diana in her character of
Hecate, or ruler of the infernal regions.

Hecate was supposed to preside over enchantments, and was also the
special guardian and protectress of houses and doors.[50] The Greeks not
only wore amulets in the shape of the half moon, but placed them on the
walls of their houses as talismans;[51] and the Romans used _phalĕræ_,
metallic disks and crescents, to decorate the foreheads and breasts of
their horses.

Such ornaments are to be seen on the caparisons of the horses on
Trajan’s Column and on other ancient monuments, in the collection of
Roman antiquities in the British Museum, and in mediæval paintings and
tapestries.[52]

In the portrayals of combats between the Romans and Dacians on the Arch
of Constantine, the trappings of the horses of both armies are decorated
with these emblems,[53] as are also the bridle reins of a horse shown in
a French manuscript of the fifteenth century representing “gentlefolk
meeting on horseback.”[54]

Charms of similar shape, made of wolves’ teeth and boars’ tusks, have
been found in tumuli in different parts of Great Britain.

A sepulchral stone, which is preserved among other Gallo-Roman relics
within the château of Chinon, France, bears the effigy of a man standing
upright and clad in a large tunic with wide sleeves. Above the figure is
a crescent-shaped talisman, a symbol frequently found in monuments of
that period.[55]

But the use of these symbols, although so ancient, is by no means
obsolete; the brass crescent, an avowed charm against the evil eye,
is very commonly attached to the elaborately decorated harnesses of
Neapolitan draught-horses, and is used in the East to embellish the
trappings of elephants. It is also still employed in like manner in
various parts of Europe and in the England of to-day. In Germany small
half-moon-shaped amulets similar to the ancient μηνίσχοι or _lunulæ_ are
still used against the evil eye.

In Sweden and Frisia, bridal ornaments for the head and neck often
represent the moon’s disk in its first quarter; and it is customary to
call out after a newly married pair, “Increase, O Moon.”[56]

Elworthy remarks that the horse-shoe, wherever used as an amulet, is the
handy conventional representative of the crescent, and that the Buddhist
crescent emblem is a horse-shoe with the curve pointed like a Gothic
arch.

The English fern called moonwort (_Botrychium lunaria_) is thought to
owe its reputed magical powers to the crescent form of the segments
of its frond. Some writers regard it as identical with the martagon,
an herb formerly much used by sorcerers; and also with the Italian
_sferracavallo_.

According to the famous astrologer and herbalist, Nicholas Culpepper,
moonwort possessed certain occult virtues, and was endowed with
extraordinary attributes, chief among them being its power of undoing
locks and of unshoeing horses. The same writer remarked that, while some
people of intelligence regarded these notions with scorn, the popular
name for moonwort among the countryfolk was “unshoe-the-horse.”[57]

Du Bartas, in his “Divine Weekes,” says in reference to this plant:—

    Horses that, feeding on the grassy hills, tread upon moonwort
    with their hollow heels, though lately shod, at night go
    barefoot home, their maister musing where their shoes become.
    O moonwort! tell me where thou hid’st the smith, hammer and
    pinchers, thou unshodd’st them with.

The horse-shoe has sometimes been identified with the cross, and has been
supposed to derive its amuletic power from a fancied resemblance to the
sacred Christian symbol. But inasmuch as it is difficult to find any
marked similarity in form between the crescent and the cross, this theory
does not appear to warrant serious consideration.


VI. IRON AS A PROTECTIVE CHARM

Some writers have maintained that the luck associated with the horse-shoe
is due chiefly to the metal, irrespective of its shape, as iron and
steel are traditional charms against malevolent spirits and goblins. In
their view, a horse-shoe is simply a piece of iron of graceful shape
and convenient form, commonly pierced with seven nail-holes (a mystic
number), and therefore an altogether suitable talisman to be affixed to
the door of dwelling or stable in conformity with a venerable custom
sanctioned by centuries of usage. Of the antiquity of the belief in the
supernatural properties of iron there can be no doubt.

Among the ancient Gauls this metal was thought to be consecrated to the
Evil Principle, and, according to a fragment of the writings of the
Egyptian historian Manetho (about 275 B. C.), iron was called in Egypt
the bone of Typhon, or Devil’s bone, for Typhon in the Egyptian mythology
was the personification of evil.[58]

Pliny, in his “Natural History,” states that iron coffin-nails affixed
to the lintel of the door render the inmates of the dwelling secure from
the visitations of nocturnal prowling spirits.

According to the same author, iron has valuable attributes as a
preservative against harmful witchcrafts and sorceries, and may thus be
used with advantage both by adults and children. For this purpose it was
only necessary to trace a circle about one’s self with a piece of the
metal, or thrice to swing a sword around one’s body. Moreover, gentle
proddings with a sword wherewith a man has been wounded were reputed to
alleviate divers aches and pains, and even iron-rust had its own healing
powers:—

    If a horse be shod with shoes made from a sword wherewith a man
    has been slain, he will be most swift and fleet, and never,
    though never so hard rode, tire.[59]

The time-honored belief in the magical power of iron and steel is shown
in many traditions of the North.

A young herdswoman was once tending cattle in a forest of Vermaland
in Sweden; and the weather being cold and wet, she carried along her
tinder-box with flint and steel, as is customary in that country.
Presently along came a giantess carrying a casket, which she asked the
girl to keep while she went away to invite some friends to attend her
daughter’s marriage. Quite thoughtlessly the girl laid her fire-steel on
the casket, and when the giantess returned for the property she could not
touch it, for steel is repellant to trolls, both great and small. So the
herdswoman carried home the treasure-box, which was found to contain a
golden crown and other valuables.[60]

The heathen Northmen believed in the existence of a race of dwarfish
artisans, who were skilled in the working of metals, and who fashioned
implements of warfare in their subterranean workshops. These dwarfs
were also thought to inhabit isolated rocks; and according to a popular
notion, if a man chanced to encounter one of them, and quickly threw a
piece of steel between him and his habitation, he could thereby prevent
the dwarf from returning home, and could exact of him whatever he
desired.[61]

Among French Canadians, fireflies are viewed with superstitious eyes as
luminous imps of evil, and iron and steel are the most potent safeguards
against them; a knife or needle stuck into the nearest fence is thought
to amply protect the belated wayfarer against these insects, for they
will either do themselves injury upon the former, or will become so
exhausted in endeavoring to pass through the needle’s eye as to render
them temporarily harmless.[62] Such waifs and strays of popular
credulity may seem most trivial, yet they serve to illustrate the ancient
and widely diffused belief in the traditional qualities ascribed to
certain metals.

One widely prevalent theory ascribed to iron a meteoric origin, but the
different nations of antiquity were wont to attribute its discovery or
invention to some favorite deity or mythological personage; Osiris was
thus honored by the Egyptians, Vulcan by the Romans, and Wodan or Odin by
the Teutons.

In early times the employment of iron in the arts was much restricted by
reason of its dull exterior and brittleness. There existed, moreover,
among the Romans a certain religious prejudice against the metal, whose
use in many ceremonies was wholly proscribed. This prejudice appears to
have been due to the fact that iron weapons were held jointly responsible
with those who wielded them for the shedding of human blood; inasmuch as
swords, knives, battle-axes, lance and spear points, and other implements
of war were made of iron.[63]

Those mythical demons of Oriental lands known as the _Jinn_ are believed
to be exorcised by the mere name of iron;[64] and Arabs when overtaken by
a simoom in the desert endeavor to charm away these spirits of evil by
crying, “Iron, iron!”[65]

The _Jinn_ being legendary creatures of the Stone Age, the comparatively
modern metal is supposed to be obnoxious to them. In Scandinavia and in
northern countries generally, iron is a historic charm against the wiles
of sorcerers.

The Chinese sometimes wear outside of their clothing a piece of an old
iron plough-point as a charm;[66] and they have also a custom of driving
long iron nails in certain kinds of trees to exorcise some particularly
dangerous female demons which haunt them.[67] The ancient Irish were wont
to hang crooked horse-shoe nails about the necks of their children as
charms;[68] and in Teutonic folk-lore we find the venerable superstition
that a horse-shoe nail found by chance and driven into the fireplace will
effect the restoration of stolen property to the owner. In Ireland, at
the present time, iron is held to be a sacred and luck-bringing metal
which thieves hesitate to steal.[69]

A Celtic legend says that the name _Iron-land_ or _Ireland_ originated
as follows: The Emerald Isle was formerly altogether submerged, except
during a brief period every seventh year, and at such times repeated
attempts were made by foreigners to land on its soil, but without
success, as the advancing waves always swallowed up the bold invaders.
Finally a heavenly revelation declared that the island could only be
rescued from the sea by throwing a piece of iron upon it during its
brief appearance above the waters. Profiting by the information thus
vouchsafed, a daring adventurer cast his sword upon the land at the time
indicated, thereby dissolving the spell, and Ireland has ever since
remained above the water. On account of this tradition the finding of
iron is always accounted lucky by the Irish; and when the treasure-trove
has the form of a horse-shoe, it is nailed up over the house door.
Thus iron is believed to have reclaimed Ireland from the sea, and the
talismanic symbol of its reclamation is the iron horse-shoe.[70]

Once upon a time—so runs a tradition of the Ukraine, the border region
between Russia and Poland—some men found a piece of iron. After having
in vain attempted to eat it, they tried to soften it by boiling it in
water; then they roasted it, and afterwards beat it with stones. While
thus engaged, the Devil, who had been watching them, inquired, “What are
you making there?” and the men replied, “A hammer with which to beat the
Devil.” Thereupon Satan asked where they had obtained the requisite sand;
and from that time men understood that sand was essential for the use of
iron-workers; and thus began the manufacture of iron implements.[71]

Among the Scotch fishermen also iron is invested with magical attributes.
Thus if, when plying their vocation, one of their number chance to
indulge in profanity, the others at once call out, “Cauld airn!” and
each grasps a handy piece of the metal as a counter influence to the
misfortune which would else pursue them throughout the day.[72] Even
nowadays in England, in default of a horse-shoe, the iron plates of the
heavy shoes worn by farm laborers are occasionally to be seen fastened at
the doors of their cottages.[73]

When in former times a belief in the existence of mischievous elves was
current in the Highland districts of Scotland, iron and steel were in
high repute as popular safeguards against the visits of these fairy-folk;
for they were sometimes bold enough to carry off young mothers, whom they
compelled to act as wet-nurses for their own offspring. One evening many
years ago a farmer named Ewen Macdonald, of Duldreggan, left his wife and
young infant indoors while he went out on an errand; and tradition has it
that while crossing a brook, thereafter called in the Gaelic tongue “the
streamlet of the knife,” he heard a strange rushing sound accompanied
with a sigh, and realized at once that fairies were carrying off his
wife. Instantly throwing a knife into the air in the name of the Trinity,
the fairies’ power was annulled, and his wife dropped down before him.[74]

In Scandinavian and Scottish folk-lore, there is a marked affinity
between iron and flint. The elf-bolt or flint arrowhead was formerly in
great repute as a charm against divers evil influences, whether carried
around as an amulet, used as a magical purifier of drinking-water for
cattle, or to avert fairy spite. It seems possible that iron and steel
in superseding flint, which was so useful a material in the rude arts of
primitive peoples, inherited its ancient magical qualities.

In the Hebrides a popular charm against the wiles of sorcerers
consisted in placing pieces of flint and untempered steel in the milk
of cows alleged to have been bewitched. The milk was then boiled, and
this process was thought to foil the machinations of the witch or
enchantress.[75] The fairies of the Scottish lowlands were supposed to
use arrows tipped with white flint, wherewith they shot the cattle of
persons obnoxious to them, the wounds thus inflicted being invisible
except to certain personages gifted with supernatural sight.[76]

According to a Cornish belief, iron is potent to control the
water-fiends, and when thrown overboard enables mariners to land on a
rocky coast with safety even in a rough sea.[77] A similar superstition
exists in the Orkney Islands with reference to a certain rock on the
coast of Westray. It is thought that when any one with a piece of iron
about him steps upon this rock, the sea at once becomes turbulent and
does not subside until the magical substance is thrown into the water.[78]

The inhabitants of the rocky island of Timor, in the Indian Archipelago,
carry about them scraps of iron to preserve themselves from all kinds of
mishaps, even as the London cockney cherishes with care his lucky penny,
crooked sixpence, or perforated shilling; while in Hindostan iron nails
are frequently driven in over a door, or into the legs of a bedstead, as
protectives. It was a mediæval wedding custom in France to place on the
bride’s finger a ring made from a horse-shoe nail,[79] a superstitious
bid, as it were, for happy auspices.

In Sicily, iron amulets are popularly used against the evil eye;
indeed iron in any form, especially the horse-shoe, is thought to be
effective, and in fact talismanic properties are ascribed to all metals.
When, therefore, a Sicilian feels that he is being “overlooked,” he
instantly touches the first available metallic object, such as his
watch-chain, keys, or coins.[80] In ancient Babylon and Assyria it was
believed that invisible demons might enter the body during the acts of
eating and drinking and thus originate disease, and the doctrine of
demoniacal possession as the cause of illness is still widely prevalent
in uncivilized communities at the present day. Wherever, therefore,
such notions exist, talismans are naturally employed to render inert
the machinations of these little demons; and of all these safeguards,
iron and steel are perhaps the most potent. Quite commonly in Germany,
among the lower classes, such articles as knives, hatchets, and cutting
instruments generally, as well as fire-irons, harrows, keys, and needles,
are considered protectives against disease if placed near or about the
sick person.[81]

In Morocco it is customary to place a dagger under the patient’s
pillow,[82] and in Greece a black-handled knife is similarly used to keep
away the nightmare.

In Germany iron implements laid crosswise are considered to be powerful
anti-witch safeguards for infants; and in Switzerland two knives, or a
knife and fork, are placed in the cradle under the pillow. In Bohemia
a knife on which a cross is marked, and in Bavaria a pair of opened
scissors, are similarly used. In Westphalia an axe and a broom are laid
crosswise on the threshold, the child’s nurse being expected to step over
these articles on entering the room.[83]

The therapeutic value of iron and its use as a medicament do not properly
belong to our subject; and, indeed, neither the iron horse-shoe nor its
counterfeit symbol have usually been much employed in folk-medicine.
Professor Sepp, in his work on the religion of the early Germans,
mentions, however, a popular cure for whooping-cough, which consisted in
having the patient eat off of a wooden platter branded with the figure of
a horse-shoe.

In France, also, a favorite panacea for children’s diseases consists in
laying on the child an accidentally found horse-shoe, with the nails
remaining in it; and in Mecklenburg gastric affections are thought to
be successfully treated by drinking beer which has been poured upon a
red-hot horse-shoe.[84]

Pliny ascribed healing power to a cast-off horse-shoe found on the road.
The finder was recommended carefully to preserve such a horse-shoe; and
should he at any future time be afflicted with the hiccoughs, the mere
recollection of the exact spot where the shoe had been placed would
serve as a remedy for that sometimes obstinate affection.[85]

In Bavaria a popular alleged cure for hernia in children is as follows:
From a horse-shoe wherein all the nails remain, and which has been cast
by a horse, a nail is taken; and when next a new moon comes on a Friday,
one must go into a field or orchard before sunrise and drive the nail by
three blows into an oak-tree or pear-tree, according to the sex of the
child, and thrice invoke the name of Christ; after which one must kneel
on the ground in front of the tree and repeat a _Paternoster_. This is
an example of a kind of therapeutic measure not uncommon among peasants
in different parts of Germany, a blending of the use of a superstitious
charm with religious exercises.[86]

An ingenious theory ascribes the origin of the belief in the magical
properties of iron to the early employment of the actual cautery, and to
the use of the lancet in surgery.[87] In either case the healing effects
of the metal, whether hot or in the form of a knife, have been attributed
by superstitious minds to magical properties in the instruments, whereby
the demons who caused the disease were put to flight. In northern India
the natives believe that evil spirits are so simple-minded as to run
against the sharp edge of a knife and thus do themselves injury; and they
also make use of iron rings as demon-scarers, such talismans having the
double efficacy of the iron and of the sacred circle.[88]

In Bombay, when a child is born, the natives place an iron bar along the
threshold of the room of confinement as a guard against the entrance of
demons.[89] This practice is derived from the Hindoo superstition that
evil spirits keep aloof from iron; and even to-day pieces of horse-shoes
are to be seen nailed to the bottom sills of the doors of native
houses.[90] In east Bothnia, when the cows leave their winter quarters
for the first time, an iron bar is laid before the threshold of the door
through which the animals must pass, and the farmers believe that, if
this precaution were omitted, the cows would prove troublesome throughout
the summer.[91] So, too, in the region of Saalfield, in central Germany,
it is customary to place axes, saws, and other iron and steel implements
outside the stable door to keep the cattle from bewitchment.

The Scandinavian peasants, when they venture upon the water, are wont to
protect themselves against the power of the _Neck_, or river-spirit, by
placing a knife in the bottom of the boat, or by fixing an iron nail in
a reed. The following is the translation of a charm used in Norway for
this purpose:—

    Neck, Neck, nail in water, the Virgin Mary casteth steel in
    water. Do you sink, I flit.

In Finland there is an evil fairy known as the Alp Nightmare. Its name
in the vernacular is _Painajainen_, which means in English “Presser.”
This unpleasant being makes people scream, and causes young children to
squint; and the popular safeguard is steel, or a broom placed beneath the
pillow.[92]

Friedrich remarks that the Moslems look upon iron as a divine gift, and
that the Finlanders have their tutelary gods of this metal.

Among the Jews there prevails a popular belief that one should never make
use of a knife or other steel instrument for the purpose of more readily
following with the eye the pages of the Bible, the Talmud, or other
sacred book. Iron should never be permitted to touch any book treating
of religion, for the two are incompatible by nature, the one destroying
human life and the other prolonging it.[93] The Highlanders of Scotland
have a time-honored custom of taking an oath upon cold iron or steel.
The dirk, which was formerly an indispensable adjunct to the Highland
costume, is a favorite and handy object for the purpose. The faith in
the magical power of steel and iron against evil-disposed fairies and
ghosts was universal, and this form of oath was more solemn and binding
than any other.[94]

Among the Bavarian peasants nails and needles have a reputation the
reverse of that of the horse-shoe. A horse-shoe nail stuck into the front
door of a house will give the owner a serious illness. A needle, when
given to a friend, is sure to prick to death existing friendship, even as
such friendship is severed by the gift of a knife or pair of scissors.
Such an untoward result may be averted, however, if the recipient smile
pleasantly when the gift is made. A curious superstition about iron locks
prevails in Styria and Tyrol. If you procure from a locksmith a brand-new
lock and carry it to church at the time of a wedding ceremony, and if,
while the benediction is being said, you fasten the lock by a turn of
the key, then the young couple’s love and happiness is destroyed. Mutual
aversion will supplant affection until you open the lock again.[95]


VII. BLACKSMITHS CREDITED WITH SUPERNATURAL ATTRIBUTES

Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, the Hephæstus of Grecian mythology, was
also the patron of blacksmiths and workers in metals. He was the great
artisan of the universe, and at his workshop in Olympus he fashioned
armor for the warriors of the heroic age. On earth volcanoes were his
forges, and his favorite residence was the island of Lemnos in the Ægean
Sea. Beneath Ætna, with the aid of those famed artisans, the Cyclops, he
forged the thunderbolts of Jove; and there also, according to tradition,
were made the trident of Neptune, Pluto’s helmet, and the shield of
Hercules. Hephæstus was thus a controller and master of fire.

The Cyclops were believed by the ancients to have invented the art
of forging; and the discovery of the peculiar qualities of iron was
attributed to certain mythical beings called the Dactyls, who dwelt
in Phrygia, and who were thought to have acquired this knowledge from
observation of the fusion of metals at the fabulous burning of Mount
Ida. The Dactyls had the reputation of being wizards, whose very names
possessed a mysterious protective power when pronounced by persons
exposed to sudden dangers.

Certain semi-fabulous tribes of central Asia, workers in metals, kept
secret the mysteries of their craft, and were wont to indulge in wild
orgies and festivities, which served to inspire with awe the uninitiated.
At such times they danced until frenzied with excitement, to the
accompaniment of cymbals and tambourines and the clashing of weapons. The
people of neighboring tribes feared to approach them, believing that
they were possessed of a magical power which enabled them to transform
one metal into another and to forge thunderbolts. They were reputed to
be masters of fire and of the elements, and their forges, like Vulcan’s,
were volcanoes.[96]

These barbarous peoples were sometimes confounded with the Dactyls,
Corybantes, Cabiri, and Curetes, traditional metallurgists endowed with
supernatural skill, and therefore popularly reckoned as magicians, or
even as divinities. For a long period they were supposed to be vested
with the exclusive knowledge of metal-working, a knowledge shrouded in
mystery.

In the “Kalevalla,” or ancient epic poem of Finland, the blacksmith
Ilmarinen is represented as the pioneer and most skilled of artisans, who
fashioned both the implements of warfare and domestic utensils. This hero

    Came to earth to work the metal;
    He was born upon the coal-mount,
    Skilled and nurtured in the coal-fields;
    In one hand a copper hammer,
    In the other tongs of iron;
    In the night was born the blacksmith,
    In the morn he built his smithy;
    Sought with care a favored hillock,
    Where the winds might fill his bellows;
    Found a hillock in the swamp-land,
    Where the iron hid abundant,
    There he built his smelting-furnace.[97]

In the Teutonic mythology, blacksmiths were magical craftsmen; and even
in the Middle Ages they were looked upon as superior to other artisans,
owing to their faculty of seemingly toying with fire, rendering the
dangerous element subservient to their will, and by its aid manipulating
iron with ease and dexterity. In Germany their workshops were known as
“Wieland’s houses,” in remembrance of the most cunning of smiths in the
mythical lore of the North.

As in early ages the origin of metal-working was imputed to divine
beings, it was natural that in popular tradition blacksmiths acquired
their wondrous technical skill through the assistance of such beings, and
hence were exalted above the plane of ordinary mortals because they had
received supernatural instruction.…

The following mediæval legend serves to show that memories of the old
pagan traditions lingered in the minds of the Scandinavians until long
after the establishment among them of Christianity. One evening in the
year 1208, a horseman rode up to the house of a blacksmith named Thord
Vettir, who lived in southern Norway at Nesjar, near the town of Laurvig
on the Skager-Rack, and asked for lodging overnight and shoeing for
his horse. The smith assented, and early the next morning began the
work, chatting meanwhile with his guest. “Where were you last night?”
he inquired of the latter. “In Medaldal,” was the reply. “And where
were you the night before?” asked the smith. “In Jardal,” answered the
stranger. “You must be a tremendous liar,” said the smith, with great
frankness. Then he applied himself to his task in earnest, and forged the
biggest horse-shoes which he had ever seen, but which were found to fit
the horse’s feet perfectly. In the course of further conversation the
traveler remarked that he had long dwelt in the north of Norway and was
on his way to Sweden. When he was ready to continue journeying and had
mounted his steed, the smith inquired his name. “Have you ever heard of
Odin?” was the rejoinder. “I have heard his name,” said the smith. “Then
you may see him now,” remarked the horseman, “and, if you do not believe
what I have told you, look how I leap my horse over the fence.” Thereupon
he spurred the animal and rode straight at the court-yard fence, which
was seven ells high. The gallant steed cleared the fence with ease, and
neither he nor his rider were seen again by the worthy blacksmith.[98]

The dignity and importance of the blacksmith’s art in early mediæval
times in England is illustrated by the following tale from Paul
Sébillot’s “Légendes et Curiosités des Métiers,” art. “Forgerons:”—

King Alfred the Great, who reigned in the latter part of the ninth
century, on one occasion assembled together seven of his principal
mechanics and craftsmen, and announced that he would appoint as their
chief that one who could longest dispense with the assistance of the
others; and he also invited them all to a banquet, on condition that each
should bring with him a specimen of his handiwork and the tools wherewith
it was made. At the appointed time they all appeared: the blacksmith
brought his hammer and a horse-shoe; the tailor his scissors and a newly
made garment; the baker his long-handled wooden bread-shovel and a loaf
of bread; the shoemaker his awl and a pair of new shoes; the carpenter
his saw and a squared plank; the butcher his chopping-knife and a large
piece of meat; and the mason his trowel and a corner-stone. After careful
deliberation the company decided that the tailor’s work was the best, and
he was accordingly chosen to be chief of the artisans.

The blacksmith was vexed at the choice, and vowed he would work no more,
so long as the tailor was chief; he therefore closed his shop and took
his departure.

But his absence was speedily felt; the king’s horse lost a shoe, the six
comrades one after another broke their tools, and, although the tailor
continued to ply his trade longer than the others, he too was soon
obliged to cease from work. Thereupon the king and his tradesmen decided
to try their hands at blacksmithing, but met with ill success; for the
king’s horse trod on his royal master, the tailor burnt his fingers,
and the others met with various mishaps. At length they began to quarrel
among themselves, even coming to blows, and in the mêlée the anvil was
overturned with a crash. Just at this point Saint Clement appeared on
the scene arm in arm with the blacksmith. The king saluted the newcomers
respectfully, and addressed them as follows: “I have made a bad mistake,
my friends, in allowing myself to be beguiled by the tailor’s fine cloth
and his skillful handiwork; in common fairness the blacksmith, without
whose aid the other workmen can accomplish nothing, should be proclaimed
chief artisan.” All the tradesmen except the tailor then begged the
worthy smith to make new tools for them, which he forthwith proceeded to
do, even including a brand-new pair of scissors for the tailor.

Then the king reorganized the society of artisans and proclaimed as
chief the blacksmith, whom all greeted with wishes for good health and
happiness.

After this the king called on each one for a song, and the new chief in
his turn sang one entitled “The Merry Blacksmith,” which is even nowadays
sometimes heard at the festivities of tradesmen’s guilds in England.

Saint Clement, who figures in the above tale, was the patron saint of
farriers. He was a Roman bishop, who died A. D. 100. In ecclesiastical
tradition he was reckoned among the martyrs, having been bound to an
anchor and thrown into the sea on November 23 of that year. His name-day
was still observed in recent times by English blacksmiths, who regarded
him as the originator of the art of practical farriery, and held an
annual festival in his honor.

The blacksmiths’ apprentices of the Woolwich dockyard were wont to form
a procession on the evening of Saint Clement’s Day, one of their number
personating “Old Clem,” with masked face, oakum wig, and long white beard.

During the festivities this worthy delivered a speech, in part as
follows:—

    I am the real Saint Clement, the first founder of brass, iron,
    and steel from the ore. I have been to Mount Ætna, where the
    god Vulcan first built his forge, and forged the armor and
    thunderbolts for the god Jupiter.[99]

Saint Eloy, or Saint Eligius, is sometimes represented as the guardian of
farriers and blacksmiths. He flourished in the seventh century, and in
his youth served as apprentice to a goldsmith at Limoges, where he became
very proficient in the art of working the precious metals. His festival
occurs on December 1.

According to a well-known legend, Saint Eloy was once shoeing a demoniac
horse, which refused to stand still; he therefore cut off the animal’s
leg and put on the shoe. Then, making the sign of the cross, he replaced
the leg, the horse experiencing no ill effects from the operation.

This saint is mentioned in Barnaby Googe’s “Popish Kingdome,” as follows:—

    And Loye the smith doth looke to horse, and smithes of all degree;
    If they with iron meddle here, or if they goldsmithes bee.

In certain countries blacksmiths and farriers have always been credited
with supernatural faculties, and it seems, therefore, reasonable thus to
explain the origin of some portion of the alleged mystic virtues of their
handiwork, the iron horse-shoe, although indeed this view does not appear
to have been advanced hitherto.

Among ourselves, and in some of the principal European countries,
blacksmiths are highly respectable members of society, although they
do not usually deal in occult science. But in portions of the Russian
empire, as in the province of Mingrelia, the Caucasus, and neighboring
regions, blacksmiths do enjoy a certain reputation as magicians. Solemn
oaths are taken upon the anvil instead of upon the Bible. In Abyssinia
and in the Congo country all iron-workers have the reputation of
sorcerers, and among the Tibbous of central Africa they are treated
with great deference. When an inhabitant of the Orkney Islands wishes
to obtain an amulet, he applies either to a farrier, or to his son or
grandson; and the Roumanian gypsies are mostly blacksmiths, their wives
obtaining a livelihood by mendicancy, the practice of divination, and the
interpretation of dreams; while both men and women are thought to have
the faculty of summoning to their aid powerful spirits of the air.[100]

In Morocco, at the present day, there still exists a community of
dwarfish artisans, workers in metals, magicians, and adepts in the
healing art, who make little books which are used as portable amulets;
and the Haratin, who inhabit the Drah valley, deem it sinful even
to mention by name these dwarfs, whom they consider entitled to
extraordinary respect.

Each member of this mysterious tribe of pigmy smiths is said to wear a
_haik_, or outer garment, having upon the back a representation of an
eye, a symbol suggestive of the Cyclops of old.[101]

There was, indeed, as we have seen, a common opinion throughout a great
part of Europe that the earliest smiths were supernatural beings; for it
was reasoned that the marvelous process of melting and fashioning iron
could not have been conceived by man, but must have originated through
magical agencies.

In Germany blacksmith’s forges were often situated on highways remote
from settlements, and were the resort of travelers and teamsters, who
stopped either to have a horse shod, or to obtain veterinary advice.
Quite naturally these smithies, like the modern crossroads variety
stores, became little centres of sociability and gossip, and even of
conviviality. Moreover, questionable characters sometimes frequented
these places, and hence their reputation was not always savory. But
the blacksmith himself, by virtue of his calling, was looked upon with
respect, even after his craft had ceased to inspire the vulgar with
mysterious awe.[102]

In south Germany and the Tyrol, when a blacksmith rests from his work
on a Saturday evening, he strikes with his hammer three blows upon
the anvil, thereby chaining up the Devil for the ensuing week. And so
likewise, while hammering a horse-shoe into shape, he strikes the anvil
instead of the shoe every fourth or fifth blow, and thus makes doubly
secure the chain wherewith Satan is bound.[103]

Blacksmiths are usually clever enough to recognize the Devil, even when
disguised as a gentleman.

Once upon a time the Evil One appeared at the door of a smith in the
village of Gossensass, on the Brenner road, Tyrol, and wished to have his
two horses shod. When the work was done, he inquired how much he should
pay; but the shrewd smith refused to take any money, and only stipulated
that his customer should never enter the shop again, which the Devil
promised and went away.[104]

The magicians of Hindostan, when treating cases of alleged demoniacal
possession, after the performance of other mystic rites, are wont to
sprinkle the patient with water from a blacksmith’s shop, the water
having been endowed with additional virtue by the repeated immersion of
iron.[105]

In northeast Scotland a cure for rickets consists in having the child
bathed by a blacksmith in the water-trough of the smithy. Then he is laid
on the anvil and iron implements are passed over him, the use of each
being asked, and the ceremony is followed by a second bath. To insure the
efficacy of this process, three blacksmiths of the same name must take
part in it.[106]

In Henderson’s “Folk-Lore of the Northern Countries of England,” p. 187,
mention is made of a remarkable method of treatment intended for the
development of sickly, puny children who are thought to be under the
influence of an evil spell which retards their growth,—a notable instance
of survival of the old belief in the blacksmith’s magical powers. Very
early in the morning the little patient is brought to the shop of a smith
of the seventh generation, if such can be found, and laid quite naked
on the anvil. The blacksmith raises his hammer thrice as if to strike
a glowing horse-shoe, each time letting it gently fall on the child’s
body,—a simple ceremony, but vastly promotive of the child’s physical
welfare, in the minds of its rustic parents.

The farriers of the Arabs inhabiting the oases of the great Sahara desert
are exempt from taxes and enjoy numerous privileges. Of these the most
important and striking, as showing the honor accorded to the men of this
craft, is the following:—

When, on the battlefield, a mounted farrier is hard pressed by enemies,
he runs the risk of being killed so long as he remains upon his horse
with weapons in his hand. But if he alights, kneels down, and with the
corners of his hooded cloak or _burnous_ imitates the movements of a pair
of bellows, thus revealing his profession, his life is spared.[107]

The Baralongs of South Africa regard the art of smelting and forging
as sacred, and, when the metal begins to flow, none are permitted to
approach the furnaces except those who are initiated in the mysteries of
the craft.[108]

In Finland, also, blacksmiths are held in profound respect, and the
greatest luxuries are none too good for them. They are presented with
brandy to keep them in good humor; and a Finnish proverb says, “Fine
bread always for the smith, and dainty morsels for the hammerer.”[109]

Among certain tribes of the west coast of equatorial Africa the
blacksmith officiates also as priest or medicine-man, and is a chief
personage in the community, which often embraces several adjacent
villages. Indeed, there appears to be a quite general belief in different
portions of Africa that metal-workers as a class are superior beings,—of
higher origin than their fellow-tribesmen. When a savage people, without
a knowledge of farriery, acquired by conquest a new territory, and found
therein blacksmiths plying their vocation, they naturally regarded these
artisans with wonder, not unmixed with fear.[110]

Moreover, the early association, in mythology and tradition, of
metal-working and sorcery, appears to explain in a measure, as already
suggested, the reason for the magical properties popularly ascribed to
horse-shoes and to iron articles generally.


VIII. FIRE AS A SPIRIT-SCARING ELEMENT

The horse-shoe is a product of the artisan’s skill by the aid of fire.

This element has in all ages been considered the great purifier, and a
powerful foe to evil spirits.[111]

The Chaldeans venerated fire and esteemed it a deity, and among primitive
nations everywhere it has ever been held sacred. The Persians had
fire-temples, called _Pyræa_, devoted solely to the preservation of the
holy fire.[112]

In the “Rig-Veda,” the principal sacred book of the Hindus, the crackling
of burning fagots was listened to as the voice of the gods, and the same
superstition prevails still among the natives of Borneo.[113]

In a fragment of the writings of Menander Protector, a Greek historian
of the sixth century, it is related that when an embassy sent by the
Emperor Justin reached Sogdiana, the ancient Bokhara, it was met by a
party of Turks, who proceeded to exorcise their baggage by beating drums
and ringing bells over it. They then ran around the baggage, bearing
aloft flaming leaves, meantime, by their gestures and movements, seeking
to repel evil spirits; after which some of the party themselves passed
through fire as a means of purification.[114]

Fire is especially potent against nocturnal demons, and also against the
evil spirits which cause disease in cattle. Hence the utility of the
ancient “need-fires,” produced by the friction of two pieces of wood,
which were thought to be an antidote against the murrain and epizoötics
generally,—a custom until recently in vogue in the Scottish Highlands,
and formerly practiced in many other regions.

The midsummer fires kindled on Saint John’s Eve, in accordance with an
ancient British custom, were regarded as purifiers of the air. Moreover,
the whole area of ground illuminated by these fires was reckoned to be
freed from sorcery for a year, and, by leaping through the flames, both
men and cattle were insured safety against demons for a like period.[115]

In Ireland it was customary for people to run through the streets on
Saint John’s Eve carrying long poles, upon which were tied flaming
bundles of straw, in order to purify the air, for at that time all kinds
of mischievous imps, hobgoblins, and devils were abroad, intent on
working injury to human beings.[116]

Midsummer fires were still lighted in Ireland in the latter half of the
nineteenth century, a survival of pagan fire-worship. In many countries
people gathered about the bonfires, while children leaped through the
flames, and live coals were carried into the cornfields as an antidote to
blight.[117]

Sometimes the remaining ashes were scattered over the neighboring fields,
in order to protect the crops from ravaging vermin or insects; and in
Sweden the smoke of need-fires was reputed to stimulate the growth of
fruit-trees, and to impart luck to fishing-nets hung up in it.[118]

When a child is born, the Hindus light fires to frighten demons; and
for the same reason lamps are swung to and fro at weddings, and fire is
carried before the dead body at a funeral.[119]

Devout Brahmins keep a fire constantly burning in their houses and
worship it daily, expecting thereby to secure for themselves good
fortune. The origin of the respect accorded to fire among these people
has been attributed to its potency in alleviating or curing certain
diseases,[120] as, for example, when applied in the actual cautery, or by
means of the moxa; for, wherever a belief exists in demoniacal possession
as the cause of bodily disorders, the cure of the latter is evidence
that the malignant spirits have been put to flight.

The fire-worshiping Parsees also keep a fire continuously in the lying-in
room; and when a child is ailing from any cause, they fasten to its left
arm a magical charm of written words prepared by a priest, exorcising the
evil spirits in the name of their chief deity, Ormuzd, and “binding them
by the power and beauty of fire.”[121]

On the birth of a child among the Khoikhoi of south Africa a household
fire is kindled, which is maintained until the healing of the child’s
navel; and when a member of the tribe goes a-hunting, his wife is careful
to keep a fire burning indoors; for, if it were allowed to go out, the
husband would have no luck.[122]

The conception of a mediæval smith as a master and controller of fire
was embodied in a group of figures modeled by the Austrian sculptor,
Karl Bitter, and placed at the southern entrance of the Administration
Building at the World’s Fair, Chicago, in 1893. This group, which was
called “Fire Controlled,” consisted of a female figure, whose uplifted
right hand carried a torch, while at her feet stood a brawny smith
resting a sledge hammer upon the prostrate form of a fire demon.

Above this group stood a single figure, by the same artist, representing
a blacksmith standing at his anvil, with hammer resting against it, and
in his belt hung a pair of pincers. In his left hand was a horse-shoe,
which he was examining.[123]


IX. THE SERPENTINE SHAPE OF THE HORSE-SHOE

The theory has been advanced that in ancient idolatrous times the
horse-shoe in its primitive form was a symbol in serpent-worship, and
that its superstitious use as a charm may have thus originated. This
seems plausible enough, inasmuch as there is a resemblance between the
horse-shoe and the arched body of the snake, when the latter is so
convoluted that its head and tail correspond to the horse-shoe prongs.

Both snakes and horse-shoes were anciently engraved on stones and medals,
presumably as amuletic symbols;[124] and in front of a church in Crendi,
a town in the southern part of the island of Malta, there is to be seen a
statue having at its feet a protective symbol in the shape of a half moon
encircled by a snake.

The serpent played an important rôle in Asiatic and ancient Egyptian
symbolism. This has been thought to be due partly to a belief that the
sun’s path through the heavens formed a serpentine curve, and partly
because lightning, or the fertilizing fire, sometimes flashes upon the
earth in a snake-like zigzag.[125] The serpent was endowed with the
attributes of divinity on account of its graceful and easy movements, the
brightness of its eyes, the function of discarding its skin (a process
which was regarded as emblematic of a renewal of its youth), and its
instantaneous spring upon its prey.[126] The worship of serpents is of
great antiquity, the earliest authentic accounts of the custom being
found in Chaldean and Chinese astronomical works. It was nearly universal
among the most ancient nations of the world, and this universality
has been ascribed to the traditionary remembrance of the serpent in
Eden,[127] and has given rise to the opinion of some writers that
snake-worship may have been the primitive religion of the human race.[128]

On the walls of houses in Pompeii are to be seen the figures of snakes,
which are believed to have been intended as preservative symbols;[129]
and we learn from Mr. C. G. Leland’s “Etruscan Roman Remains” that the
peasants of the mountainous regions in northern Italy, known as the
Romagna Toscana, have a custom of painting on the walls of their houses
the figures of serpents with the heads and tails pointing upward. These
are intended both as amulets to keep away witches, and as luck-bringers,
and are therefore exact counterparts of the horse-shoe and the crescent
as magical emblems. The more interlaced the snake’s coils, the more
effective the amulet; the idea being that a witch is obliged to trace
out and follow with her eye the interweaving convolutions, and that in
attempting to do this she becomes bewildered, and is temporarily rendered
incapable of doing harm.

In ancient Roman works of art the serpent is sometimes portrayed as
a protective symbol. In some bronze figures of Fortune unearthed at
Herculaneum, serpents are represented either as encircling the arm of the
goddess, or as entwined about her cornucopia, thus typifying, as it were,
the idea of the intimate association of the snake with good luck.

The Phœnicians rendered homage to serpents, and history shows that the
Lithuanians, Sarmatians, or inhabitants of ancient Poland, and other
nations of central Europe, treated these reptiles with superstitious
respect. In Russia, also, domestic snakes were formerly carefully
nurtured, for they were thought to bring good fortune to the members of a
household.[130]

The worship of serpents is still practiced in Persia, Tibet, Ceylon,
and other Eastern lands. In western Africa, also, the serpent is a chief
deity, and is appealed to by the natives in seasons of drought and
pestilence.[131] A talisman having the form of a snake, and known as _la
sirena_, is in use among the lower classes at Naples.

In the folk-lore of the south Slavonian nations the serpent is regarded
as a protective genius, not only of the people, but of domestic animals
and houses as well. Every human being has a snake as tutelary divinity,
with which his growth and well-being are closely connected, and the
killing of one of these sacred creatures was formerly deemed a grave
offense. To meet with a snake has long been accounted fortunate in some
countries. The south Slav peasant believes that whoever encounters one
of these creatures, on first going into the woods in the spring, will be
prosperous throughout the year. But on the other hand he regards it as an
evil omen if he happens to catch a glimpse of his own tutelary serpent.
Fortunately, however, a man never knows which particular ophidian is his
special guardian.[132]

    The relation of the serpent to sculptured or engraved stones
    reveals to us the reptile as still the object of veneration, if
    not of adoration, among widely remote nations. If we search
    among the tombs of Egypt, Assyria, and Etruria, we shall find
    innumerable signets, cylinders, and scarabei of gems engraved
    with serpents; these were proverbially worn as amulets, or used
    as insignia of authority; and, in the temples and tombs of
    these and other countries, serpents are engraved or sculptured
    or painted, either as hieroglyphics or as forming symbolical
    ornaments of deities or genii. In India they are sculptured
    twining around all the gods of the cave temples which mark the
    graves of kings and heroes, and the oldest of the Scandinavian
    runes are written within the folds of serpents engraved on
    stones.[133]

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:—

    Whatever this figure (the horse-shoe arch) may have represented
    to our heathen ancestors, it seems very likely that from it
    the horse-shoe derived its supposed power of promoting the
    fortune of its possessor and protecting him against threatened
    calamities, whether designed by men or demons. Superstition
    clung to the symbol that was hallowed by antiquity, and even
    impressed this emblem of paganism on the Christianity by which
    it was superseded.

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

    corresponds to the Egyptian _Put-sign_ with its hollow
    underneath. Various forms of this formation of the world are
    extant. The horse-shoe is one. _Hence its value as a symbol of
    superstition._ The head-dress of the Egyptian goddess Hathor
    has the shape of a horse-shoe. The letter omega (Ω) is another
    form of the same sign.

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.

    The _D_ of the Italic alphabets placed ⌓ reveals its early
    picture origin, while the Greek delta (Δ) represents a tent
    door. The Egyptian hieroglyphic for ten was 𓎆. It is plain,
    therefore, that the horse-shoe is the mystical door reduced to
    its simplest possible form, and as a fetish for bringing good
    luck, or as a talisman to avert the evil eye, it would have no
    meaning except with the points downward.[139]

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:—

    The jewel-horse of the universal monarch, such as Buddha was to
    have been had he cared for worldly grandeur, carries its rider
    Pegasus-like through the air in whatever direction wished for,
    and thus it would become associated with the idea of material
    wishes, and especially wealth and jewels.[145]

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

    used white horses, as the Romans used chickens, for purposes of
    augury, and divined future events from different intonations
    of neighings. Hence it probably is that the discovery of
    a horse-shoe is so universally thought lucky, some of the
    feelings that once attached to the animal itself still
    surviving around the iron of its hoof. For horses, like dogs
    and birds, were universally accredited with a greater insight
    into futurity than man himself.[151]

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:—

        Take a Flynt Stone that
        hath a hole of hys owne
        kynde, and hang it ouer
        hym and wryte in a bill:

        _In nomine patris_, etc.
        Saint George our Ladyes Knight,
        He walked day so did he night
        Until he hir found,
        He hir beate and hir bounde,
        Till truely hir trouth she him plyght
        That she woulde not come within the night.
        There as Saint George our Ladyes Knight
        Named was three tymes, Saint George.

    And hang this Scripture ouer him, and let him alone. With such
    proper charmes as thys is, the false Fryers in tymes past were
    wont to charme the money out of the playne folkes purses.

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

    an operation to this effect was performed, much to the anger
    of the supposed witch, who at first complained to the Dean,
    but was laughed at by his reverence. She then rushed in wrath
    to the sick man’s room, and, miraculous to tell, passed the
    Rubicon in spite of the horse-shoes. But this wonder ceased
    when it was discovered that Vulcan had substituted donkeys’
    shoes.

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:—

    Cow’s milk and mare’s milk,
    And every beast that bears milk,
    Between St. Johnstone’s and Dundee,
    Come a’ to me, come a’ to me.

The only adequate protection from such mischievous pranks as these was
afforded by nailing a horse-shoe to the byre-door and tying sprigs of
rowan with a red thread to the cow’s tail. If, however, these precautions
were neglected, the guilty witch might yet be discovered by placing the
“gudeman’s breeks” upon the cow’s horns, a leg upon either horn; and
thereupon the animal, being let loose, was sure to run directly to the
witch’s house.[183]

In many places, certain houses continue even at the present time to have
an evil reputation as harborers of witches and goblins. In these cases it
seems probable that the owners or occupants of such dwellings neglected
to avail themselves of the immunity afforded by horse-shoes and other
safeguards. For no one, we believe, has ever seriously maintained that
evil spirits, who are once firmly domiciled, can be easily expelled.
Familiarity with their surroundings may breed a contempt for amulets.
Certain it is, however, that an ounce or two of iron by way of prevention
is worth a pound or more of cure. When a dwelling is demoniacally
possessed, the devils must be driven out somehow, and for this purpose
recourse is had to exorcisms, and to religious or magical ceremonies. In
the words of the poet Dryden (“Wife of Bath’s Tale,” i. 28):—

    And friars that through the wealthy regions run
    Resort to farmers rich, and bless their halls,
    And exorcise the beds and cross the walls.

In “Antiquitates Vulgares,” by Henry Browne (1725), the writer gives
elaborate directions as to the proper mode of exorcising a haunted
dwelling, and says that the house which is reported to be vexed with
spirits shall be visited by a priest daily for a week, appropriate
prayers and scriptural selections being read. Sometimes magical
procedures supplanted religious exercises, and experts in sorcery were
employed to rid a mansion of its undesirable tenants. The following
advertisement from a London newspaper of 1777 may be appropriately given
here:—

    HAUNTED HOUSES.—Whereas there are mansions and castles in
    England and Wales which for many years have been uninhabited,
    and are now falling into decay, by their being visited and
    haunted by evil spirits or the spirits of those who for
    unknown reasons are rendered miserable, even in the grave, a
    gentleman who has made the tour of Europe, of a particular
    turn of mind, and deeply skilled in the abstruse and sacred
    science of exorcism, hereby offers his assistance to any owner
    or proprietor of such premises, and undertakes to render
    the same free from the visitation of such spirits, be their
    cause what it may, and render them tenantable and useful for
    the proprietors. Letters addressed to Rev. John Jones, No.
    30 St. Martin’s Lane, duly answered, and interview given if
    required.[184]


XIV. THE POSITION OF THE HORSE-SHOE AS A PROTECTOR OF BUILDINGS

It has been supposed that the horse-shoe is placed at the _outer_
entrance to a building because of an ancient Saxon superstition that
witches were unable successfully to practice their wiles upon persons in
the open air.[185] The horse-shoe effectively bars the ingress of witches
and evil spirits, but an entrance once obtained by these creatures, it is
powerless to expel them. Therefore the horse-shoe within doors loses much
of its efficacy, but is still an emblem of good luck.

Placed on the outside of the door, or above the entrance of a dwelling,
or upon the threshold, the horse-shoe is easily first among the
inveterate foes of witches and devils generally.

    Laugh if you will, who imps nor devils fear,
    Whom death appals not, phantoms come not near;
    Along whose nerves no quick vibrations dart,
    As teeming twilight’s shadowy offspring start;
    Not yours to feel the joy with which I flew
    To snatch the rusty, worn, but lucky shoe.
    Oft have I heard them chattering at my door,
    The hags whose dances beat the shrinking moor;
    Oft have I sprung from nightmare-haunted rest,
    And gasped an _oro_ from my panting breast,
    As forms that vanished ere the half-shut eye
    With fright could open, from their revels fly.
    Henceforth, good horse-shoe, vain shall be their ride:
    Their spells are baffled and their rage defied.[186]

Edward Moor, in his “Oriental Fragments” (p. 455, London, 1834), relates
having once, in company with a gang of urchins, nailed a donkey-shoe
under the threshold of a poor woman in Suffolk who was suspected of
sorcery. He and his youthful companions endeavored thus to keep her all
night within doors, as witches cannot cross iron.

An English writer[187] tells of having heard an animated discussion in
the parlor of a London beer-shop as to whether it were preferable to
nail a horse-shoe _behind the door_ or upon _the first doorstep_; and
instances of extraordinary good luck were mentioned as the direct result
of the potency of the amulet in each position.

But there are weighty reasons for the selection of the front door, or the
parts immediately connected with it, as the proper place for the display
of horse-shoes as household guardians.

In the earliest historic times, and in primitive communities, the
entrance of a dwelling was considered a sacred place; and in the opinion
of eminent scholars who have made a study of the subject, the threshold
was the first family altar. A peculiar reverence for the doorway and
threshold prevails to-day in many parts of the world, as is evident from
the numerous ceremonial rites in vogue among widely separated savage
tribes and uncivilized peoples.[188] Indeed, the custom of placing
amulets and charms in and about the entrance-doors of houses, stables,
and other buildings is almost universal. In Russia a cross is marked on
the threshold to keep witches away. In Lithuania, when a house is being
built, a wooden cross, or some article which has been handed down from
past generations, is placed under the threshold. There, also, when a
newly baptized child is being brought back from church, it is customary
for its father to hold it for a while over the threshold, “so as to
place the new member of the family under the protection of the domestic
divinities.” Sick children who are supposed to have been afflicted by
an evil eye are washed on the threshold of their cottage, in order that
with the help of the Penates who reside there, the malady may be driven
out of doors.[189]

Under the threshold of the Assyrian palaces at Nineveh were found certain
images of grotesque monsters, as, for example, a human form with the head
of a lynx, and a lion’s body with a man’s head, which were intended as
tutelary deities.[190]

John Netten Radcliffe, in his “Fiends, Ghosts, and Sprites” (p. 43,
London, 1854), says that the horse-shoe superstition is a remnant or
relic of the worship of household guardians or divinities,—a practice
still in vogue among the natives of Ashantee, and also among the Bhutas
of Hindostan. In some English counties, naturally perforated stones are
hung behind the door; and in Glamorganshire the walls of the houses
are whitewashed in order to terrify wandering spirits of evil. Whether
successful or not for this purpose, the custom is certainly effective as
a destroyer of the demoniac germs of certain diseases.

The French Canadians are not the least superstitious of mankind, neither
do they wholly neglect to take due precautions against the admittance to
their homes of evil spirits.

They do not answer “Entrez!” when a knock is heard at the door, but
call out “Ouvrez!” This custom is said to have originated from a
current tradition regarding a young woman who once answered “Entrez!” in
response to a knock, whereupon the Devil promptly came in and carried
her away.[191] Where such legends find open-mouthed credence, it does
not appear strange that horse-shoes and other talismans should be at a
premium.

In Tuscany magical medicines are taken upon the threshold, which also
plays an important part in sorcery. One reason assigned for this fact
is that the threshold forms the line separating the outer world, where
demons are rampant, from the domestic precincts, where human beings dwell.

One writer affirms it to be a fixed law in demonology that spirits cannot
cross the threshold and enter a house unless previously invited to do so,
but adds that there are many exceptions to this rule.[192] The weight of
evidence does not support this view, for mischievous fairies and witches
are known to rudely disregard the laws of etiquette, and do not wait for
an invitation to enter dwellings. This fact is, indeed, a chief _raison
d’être_ for the use of talismans at the entrance of habitations.

The residents of the beautiful Thuringian Forest region, in whose
neighborhood these lines chanced to be penned, are wont to affix
horse-shoes to the thresholds of their chamber-doors, lest some rude
goblin enter and disturb their slumbers. But the fastidiousness of these
sylvan folk is not content with an ordinary shoe, even though found on
the road and venerable with rust; in order to serve its purpose as a
talisman, a Thuringian horse-shoe must have been forged by a bachelor of
wholesome life and good character, on Saint John’s Eve.[193]

In German households, the horse-shoe over the door is believed to afford
protection against divers apparitions, as well as against the Devil,
witchcraft, lightning, sickness, and evils of every sort.

The cross, symbol of the Christian faith, is the most potent of all
talismans, but is seldom seen at the entrance of dwellings. In some Roman
Catholic countries the crucifix is, indeed, everywhere conspicuous, not
only in churches and shrines, but by the roadside, in fields, and on the
outer walls of houses, but it is rarely placed at the front door. In
Hungary, however, the Magyars mark with black chalk the figure of a cross
upon their stable-doors, and also brand anew thereon the sacred emblem
each year at Christmas time.

The respect paid by the inhabitants of Tibet to their household
divinities somewhat resembles the worship of their _Lares_ by the Romans
of old, and finds a parallel in the honor accorded to the favorite amulet
of Western civilization, the horse-shoe.

The Tibetans set up above the entrances of their houses complex
talismans, composed of various mystical objects, such as a ram’s skull
with horns attached, having displayed along the base of the skull pieces
of carved wood representing a man and woman, a house, and other symbols;
the idea being to deceive the demons, and to make them believe that these
objects are the real dwelling and its inmates. The Tibetans believe that
the demons are thus tricked, and that the wooden images are the victims
of their mischievous designs.[194]

Far away among the nomadic tribes of Turkestan, horse-shoes are
occasionally seen nailed to the thresholds of dwellings in the vicinity
of the ancient city of Merv; and within doors, near the entrances of
these peculiar habitations, which resemble mammoth parrot cages, pieces
of linen or calico, four or five inches square, are seen upon the felt
wall-lining, to serve as receptacles for the free-will offerings of such
wandering spirits as may pass the magic barriers of the horse-shoes.[195]

In some regions there still prevails a time-honored custom of placing
over the chief entrances of dwellings inscriptions, embodying usually
a religious thought or exhortation. Sometimes, however, the sentence
commends the house and its occupants to the care of the goddess Fortune,
thus having a significance akin to that of the horse-shoe symbol. In
the year 1892 the writer copied many inscriptions found above the doors
of houses in northern Italy and Switzerland, some of them being written
in Latin, others in German, French, Italian, and the Romansch dialect,
current in the Engadine. Here, for example, is one from a house in the
Swiss village of Bergun, the original being in German: “This house is in
God’s hand; May Good Luck come in, and Bad Luck stay out! 1673.”

Many of these inscriptions are Biblical verses, which are here used as
talismans, just as the pious Moslem employs sentences from the Koran.

Here, again, is the translation of a German sentence over the door of a
dwelling in the village of Ober-Schönberg, near Innsbruck, Tyrol, copied
in 1897:—

    All persons entering this house are recommended to Divine
    protection. God and the Virgin Mary guard all such, even though
    powerful enemies threaten, and lightnings and thunder rage
    without!

Above the door of a house in the village of Welschnofen, near Botzen, the
wayfarer may read the following sentence: “Pray for us, holy Florian,
that fire may not harm our dwelling.” Above the inscription an eye
is painted, while below is a realistic picture of Saint Florian, the
protector of buildings against fire, engaged in pouring water on a
burning roof.

The Bassamese, inhabitants of the Gold Coast of Africa, west of Ashantee,
use certain fetich objects for the protection of their dwellings. These
amulets, which are often merely pieces of wood painted red, or fragments
of pottery, are placed upon the doors of their huts, and are believed to
afford ample protection against thieves.[196] Such a fetich is probably
intended to exclude evil spirits as well, and is, therefore, a substitute
for both the horse-shoe and the watch-dog, those guardians of the
household so popular in civilized communities.

When a modern Egyptian returns from a pilgrimage to Mecca, he fastens
above the entrance of his house a branch of the aloe, which is not only a
proof of his religious zeal in having accomplished the holy journey, but
is also reckoned a protection against objectionable spiritual intruders,
and is, therefore, seen in Cairo over the doors of the houses both of
Christians and Jews.

In northern Scotland, formerly, a branch of the rowan-tree was placed
over a farmhouse door, after having been waved while the words “Avaunt,
Satan!” were solemnly pronounced.[197]

About the year 1850 the Rev. Andrew A. Bonar, who was then assistant
minister in Collace Parish, Perthshire, Scotland, found the custom of
displaying horse-shoes on the doors of farm buildings so prevalent
that he thought it his duty to remonstrate against a practice savoring
of paganism. But his efforts in this direction, though hardly crowned
with success, were yet not wholly without avail, for his superstitious
parishioners removed the guardian horse-shoes from the outsides of the
doors, and nailed them up on the insides.[198]

The _raison d’être_ of the horse-shoe at the entrance of shops and other
frequented buildings has been attributed to a belief that, among the
many people continually passing through the doorway, some one might,
unobserved, bring in ill-luck or work mischief. But these safeguards not
only form a sufficient barrier against obnoxious hags and sorcerers, but
are potent against ghosts and all manner of evil creatures. When the
Oxford undergraduate “sports his oak” to prevent the untimely entrance
of dunning tradespeople, he shuts out friendly visitors as well; but
the faithful horse-shoe, by a process of natural selection, debars only
objectionable spirits, and is a formidable obstacle to the demon of
ill-luck.


XV. THE LUCKY HORSE-SHOE IN GENERAL

    He laughs like a boor who has found a horse-shoe.—_Dutch
    proverb._

Throughout Germany the belief obtains that a horse-shoe found on the
road, and nailed on the threshold of a house with the points directed
outward, is a mighty protection not only against hags and fiends, but
also against fire and lightning; but, _reversed_, it brings misfortune.
In eastern Pennsylvania, however, even in recent times, the horse-shoe
is often placed with the prongs pointing inward, so that the luck may be
spilled into the house. The horse-shoe retains its potency as a charm
on the sea as well as on land, and it has long been a practice among
sailors to nail this favorite amulet against the mast of a vessel,
whether fishing-boat or large sea-going craft, as a protection against
the Evil One. The shoe of a “wraith-horse,” the mythical offspring of
a water-stallion, is especially esteemed by Scotch mariners for this
purpose.[199]

In Bohemia only exists the superstition exactly opposite to that
elsewhere prevalent, namely, that whoever picks up a horse-shoe
thereby _ipso facto_ picks up ill-luck for himself,—a notable example
in folk-lore of the exception which proves the rule. The Bohemians,
however, believe a nailed-up horse-shoe to be a cure for lunacy.[200]

As a general rule, the degree of luck pertaining to a horse-shoe found by
chance has been thought to depend on the number of nails remaining in it:
the more nails the more luck.[201]

In Northumberland the holes free of nails are carefully counted, as these
indicate, presumably in years, how soon the finder of the shoe may expect
to be married.[202] The peasants of northern Portugal prefer mule-shoes
having an uneven number of nail-holes, as counteractives of the evil
influences of the dreaded, omnipresent witches known as the _Bruxas_.[203]

In Derbyshire it is customary to drive a horse-shoe, prongs upward,
between two flagstones near the door of a dwelling.[204] This position is
sometimes explained by saying that, so placed, the luck cannot spill out.

In a short poem called “The Lucky Horse-Shoe,” by James T. Fields, an
amusing account is given of a farmer who picked up an old horse-shoe
from the road, and nailed it upon the door of his barn with the prongs
downward. But, far from bringing him luck, Fortune thereafter frowned
upon him; his hay crop failed, a drought blighted his vegetables, and his
hens refused to lay.

The good farmer, discouraged and perplexed, confided his woes to the
sympathetic ear of an aged wayfarer who chanced to pass by, relating how
misfortunes had pursued him since he had fastened up the old horse-shoe.

    The stranger asked to see the shoe;
    The farmer brought it into view;
    But when the old man raised his head,
    He laughed outright and quickly said:
    “No wonder skies upon you frown,
    You’ve nailed the horse-shoe upside down;
    Just turn it round, and soon you’ll see
    How you and Fortune will agree.”

The farmer profited by the friendly suggestion and reversed his
luck-token, whereupon the capricious goddess fairly beamed upon him.
His barn was soon filled with hay, his storehouses were packed with the
kindly fruits of the earth, while his wife presented him with twins.

Farmers may well take heed _how_ they nail up horse-shoes over the doors
of their barns. To obtain the best results, it would seem advisable to
place a pair of these useful articles on each farm building, one with the
points upward, the other reversed; for in this way they may not only hope
to win Fortune’s smiles, but also to keep all witches and unfriendly
spirits at a respectful distance.

In an interesting story for children in “St. Nicholas,” April, 1897,
by Rudolph F. Bunner, entitled “The Horse-Shoe of Luck,” the writer
introduces Luck in the character and garb of a wandering clown or
jester, mounted upon a white horse. This jovial traveler seeks a night’s
lodging at a wayside farmhouse, and when he has almost reached its
hospitable door, his steed casts a shoe, which the farmer hastens to
pick up and carefully hangs on a hook above the door. Luck proved to be
a most amusing fellow, and after supper he entertained the children of
the household in a royal manner, showing them, among other things, how
to drop china and glass without breaking them, and how to tumble down
stairs without getting hurt. So the evening passed merrily enough, and
all retired for the night in a happy frame of mind. Early in the morning
the farmer was awakened by the splash of raindrops upon his face, and,
hastily arising, he discovered that the roof had sprung a leak, and
that his guest had unceremoniously departed. Nettled by such conduct,
the farmer and his family hastened in pursuit of the fleeing stranger,
guided by the hoof-prints of his white horse; and when they had overtaken
him, the farmer reproached his late guest for having left his house so
abruptly. Whereupon Luck replied: “I left you, not because you could not
even nail my horse-shoe over your door, but hung it upside down, so the
luck ran out at the ends, but because of your own mistake. You trusted to
me; you trusted to Luck. Ah ha!”

In the northernmost districts of Scotland exists a belief that if the
first shoe put on the foot of a stallion be hung on the byre door, no
harm will come near the cows; and in the same region, if a horse-shoe be
placed between the houses of quarrelsome neighbors, neither incurs any
risk of evil as a result of the other’s ill-wishes.[205]

As a means of warding off impending sickness from cattle, and in order
that they may thrive during the summer, the Transylvanian peasants place
broken horse-shoes in the animals’ drinking-troughs on St. John’s Day,
June 24.

In Lincolnshire, not many years ago, there prevailed a custom of
“charming” ash-trees by burying horse-shoes under them. Twigs from a tree
thus magically endowed were believed to be efficacious in curing cattle
over which a shrewmouse had run, or which had been exposed to the glance
of an evil eye. To effect a cure in such cases, it was only necessary to
gently stroke the affected animal with one of these twigs.[206]

Some years ago, a Golspie fisherman who owned a small boat was favored
with an extraordinary run of luck in his fishing, and as a result of his
good fortune was enabled to buy a larger vessel, selling the old one
to a neighbor. From that time, however, his lucky star seemed to wane,
and good “catches” were infrequent. Casting about in his mind for the
reason of this, he bethought him of a stallion’s shoe which was fastened
inside his former boat, and which had been given him by a “wise person.”
But both boat and horse-shoe were now in the hands of his neighbor, who
maintained with reason that the lucky token was now _his_ property,
as he had purchased “the boat and its gear.” And ever thereafter the
disconsolate fisherman attributed his lack of success in that season to
his own folly in having parted with the stallion’s shoe.[207]

The horse-shoe figures often in traditions of the sea as a protection
to sailors. When the ghostly ship of the Flying Dutchman meets another
vessel, some of its uncanny crew approach the latter in a boat and beg
them to take charge of a packet of letters.

These letters must be nailed to the mast, else some misfortune will
overtake the ship; especially if there be no Bible on board, nor any
horse-shoe fastened to the foremast.

In the month of September, 1825, lightning struck a brigantine which lay
at anchor in the Bay of Armiso, in the Adriatic. A sailor was killed
by the bolt, and tradition says that on one of his hips was seen the
perfect representation of a horse-shoe, a counterpart of one nailed to
the vessel’s foremast in accordance with the custom in vogue on the
Mediterranean.[208]

The same custom is common in German inland waters, as, for example, on
the river craft which ply on the Elbe below Hamburg, and on those which
navigate the Trave, at Lubec. On the latter vessels horse-shoes are
usually fastened to the stern-post, instead of to the mast.

In a German work, entitled “Seespuk,” by P. G. Heims, page 138, the
writer remarks that, among seafaring people, the old pagan emblem,
the horse-shoe, whose talismanic origin is so closely associated with
horse-sacrifice and the use of horse-flesh as food among the heathen
nations of the North, is even now the most powerful safeguard aboard ship
against lightning and the powers of evil.

There are comparatively few small vessels laden with wood, fruit,
vegetables, or other merchandise, sailing between Baltic Sea ports, upon
whose foremast, or elsewhere upon deck, horse-shoes are not nailed.

Indeed, continues the same writer, this symbol has a notable significance
in German art as well, a fact attributable less to its graceful curving
shape than to the deeply rooted superstitions, relics of barbaric times,
which yet cling to it.

Whether we regard the horse-shoe as a symbol of Wodan, the chief deity of
the northern nations, as deriving magical power from its half-moon shape,
as a product of supernatural skill in dealing with iron and fire, or as
appertaining to the favorite sacrificial animal of antiquity, the pagan
source of its superstitious use is equally evident.

The horse-shoe, whether as an amulet or as a sign of good luck, has
nothing to do with the Christian religion. In either case it is a
wholly superstitious symbol, and savors of paganism; it is in fact an
inheritance from our heathen ancestors, a barbaric token, unworthy even
to be named in connection with the sacred cross. Yet throughout many
centuries it has captivated the popular fancy, and its emblematic use
appears to be as firmly established to-day as ever in many parts of the
world.

It is popularly believed that the chance finding of a horse-shoe greatly
enhances its magical power; and it is claimed, moreover, by some writers,
to be an axiom in folk-lore that talismanic objects thrust upon one’s
notice, as it were, are direct gifts from the goddess Fortune, and hence
possessed of a special value for the finder. Such a notion is as clearly
of pagan origin as the custom of bowing to the new moon, or of fixing
representations of horses’ heads upon the gables of houses in order to
terrify wandering spirits of evil.

In “Curiosities of Popular Customs,” by William S. Walsh (p. 665, 1898),
it is stated that the Northern peoples were wont to offer sacrifices to
Wodan after the harvest, and that the little cakes still baked on St.
Martin’s Day, November 11, throughout Germany, are shaped like a horn or
horse-shoe, which was a token of the pagan god. Although not susceptible
of proof, it seems highly probable that we have here another relic of
idolatry. It is a point worthy of note, moreover, that Wodan was not only
an all-powerful deity, corresponding to the Greek Zeus and Roman Jupiter,
but that he was also a great magician, and hence quite naturally the
horse-shoe, as one of his symbols, inherits magical attributes.

In Tuscany a horse-shoe when found is placed in a small red bag with some
hay, which the Tuscans consider also a luck-bringing article, and the
twofold charm is kept in its owner’s bed.[209]

Dr. Robert James, an English physician of the eighteenth century, and
the inventor of a well-known fever-powder, ascribed his success in
acquiring a fortune to his good luck in having once found a horse-shoe
on Westminster Bridge. The sincerity of his faith was attested by the
adoption of the horse-shoe as his family crest.

Brand quotes from John Bell’s MS. “Discourse on Witchcraft” (1705) as
follows:—

    Guard against devilish charms for Men or Beasts. There are many
    sorceries practiced in our day, against which I would on this
    occasion bear my testimony, and do therefore seriously ask you,
    what is it you mean by your observation of Times and Seasons as
    lucky or unlucky? What mean you by your many Spells, Verses,
    Words, so often repeated, said fasting or going backward? How
    mean you to have success by carrying about with you certain
    Herbs, Plants, and branches of Trees? Why is it that, fearing
    certain events, you do use such superstitious means to prevent
    them, by laying bits of Timber at Doors, carrying a Bible
    merely for a Charm, without any farther use of it? What intend
    ye by opposing Witchcraft to Witchcraft, in such sort that,
    when ye suppose one to be bewitched, ye endeavour his Relief
    by Burnings, Bottles, Horse-shoes, and such like magical
    ceremonies?

In some Roman Catholic countries the priests are wont to brand cows
and pigs on the forehead with the mark of a horse-shoe, to insure them
against disease.[210] It was, moreover, an old Scotch superstition, or
_freet_, to pass a horse-shoe thrice beneath the belly and over the back
of a cow that was considered elf-shot.[211]

Among the Wendish inhabitants of the _Spreewald_, in North Germany, the
lucky finder of a horse-shoe is careful not to tell any neighbor of his
good fortune, but proceeds at once to fasten the shoe over the door of
his house, or on the threshold, with three nails, and by three blows of a
hammer, so that evil spirits may not enter.

We have seen that a horse-shoe picked up on the road is often prized as
no mean acquisition by the finder thereof. It may not be out of place
to give here a literal translation of a spell for the protection of a
horse’s hoof when a shoe has been lost. The original appeared in Mone’s
“Anzeiger” in 1834, and is written in the dialect known as “Middle High
German,” which was in vogue from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries:—

    When a horse has lost one of its iron shoes, take a bread-knife
    and incise the hoof at the edge from one heel to the other,
    and lay the knife crosswise on the sole and say: “I command
    thee, hoof and horn, that thou breakest as little as God the
    Lord broke his Word, when he created heaven and earth.” And
    thou shalt say these words three hours in succession, and five
    _Paternosters_ and five _Ave Marias_ to the praise of the
    Virgin. Then the horse will not walk lame until thou happenest
    to reach a smithy.

The Germans have a saying in regard to a young girl who has been led
astray,—“She has lost a horse-shoe.” This saying has been associated with
the shoe as a symbol of marriage, an idea found both in the northern and
Indian mythologies. But the phrase has been also thought to refer to
the horse-shoe shaped _gloria_ which crowns the head of the Virgin, the
horse-shoe thus becoming the symbol of maidenly chastity.[212] Again, it
has been suggested, in reference to the same phrase, that the horse-shoe
is a symbol of the V (or first letter of the word _Virgo_), which is used
in church records to designate the unmarried state, just as the word
“spinster” is used in legal documents.

The ancient Irish were wont to hang up in their houses the feet and legs
of their deceased steeds, setting an especial value upon the hoofs;[213]
and with the Chinese of to-day a horse’s hoof hung up indoors is
supposed to have the same protective influence over a dwelling that a
horse-shoe has elsewhere. In southwestern Germany it is still a common
practice to nail a hoof over the stable-door; and in the Netherlands a
horse’s foot placed in a stable is thought to keep the horses from being
bewitched.[214]

Burton, in his “Anatomy of Melancholy,” admits a belief in the virtues of
a ring made from the hoof of the right foot of an ass, when carried about
as an amulet.

Occasionally, though rarely, the horse-shoe is thought to have been
employed by the witches themselves in furtherance of their mischievous
designs.

In the “Revue des traditions populaires,” vol. ii. 1887, an anecdote is
related of a veteran Polish cavalryman who had served under Napoleon I.
While bivouacking with a detachment of lancers in a village of eastern
Prussia, he and several others lodged in the house of an old peasant
woman, and their horses were accommodated in her barn. It was shortly
noticed that the animals appeared depressed and refused the hay and
grain provided for them, whereupon the soldiers concluded that they were
under some spell and began a search for the cause. They soon found an
old horse-shoe with three nails remaining in it, and one of these was
quickly driven out with a hammer. Instantly the horses began to snort
and exhibited signs of restlessness. On the removal of the second nail
they held up their heads proudly, and when the third nail was hammered
out they fell upon their provender and devoured it voraciously. The
cavalrymen were now convinced that their horses had been the victims of
some deviltry at the hands of their hostess, whom they believed to be
a sorceress. Before their departure, therefore, they gave her a good
beating with their sabre scabbards to teach her not to practice her
nefarious arts upon the horses of honest people.


XVI. THE HORSE-SHOE AS A PHALLIC SYMBOL

It will suffice merely to allude to the theory of the phallic origin of
the superstitious use of the horse-shoe, a branch of our subject capable
of much elaboration. The horse-shoe is still the conventional figure for
the _yoni_ (a phallic emblem) in modern Hindu temples. This theory is
discussed in “Ancient Faiths embodied in Ancient Names,” by Thomas Inman,
M. D., London, 1873; and in “A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus,” by
Richard Payne Knight, Esq., London, 1865.

Phallic ornaments are of great antiquity, and amulets of this character
have been found in the earliest Etruscan tombs. Specimens are also to be
seen in the various Italian museums.

The _yoni_ symbol guards the entrances of ancient temples in Mexico and
Peru, as well as in India.

Ornate Mexican sacred stones of the horse-shoe form, relics of the
ancient Maya tribes, are classed in the National Museum at Washington,
D. C., as representative of fecundity and nature-worship; and horse-shoe
symbols are found in Aztec manuscripts relating to agriculture as signs
of abundance.[215]

Phallic charms are seen above the entrances of houses and over tent-doors
in north Africa to avert the evil eye, and to bring health and good
fortune. Much information on this subject may be found in a chapter on
serpent and phallic worship in “Rivers of Life,” by Major-General J.
G. R. Forlong, London, 1883; and in an essay on “Phallism in Ancient
Religions,” by C. Staniford Wake, 1888.

On a curious tablet found near a prehistoric mound in the vicinity of the
village of Cahokia, Saint Clair County, Illinois, are portrayed human
faces with bird-like profiles, diamond-shaped eyes, and low foreheads
surmounted by ornamental crowns or head-dresses. The mouths are wide
open, and in front of them are represented symbols having a well-defined
horse-shoe form. These symbols, although probably of phallic origin, are
thought to signify the principle of life residing in the breath, just as
in India the horse-shoe is an emblem of the soul.[216]


XVII. THE HORSE-SHOE AS A SYMBOL ON TAVERN SIGN-BOARDS

The horse-shoe, associated usually with some other symbol, is not
infrequently seen displayed on the signs of British taverns. There is a
well-known hostelry bearing this sign and name on Tottenham Court Road in
London. To quote from “The History of Signboards,” by Jacob Larwood and
John Camden Hotten:—

    _The Three Horse-shoes_ are not uncommon, and the single shoe
    may be met with in many combinations, arising from the old
    belief in its lucky influences. Thus the _Horse and Horse-Shoe_
    was the sign of William Warden at Dover, as appears from his
    token. The _Sun and Horse-Shoe_ is still a public-house sign
    in Great Tichfield Street, and the _Magpie and Horse-Shoe_ may
    be seen carved in Fetter Lane; the magpie is perched within
    the horse-shoe, a bunch of grapes being suspended from it. The
    _Horns and Horse-shoe_ is represented on the token of William
    Grainge, in Gutter Lane, 1666, a horse-shoe within a pair of
    antlers. The _Hoop and Horse-shoe_ on Tower Hill was formerly
    called the _Horse-shoe_.

Miller Christy, in his book “The Trade Signs of Essex,” says that
horse-shoe signs probably owe their origin partly to the fact that this
symbol appears on the arms of the Farriers’ Company, and partly to the
old practice of fastening a horse-shoe upon the stable-door or elsewhere
as a witch-scarer. In the county of Essex the horse-shoe may be seen upon
the signs of beer-houses at Great Parndon, Braintree, Waltham Abbey, and
High Ongar.

There was formerly more than one noted inn in London known as the
Half-Moon, and a street of that name, leading from Piccadilly, is well
known. The name and symbol of the _full_ moon, however, seldom appear on
sign-boards. Butler asks in “Hudibras:”—

    Tell me, but what’s the nat’ral cause,
    Why on a sign no painter draws
    The full moon, but the half?

The reason is doubtless because of the favorable auspices associated from
time immemorial with the crescent moon.

One need hardly accept as plausible the explanation sometimes offered,
namely, that the half-moon tavern symbol is a silent invitation to eat
and drink to one’s full capacity; a hint, as it were, to follow the
crescent moon’s example and “get full.”


XVIII. HORSE-SHOES ON CHURCH-DOORS

The origin of the horse-shoe as a charm has been ascribed to its
resemblance to the metallic aureole or _meniscus_ formerly placed over
the heads of images of patron saints in churches, and which is also
represented in ancient pictures of the Virgin.

This aureole, or more properly _nimbus_, was probably of pagan origin,
for in early times circles of stars frequently ornamented the heads of
statues of the gods, as emblematic of divinity. In speaking of certain
ancient relics found in Ireland, Mr. W. G. Wood-Martin (“Pagan Ireland,”
p. 492) says:—

    Thin crescentic plates, with the extremities terminating
    in flat circular disks, are the ornaments most frequently
    discovered. In form they are identical with the half-moonshaped
    ornaments in use among the Greeks and Romans, and with the
    _nimbi_ on carvings of the Byzantine school; and they differ
    but little from the ring which now is conventionally placed
    around the head of a saint. Thus this glory can be traced
    back to pagandom. The crescentic plate appears to have been
    primarily the badge of some distinguished person, a chief
    or king; then it became the emblem of one considered to be
    a very holy person, for in Ireland, in the early days of
    Christianity, the saints were derived principally from the
    aristocracy.

In the collection of the Royal Irish Academy is a golden tiara or diadem,
said to have been found in County Clare. This relic, which measures about
a foot in height and the same in breadth, is thought to have been a
head-dress of some pagan or early Christian chieftain.

In the earlier years of the church these crescent symbols were avoided as
savoring of heathenism; but without any thought of its significance, it
became customary in the Middle Ages to place a circular brass plate upon
the heads of statues as a protection from snow or rain. Hence arose the
practice of similarly adorning images and paintings in churches.[217]

In later times these crescent-shaped pieces of metal were sometimes
nailed up at the entrance of churches, and so came to be regarded
as protective emblems.[218] The horse-shoe was an easily available
substitute for the halo or glory, and so was often placed upon the doors
of churches, especially in the southwest of England, as it was generally
believed in olden times that evil spirits could enter even consecrated
edifices. Aubrey, in his “Miscellanies,” mentions having seen under the
porch of Staninfield Church, in Suffolk, an inscription with the device
of a horse-shoe, intended to exclude witches, and he naïvely remarks that
one would imagine holy water amply sufficient for the purpose.

On the south door of the parish church of Ashby-Foville, in
Leicestershire, were formerly two ancient horse-shoes of great size, one
of them measuring 16 by 11½ inches, or more than twice as large as an
average modern shoe.

As it does not seem likely that such shoes were made to fit horses’
feet, in the absence of traditional information regarding them, it
appears probable that they were intended solely to bar the ingress of
witches.[219]

In St. Martin’s Church, Canterbury, the oldest in England, the sacristan
shows visitors the site of an early English door on the south side,
and a Norman doorway in the middle of the northern wall, both long
since blocked up. Infants to be baptized were formerly brought into the
church by the south entrance, and after the ceremony the north door was
thrown open to permit the egress of evil spirits expelled by baptism.
For in early times demons were believed to come from the north, where
the habitations of the Norse gods were also thought to be. The pagans,
when worshiping their deities, looked towards the north; but Christians
engaged in prayer turned their faces eastward and lifted up their
hands; they regarded the north as “the unblessed heathen quarter.”
The unexplored Arctic regions, where night[220] reigned much of the
time, were thought to belong especially to the Devil, or spirit of
darkness;[221] and the same idea is conveyed in several passages of Holy
Scripture, as, for example, in Jeremiah iv. 6: “I will bring evil from
the north, and a great destruction.”

In the Middle Ages the rose-windows in the north and south transepts of
Lincoln Minster were called the two eyes of the cathedral, the former
being known as the _Dean’s Eye_, ever on the watch against the attacks of
Lucifer, who had his abode “in the sides of the north” (Isaiah xiv. 13);
while the window in the south transept was called the _Bishop’s Eye_,
“courting the influence of the Holy Spirit, of which the south wind was
a type.” Apropos of evil spirits entering consecrated places, there is
a quaint legend about a little stone figure yclept the _Lincoln Imp_,
which is to be seen perched upon a corbel of a column on the north side
of the Angel Choir of the same cathedral. According to one version of
the legend, when Bishop Remigius came to Lincoln, in the year after the
Norman Conquest, the Devil was sorely tried; for until that time he had
had undisturbed control of affairs in the town and neighborhood. In vain
the Evil One sought to hinder the completion of the church, and finally
he waylaid the bishop outside the building and attempted to kill him.
But the good bishop at this critical time called upon the Blessed Virgin
Mary for assistance, and she sent a tempest of wind which so buffeted
and distracted the Devil that he sought refuge inside the church, not
daring to venture out because of the fierce wind, which prevails a good
part of the time even nowadays, and which is still awaiting the Devil’s
reappearance!

    The Bishop, we know, died long ago;
    The wind still waits, nor will he go
    Till he has a chance of beating his foe;
    But the Devil hopp’d up without a limp,
    And at once took shape as the Lincoln Imp.
    And there he sits atop the column,
    And grins at the people who gaze so solemn.
    Moreover, he mocks at the wind below,
    And says, “You may wait till doomsday, O!”[222]

In southern Germany, Bavaria, and Tyrol, the horse-shoe symbol is to
be seen on church-doors, as an emblem of St. Leonard, the guardian and
protector of horses and travelers; and it is usually associated with some
romantic legend, having oftentimes a historic basis. Traditions relating
to horse-shoes on church-doors are, indeed, plentiful in the popular
literature of Germany, and a few examples are given later. St. Leonard’s
Day, November 6, had its special observances. The peasants were wont to
bring their horses to some church dedicated to that worthy, and ride
them thrice around the sacred building, a procedure which was believed
to be highly auspicious.[223] It was, moreover, customary for noblemen,
before starting on an equestrian journey, to fasten a horse-shoe on the
church-door as a votive offering to St. Leonard.[224]

Especial honor is accorded to this saint on the day of his festival, at
Fischhausen, a seaport village in northeastern Prussia. On that occasion
the parish church is surrounded by farm wagons and other vehicles drawn
by gayly decorated horses, for here the country people have a grand
rendezvous; young women in holiday attire drive hither the cows, who
have been brought from their summer quarters in the upland pastures,
that they, too, may participate in the festivities. A religious service,
largely attended by the peasants, is first held in the church, and then
follow the outdoor exercises, of which a chief feature consists in
driving the horses three times around the building at a rapid pace.[225]

During the prevalence of a severe epizoötic in Würtemberg many years
ago, the people removed the shoes from their horses’ feet, and hung them
on the walls of churches as propitiatory offerings. Various other iron
implements, such as chain traces, were thus similarly displayed.

An ancient St. Leonard’s Chapel, in the town of Laupheim, is encircled by
an iron chain, which is said to have been forged from horse-shoes thus
piously contributed.[226] The largest church dedicated to this saint is
at Tölz, in upper Bavaria, and its altar is likewise surrounded by an
iron chain.

Pictures of St. Leonard are sometimes placed upon stable-doors to bring
luck; he is usually represented as holding a pastoral staff, while on one
side is seen a colt or filly, on the other a sick ox, and at his feet is
a ewe lamb.

In northern Germany, St. George, as a successor of Wodan, is one of the
special guardians and protectors of horses. On the festal day of this
saint, April 23, the peasants gather in large numbers around some church
dedicated to him, and their horses and vehicles, numbering sometimes
many hundreds, are drawn up in a circle around the sanctuary. After
the parish priest has delivered a sermon in the church, he comes to
the door and blesses each horse separately as the animal is led past,
meanwhile sprinkling him with holy water. Then the young men mount their
best horses and ride them three times at full speed around the church,
shouting lustily meanwhile.

Jähns remarks that this ceremony is doubtless a relic of some pagan rite,
and that in many places a venerable tree, instead of a Christian church,
is chosen as the place of rendezvous on St. George’s Day. During the ride
around the tree, an aged peasant standing in its shade throws upon each
horse, as it passes, a little moist earth taken from about the roots of
the sacred tree, and this insures the animal against sickness until the
following spring, especially if some of the earth be placed in a bag and
hung up in the stable.

As the hammer was Thor’s emblem, so the horse-shoe has been thought to
possess a certain mystic significance as a symbol of the heathen god
Wodan; and it has been assumed that the ancient churches, upon whose
doors horse-shoes are still to be seen, were built upon the sites of
pagan temples dedicated to that deity. It has been argued, moreover,
that the modern use of a horse-shoe as a talisman, and the placing of
horses’ heads on peasants’ houses, are relics of heathendom, and have a
mysterious affinity with the hoof-print legends of Teutonic mythology.
Such a theory appears plausible enough in view of the fact that many of
the superstitious customs and beliefs of modern times are known to have
existed before the Christian era.


XIX. HORSE-SHOE LEGENDARY LORE

1. Within recent years two horse-shoes were to be seen on the door of the
parish church of Haccombe in Derbyshire. A romantic legend associated
with these horse-shoes is the theme of a ballad supposed to have been
written by a master of Exeter Grammar School in the early part of the
nineteenth century. The ballad graphically describes a race for a wager
between a certain Earl of Totnes, mounted on a Derbyshire roan, and one
Sir Arthur Champernowne, on a fleet Barbary courser. The race was won by
the earl, who thereupon rode straight to the door of Haccombe Church,

    And there he fell on his knees and prayed,
    And many an _Ave Maria_ said;
    Bread and money he gave to the poor,
    And he nailed the roan’s shoes to the chapel door.[227]

2. In the traditionary lore of the Harz Mountains there is a weird tale
of four horse-shoes, which for ages were to be seen on the door of a
church in the suburbs of Klettenburg.

Once upon a time, so runs the story, a great drinking-match was held
on a Sunday morning at Elrich. The prize was a golden chain, and many
knights assembled from near and far. The carousal lasted for some hours,
until Count Ernest of Klettenburg, the only one who could still keep
on his feet, exultantly claimed the golden chain, which he hung about
his neck. Then, mounting his horse, he rode homeward, and while nearing
Klettenburg he heard the strains of even-song in a church dedicated to
St. Nicholas. Urging on his steed, he rode madly through the open door
straight to the altar. Then, so runs the legend, the horse’s four shoes
fell off, and horse and rider sank down together out of sight. In memory
of this wonderful event, the four horse-shoes were placed on the door
of the church, and for many years were regarded with awe by the simple
countryfolk.[228]

3. In the construction of the Church of St. Stephen, at Tangermünde,
in Prussian Saxony, a brick edifice of the fourteenth century, the
members of two guilds, those of the blacksmiths and shoemakers, were of
especial assistance; and in remembrance of this, a horse-shoe and an
iron shoe-sole were built into the outer wall of the church. The former
indicates that up to its level the blacksmiths had built the walls, and
the latter shows that all the work above the horse-shoe was done by the
shoemakers; such, at least, is the popular explanation, which may well be
received _cum grano salis_.

4. In the parish church of Schwarzenstein, in east Prussia, hang two
horse-shoes as reminders of the following tradition: In the village of
Eichmedien, one mile from Rastenburg, lived formerly as tavern-keeper
a woman, who had earned an unenviable notoriety by her practice of
charging double the proper fees for board and lodging. Late one night,
when several of her guests accused her of being a cheat, she asseverated
her honesty by holding up her hand, and saying in the form of an oath:
“If my score is not correct, may the Devil now jump on my back.” The
Evil One took the woman promptly at her word, transformed her into a
mare, and rode her out of the village, laughing scornfully. At headlong
speed he rode to a blacksmith’s shop in Schwarzenstein, and demanded
that his mare be shod at once. The blacksmith, routed out of his
sleep, excused himself, pleading the lateness of the hour and the fact
that there was no fire in his forge. The Devil insisted, however, and
promised liberal payment if the work were done quickly. The blacksmith
yielded at length, but had not proceeded far in shaping the shoes when
the mare began to speak. “My cousin, don’t you know me?” she said; “I
am the tavern-keeper.” Upon this the blacksmith was so horrified that
neither threats nor entreaties could prevail to make him proceed with
the shoeing, and before he had finished the third shoe a cock crowed,
and immediately the spell was broken and the woman reassumed her own
form. And to point the moral of this legend, and as a warning to cheats,
the two horse-shoes which the smith had completed were nailed up in the
village church at Schwarzenstein.

5. According to an old tradition, the Lapp king, Olaf Skötkonung
(995-1030), wishing to become a Christian, asked his royal contemporary,
Ethelred II. of England, to send him a teacher. In response to this
request Bishop Siegfried and three missionaries came to Sweden, and,
landing on the southwestern coast, encamped the first night at Wexio, on
Lake Sodre. Here the bishop saw in a vision a great company of angels,
and thereupon determined to build a church at that place. The pagan
inhabitants, however, were hostile to the undertaking, and seized the
three missionaries, Winaman, Unaman, and Sunaman, whom they beheaded, and
caused their heads to be thrown into the water.

One night soon after this sad event Siegfried was walking along the
shore of the lake, sighing and praying, when he espied three luminous
objects approaching on the water, borne onward by the waves, and soon
he recognized them as the heads of his friends. And, behold, the first
head said, “The dead shall be avenged.” And a voice from the second head
exclaimed, “When?” Then replied the third head in solemn tones, “On
their children and children’s children.” This prophecy was not, however,
fulfilled to the letter, for through Siegfried’s intercession Olaf
consented to spare the lives of the murderers, on condition that they
should build a Christian church in Wexio; and this church, which still
exists, has on its coat-of-arms, or seal, the representation of three
severed heads, in memory of the occurrence and its legend. In this church
hung formerly a shoe of Wodan’s famous steed Sleipnir, as a souvenir of
the following tradition: When the church bells rang for the first time
to summon the people to mass, Wodan came riding over the mountains, and,
when nearing Wexio, Sleipnir, in a sudden fright, struck a rock with one
of his feet, and the impress of the powerful blow remains in the rock to
this day. But the shoe fell off and was placed in the church.[229]

6. Many years ago, so runs an old legend, a man obtained employment at a
farm in Norway, where, unknown to him, the mistress was a witch. Although
the man had plenty of good wholesome food, he did not thrive upon it, but
became thinner each day. Being troubled at this, he sought the counsel
of a wise man, from whom he learned the true character of his mistress.
He learned, moreover, that she had been in the habit of transforming him
into a horse at night while he slept, and riding him to Troms Church, a
fact which fully accounted for his leanness.

The wise man also gave him a magical ointment, with which to rub his
head at bedtime, and by virtue of which, on awaking the next morning, he
found himself standing by Troms Church with a bridle in his hand, while
behind him were a number of horses bound together by their tails. Soon he
perceived his mistress coming out of the church, and when she was near
enough to him he threw the bridle over her head, and instantly she was
transformed into a handsome mare, which he mounted and rode homeward.
On his way, however, he stopped at a farrier’s and had the animal shod
with four new shoes, and on reaching home he told his master that he had
bought a fine mare, that would be an excellent mate for one which he
already had. His master bought the mare at a good price, but when he took
the bridle off she disappeared, and in her place stood the mistress witch
with new horse-shoes on her hands and feet. Thereupon the man related the
wonderful tale of his experiences, and in consequence thereof the wife
was turned out of doors, and never got rid of the horse-shoes.[230]

7. Once upon a time a gentleman of rank was driving with four horses
along the highway which runs between the towns of Tübingen and Hirschau,
in Würtemberg, and when opposite a roadside chapel he scoffed at a
picture of the Madonna which adorned it. Immediately his horses came to a
standstill, nor could he make them proceed, in spite of vigorous urging.
At length, in this dilemma, a priest was called, who imposed as a penance
the removal of a shoe from the right fore-foot of each horse, and after
this had been done the gentleman was enabled to continue his journey. And
in commemoration of this miracle one of the horse-shoes was nailed upon
the chapel-door, where it was still to be seen in recent years.[231]

8. One Sunday morning a swarthy rider on a black horse rode at full speed
through the village of Nabburg, in Bavaria, directly to the blacksmith’s
shop, to have his horse shod. “Will you not rest on a Sunday?” demanded
the smith. “My steed and I journey to and fro, and care nothing for the
Christian Sunday,” replied the horseman; “therefore shoe my horse in the
Devil’s name, and I counsel thee speak no pious word meanwhile, for no
devout person has yet obtained the mastery over this spirited animal.”
With these words he sprang to the ground and stroked his horse’s flowing
mane. The smith, though ill at ease, began the work, and the horse was
as quiet as if under a spell, much to the astonishment of his master,
who could scarce believe his eyes. Three shoes were quickly set, and the
smith called to his assistant, “Now, then, in God’s name, hand me the
last shoe!” Instantly the fiery steed reared and struck out wildly,
casting a shoe with such force against the wall that it remains to this
day embedded there. But the horse and his rider were seen no more.[232]

9. In a wall on an estate called Ludwigstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, is
to be seen a large stone bearing the imprint of a horse-shoe, wherewith
is associated the following tale: One morning many years ago a horseman
was riding along the road when the church prayer-bell rang, whereupon he
swore an oath and said, “May the Devil take me if I am not again on this
very spot this evening when the bell again sounds.” And indeed he kept
his word, but at the stroke of the evening bell his horse slipped upon
the stone and broke a leg, and the mark of a shoe is still to be seen
there.

10. The Horse-Shoe imprint in the cemetery of the Church of Our Lady
at Munster. During the building of this beautiful Gothic church in the
fourteenth century, the Devil observed its shapely proportions with
increasing displeasure, and bethought himself of various schemes to
hinder the work’s progress. Finally he decided on trying to bewitch the
architect’s senses. Accordingly he braided his hair, arrayed himself in
gay female attire, bedecked with costly jewels, and appeared before the
architect, whom he sought to ensnare with soft words and gifts. But the
latter was not thus to be deceived. Leaning upon his measuring-rod, he
listened unmoved to the beguiling conversation of the pretended belle,
and rejected with scorn the gold and precious stones which she brought
him. Thereupon the Devil became enraged, stamped upon the ground with
vehemence, and disappeared, leaving behind him an evil smell; and the
mark of one of the iron horse-shoes, wherewith he was shod, was deeply
imprinted on a stone in the cemetery, and, according to popular report,
is still to be found there.

The impressions on stone of figures of horse-shoes, of which there are
numerous examples in northern Europe, are regarded by some archæologists
as sacred symbols of the pagans or relics of the cult of Wodan, and as
showing the sites of ancient altars and burial places; while others
maintain that these figures were originally intended as boundary
marks. Numerous traditions associate them with battles fought in these
localities, and in the popular fancy they are imagined to indicate the
favorite haunts of witches, the meeting-places where they held their
revels, the horse-shoe mark being an imprint of the Devil’s foot. These
weird rendezvous were usually on the tops of mountains or hills, and
are still known as Witches’ Dance-Places in different parts of Europe,
especially in Germany.


XX. RECAPITULATION OF THEORIES OF THE ORIGIN OF THE HORSE-SHOE
SUPERSTITION

In the preceding pages an attempt has been made to furnish plausible
reasons for the horse-shoe’s universal popularity both as an amulet and
as a token of good luck. It is evident, however, that this superstition
cannot be referred to any one particular starting-point. Just as the
sources of a river may be manifold, consisting of numerous springs and
tributaries, so, too, the belief in the horse-shoe’s magical virtues is
of complex origin, and can be traced to diverse beginnings.

It may be profitable, therefore, briefly to enumerate the different
theories which have been advanced:—

1. At the _rite of the Passover_, the blood sprinkled upon the lintel
and door-posts formed the chief points of an arch. Hence the value of
arch-shaped talismans.

2. The magical virtue of the horse-shoe against witches and fiends has
been attributed to its _bifurcated form_, and to its resemblance to the
_lunar crescent_. Charms of similar shape are known to have been in use
among the ancient Chaldeans and Egyptians.

3. _Iron_ and _steel_, metals having traditional power against
evil-disposed fairies and goblins.

4. The _serpentine shape_. Serpent-worship was nearly universal among
primitive peoples, and amuletic symbols of this form were in use in the
days of ancient Rome.

5. The so-called _horse-shoe arch_ as typifying a beneficent, protecting
power.

6. The ancient conception of the earth as having the shape of a _round
boat turned upside down_ and corresponding to the Egyptian _Put-sign_.

7. _The Horse._ This animal was worshiped among the early Germanic
tribes, and an English myth accredits to it luck-bringing qualities.

8. The Scandinavian superstition of the _Demon-Mare_.

9. The old astrological principle that _Mars_, the God of War and the War
Horse, was hostile to _Saturn_, the liege-lord of witches.

10. The legend of _Saint Dunstan and the Devil_.

11. _Phallic Symbolism._

12. The _Aureole_ or _Nimbus_.

13. Supernatural faculties ascribed to _blacksmiths_.

14. The Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol 𓎆, signifying the _mystical door of
life_.

15. _Horses’ hoof-prints_ in mythology and tradition.

16. The horse-shoe a symbol of the heathen god _Wodan_.


XXI. CONCLUSION

Whatever may be the origin of the superstitious employment of the
horse-shoe, its adoption as a token of good luck appears to be
comparatively modern, its earliest use having been for the exclusion of
witches, evil spirits, and all such uncanny beings.

Before leaving the subject an extract may be given from an article in
the “London World,” August 23, 1753, against the repeal of the so-called
Witch Act, wherein the writer offers the following satirical advice to
whomever it might concern:—

    To secure yourself against the enchantments of witches,
    especially if you are a person of fashion and have never been
    taught the Lord’s Prayer, the only method I know of is to nail
    a horse-shoe upon the threshold. This I can affirm to be of the
    greatest efficacy, insomuch that I have taken notice of many
    a little cottage in the country with a horse-shoe at its door
    where gaming, extravagance, Jacobitism, and all the catalogue
    of witchcrafts have been totally unknown.

The world moves and civilization progresses, but the old superstitions
remain the same. The rusty horse-shoe found on the road is still prized
as a lucky token, and will doubtless continue to be so prized; for human
nature does not change, and superstition is a part of human nature.



FORTUNE AND LUCK

    If Fortune favor you, be not elated;
    If she frown, do not despond.

                                         AUSONIUS.

    When Fortune means to men most good,
    She looks upon them with a threatening eye.

                         _King John_, III. 4, 119.

    When smiling Fortune spreads her golden ray,
    All crowd around to flatter and obey;
    But when she thunders from the angry sky,
    Our friends, our flatterers, our lovers fly.

                                             OVID.

    Since Fortune is not in our power,
    Let us be as little as possible in hers.

                                           STEELE.


I. TYCHE, THE GRECIAN GODDESS OF GOOD LUCK

Among the more popular divinities of the early Grecians was Tyche,
the goddess of good luck, whose worship, according to Plutarch,
complemented that of Destiny. She ruled over accidental events, and was
the dispenser alike of blessings and misfortunes; but when too lavish in
the distribution of her favors she was liable to incur the jealousy of
Nemesis, the goddess of retribution.

Tyche, the Goddess of Fortune, is not mentioned in the works of the
earliest Grecian poets, but Homer and Hesiod both allude to an ocean
nymph of this name who was gathering flowers with Proserpina when the
latter was carried off by Pluto.

The Theban lyric poet Pindar appears to have originated the worship
of Tyche, whom he celebrated in verse, and invested with the title
Pharopolis, or Protectress of Cities;[233] and in Greece, towards the
close of the fifth century B. C., this goddess was generally believed
to be the ruler of worldly affairs. While Zeus was, indeed, the most
powerful of the gods, Tyche was regarded by some as having the character
of Providence;[234] yet she was more generally thought to be identical
with Chance or Luck. The famous Ionic philosopher Anaxagoras said that
Fortune was a cause unknown to human reason; for some things come by
Necessity, some by fatal Destiny, and others by deliberate Counsel.[235]


II. THE ROMAN GODDESS FORTUNA

The worship of the Goddess of Chance, _Fortuna_, was introduced among
the Romans from Greece during the reign of Servius Tullius, and soon
became very popular. Indeed, at one period Fortuna was the chief Italian
divinity, and the plebeians and slaves held an annual festival on the
twenty-fourth day of June in honor of her who could bestow riches and
liberty. Pliny wrote that the Chance or Fortune by means of which we
acquire so much is a divine power; and Plutarch, in his work on the
Fortune of the Romans, attempts to show that the great achievements of
that people were to be attributed to good luck rather than to sagacity
or prowess. As an example he cites their escape from invasion by the
opportune death of Alexander the Great at Babylon, B. C. 323, at a time
when he was preparing to overwhelm Italy with his armies.

The Roman biographer, Cornelius Nepos, in speaking of the Greek general,
Emenes the Cardian (B. C. 361-317), said that, even if the favors shown
him by Fortune had been commensurate with his great abilities, he would
not for that reason have been more eminent; for great men should be
measured by their qualities, and not by their good or bad fortune. The
Dutch _savant_, Desiderius Erasmus, wrote that Diogenes was wont to
rebuke with asperity those who blamed the goddess when their affairs
did not prosper; and he also severely criticised the prevalent habit
of craving at the hands of Mistress Fortune, not such things as were
substantially good, but rather such as seemed to be so in the fancy of
the petitioners. Philip of Macedon, on the receipt of the news of great
victories won by his generals, thanked Fortune for her great goodness,
modestly beseeching of her only some “light and shrewd turn again at
another season.” And Erastus, commenting on Philip’s moderation and
good sense in not being unduly elated by prosperity, quaintly remarked
that this great king, having profound wisdom and experience, did not
insolently leap and skip about on the receipt of joyful tidings, but
rather mistrusted the pampering of Fortune, whom he knew to be a fickle
jade.


III. THE CHARACTER OF FORTUNE

Of all the pagan deities, Fortune was the most absolute and the most
universally worshiped; for she kept all men at her feet, the prosperous
through fear and the unfortunate through hope.[236] She was also an
eccentric goddess, not only favoring the brave, according to the familiar
maxim of Terence, but likewise being decidedly partial to fools, if we
may believe another classical saying, _Fortuna favet fatuis_. And again,
as an ancient poet wrote, _Legem veretur nocens, Fortunam innocens_. The
satirist Juvenal said that, if men were discreet, Fortune had no power
over them. When she entered Rome she folded her wings as a sign that she
wished to remain there; and, as has been aptly remarked, she is there
still, for the modern Roman is as firm a believer in luck, whether good
or bad, as was the Roman citizen two thousand years ago.[237] Among the
ancients, a lucky event, something opportune occurring unexpectedly, was
ascribed to a sudden caprice or whim on the part of the goddess, while
success in an undertaking was thought to be due to her favor when in a
sober mood.[238]

“Why was Fortune made a goddess?” asked St. Augustine, since she is so
blind that she runs to anybody without distinction, and often passes by
her admirers to cling to those who despise her.[239] And Cicero remarked
that Fortune was not only blind herself, but often deprived her votaries
of sight.

Pliny, in discoursing about the religious beliefs current in his time,
says:—

    All over the world, in all places and at all times, Fortune is
    the only God whom every one invokes: she alone is spoken of;
    she alone is accused and is supposed to be guilty; she alone
    is in our thoughts, is praised and blamed, and is loaded with
    reproaches; wavering as she is, conceived by the generality
    of mankind to be blind, wandering, inconstant, uncertain,
    variable, and often favoring the unworthy. To her are referred
    all our losses and all our gains, and, in casting up the
    accounts of mortals, she alone balances the two pages of our
    sheet. We are so much in the power of chance, that chance
    itself is considered as a God.

The representations of Fortune, which are to be seen in ancient statues,
bas-reliefs, medals, and coins, exhibit the many different attributes of
her character. The earliest image of the goddess was probably at Smyrna,
and was the work of the eminent sculptor Bupalus, who lived in the sixth
century B. C. She was here shown as bearing on her head a hemisphere,
and with the horn of Amalthæa in her left hand, thus typifying the
distribution of all good things.[240]

Her lack of discernment has been symbolized by artists, who have
portrayed her with a bandage before her eyes; with a rudder, as guiding
worldly affairs; or with a wheel or ball, as types of instability. In a
painting by Sulzer, Fortune is shown seated on a throne, which is borne
aloft in the air by contrary winds. In her hand is a magic wand, and her
countenance expresses inconstancy and fickleness, while in her train
follow Riches, Poverty, Despotism, and Slavery. In the Villa d’Este, near
the Italian town of Tivoli, is a painting by Zucchari showing Fortune
astride of an ostrich, which has been supposed to be an allegorical
intimation that the goddess has a preference for simpletons.[241] In
her temple at Thebes, she held Wealth in her arms. Sometimes she was
accompanied by a winged youth named Favor, to denote how speedily her
favors may fly away from us;[242] or by a winged Cupid, which has been
thought to signify that, in Love, Beauty has a less permanent influence
than Fortune.[243]

Her numerous titles were usually complimentary, as Golden or Royal
Fortune, but she was disrespectfully spoken of by Horace, Ovid, and other
writers, by whom she was characterized as unjust, fickle, and delighting
in mischief. One reproachful epithet applied to her was _viscosa_,
tenacious or sticky, because men are caught in her toils like birds in
quicklime.[244]

The Abbé Banier, in his “Mythology and Fables of the Ancients,” thus
moralizes regarding Fortune, good and bad:—

    As men have always highly valued earthly goods, ’tis no
    wonder that they adored Fortune. Fools! who thus instead of
    acknowledging an intelligent Providence that distributes riches
    and earthly goods, from views always wise, though dark and
    placed beyond the reach of human discovery, addressed their
    vows to an imaginary Being, that acted without design and
    from the impulse of unavoidable necessity; for ’tis beyond
    question that, in the Pagan system, Fortune was nothing else
    but Destiny. Accordingly she was confounded, as we shall see
    afterwards, with the _Parcæ_, who were themselves that fatal
    Necessity, which the poets have reasoned so much about.

We learn from the historian Suetonius that the early Roman emperors were
wont to cherish small images of Fortune, which they venerated as special
tutelary deities.

The goddess is said to have once appeared in a vision to the Emperor
Galba, who reigned A. D. 68-69, and to have informed him that she was
standing weary before his door, and that, if she were not quickly
admitted, every one dear to him would become her prey. On awakening he
found outside the entrance-hall of his palace a bronze figure of Fortune,
which he concealed beneath his garments and carried to his summer
residence at Tusculum. There he set apart a sanctuary for the image,
and offered prayers to it each month, keeping, moreover, in its honor
an all-night vigil every year. On one occasion Galba had intended to
present his little guardian genius with a necklace of pearls and precious
stones, but changed his mind and gave it to the Capitoline Venus. The
following night Fortune, in angry mood, again appeared to the emperor in
a dream, complaining that she had been cheated out of the intended gift,
and threatening to take away the many benefits which she had bestowed
upon him. Alarmed at this, Galba sent a messenger early in the morning
to prepare a sacrificial offering, and he himself hastened to Tusculum,
but found on the altar of the sanctuary nothing but warm ashes; and
near by stood an old man clothed in black, holding in one hand a glass
plate containing incense, and in the other an earthenware vessel full of
sacrificial wine.[245]

Some verses containing uncomplimentary allusions to the character of
Fortune were formerly to be seen on the wall of a chamber in Wressell
Castle, Yorkshire, a building of the latter part of the fourteenth
century, which was destroyed by fire in 1796:—

    The Proverbis in the syde of the utter chamber above of the
    Hous in the Gardyng at Wresyll.

        No thynge to fortune thou apply,
        For her gyftis vanyshithe as doth fantasy,
        The more thou receyvethe of her gyftis moste unsure,
        The more to the aprochethe displeasure.

        Then in blynde fortune put not thy truste.
        For her brightness sone receyveth ruste.
        Fortune is fykill, fortune is blynde.
        Her rawardes be fekill and unkynde.

        Forsake the glory of fortune(’s) fyckillnes,
        Of whom comythe worldly glory and yet much unkyndnes,
        Put thy trust and in hym sett thy mynde,
        Whiche when fortune faylithe will nevyr be unkynde.[246]

Among most civilized nations of the present day the Goddess Fortune is
not openly worshiped, although the Japanese have their seven Gods of
Luck, which are comparatively modern deities, brought together from
various sources, including their own primitive Shinto religion, Buddhism,
and the Taouism of China.[247]

The Lamas of Tibet perform each year a peculiar scapegoat rite called the
Chase of the Demon of Ill-luck. One of their number, in fantastic garb
and with grotesquely painted face, sits in the market-place for a week
previously, and on the day of the ceremony this worthy, who is known as
a ghost-king, wanders about shaking a black yak’s tail over the heads of
the people, whereby their ill-luck is in some mystic way transferred to
him.[248]


IV. TEMPLES OF FORTUNE

Temples in honor of the Goddess Tyche were built at Elis, Corinth, and
in other Grecian cities; and in the second century A. D. the eminent
philanthropist, Herodes Atticus, erected for her a temple in Athens, the
ruins of which are believed still to exist.[249]

The western suburb of Syracuse, in Sicily, was called Τύχη, after a
temple of Tyche which adorned it.

Among the Italians the worship of Fortune became so popular that her
temples outnumbered all others. “We have built a thousand temples to
Fortune and not one to Reason,” remarked Fronto, the worthy tutor of
the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Of all these pagan edifices in Rome, but a
single one now remains, the temple of Fortuna Virilis, now the church of
Santa Maria Egiziaca.[250] It is a small Ionic tetrastyle building on the
left bank of the Tiber, a little north of the so-called Temple of the
Sun. But the most famous Italian temple of Fortune was at Preneste, an
ancient Latin town, now called Palestrina. Here oracles were consulted
and fugitives found a place of refuge.

In Great Britain there still exist a number of altars in honor of
Fortune, which date from the Roman occupation. One of these, on the line
of the wall of Antoninus in Scotland, was erected by soldiers of the
second and sixth legions. Another altar, dedicated to the same goddess,
was found at the headquarters of the sixth legion at Eboracum, the modern
city of York, and is still to be seen at the museum there.[251] The
inscription on this altar was copied by the writer during a recent visit
to York, and reads as follows:—

                               DEÆ FORTUNÆ
                                  SOSIA
                                 IUNCINA
                                Q. ANTONI
                                ISAURICI
                                LEG. AUG.


V. LUCK, ANCIENT AND MODERN

Our English word _luck_, according to some authorities, is of
Scandinavian origin, while others consider it to be the past tense of
an Anglo-Saxon verb meaning “to catch.” Luck signifies, therefore, _a
good catch_, and is analogous to the German _Glück_. It has been aptly
remarked that very many so-called strong-minded persons, who would not
for a moment admit that they are superstitious, are yet not insensible
to the fascination of this little monosyllable. As Christian people, we
profess to believe implicitly in Divine Providence; yet often because we
cannot understand its workings, we so far relapse into paganism as to
worship secretly the Goddess Fortune. The fact is, that superstition is
an ineradicable element of human nature. The combined forces of religion,
education, philosophy, and common sense are allied in a perpetual
warfare against it. The thousand and one little credulities which form
such an important part of modern folk-lore may be intrinsically the
veriest whimsies and trifles, but they are evidence of the tenacity of
traditional beliefs.

The modern sailor carries in his pocket a bit of sealskin, or an eagle’s
beak, to shield him from the lightning; and the Southern negro has his
rabbit’s foot, and a host of other outlandish fetiches, all for luck.

The millions of American negroes have, indeed, a deeply-rooted love for
the supernatural, and their character exhibits a peculiar blending of
superstition and religion. Among the mixed colored races in Missouri,
for example, we find a bewildering jumble of African Voodoo credulities,
the traditions of the American Indian, and religious fanaticism. Thus,
in “Voodoo Tales,” by Mary A. Owen, we read of an old crone who kept her
medicine-pipe and eagle-bone whistle alongside of her books of devotion,
carried a rosary and rabbit’s foot in the same pocket, and wore a saint’s
toe dangling on her bosom, and a luck-ball under her right arm.

It has been well said that only those whose minds are predisposed to
entertain idle fancies are wont to regard misfortune as a natural
sequence of the legion of alleged evil omens. Yet we know that in all
ages and countries such notions have prevailed. The ancient Chaldeans
made use of magic formulæ to ward off ill-luck, and Tacitus relates that
the most trivial events were regarded as portentous by the Roman people.
What a contrast to the credulity of a superstitious age is afforded by
the often quoted remark of Cato the Censor, who refused to regard it as
ominous when informed that his boots had been gnawed by rats! “If the
boots had gnawed the rats,” he said, “it might have portended evil.”

There is a deal of philosophy in the Irish saying, “Every man has bad
luck awaiting him some time or other, but leave the bad luck to the last;
perhaps it may never come.”

In attributing the sundry and divers misfortunes of our lives to bad
luck, we surely ignore the fact that these same unwelcome experiences
are often the logical sequences of our own shortcomings, and that the
fickle goddess cannot with fairness be made always to masquerade as our
scapegoat.



THE FOLK-LORE OF COMMON SALT[252]

    Jests, like salt, should be used sparingly.—_Similitudes of
    Democritus._


I. ORIGIN AND HISTORY

The origin of the use of common salt as a condiment is hidden in the
mazes of antiquity. Although we have no evidence that this important
article of diet was known to the antediluvians, there is still abundant
proof that it was highly esteemed as a seasoner of food long before
the Christian era. In a Greek translation of a curious fragment of the
writings of the semi-fabulous Phœnician author, Sanchoniathon, who is
said to have lived before the Trojan war, the discovery of the uses of
salt is attributed to certain immediate descendants of Noah, one of whom
was his son Shem.[253]

From the mythical lore of Finland we learn that Ukko, the mighty god
of the sky, struck fire in the heavens, a spark from which descending
was received by the waves and became salt. The Chinese worship an idol
called Phelo, in honor of a mythological personage of that name, whom
they believe to have been the discoverer of salt and the originator
of its use. His ungrateful countrymen, however, were tardy in their
recognition of Phelo’s merits, and that worthy thereupon left his native
land and did not return. Then the Chinese declared him to be a deity, and
in the month of June each year they hold a festival in his honor, during
which he is everywhere eagerly sought, but in vain; he will not appear
until he comes to announce the end of the world.

Among the Mexican Nahuas the women and girls employed in the preparation
of salt were wont to dance at a yearly festival held in honor of the
Goddess of salt, Huixtocihuatl, whose brothers the rain-gods are said,
as the result of a quarrel, to have driven her into the sea, where she
invented the art of making the precious substance.[254]

The earliest Biblical mention of salt appears to be in reference to
the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis xix. 24-26.) When King
Abimelech destroyed the city of Shechem, an event which is believed to
have occurred in the thirteenth century B. C., he is said to have “sowed
salt on it,” this phrase expressing the completeness of its ruin.[255]
(Judges ix. 45.) It is certain that the use of salt as a relish was
known to the Jewish people at a comparatively early period of their
history. For in the sixth chapter of the Book of Job occurs this passage:
“Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt?”

In Eastern countries it is a time-honored custom to place salt before
strangers as a token and pledge of friendship and good-will. The phrase
“to eat some one’s salt” formerly signified being in that person’s
service, and in this sense it is used in the Book of Ezra, iv. 14, where
the expression, “we have maintenance from the king’s palace,” means
literally, “we are salted with the salt of the palace,” which implies
being in the service of the king. And from the idea of being in the
employment of a master, and eating his salt, the phrase in question came
to denote faithfulness and loyalty.[256]

As an instance of the superstitious reverence with which salt is regarded
in the East, it is related that Yacoub ben Laith, who founded the dynasty
of Persian princes known as the Saffarides, was of very humble origin,
and in his youth gained a livelihood as a free-booter. Yet so chivalrous
was he that he never stripped his victims of all their belongings, but
always left them something to begin life with anew.

On one occasion this gallant robber had forcibly and by stealth entered
the palace of a prince, and was about departing with considerable spoil,
when he stumbled over an object which his sense of taste revealed to
be a lump of salt. Having thus involuntarily partaken of a pledge of
hospitality in another man’s house, his honor overcame his greed of gain
and he departed without his booty.[257]

Owing to its antiseptic and preservative qualities, salt was emblematic
of durability and permanence; hence the expression “Covenant of Salt.”
It was also a symbol of wisdom, and in this sense was doubtless used by
St. Paul when he told the Colossians that their speech should be seasoned
with salt.

Homer called salt divine, and Plato described it as a substance dear to
the gods.

Perhaps the belief in its divine attributes may have been a reason for
the employment of salt as a sacrificial offering by the Hebrews, Greeks,
and Romans, all of whom, moreover, regarded it as an indispensable relish.

Plutarch said that without salt nothing was savory or toothsome, and that
this substance even imparted an additional flavor to wines, thus causing
them “to go down the throat merrily.” And the same writer remarked that,
as bread and salt were commonly eaten together, therefore Ceres and
Neptune were sometimes worshiped together in the same temple.[258]


II. SALT UNCONGENIAL TO WITCHES AND DEVILS

Grimm remarks that salt is not found in witches’ kitchens, nor at
devils’ feasts, because the Roman Catholic Church has taken upon herself
the hallowing and dedication of this substance. Moreover, inasmuch as
Christians recognize salt as a wholesome and essential article of diet,
it seems plausible enough that they should regard it as unsuitable for
the use of devils and witches, two classes of beings with whom they have
no particular sympathy. Hence perhaps the familiar saying that “the Devil
loveth no salt in his meat.”

Once upon a time, according to tradition, there lived a German peasant
whose wife was a witch, and the Devil invited them both to supper one
fine evening. All the dishes lacked seasoning, and the peasant, in spite
of his wife’s remonstrances, kept asking for salt; and when after a while
it was brought, he remarked with fervor, “Thank God, here is salt at
last,” whereupon the whole scene vanished.[259]

The abbot Richalmus, who lived in the old German duchy of Franconia
in the twelfth century, claimed, by the exercise of a special and
extraordinary faculty, to be able to baffle the machinations of certain
evil spirits who took special delight in playing impish tricks upon
churchmen. They appear, indeed, to have sorely tried the patience of the
good abbot in many ways, as, for example, by distracting his thoughts
during Mass and interfering with his digestion, promoting discords in the
church music, and causing annoyance by inciting the congregation to cough
in sermon time. Fortunately he possessed three efficient weapons against
these troublesome creatures, namely, the sign of the cross, holy water,
and salt.

“Evil spirits,” wrote the abbot, “cannot bear salt.” When he was at
dinner, and the Devil had maliciously taken away his appetite, he simply
tasted a little salt, and at once became hungry. Then, if soon afterwards
his appetite again failed him, he took some more salt, and his relish for
food speedily returned.[260]

In Hungarian folk-lore, contrary to the usual opinion, evil personages
are fond of salt, for at those festive gatherings described in old
legends and fairy tales, where witches and the Devil met, they were wont
to cook in large kettles a stew of horse-flesh seasoned with salt, upon
which they eagerly feasted.

Hence appears to have originated the popular notion current among the
Magyars that a woman who experiences a craving for salt in the early
morning must be a witch, and on no account should her taste be gratified.

Once upon a time, says tradition, a man crept into a witch’s tub in
order to spy upon the proceedings at a meeting of the uncanny sisterhood.

Shortly thereafter the witch appeared, saddled the tub, and rode it to
the place of rendezvous, and on arriving there the man contrived to
empty a quantity of salt into the tub. After the revels he was conveyed
homewards in the same manner, and showed the salt to his neighbors as
proof positive that he had really been present at the meeting. Sometimes,
however, salt is used in Hungary as a protection against witches. The
threshold of a new house is sprinkled with it, and the door-hinges are
smeared with garlic, so that no witch may enter.[261]

The peasants of Russian Esthonia are aware of the potency of salt against
witches and their craft. They believe that on St. John’s Eve witch-butter
is maliciously smeared on the doors of their farm-buildings in order to
spread sickness among the cattle. When, therefore, an Esthonian farmer
finds this obnoxious butter on his barn-door or elsewhere, he loads his
gun with salt and shoots the witch-germs away.[262]

The Hindus have a theory that malignant spirits, or _Bhúts_, are
especially prone to molest women and children immediately after the
latter have eaten confectionery and other sweet delicacies.

Indeed, so general is this belief that vendors of sweetmeats among
school-children provide their youthful customers each with a pinch of
salt to remove the sweet taste from their mouths, and thus afford a
safeguard against the ever-watchful _Bhúts_.[263]


III. THE LATIN WORD “SAL”

Owing to the importance of salt as a relish, its Latin name _sal_ came
to be used metaphorically as signifying a savory mental morsel, and,
in a general sense, wit or sarcasm.[264] It was formerly maintained by
some etymologists that this word had a threefold meaning according to
its gender. Thus, when masculine, it has the above signification, but
when feminine it means _the sea_, and only when neuter does it stand for
common salt. The characterization of Greece as “the salt of nations”
is attributed to Livy, and this is probably the origin of the phrase
“Attic salt,” meaning delicate, refined wit. The phrase _cum grano salis_
may signify the grain of common sense with which one should receive a
seemingly exaggerated report. It may also mean moderation, even as salt
is used sparingly as a seasoner of food.

Among the ancients, as with ourselves, _Sol_ and _sal_, the Sun and salt,
were known to be two things essential to the maintenance of life.

Soldiers, officials, and working people were paid either wholly or in
part in salt,[265] which was in such general use for this purpose that
any sum of money paid for labor or service of whatever kind was termed a
_salarium_, or salary, that is, the wherewithal to obtain one’s salt.[266]

Pliny remarked that salt was essential for the complete enjoyment of
life, and in confirmation of this statement he commented on the fact that
the word _sales_ was employed to express the pleasures of the mind, or a
keen appreciation of witty effusions, and, therefore, was associated with
the idea of good fellowship and mirth.[267]

A certain mystic significance has been attributed to the three letters
composing the word “sal.” Thus, the letter S, standing alone, represents
or suggests two circles united together, the sun and the moon. It
typifies, moreover, the union of things divine and mundane, even as salt
partakes of the attributes of each. A, alpha, signifies the beginning of
all things; while L is emblematic of something celestial and glorious.
S and L represent solar and lunar influences respectively, and the
trio of letters stand for an essential substance provided by God for
the benefit of his people. In a curious treatise on salt, originally
published in 1770, the writer launches forth in impassioned style the
most extravagant encomiums upon this substance, which he avers to be
the quintessence of the earth. Salt is here characterized as a Treasure
of Nature, an Essence of Perfection, and the Paragon of Preservatives.
Moreover, whoever possesses salt thereby secures a prime factor of human
happiness among material things.[268]

The French people employ the word “salt” metaphorically in several common
expressions. Thus, in speaking of the lack of piquancy or pointedness
in a dull sermon or address, they say, “There was no salt in that
discourse.” And of the brilliant productions of a favorite author they
remark, “He has sprinkled his writings with salt by handfuls.”[269] In
like manner they use the term _un epigramme salé_ to denote a cutting
sarcasm or raillery. Very apt also is the following definition by an
old English writer:[270] “Salt, a pleasaunt and merrie word that maketh
folks to laugh and sometime pricketh.” The expression “to salt an
invoice” signifies to increase the full market value of each article, and
corresponds to one use of the French verb _saler_, to overcharge, and
hence to “fleece” or “pluck.” Thus the phrase _Il me l’a bien salé_ means
“He has charged me an excessive price.”[271]


IV. SALT EMPLOYED TO CONFIRM AN OATH

In the records of the Presbytery of Edinburgh, under date of September
20, 1586, is to be found the following description of an oath which
Scotch merchants were required to take when on their way to the Baltic:—

    Certan merchantis passing to Danskerne (Denmark) and cuming
    neir Elsinnure, chusing out and quhen they accompted for the
    payment of the toill of the goods, and that depositioun of ane
    othe in forme following, viz: Thei present and offer _breid_
    and _salt_ to the deponer of the othe, whereon he layis his
    hand and deponis his conscience and sweiris.[272]

Gypsies likewise sometimes use bread and salt to confirm the solemnity of
an oath. An example of this is recorded in the “Pesther Lloyd” of July 1,
1881. A member of a gypsy band in western Hungary had been robbed of a
sum of money, and so informed his chief, who summoned the elders of the
camp to a council. On an upright cross formed of two poles was placed a
piece of bread sprinkled with salt, and upon this each gypsy was required
to swear that he was not the thief. The real culprit, refusing to take so
solemn an oath, was thus discovered.

Among the Jews the covenant of salt is the most sacred possible. Even at
the present time, Arabian princes are wont to signify their ratification
of an alliance by sprinkling salt upon bread, meanwhile exclaiming, “I am
the friend of thy friends, and the enemy of thine enemies.” So likewise
there is a common form of request among the Arabs as follows: “For the
sake of the bread and salt which are between us, do this or that.”[273]

In the East, at the present day, compacts between tribes are still
confirmed by salt, and the most solemn pledges are ratified by
this substance. During the Indian mutiny of 1857 a chief motive of
self-restraint among the Sepoys was the fact that they had sworn by their
salt to be loyal to the English queen.[274]

The antiquity of the practice of using salt in confirmation of an oath
is shown in the following passage from an ode of the Greek lyric poet
Archilochus, who flourished during the early part of the seventh century
B. C.:—

    Thou hast broken the solemn oath, and hast disgraced the salt
    and the table.

In the year 1731 the Protestant miners and peasants inhabiting the “salt
exchequer lands,” prior to their banishment from the country by Leopold,
Archbishop of Salzburg, held a meeting in the picturesque village of
Schwarzach, and “solemnly ratified their league by the ancient custom
of dipping their fingers in salt.” The table at which this ceremony took
place, and a picture representing the event, are still shown at the
Wallner Inn, where the meeting was held.[275]


V. SALT-SPILLING AS AN OMEN

The widespread notion that the spilling of salt produces evil
consequences is supposed to have originated in the tradition that Judas
overturned a salt-cellar at the Paschal Supper, as portrayed in Leonardo
da Vinci’s painting. But it appears more probable that the belief is
due to the sacred character of salt in early times. Any one having the
misfortune to spill salt was formerly supposed to incur the anger of all
good spirits, and to be rendered susceptible to the malevolent influences
of demons.[276] When, in oriental lands, salt was offered to guests as
a token of hospitality, it was accounted a misfortune if any particles
were scattered while being so presented, and in such cases a quarrel or
dispute was anticipated.[277]

Bishop Hall wrote, in 1627, that when salt fell towards a superstitious
guest at dinner, he was wont to exhibit signs of mental agitation, and
refused to be comforted until one of the waiters had poured wine in his
lap. And in Gayton’s “Art of Longevity” we find these lines:—

    I have two friends of either sex, which do eat little salt or
    none, yet are friends too; of both which persons I can truly
    tell, they are of patience most invincible; whom out of temper
    no mischance at all can put; no, if towards them the salt
    should fall.

The Germans have a saying, “Whoever spills salt arouses enmity,” and in
some places the overthrow of a salt-cellar is thought to be the direct
act of the Devil, the peace-disturber. The superstitious Parisian, who
may have been the unfortunate cause of such a mishap, is quite ready to
adopt this view, and tosses a little of the spilled salt behind him,
in order, if possible, to hit the invisible Devil in the eye, which,
temporarily at least, prevents him from doing further mischief.[278]
This is probably a relic of an ancient idolatrous custom; and salt thus
thrown was formerly a kind of sop to Cerberus, an offering to pacify
some particular deity. In like manner the natives of Pegu, a province of
British Burmah, in the performance of one of their rites in honor of the
Devil, are wont to throw food over their left shoulders to conciliate the
chief spirit of evil.[279]

When salt was spilled at table the pious Roman was wont to exclaim, “May
the gods avert the omen!” and the modern Sicilian, in such a case,
invokes “the Mother of Light.”

Among the Greeks it was customary to present salt to the gods as a
thank-offering at the beginning of every meal. Louis Figuier, in “Les
merveilles de l’industrie,” places these three happenings in the
category of ominous mishaps in a Grecian household: (1) the omission
of a salt-cellar from among the furnishings of a dinner-table; (2) the
falling asleep of one of the guests at a banquet, before the removal
of the salt-cellar to make place for the dessert; (3) the overturning
of this important vessel. It seems evident, therefore, that the origin
of the belief in the ominous character of salt-spilling is of far
greater antiquity than is popularly supposed; and Leonardo da Vinci,
in portraying Judas as upsetting a salt-cellar, probably had in mind
the already well-known portentous significance of such an act. But some
observers have failed to discover any trace of a salt-cellar in the
original _Cenacolo_ on the refectory wall of the Milanese convent. In
the well-known engraving by Raphael Morghen, however, the overthrown
salt-cellar is clearly delineated, and the spilled salt is seen issuing
from it. An animated discussion on this moot-point enlivened the columns
of “Notes and Queries” some years ago.

The following passage is to be found in a work entitled “Hieroglyphica, a
Joanne Valeriano” (1586), being a treatise on ancient symbols:—

    Alioqui sal amicitiæ symbolum fuit, durationis gratia. Corpora
    enim solidiora facit et diutissime conservat. Unde hospitibus
    ante alios cibos apponi solitum, quo amicitiæ firmitas ac
    perseverantia significetur. Quare plerique ominosum habent si
    sal in mensam profundi contigerit. Contra vero faustum si vinum
    atque id merum effusum sit.

Which has been rendered into English as follows: “Salt was formerly
a symbol of friendship, because of its lasting quality. For it makes
substances more compact and preserves them for a long time: hence it was
usually presented to guests before other food, to signify the abiding
strength of friendship. Wherefore many consider it ominous to spill
salt on the table, and, on the other hand, propitious to spill wine,
especially if unmixed with water.”[280]

In Gaule’s “Magastromancer” (1652), overturning the salt is mentioned in
a list of “superstitious ominations.” According to a popular Norwegian
belief, one will shed as many tears as may suffice to dissolve the
quantity of salt which he has spilled;[281] and in east Yorkshire, also,
every grain of spilled salt represents a tear to be shed. Moreover,
saltness has been thought to be an essential attribute of tears, and
this intimate connection between the two may have given rise to some
of the many superstitions connected with salt.[282] In Bucks County,
Pennsylvania, in order to avert ill-luck after salt has been spilled, one
should not only toss a pinch of the spilled salt over the left shoulder,
but should also crawl under a table and come out on the opposite
side.[283]

In the “British Apollo” (1708) are these lines:—

    We ’el tel you the reason
    Why spilling of Salt
    Is esteemed such a Fault,
    Because it doth ev’rything season.

    Th’ antiques did opine
    ’Twas of Friendship a sign,
    So served it to guests in decorum,
    And thought Love decayed,
    When the negligent Maid
    Let the salt-cellar tumble before them.

In New England the gravity of salt-spilling as an omen, its deplorable
severance of friendship’s ties, and the necessity for prompt remedial
measures, are all fully recognized.

And here the deft toss of the spilled particles over the left shoulder
is not always adequate; for in order thoroughly to break the spell, these
particles must be thrown on the stove.[284]

Gypsies have a saying, “The salt of strife has fallen.”

From the idea of the desecration of a sacred substance, to which allusion
has been made, doubtless arose the remarkable superstition that, as a
penalty for spilling salt, one must wait outside the gate of Paradise for
as many years as there are grains of salt spilled.[285]

In the Lansdowne MSS. 231 (British Museum) occurs this passage:—

    The falling of salt is an authentic ꝑsag̅emt of ill-luck, nor
    can every temper contemn it; nor was the same a grall ꝑgnostic
    among the ancients of future evil, but a ꝑticular omination
    concerning the breach of friendship. For salt as incorruptible
    was yᵉ symbole of friendship, and before ye other service
    was offered unto yᵉⁱʳ guests. But whether salt were not only
    a symbol of friendship wʰ man, but also a fig. of amity and
    reco̅ciliation wʰ God, and was therefore offered in sacrifices,
    is an higher speculation.

Herbert Spencer affirms[286] that the consciousness which harbors a
notion that evil will result from spilling salt is manifestly allied
to the consciousness of the savage, and is prone to entertain other
superstitious beliefs like those prevalent in barbarous lands. And
although idolatry and fetich-worship do not flourish in civilized
communities, yet many popular superstitions are akin in nature to the
sentiments which prompt the savage to bow down before images of wood or
stone.


VI. HELPING TO SALT AT TABLE

In the northern counties of England, and indeed quite generally in
Anglican communities, it is reckoned unlucky to be helped to salt at
table, and this idea has found expression in the popular couplet, “Help
me to salt, help me to sorrow.” In a small volume entitled “The Rules
of Civility” (London, 1695), translated from the French, and quoted in
“Brand’s Popular Antiquities,” is the following passage:—

    Some are so exact they think it uncivil to help anybody that
    sits by them either with _salt_ or _brains_. But in my judgment
    that is a ridiculous scruple, and if your neighbor desires
    you to furnish him (with salt), you must either take out some
    with your knife and lay it upon his plate, or if they be more
    than one, present them with the salt that they may furnish
    themselves.

In Russia there is a superstitious prejudice against helping one’s
neighbor to salt at table on account of the liability to quarrels thereby
incurred. For in so doing one is thought to have the air of implying,
“Well, you have received your allowance of salt, now go away.” But if
in proffering the salt one smiles amicably, all danger of a quarrel
is happily averted, and the act is wholly relieved of its ominous
character.[287]

The simple expedient of a second help is commonly regarded as equally
effective for this purpose, but it is difficult to imagine whence was
derived the alleged potency of such an antidote, which is contrary to the
Pythagorean theory of the divine character of unity and the diabolical
attributes of the number two.

In many lands, however, it is only common courtesy to help a friend to
salt at table; but in Italy this delicate attention was formerly thought
to be a mark of undue familiarity, and, when salt was offered by one
gentleman to the wife of another, it was a sufficient cause for jealousy
and even quarrel.[288]


VII. SALT AS A PROTECTION TO YOUNG INFANTS

The mediæval Roman Catholic custom of using salt to protect infants
from evil prior to their baptism is frequently alluded to in early
romantic literature. In an ancient ballad entitled “The King’s Daughter,”
the birth of a child occurs under circumstances which prevent the
administration of the rite of baptism. The mother, therefore, exposes
the baby in a casket, and is careful to place by its side salt and
candles. The words of the ballad are:—

    The bairnie she swyl’d in linen so fine,
    In a gilded casket she laid it syne,
    Mickle saut and light she laid therein,
    Cause yet in God’s house it had’na been.[289]

Mr. William G. Black, in his work on Folk-Medicine, says that in some
districts of Scotland it was formerly a custom, previous to baptism, to
carry some salt around the child “withershins,” or backwards,—a procedure
which was believed to protect the child from evil during its oftentimes
long journey from the house to the church where the ceremony was to be
performed. In Marsala the relatives of a new-born child do not sleep the
first night, for fear of the appearance of witches. Indeed, a watch is
often kept for many nights, or until the child’s baptism. A light burns
in the room constantly, and an image of some saint is fastened upon the
house-door. A rosary and a raveled napkin are attached to the image, and
behind the door are placed a jug of salt and a broom. When a witch comes
and sees the saint’s image and the rosary, she usually goes away at once;
but even if these talismans are wanting, the salt, napkin, and broom
afford adequate protection. For any witch before entering must count the
grains of salt, the threads of the napkin’s fringe, and the twigs of
which the broom is made. And she never has time enough for these tasks,
because she cannot appear before midnight, and must hide herself before
the dawn.[290]

This popular belief in the magical power of salt to protect infants from
evil, especially in the period between birth and baptism, is exemplified
in the following allusion to a foundling in a metrical “History of the
Family of Stanley,” which dates from the early part of the sixteenth
century (Harleian MSS. 541, British Museum): “It was uncrisned, seeming
out of doubt, for salt was bound at its neck in a linen clout.”[291]

In Sicily, too, it is sometimes customary for the priest to place a
little salt in the child’s mouth at baptism, thereby imparting wisdom.
Hence the popular local saying in regard to a person who is dull of
understanding, that the priest put but little salt in his mouth.[292] A
similar usage is in vogue in the district of Campine in Belgium. The use
of salt at baptism in the Christian Church dates from the fourth century.
It was an early practice to place salt, which had been previously
blessed, in the infant’s mouth, to symbolize the counteraction of the
sinfulness of its nature.[293]

So, too, in the baptismal ceremonies of the Church of England in
mediæval times, salt, over which an exorcism had been said, was placed
in the child’s mouth, and its ears and nostrils were touched with
saliva,—practices which became obsolete at about the time of the reign of
Henry VIII.

An octagonal font of the fifteenth century, in St. Margaret’s Church,
Ipswich, Suffolk, has upon one of its sides the figure of an angel
bearing a scroll, on which appears a partially illegible inscription
containing the words _Sal et Saliva_.[294]

Thomas Ady, in “A Perfect Discovery of Witches” (London, 1661), says that
holy water, properly conjured, was used to keep the Devil in awe, and to
prevent his entering churches or dwellings.

With such holy water Satanic influences were kept away from meat and
drink, and from “the very salt upon the table.”

In the Highlands of Scotland, instead of using salt as an amulet for
the protection of young babies, it was customary for watchers to remain
constantly by the cradle until the christening. For it was believed that
spiteful fairies were wont to carry off healthy infants, leaving in
their stead puny specimens of their own elfish offspring; and infants
thus kidnapped were sometimes kept in fairyland for seven years. This
well-known popular belief gave rise to the word “changeling,” which
signifies a “strange, stupid, ugly child left by the fairies in place
of a beautiful or charming child that they have stolen away.”[295] And
inasmuch as baby elves were invariably stunted and of feeble intellect,
all idiotic and dwarfish children were thought to be changelings.[296]

    From thence a faery the unweeting reft,
    There as thou slepst in tender swadling band,
    And her base elfin brood there for the left:
    Such men do _chaungelinges_ call, so chaunged by fairies’ theft.[297]


VIII. SALT AS A MAGICAL SUBSTANCE

The natives of Morocco regard salt as a talisman against evil, and a
common amulet among the Neapolitan poor is a bit of rock-salt suspended
from the neck.[298] The peasants of the Hartz Mountain region in Germany
believe that three grains of salt in a milk-pot will keep witches away
from the milk;[299] and to preserve butter from their uncanny influences,
it was a custom in the county of Aberdeen, Scotland, some years ago, to
put salt on the lid of a churn.[300] In Normandy, also, the peasants are
wont to throw a little salt into a vessel containing milk, in order to
protect the cow who gave the milk from the influences of witchcraft.

Peculiar notions about the magical properties of salt are common among
American negroes. Thus in some regions a new tenant will not move into a
furnished house until all objects therein have been thoroughly salted,
with a view to the destruction of witch-germs.[301] Another example of
the supernatural attributes ascribed to salt is the opinion current among
uneducated people in some communities of its potency in casting a spell
over obnoxious individuals. For this purpose it is sufficient either to
sprinkle salt over the sleeping form of an enemy, or on the grave of one
of his ancestors.[302] Another kind of salt-spell in vogue in the south
of England consists in throwing a little salt into the fire on three
successive Friday nights, while saying these words:—

    It is not this salt I wish to burn,
    It is my lover’s heart to turn;
    That he may neither rest nor happy be,
    Until he comes and speaks to me.

On the third Friday night the disconsolate damsel expects her lover to
appear.[303] Every one is familiar with the old saying, “You can catch
a bird with your hand, if you first put some salt on its tail.” This
quaint expression has been thought to imply that, if one can get near
enough to a bird to place salt on its tail, its capture is an easy
matter. The phrase, however, may be more properly attributed to a belief
in the magical properties of salt in casting a spell over the bird.
Otherwise any substance might be equally effective for the purpose of
catching it. The writer remembers having read somewhere an old legend
about a young man who playfully threw some salt on the back of a witch
sitting next to him at table, and the witch thereupon acquired such an
increase of avoirdupois that she was unable to move until the young man
obligingly brushed away the salt.

The ancient Teutons believed that the swift flight of birds was caused
by certain powerful spirits of the air. Now salt is a foe to ghostly
might, imparts weight to bodies, and impedes their motion; therefore
the rationale of its operation when placed upon a bird’s tail is easily
intelligible.

In the Province of Quebec French Canadians sometimes scatter salt about
the doors of their stables to prevent those mischievous little imps
called _lutins_ from entering and teasing the horses by sticking burrs
in their manes and tails.[304] The _lutin_ or _gobelin_ is akin to the
Scandinavian household spirit, who is fond of children and horses, and
who whips and pinches the former when they are naughty, but caresses them
when good.[305] In Marsala, west Sicily, a horse, mule, or donkey, on
entering a new stall, is thought to be liable to molestation by fairies.
As a precautionary measure, therefore, a little salt is placed on the
animal’s back, and this is believed to insure freedom from lameness, or
other evil resulting from fairy spite.[306] Common salt has long enjoyed
a reputation as a means of procuring disenchantment. It was an ingredient
of a salve “against nocturnal goblin visitors” used by the Saxons in
England, and described in one of their ancient leech-books;[307] while
in the annals of folk-medicine are to be found numerous references to
its reputed virtues as a magical therapeutic agent. In Scotland, when
a person is ailing of some affection whose nature is not apparent, as
much salt as can be placed on a sixpence is dissolved in water, and the
solution is then applied three times to the soles of the patient’s feet,
to the palms of his hands, and to his forehead. He is then expected to
taste the mixture, a portion of which is thrown over the fire while
saying, “Lord, preserve us frae a’ skaith.”[308]

The Germans of Buffalo valley in central Pennsylvania believe that a boy
may be cured of homesickness by placing salt in the hems of his trousers
and making him look up the chimney.[309]

In India the natives rub salt and wine on the affected part of the
body as a cure for scorpion bites, believing that the success of this
treatment is due to the supernatural virtue of the salt in scaring away
the fiends who caused the pain.[310] An ancient Irish charm of great
repute in cases of suspected “fairy-stroke” consisted in placing on a
table three equal portions of salt in three parallel rows. The would-be
magician then encircles the salt with his arm and repeats the Lord’s
Prayer thrice over each row. Then, taking the hand of the fairy-struck
person, he says over it, “By the power of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, let this disease depart and the spell of evil spirits
be broken.” Then follows a solemn adjuration and command addressed to the
supposed demon, and the charm is complete.[311]

In Bavaria and the Ukraine, in order to ascertain whether a child has
been the victim of bewitchment, the mother licks its forehead; and if her
sense of taste reveals thereby a marked saline flavor, she is convinced
that her child has been under the influence of an evil eye.[312]

In the Swiss canton of Bern a person is believed to be amply fortified
against all kinds of spiritual enemies by the simple expedient of
carrying a piece of fresh bread and a psalm-book in the right and left
coat pockets respectively, provided one is careful to have some rock-salt
either in each vest pocket, or inside a briar-wood cane upon which three
crosses have been cut.[313] In Bohemia a mother seeks to protect her
daughter from evil glances by placing a little bread and salt in her
pocket; and when a young girl goes out for a walk the mother sprinkles
salt on the ground behind her, so that she may not lose her way.[314]

Holy water has been employed in the religious ceremonies of many peoples
as a means of purifying both persons and things, and also to keep away
demons. Sprinkling and washing with it were important features of the
Greek ritual.

The holy water of the Roman Catholic Church is prepared by exorcising and
blessing salt and water separately, after which the salt is dissolved in
the water and a benediction pronounced upon the mixture. In the Hawaiian
ritual, sea-water was sometimes preferred.[315]

A Magyar house-mistress will not give any salt to a woman who may come
to the door and ask for it in the early morning, believing that any
such would-be borrower is surely a witch; but in order to keep away all
witches and hags, she strews salt on the threshold. On St. Lucien’s Day
neither salt nor fire must be taken out of the house.[316]

Among the Japanese, the mysterious preservative qualities of salt are the
source of various superstitions. The mistress of a household will not buy
it at night, and when purchased in the daytime a small quantity is thrown
into the fire in order to prevent discord in the family, and to avert
misfortune generally.[317]

In Scotland salt was formerly in high repute as a charm, and the salt-box
was the first chattel to be removed to a new dwelling. When Robert Burns,
in the year 1789, was about to occupy a new house at Ellisland, he was
escorted on his route thither along the banks of the river Nith by a
procession of relatives, and in their midst was borne a bowl of salt
resting on the family Bible.[318]

In some places in the north of England the giving away of salt is a
dangerous procedure; for if the salt thus given comes into the possession
of an evil-wisher, it places the donor entirely in the power of such a
person.[319]

In upper Egypt, previous to the setting out of a caravan, it is customary
for the native women to throw salt on burning coals, which are carried
in earthen vessels and set down before the different loads. While so
doing they exclaim, “May you be blessed in going and coming,” and such
incantations they believe render inert all the machinations of evil
spirits.[320]


IX. MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS ON SALT

Among the peasants of the Spanish province of Andalusia the word “salt”
is synonymous with gracefulness and charm of manner, and no more
endearing or flattering language can be used in addressing a woman,
whether wife or sweetheart, than to call her “the salt-box of my love.”
The phrase “May you be well salted” is also current as an expression of
affectionate regard.[321]

Scotch fishermen have a traditional custom of salting their nets “for
luck,” and they also sometimes throw a little salt into the sea “to blind
the fairies.”

In the Isle of Man the interchange of salt is regarded as indispensable
to every business transaction, while Manx beggars have even been known to
refuse an alms if proffered without it.[322]

In Syracuse, Sicily, salt has won distinction as a symbol of wisdom
through a curious misinterpretation of the words _sedes sapientiæ_ of the
so-called Lauretane litany; these words becoming in the mouths of the
people _sale e sapienza_,[323] salt and wisdom.

Salt and bread, representing the necessaries of life, are the first
articles taken into the dwelling of a newly married pair in Russia. And
in Pomerania, at the close of a wedding breakfast, a servant carries
about a plate containing salt, upon which the guests place presents of
money.[324]

In olden times bread and salt were reckoned the simplest and most
indispensable articles of diet, and were offered to guests as a guarantee
of hospitality and friendliness. The universal reputation of salt as a
symbol of good-will is shown in the proverbs and current sayings of many
nations. Cicero, in his treatise on Friendship, wrote that age increased
the value of friendships, even as it improved the quality of certain
wines; and he added further that there was truth in the proverb, “Many
pecks of salt must be eaten together to bring friendship to perfection.”

Inasmuch as salt is a necessary and wholesome article of diet, a generous
use of it is reckoned beneficial. Evan Marlett Boddy, F. R. C. S., in his
“History of Salt,” p. 78, comments with some asperity on the custom,
prevalent at the tables of English gentlefolk, of placing salt in the
tiniest receptacles, as if it were a most expensive substance. He regards
it as anything but edifying “to see the host and his guests, in the most
finical, grotesque manner, help themselves to the almost infinitesimal
quantities of salt, as if it were a mark of good breeding and delicacy.”
On the contrary, he continues, such stupid customs of “good society” are
truly indicative of mental weakness and profound ignorance.

In a treatise on the “Dignity and Utility of Salt,” by Jean de
Marcounille Percheron, Paris, 1584, this mineral is likened in value
to the four elements recognized by the ancients,—earth, air, fire, and
water; and indeed, on account of its importance for the maintenance of
health in the animal economy, salt has been termed a “fifth element.” So
highly did the Thracians of old prize this commodity that they bartered
slaves in exchange for it, whence originated the phrase _Sale emptum
mancipium_.

The Egyptian geographer, Cosmas, stated that a salt currency was in use
in Africa in the sixth century;[325] and Marco Polo wrote that salt was a
common medium of exchange among certain Asiatic peoples in the thirteenth
century. In Tibet, for example, pieces of salt shaped in a mould, and
weighing about half a pound each, served as small change; eighty such
pieces were equal in value to a _saggio_ of fine gold, corresponding to
the Roman _solidus_, worth about three dollars. Salt was, moreover, used
as money at this time in Yun-Nan and other provinces of southwestern
China.[326]

Felix Dubois, in his “Timbuctoo the Mysterious,” p. 123, comments on the
rarity of salt in the interior of the Soudan, and says that it is the
most valuable commodity of that region, the _true gold_ of the Soudanese.
The bulk of the salt supply of Timbuctoo comes from the salt mines of
Taudeny, which are situated in the great Sahara desert, some three
hundred miles away to the north. Here the salt is found in abundance
beneath a scanty layer of sand, and is dug up in lumps and fashioned into
blocks. Small pieces of this rock-salt are useful to the traveler as
money, and are readily accepted as such by the Soudanese merchants.

The camels of southern Mongolia require a certain amount of salt in order
to remain in good condition. Instinctively, therefore, they browse upon
the saline efflorescence which is found on the grassy plains or steppes
of Asia. Baron Humboldt, in his “Aspects of Nature” (Berlin, 1808),
wrote that these plains were covered with juicy, evergreen soda plants;
and that many of them glistened from afar with flakes of exuded salt,
which much resembled newly fallen snow. When camels do not find this
efflorescence, they sometimes show their craving for its saline flavor
by taking white stones in their mouths, supposing them to be lumps of
salt.[327]

Owing to the universality of its use, salt has been termed the
“cosmopolitan condiment.” The craving for this substance is not confined
to man, but is shared by the lower animals, and its hygienic value
for horses and cows is well known. Wild animals travel long distances
over deserts and prairies, or through swamps and jungles, to reach
“salt-licks.”

It may be that this natural craving for salt, which is common to man and
beast, may have suggested a custom of etiquette in Abyssinia. For when a
native of that country desires to pay an especially delicate attention
to a friend or guest, he produces a piece of rock-salt, and graciously
permits the latter to lick it with his tongue; a custom not a whit more
ridiculous than the ceremonious offering of snuff and the social sneeze
of modern civilization.

In certain portions of the Dark Continent salt is esteemed a great
luxury, and is relished by native children quite as keenly as candy in
more favored lands.

In the region of Accra, on the coast of Guinea, salt is said to rank next
to gold in value; and according to Mungo Park, among the Mandingos and
Bambarras, west African tribes, whose members are unusually intelligent,
the phrase, “flavoring one’s food with salt,” implies the possession of
wealth.[328]

The Namaquas, inhabitants of the Hottentot country, share so little the
sentiments of their neighbors regarding salt that they consider it a
superfluous article having no value whatever.

About the year 1830 there appeared in England a volume by a certain
Doctor Howard, with the following curious title: “Salt, the forbidden
fruit or food; and the chief cause of diseases of the body and mind of
man and of animals, as taught by the ancient Egyptian priests and wise
men and by scripture, in accordance with the author’s experience of many
years.”[329]

As may well be imagined from its title, this book treats of salt as a
most obnoxious substance, abstinence from which as an article of diet is
essential to the maintenance of health.

The use of salt as an article of food was, moreover, thought to render
one irascible and melancholic, and in illustration of this view may be
quoted the following passage from “Euphues and his England,” by John
Lyly, Maister of Arte (1580):—

    In sooth, gentlemen, I seldome eate salte for feare of anger,
    and if you give me in token that I want wit, then will you
    make cholericke before I eate it; for women, be they never so
    foolish, would ever be thought wise.

    I staied not long for mine answer, but as well quickened by
    her former talke as desirous to cry quittance for her present
    tongue, said thus: “If to eat store of _salt_, cause one to
    fret; and to have no _salt_, signifies lack of wit, then do you
    cause me to marvel, that eating no _salt_, you are so captious;
    and loving no _salt_, you are so wise, when indeed so much wit
    is sufficient for a woman, as when she is in the raine can
    warne her to come out of it.”[330]

In a recent article in the “Journal of Hygiene,” the writer affirms
that the general belief in the necessity of the use of salt for the
maintenance of health is mischievous; for many people, in their zeal to
make the most of a good thing, are wont to eat salt as a seasoner of all
kinds of food. Thus an abnormal craving for the saline flavor is acquired
and the condiment is used in excess, thereby unduly taxing the secretory
organs, whereas in reality but a small quantity of salt is requisite.
Persons addicted to the so-called “salt habit” have a perverted taste,
and are naturally total failures as epicures; for how can any one assume
to be a dainty feeder who disguises the true flavor of every dish, and
whose palate refuses to be tickled by the choicest morsels, unless these
smack strongly of salt?

But even in our times the use of salt as a relish is sometimes
deprecated as unnecessary, if not positively harmful. Thus it is argued
that this substance arrests or retards the physiological processes of
disintegration and renewal of the cells which compose the tissues of the
living body, processes essential to the maintenance of life and health.

A recent advocate of this theory maintains that the fondness for salt
shown by some domesticated animals is due to an acquired taste rather
than to an instinctive craving; for dogs and cats easily grow to like
such artificial products as ice-cream and beer. As to the occasional
visits of wild animals to salt-licks, the fact that such visits are
comparatively infrequent has been thought to prove that these animals
periodically require the medicinal effects of saline waters, on the same
principle which leads people of wealth and fashion to visit certain spas
of Europe or America. The writer above mentioned suggests that, whereas
each article of food has its own individual flavor, the addition of
salt makes them all taste alike. And if an inveterate user of salt will
forego this favorite condiment for a month, he will then for the first
time be enabled properly to appreciate the true flavors of meats and
vegetables.[331]

In the “Revelations of Egyptian Mysteries,” by Robert Howard, the use
of salt as a relish is characterized as an infringement of that law of
nature which forbids animals to partake of mineral substances as food.
History may, indeed, vouch for the antiquity of the custom, but can
furnish no proof of its propriety. Indeed, the writer alleges in the
above work that salt is a most pernicious substance, and the direct cause
of many ills.

The idea conveyed by the phrase, “Enough is as good as a feast,” applies
in full force to the use of salt as a condiment, for an excess of this
substance in one’s food certainly spoils its flavor. According to one
version of a Roumanian forest-myth, a prince, while following the chase,
came upon a beautiful laurel-tree, whose branches were of a golden hue.
This tree so pleased his fancy that he determined to have his dinner
beneath its shade, and gave orders to that effect. Preparations were
made accordingly; but during the temporary absence of the cook, a fair
maiden emerged from the tree and strewed a quantity of salt upon the
viands, after which she re-entered the tree, which closed over her. When
the prince returned and began eating his dinner, he scolded the cook for
using too much salt, and the cook quite naturally protested his innocence.

On the following day the same thing occurred, and the prince thereupon
determined to keep watch, in order if possible to detect the culprit.
On the third day, when the maiden came forth from the tree on mischief
bent, the prince caught her and carried her away, and she became his
loyal wife.[332]

This section may be appropriately concluded with the following
translation of a Roman legend illustrating the value of common salt as an
article of food:[333]—

    _The Value of Salt. A Roman Folk-tale._

    There was once a king who had three daughters, and he was very
    anxious to know which of them loved him most; he tried them in
    various ways, and it always seemed as if the youngest daughter
    came out best by the test. Yet he was never satisfied, because
    he was prepossessed with the idea that the elder ones loved him
    most.

    One day he thought he would settle the matter once for all, by
    asking each separately how much she loved him. So he called the
    eldest by herself, and asked her how much she loved him.

    “As much as the bread we eat,” was her reply; and he said
    within himself, “She must, as I thought, love me the most of
    all; for bread is the first necessary of our existence, without
    which we cannot live. She means, therefore, that she loves me
    so much she could not live without me.”

    Then he called the second daughter by herself, and said to her,
    “How much do you love me?”

    And she answered, “As much as wine.”

    “That is a good answer too,” said the king to himself. “It is
    true she does not seem to love me quite so much as the eldest;
    but still, scarcely can one live without wine, so that there is
    not much difference.”

    Then he called the youngest by herself, and said to her, “And
    you, how much do you love me?”

    And she answered, “As much as salt.”

    Then the king said, “What a contemptible comparison! She only
    loves me as much as the cheapest and commonest thing that comes
    to the table. This is as much as to say, she doesn’t love me at
    all. I always thought it was so. I will never see her again.”

    Then he ordered that a wing of the palace should be shut up
    from the rest, where she should be served with everything
    belonging to her condition in life, but where she should live
    by herself apart, and never come near him.

    Here she lived, then, all alone. But though her father fancied
    she did not care for him, she pined so much at being kept away
    from him, that at last she was worn out, and could bear it no
    longer.

    The room that had been given her had no windows on the street,
    that she might not have the amusement of seeing what was going
    on in the town, but they looked upon an inner court-yard. Here
    she sometimes saw the cook come out and wash vegetables at the
    fountain.

    “Cook, cook!” she called one day, as she saw him pass thus
    under the window.

    The cook looked up with a good-natured face, which gave her
    encouragement.

    “Don’t you think, cook, I must be very lonely and miserable up
    here all alone?”

    “Yes, Signorina,” he replied; “I often think I should like to
    help you to get out; but I dare not think of it, the king would
    be so angry.”

    “No, I don’t want you to do anything to disobey the king,”
    answered the princess; “but would you really do me a favor,
    which would make me very grateful indeed?”

    “Oh, yes, Signorina, anything which I can do without disobeying
    the king,” replied the faithful servant.

    “Then this is it,” said the princess. “Will you just oblige
    me so far as to cook papa’s dinner to-day without any salt in
    anything? Not the least grain in anything at all. Let it be as
    good a dinner as you like, but no salt in anything. Will you do
    that?”

    “I see,” replied the cook, with a knowing nod. “Yes, depend on
    me, I will do it.”

    That day at dinner the king had no salt in the soup, no salt in
    the boiled meat, no salt in the roast, no salt in the fried.

    “What is the meaning of this?” said the king, as he pushed dish
    after dish away from him. “There is not a single thing I can
    eat to-day. I don’t know what they have done to everything, but
    there is not a single thing that has got the least taste. Let
    the cook be called.”

    So the cook came before him.

    “What have you done to the victuals to-day?” said the king
    sternly. “You have sent up a lot of dishes, and no one alive
    can tell one from another. They are all of them exactly alike,
    and there is not one of them can be eaten. Speak!”

    The cook answered:—

    “Hearing your Majesty say that salt was the commonest
    thing that comes to table, and altogether so worthless and
    contemptible, I considered in my mind whether it was a thing
    that at all deserved to be served up to the table of the king;
    and, judging that it was not worthy, I abolished it from the
    king’s kitchen, and dressed all the meats without it. Barring
    this, the dishes are the same that are sent every day to the
    table of the king.”

    Then the king understood the value of salt, and he
    comprehended how great was the love of his youngest child for
    him; so he sent and had her apartment opened, and called her to
    him, never to go away any more.


X. THE SALT-CELLAR

The rhetorician Arnobius, in his work “Disputationes contra Gentes,”
wrote that the pagans were wont to sanctify or hallow their tables
by setting salt-cellars thereon. For owing to the fact that salt was
employed at every sacrifice as an offering to the gods, and owing
moreover to its reputed divine attributes, receptacles containing salt
were also held sacred.

Indeed, the salt-cellar partook of the nature of a holy vessel,
associated with the temple in general, and more particularly with the
altar.[334]

Pythagoras said that salt was the emblem of justice; for as it preserves
all things and prevents corruption, so justice preserves whatever it
animates, and without it all is corrupted. He therefore directed that a
salt-cellar should be placed upon the table at every meal, in order to
remind men of this emblematic virtue of salt.[335]

The Romans considered salt to be a sacred article of food, and it was a
matter of religious principle with them to see that no other dish was
placed upon the table before the salt was in position.[336] A shell
served as a receptacle for salt on the table of the Roman peasant, but
at the repast of the wealthy citizen the silver salt-cellar, which was
usually an heirloom, was placed in the middle of the table; and the same
custom prevailed in England in mediæval times.

In a work entitled “Antiquitates Culinariæ,” compiled by the Rev.
Richard Warner, London, 1791, are to be found, reprinted from an old
paper-roll, elaborate directions for the preparation of the banquet-table
on the occasion of a great feast at the enthroning of George Neville as
Chancellor of England and Archbishop of York in the sixth year of Edward
the Fourth, A. D. 1466.

After the laying of the “chiefe napkin,” the officials of the king’s
household charged with such duties were directed to bring salt, bread,
and trenchers, and to “set the salt right under the middest of the cloth
of estate.”

Minute directions follow regarding the proper disposition of the
trenchers, knives, spoons, and bread, and their exact relations to the
salt, which was treated with special deference throughout the ceremony.

The Hon. Horace Walpole published an account of the formalities observed
at the “setting” of Queen Elizabeth’s dinner-table, as described by
a German traveler who was present on such an occasion. After the
table-cloth had been spread two gentlemen appeared, one bearing a rod
and the other having a salt-cellar, a plate, and bread. After kneeling
three times with the utmost reverence, they placed these three articles
upon the table and withdrew. Later in the ceremony came an unmarried lady
dressed in white silk, and a matron carrying a tasting-knife. The former,
having thrice prostrated herself, approached the table in the most
graceful manner, and rubbed with bread and salt the plates provided for
the guests. After this the yeomen of the guard, clad in scarlet, and each
with a golden rose upon his back, entered bare-headed, bringing a course
of four-and-twenty dishes. In the households of the English nobility a
similar custom prevailed. A rhythmical code of instructions to servants
of the fifteenth century required that the salt should always be the
first article placed on the festive board after the cloth was laid:[337]—

    Tu dois mettre premièrement en tous lieux et en tout hostel
      La nappe, et après le sel;
    Cousteaulx, pain, vin et puis viande,
      Puis apporter ce qu’on demande.

In the “Haven of Health” (Thomas Coghan, London, 1636) are these verses,
quoted from an earlier author:—

    Sal primo poni debet, primoque reponi,
    Omnis mensa male ponitur absque sale.

A curious little treatise, with the title “How to serve a Lord,”
specifies how the principal salt-cellar shall be placed:—

    Thenne here-uppon the boteler or panter shall bring forthe his
    pryncipall salte … he shall sette the saler in the myddys of
    the tabull accordyng to the place where the principall soverain
    shall sette … thenne the seconde salte att the lower ende …
    then salte selers shall be sette uppon the syde tablys.

The custom of placing salt upon the table before all else is thought to
have originated in the ancient conception of this substance as the symbol
of friendship; and indeed no banquet, however elaborate, was complete
without it. The salt was, moreover, the last article to be removed from
the hospitable board.

It was as though our forefathers thereby intended that the guests, seeing
salt on the table, might realize that they were “invited in love and were
loved before they came;” and the fact that it was allowed to remain after
the other dishes had been removed might serve to remind them that while
feasts, like many other good things, come to an end, love and friendship
may be perpetual.[338]

Macrobius wrote, in the fifth century A. D., that the ancients did not
consider themselves as either welcome or safe at a banquet unless the
salt and the shrines of their gods were placed upon the table; the
former indicating a cordial greeting, and the latter being a guarantee of
protection.

The ancient “Boke of Keruynge” says: “Than set your salt on the ryght
syde where your soverayne shall sytte, and on ye lefte syde the salte set
your trenchours.”

Mediæval salt-cellars were often elaborate pieces of silver. In Paul
Lacroix’s “Manners, Customs, and Dress during the Middle Ages” are
illustrations of an enameled silver salt-cellar with six facings,
representing the labors of Hercules, which was made at Limoges for the
French king, Francis I., in the early part of the sixteenth century. At
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, England, is preserved an elegantly
wrought silver and golden salt-cellar which belonged to Matthew Parker,
who was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1558.[339]

In the “Art Journal” (vol. xxxix. 1887) is a description of the state
salt-cellar of Mostyn Hall, Flintshire, North Wales, which had been
recently discovered in an ancient chest. This magnificent piece of plate,
which bears the London date-mark 1586-87, is eighteen and one half inches
in height and of cylindrical form, surmounted by a vase, and richly
ornamented with groups of fruit, foliage, animals, and birds.

In mediæval England the chief salt-cellar was sometimes in the form of
a silver ship, thus suggesting both the briny deep and the craft which
sails thereon.

King Henry III. ordered twenty silver salts in the year 1243.[340]

In the room containing the crown jewels, in the Tower of London, are to
be seen eleven magnificent golden salt-cellars, the oldest dating from
the reign of Elizabeth. Of these the so-called state salt-cellar, which
is a model of the White Tower, was presented by the city of Exeter to
King Charles II., and was used at coronation banquets.

Descriptions and illustrations of old English salt-cellars of different
epochs are to be found in a volume entitled “Old English Plate,” by
Wilfred Joseph Cripps, M. A., F. S. A., London, 1886; and in “Old Plate,”
by J. H. Buck, New York, 1888. In the former work mention is made of a
magnificent salt-cellar, “in the form of an olifaunt,” the property of
John, Earl of Warrenes, in 1347; and another, “in the shape of a dog,”
belonging to Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, in 1380.

From an early period until the close of the seventeenth century, the rank
of guests at a banquet in wealthy households, as in the halls of country
squires, in England, was indicated by the situation of their places at
table with reference to the massive silver centre-pieces which contained
the salt,[341] sometimes called the “salt-vat” or “salt-foot.”

At the head of the table, which was called _the board’s end_, and “above
the salt,” sat the host and his more distinguished guests; and during the
reigns of Henry VII. and VIII. it was enjoined upon the ushers to see
that no person occupied a higher place than he was entitled to. Probably
no penalty was imposed upon guests who unwittingly selected a more
honorable seat than their rank warranted, other than removal to a lower
position. But in the less civilized era of the eleventh century, the laws
of King Canute provided that any person sitting at a banquet above his
position should be “pelted out of his place by bones, at the discretion
of the company, without the privilege of taking offense.”[342]

In a book called “Strange Foot-Post, with a Packet full of Strange
Petitions,” by Nixon (London, 1613), the author says in reference to a
poor scholar:—

    Now, as for his fare, it is lightly at the cheapest table, but
    he must sit under the salt, that is an axiome in such places;
    then having drawne his knife leisurably, unfolded his napkin
    mannerly after twice or thrice wiping his beard, if he have it,
    he may reach the bread on his knife’s point.

The “Babees Book” (1475) says: “The salt also touch not in his salere
with nokyns mete, but lay it honestly on the Trenchoure, for that is
curtesy;” and the “Young Children’s Book” (1500) contains this passage:
“It was not graceful to take the salt except with the clene knyfe; far
less to dip your meat into the salt-cellar.”

Joseph Hall, in his “Satires” (1597), speaking of the conditions imposed
by a gentle squire upon his son’s tutor, says that the latter was
required to sleep in a trundle-bed at the foot of his young master’s
couch, and that his seat at table was invariably “below the salt.”

Again, in a volume of “Essayes,” by Sir William Cornwallis (1632), occurs
the following:—

    There is another sort worse than these, that never utter
    anything of their owne, but get jests by heart, and rob bookes
    and men of prettie tales, and yet hope for this to have a roome
    _above the salt_.

Quite apropos to our subject are the words of an old English ballad:—

    Thou art a carle of mean degree,
    Ye salt doth stand twain me and thee.

The following passage from Smyth’s “Lives of the Berkeleys” refers to
Lord Henry Berkeley, who dwelt in Caludon Castle, near Coventry, in
Warwickshire, in the latter part of the sixteenth century, and may serve
to illustrate the importance of the central salt-cellar as a boundary:—

    At Christmas and other festivals when his neighbors were
    feasted in his hall, he would, in the midst of their dinner,
    rise from his own, and going to each of their tables,
    cheerfully bid them welcome; and when guests of honor and high
    rank filled his own table, he seated himself at the lower
    end; and when such guests filled but half his board and those
    of meaner degree the other half, he would take his own seat
    between them in the midst of his long table _near the salt_,
    which gracious considerate acts did much to gain the love that
    his people had for him.

And in commenting on this passage a recent writer remarks that his
haughty wife, Lady Katherine, high-born and beautiful and clever though
she was, could hardly be imagined as sitting “below the salt,” out of
consideration for the feelings of an inferior.[343]

In the houses of well-to-do farmers among the Scottish peasantry in the
latter part of the eighteenth century, a linen cloth was sometimes spread
over the upper portion of the dinner-table, where sat the farmer and the
members of his family. Quite commonly, however, a chalk-line divided this
end of the board from the lower portion where the hired laborers were
seated; and in the more pretentious households the salt-dish served as a
boundary.[344]

In “Nares’ Glossary,” vol. ii. p. 763, under the heading “Above or Below
the Salt,” the writer comments on the invidious distinctions formerly
made between guests seated at the same table, and quotes as follows from
Ben Jonson’s “Cynthia’s Revels” in reference to a conceited fop:—

    His fashion is not to take knowledge of him that is beneath him
    in clothes; he never drinks below the Salt.

The Innholders Company still adheres to the custom of indicating rank and
social position at table by means of a handsome salt-cellar of the time
of James I., to which is assigned the responsible function of dividing
the Court from the Livery at the Livery dinners; the latter occupying the
seats corresponding to those of the retainers in the old-time baron’s
hall.[345]

Among the Puritans in New England “the salt-cellar was the focus of the
old-time board.” Our ancestors brought with them from beyond the sea, not
only the ideas regarding table etiquette prevalent in the old country,
but also such tangible vanities as silver plate. Miss Alice Morse Earle,
in her book on the “Customs and Fashions of Old New England,” says that
the “standing salt” was often the handsomest article of table furniture,
and mentions among the belongings of Comfort Starr, of Boston, in 1659, a
“greate silver-gilt double salt-cellar.” Early in the eighteenth century
these ponderous silver vessels were superseded by the little “trencher
salts,” of various patterns, which are still in use.



THE OMENS OF SNEEZING

    He is a friend at sneezing time; the most that can be got from
    him is a “God bless you!”—_Italian proverb._


I. IN ANCIENT TIMES

The ancient Egyptians regarded the head as a citadel or fortress in
which the reasoning faculty abode.[346] Hence they especially revered
any function seemingly appertaining to so noble a portion of the body,
and dignified even the insignificant act of sneezing by attributing to
it auguries for good or evil, according to the position of the moon with
reference to the signs of the zodiac.[347] The Greeks and Romans also,
by whom the most trivial occurrences of every-day life were thought to
be omens of good fortune or the reverse, considered the phenomena of
sneezing as not the least important in this regard. Homer tells us in the
Odyssey that the Princess Penelope, troubled by the importunities of her
suitors, prayed to the gods for the speedy return of her husband Ulysses.
Scarcely was her prayer ended when her son Telemachus sneezed, and this
event was regarded by Penelope as an intimation that her petition would
be granted.

Aristotle said that there was a god of sneezing, and that when in Greece
any business enterprise was to be undertaken, two or four sneezes
were thought to be favorable. If more than four, the auspices were
indifferent, while one or three rendered it hazardous to proceed.[348]
About this, however, there appears to have been no unvarying rule.
Sneezing at a banquet was considered by the Romans to be especially
ominous; and when it unfortunately occurred, some of the viands were
brought back to the table and again tasted, as this was thought to
counteract any evil effects. The Greeks considered that the brain
controlled the function of sneezing. They were therefore as careful to
avoid eating this portion of any animal as the Pythagoreans were to avoid
beans as an article of diet.[349]

It is related that just before the battle of Salamis, B. C. 480, and
while Themistocles, the Athenian commander, was offering a sacrifice to
the gods on the deck of his galley, a sneeze was heard on the right hand,
which was hailed as a fortunate omen by Euphrantides the Soothsayer.
Again, it happened once that while Xenophon was addressing his soldiers,
referring to the righteousness of their cause and the consequent divine
favor which might be expected, some one chanced to sneeze. Pausing in
his address, the great general remarked that Jupiter had been pleased
to send them a happy omen, and it seemed therefore but right to make an
offering to the gods. Then, after all the company had joined in a hymn
of thanksgiving, the sacrifice was made, and Xenophon continued with his
exhortation.

Among the ancients sneezing to the right was considered fortunate and
to the left unlucky. In some erotic verses with the title “Acme and
Septimius,” by the Roman poet, Catullus (B. C. 87-47), are these lines,
twice repeated:—

    Love stood listening with delight,
    And sneezed his auspice on the right.

The omens of sneezing were thought to be of especial significance in
lovers’ affairs, and indeed the classic poets were wont to say of
beautiful women that Love had sneezed at their birth. The Italian poet,
Propertius, while asserting his enduring affection for Cynthia, the
daughter of the poet Hostius, thus apostrophizes the chief theme of his
eulogies: “In thy new-born days, my life, did golden Love sneeze loud and
clear a favoring omen.”

The Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans regarded the act of sneezing as a kind
of divinity or oracle, which warned them on various occasions as to the
course they should pursue, and also foretold future good or evil.[350]

Plutarch said that the familiar spirit or demon of Socrates was simply
the sneezing either of the philosopher himself or of those about him.
If any person in his company sneezed on his right hand, Socrates felt
encouraged to proceed with the project or enterprise which he may have
had in mind. But if the sneeze were on his left hand, he abandoned
the undertaking. If he himself sneezed when he was doubtful whether
or not to do anything, he regarded it as evidence in the affirmative;
but if he happened to sneeze after any work was already entered upon,
he immediately desisted therefrom.[351] The demon, we are told, always
notified him by a slight sneeze whenever his wife Xantippe was about to
have a scolding fit, so that he was thus enabled opportunely to absent
himself. And in so doing Socrates appears to have given proof, were any
needed, of his superior wisdom; for Xantippe had been known to upset the
supper-table in her anger, and that, too, when a guest was present.

On a column in the garden of the House of the Faun, at Pompeii, there is
a Latin inscription which may be freely translated as follows:—

    Victoria, good luck to thee and wherever thou wilt, sneeze
    pleasantly.[352]

Clement of Alexandria, in a treatise on politeness, characterizes
sneezing as effeminate and as a sign of intemperance.

Probably the only Biblical reference to the subject of sneezing is in 2
Kings iv. 35, where the son of the Shunamite sneezed seven times and then
revived at the prayer of Elisha.

Hor-Apollo, in his treatise on Egyptian hieroglyphics, says that the
inhabitants of ancient Egypt believed that the capacity for sneezing was
in inverse ratio to the size of the spleen; and they portrayed the dog as
the personification of sneezing and smelling, because they believed that
that animal had a very small spleen. On the other hand, they held that
animals with large spleens were unable to sneeze, smell, or laugh, that
is, to be open, blithe, or frank-hearted.[353]

The function of the spleen in the animal economy is not fully understood
to-day. If the above theory were correct, we should expect that the
removal of a dog’s spleen would incite excessive sternutation and render
more acute the sense of smell, whereas the only marked result of the
operation is a voracious appetite. The theory is certainly unique, as
well as illogical and absurd.

St. Augustine wrote that, in his time, so prevalent was faith in the
omens of sneezing that a man would return to bed if he happened to sneeze
while putting on his shoes in the morning.

The learned English prelate, Alcuin (735-804), expressed the opinion that
sneezings were devoid of value as auguries except to those who placed
reliance in them. But he further remarked that “it was permitted to the
evil spirit, for the deceiving of persons who observe these things,
to cause that in some degree prognostics should often foretell the
truth.”[354]

In an ancient Anglo-Saxon sermon, a copy of which is in the library of
Cambridge University, England, reference is made to certain superstitions
existing among the Saxons before their conversion to Christianity. The
writer says: “Every one who trusts in divinations, either by fowls or
by sneezings, or by horses or dogs, he is no Christian, but a notorious
apostate.”


II. MEDIÆVAL BELIEFS ABOUT SNEEZING

From certain ancient Welsh poems, it appears that sneezing was considered
unlucky in Wales in the twelfth century;[355] but in Europe generally, in
mediæval times, the sneeze of a cat on the eve of a wedding was reckoned
auspicious.[356] In the writings of the French poet, Pierre de Ronsard
(1524-85), the opinion is expressed that not to sneeze while regarding
the sun is a sign of ill-luck; and from Doctor Hartlieb’s “Book of all
Forbidden Arts, Unbelief, and Sorcery,” 1455, we learn that in Germany
there was a popular belief that three sneezes indicated the presence of
four thieves around the house.

Jerome Cardan, the noted Italian philosopher and physician (1501-76), in
speaking of genii or familiar spirits, remarked that, in his opinion,
sneezing was a supernatural phenomenon, and, like the sound of ringing in
the ears, was premonitory of some event of importance.[357]

Some idea of the credulous notions on the subject of sneezing which were
prevalent in England during Queen Elizabeth’s reign may be obtained from
the following extracts from the “Burghley Papers,” Lansdowne MSS. (No.
121) in the British Museum.[358]

    1. If that any man talk with another about any matter and snese
    twise or iiij tymes, let him by and by arise, yf he sett, or yf
    he be stand, let him move hymself and go straightway without
    any stays about his business, for he shall prosper.

    2. Yf he snese more than iiij tymes, let him staye, for it is
    doubtful how he shall spede.

    3. Yf a man snese one or iij tymes, let him proceed no further
    in any matter, but let all alone, for it shall com to nought.

    4. Yf two men do snese bothe at one instant, yt is a good syne,
    and let them go about their purpose, yf that it be either by
    water or land, and they shall prosper.

    5. To snese twise is a good syne, but to snese once or iij
    times is an yll syne. If one come suddenly into an house and
    snese one tyme, yt is a good token.

    6. One snese in the night season made by any of the household
    betokenyth good luck to the house, but yf he make two sneses,
    yt signifieth domage.

    7. Trewe yt is that he who snesith takit pte (part) of the
    signification in this condition, that he pte some pte with
    other.

    8. Yf that any man snese twyse iij nightes together, it is a
    tokyn that one of the house shall dye, or else some greatt
    goodness or badness shall happon in the house.

    9. Yf a man go to dwell in an house and snese one tyme, lett
    him dwell there, but yf he snese twyse, lett him not tarry,
    neither let him dwell therein.

    10. Yf a man lye awake in his bedd and snese one tyme, it is a
    syne of some great sickness or hyndraunce.

    11. Yf a man sleape in his bedde and snese one tyme, it
    betokenyth greatt trouble, the death of some person or extreme
    hyndraunce in the loss of substaunce.

    12. Yf a man lye in his bedde and make a snese one tyme, it is
    a good syne both of health and lucre, but if he sleape it is
    moche better.

    13. Yf a man snese twyse three nights together, it is a good
    syne, whatsoever he go aboutt.

    14. Yf a man travell by the ways and come into an Inne and
    snese twyse, let him departe out of the house and go to another
    or else he shall not prosper.

    15. Yf a man go forthe to seke worke and laye hands of it and
    then snese one tyme, let hym departe, leaving his worke behind
    hym, and seke worke elsewhere, and so shall do well; but yf he
    snese twyse let hym take his worke and go no further.

    16. If any man, after he haue made a bargayne with another
    for any thing and then snese one tyme, it signifieth that his
    bargayne will not continue.

    17. Yf a man rise betymes on a Monday mornyng out of his bedd
    and snese one tyme, yt is a token that he shall prosper and
    gayne all that week, or haue some other joye and comoditie.

    18. But yf he snese twyse, yt is cleane contrary.

    19. Yf a man lose a horse or anything els, and is stopping
    (_sic_) out of his dore to seke it, do snese one tyme, yt is a
    token he shall haue it agayne, but yf he snese twyse he shall
    never haue it agayne.

    20. Yf a man ryse betyme on a Sonday and snese ii tymes, yt is
    a good tokyn, but if he snese one tyme, it is an yll tokyn.

    21. Yf a man at the very beginning of dinner or supper be
    minded to eat, and snese twyse, yt is a good tokyn, but yf he
    snese one time, yt is an yll syne.

    22. Yf a man lye sicke in bed and mystrusts himselfe, and snese
    one tyme, yt is a tokyn of deathe, but if he snese twyse he
    shall escape.

    23. A woman being very sicke, yf she snese one tyme, yt is a
    syne of health, but if she snese twyse, she shall dye.


III. MODERN SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT SNEEZING

Sneezing at the commencement of an undertaking, whether it be an
important enterprise or the most commonplace act, has usually been
accounted unlucky. Thus, according to a modern Teutonic belief, if a
man sneeze on getting up in the morning, he should lie down again for
another three hours, else his wife will be his master for a week.[359]
So likewise the pious Hindu, who may perchance sneeze while beginning
his morning ablutions in the river Ganges, immediately recommences his
prayers and toilet; and among the Alfoorans or aborigines of the island
of Celebes in the Indian archipelago, if one happens to sneeze when about
leaving a gathering of friends, he at once resumes his seat for a while
before making another start.[360]

When a native of the Banks Islands, in Polynesia, sneezes, he imagines
that some one is calling his name, either with good or evil intent, the
motive being shown by the character of the sneeze. Thus a gentle sneeze
implies kindly feeling on the part of the person speaking of him, while a
violent paroxysm indicates a malediction.

In the latter case he resorts to a peculiar form of divination in order
to ascertain who it is that curses him. This consists in raising the
arms above the head and revolving the closed fists one around the other.
The revolution of the fists is the question, “Is it such an one?” Then
the arms are thrown out, and the answer, presumably affirmative, is given
by the cracking of the elbow-joints.[361]

In Scotland even educated people have been known to maintain that idiots
are incapable of sneezing,[362] and hence, if this be true, the inference
is clear that the act of sternutation is _prima facie_ evidence of the
possession of a certain degree of intelligence.

British nurses used to think that infants were under a fairy spell until
they sneezed. “God sain the bairn,” exclaimed an old Scotch nurse when
her little charge sneezed at length, “it’s no a warlock.”

The Irish people also entertain similar beliefs. Thus in Lady Wilde’s
“Ancient Cures, Charms, and Usages of Ireland” (p. 41) is to be found
the following description of a magical ceremony for the cure of a
fairy-stricken child. A good fire is made, wherein is thrown a quantity
of certain herbs prescribed by the fairy women; and after a thick
smoke has risen, the child is carried thrice around the fire while an
incantation is repeated and holy water is sprinkled about liberally.
Meantime all doors must be closed, lest some inquisitive fairy enter and
spy upon the proceedings; and the magical rites must be continued _until
the child sneezes three times_, for this looses the spell, and the little
one is permanently redeemed from the power of witches.

Among uncivilized peoples the sneeze of a young child has a certain
mystic significance, and is intimately associated with its prospective
welfare or ill-luck. When, therefore, a Maori infant sneezes, its mother
immediately recites a long charm of words. If the sneeze occurs during a
meal, it is thought to be prognostic of a visit, or of some interesting
piece of news; whereas in Tonga it is deemed an evil token.

So, too, among the New Zealanders, if a child sneeze on the occasion of
receiving its name, the officiating priest at once holds to its ear the
wooden image of an idol and sings some mystic words.

In a note appended to his “Mountain Bard,” the Ettrick Shepherd says,
regarding the superstitions of Selkirkshire: “When they sneeze in
first stepping out of bed in the morning, they are thence certified
that strangers will be there in the course of the day, in numbers
corresponding to the times they sneeze.”[363]

It was a Flemish belief that a sneeze during a conversation proved that
what one said was the truth,[364] a doctrine which must have commended
itself to snuff-takers.

In Shetlandic and Welsh folk-lore the sneeze of a cat indicates cold
north winds in summer and snow in winter;[365] and the Bohemians have an
alleged infallible test for recognizing the Devil, for they believe that
he must perforce sneeze violently at sight of a cross.[366]

According to a Chinese superstition a sneeze on New Year’s Eve is ominous
for the coming year; and, to offset this, the sneezer must visit three
families of different surnames, and beg from each a small tortoise-shaped
cake, which must be eaten before midnight.[367]

In Turkistan, when a person to whom a remark is addressed sneezes, it
is an asseveration that the opinion or statement is correct, just as if
the person accosted were to exclaim, “That is true!” In the same country
three sneezes are unlucky. When, also, any one hiccoughs, it is etiquette
to say, “You stole something from me,” and this phrase at such times is
supposed to produce good luck.[368]

The Japanese attach significance to the number of times a man sneezes.
Thus, one sneeze indicates that some one is praising him, while two
betoken censure or disparagement; a triple sneeze is commonplace, and
means simply that a person has taken cold.[369] In Mexico, also, it was
formerly believed either that somebody was speaking evil of one who
sneezed, or that he was being talked about by one or more persons.[370]

Sussex people are prejudiced against cats which develop sneezing
proclivities, for they believe that, when a pet feline sneezes thrice,
it augurs ill for the health of the household, and is premonitory of
influenza and bronchial affections.[371]

In an interesting article in “Macmillan’s Magazine,” entitled “From the
Note-book of a Country Doctor,”[372] a physician practicing in a remote
part of Cornwall tells of a peculiar cure for deafness which recently
came to his notice.

One of his patients, an elderly woman whose name was Grace Rickard,
complained that she could no longer hear the grunting of her pigs, a
sound which, from childhood, had roused her from sleep in the early
morning. The doctor was obliged to tell her that the difficulty was due
to advancing years.

A short time after, on calling at her house, he found her sitting
before the fire with a piece of board in her lap, and deeply absorbed
in thought. Just as the door opened, she exclaimed: “Lord, deliver me
from my sins,” and this petition was followed by a peculiar noise which
sounded like an abortive sneeze. “Don’t be frited, zur,” she said, “’tes
aunly a sneeze.” “It’s the oddest sneeze I ever heard,” said the doctor;
“why can’t you sneeze in the ordinary way?” “So I do, when I can,” she
explained; “but now ’tes got up to nine times running, and wherever to
get nine sneezes from is moor ’n I knaw.”

It appeared that Grace was making trial of an infallible cure for
deafness, the necessary apparatus for which consisted of a piece of board
and some stout pins. One of the latter is stuck into the board every
morning, the patient’s forefingers being crossed over the pin, while
the pious ejaculation above mentioned is repeated simultaneously with a
vigorous sneeze. On the next morning two pins must be stuck in the board,
the petition and sneeze being once repeated; on the following morning
three pins, three prayers, and three sneezes, and so on up to nine times.


IV. THE DOCTRINE OF DEMONIACAL POSSESSION

The natural instinct of the untutored savage is to regard the act of
sneezing as the manifestation of an attack by a demon. Certain African
tribes, for instance, are said to believe that whoever sneezes is
possessed of an evil spirit, to whose malicious agency is due the
violence of the paroxysm and its utter disregard of times and seasons.

Dr. Edward B. Tylor, in his “Primitive Culture” (vol. i. p. 97), asserts
that the Zulus have faith in the agency of kindly spirits as well, and
says that, when one of these people sneezes, he is wont to exclaim: “I am
now blessed; the ancestral spirit is with me. Let me hasten and praise
it, for it is that which causes me to sneeze.” Thereupon he praises the
spirits of the dead, and asks for various blessings. But among most
uncivilized peoples sneezing is placed in the category of paroxysmal
diseases, and reckoned to be of demoniac origin.

Inasmuch as sneezing is often one symptom of an incipient cold, which is
a physical ailment, and as among savage tribes every physical ailment
is regarded as a case of demoniacal possession, the use of charms and
exorcisms to counteract the efforts of the evil spirits seems a natural
expedient.[373]

When an American Indian falls sick, he believes his illness to be the
work of some spiteful demon. Therefore, when he gets well, he changes his
name, so that the demon may not be able to recognize him again.[374]

The chief aim of the medicine-man, in treating a patient, is the
expulsion of the evil spirit; and this is the prime object of the various
superstitious ceremonies and incantations which are a prominent feature
in medical practice among savages.[375] The medicine-man strives to drive
away the demon by frightful sounds and gesticulations, and by hideous
grimaces and contortions. Sometimes he makes a small image typifying
the spirit of sickness, and this image is then maliciously broken in
pieces.[376]

The natives of West Africa believe that the mere mention of unpleasant
names suffices to frighten away the demons who cause sickness; and these
spirits may moreover be deceived by simply changing the name of a sick
child. In the province of Tonquin, a French possession in southeastern
Asia, hateful names given to ailing children are likewise thought to
terrify the evil spirits; but when the little patients are convalescent,
pleasanter names are substituted.[377]

The Indians of Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island, attribute physical
ailments either to the absence or irregular conduct of the soul, or to
the agency of spirits, and medical practice is governed accordingly;
therefore the Okanogons of the State of Washington subject patients
affected with serious illnesses to the magical treatment of the
medicine-man.[378]

The islanders of the South Pacific have their own doctrine about the
philosophy of sneezing. They believe that, when the spirit goes traveling
about, its return naturally occasions some commotion, as is evident from
the violent act of sneezing. They therefore deem it proper to welcome
back the wandering spirit, the form of greeting varying in the different
islands. The phrase employed by the natives of Raratonga, for example,
means “Ha! you have come back!”[379]

The “Sadda,” one of the sacred books of the Parsees, counsels the
faithful to have recourse to prayer when they sneeze, because at that
critical moment the demon is especially active.

The Parsees regard sneezing as a manifestation that the evil spirits, who
are constantly seeking to enter the body, have been forcibly expelled by
the interior fire which, in their belief, animates every human being.
When, therefore, a Parsee hears any one sneeze, he exclaims, “Blessed be
Ormuzd!” thus praising his chief deity. The Parsees are forbidden to talk
while eating, because at such times demons are on the alert, watching for
opportunities to gain admission to the body through the mouth while a
person is engaged in conversation.[380]

Pious Brahmins are careful to touch the right ear when they happen
to sneeze either during the performance of a religious ceremony or at
certain other times specified in the “Shastra,” or holy books of the
Hindus. Evil spirits were believed to enter the body through the ears, as
well as by the nose or mouth, and the object of touching the ear was to
prevent their gaining admission there.

In reference to this subject, Gerald Massey says, in the “Natural
Genesis” (vol. i. pp. 83-85):—

    Sneezing is not only a vigorous form of breathing, but it is
    involuntary; hence inspired, or of extraordinary origin. A
    hearty sneeze, when one is ill and faint, would imply a sudden
    accession of the breathing power, which was inwardly inspiring
    and outwardly expelling. The good spirit enters and the bad
    spirit departs, cast out by the sudden impulsion. The expulsion
    and repudiation implied in sneezing is yet glanced at in the
    saying that such a thing is “not to be sneezed at.”

The natives of Turkistan consider yawning to be a reprehensible act,
originating from an evil place in one’s heart, and indicative of a state
of preparedness for the reception of demons. When, therefore, they yawn,
the hand is placed, palm outwards, before the open mouth, thus barring
out the demons.[381]

The once popular opinion, which is still met with to-day, that the
efficacy of a medicine is proportionate to its harshness of flavor, is
probably a relic of the ancient theory which attributed illnesses to
possession by evil spirits. When one’s body was believed to be the abode
of such a spirit, the natural desire was to drive out the unwelcome
visitor, and to force him to seek some other habitation. Nowadays we have
so far abandoned this theory that, while we may have faith in the virtues
of bitter herbs, we are ready to welcome also the palatable remedies of
the modern pharmacopœia; but until comparatively recent times the science
of therapeutics was dominated by superstition, and physicians prescribed
remedies composed of the most repulsive and uncanny ingredients.

In Tibet antiseptics are employed in surgical operations, the rationale
of their use in that country being the preservation of the wound from
evil spirits; and when smallpox rages in the neighborhood of the city
of Leh, capital of the province of Ladakh, the country people seek to
ward off the epidemic by placing thorns on their bridges and at their
boundary lines.[382] This practice is strikingly analogous in principle
to some of the superstitious uses of iron and steel in the form of sharp
instruments, of which mention has been made elsewhere in this volume.

The aboriginal Tibetans ascribe illnesses to the spite of demons, and
hence a chief object of their religious rites is the pacification of
these malignant beings by the sacrifice of a cow, pig, goat, or other
animal.[383]

Throughout Christendom it is customary for those present to invoke the
divine blessing upon a person who sneezes, and the Moslem, under like
circumstances, prays to Allah for aid against the powers of evil. In
either case the underlying idea appears to be the same, namely, the
doctrine of invading spirits.

In ancient Egypt illnesses were thought to be caused by demons who had
somehow entered the patient’s body and taken up their abode there; and
the Chaldean physicians, actuated by the same belief, were wont to
prescribe the most nauseating medicines in order to thoroughly disgust
the demon in possession, and thus enforce his departure.[384]

This doctrine of spiritual possession was formerly even supposed to be
warranted by Scripture, and especially by a verse of the 141st Psalm:
“Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.” This
passage was interpreted as an entreaty for preservation from evil
spirits, who were likely to enter the body through the mouth,[385]
especially during the acts of yawning, sneezing, talking, and eating.
The Hindus consider yawning as dangerous for this reason, and hence the
practice of mouth-washing, which is a part of their daily ritual. Hence
also their custom of cracking their fingers and exclaiming “Great God!”
after yawning, to intimidate the _Bhúts_, or malignant spirits. Sneezing
is usually accounted lucky in India, except at the commencement of an
undertaking, because it means the expulsion of a _Bhút_.[386]

Josephus relates having seen a Jew named Eleazar exorcise devils from
people who were possessed, in the presence of the Emperor Vespasian and
many of his soldiers. His mode of procedure consisted in applying to the
demoniac’s nose a ring containing a piece of the root of a magical herb,
and then withdrawing the evil spirit through the nostrils, meanwhile
repeating certain incantations originally composed by Solomon.


V. SALUTATION AFTER SNEEZING

The origin of the benediction after sneezing, a custom well-nigh
universal, is involved in obscurity. A popular legend says that, before
the time of Jacob, men sneezed but once, as the shock proved fatal. The
patriarch, however, obtained by intercession a relaxation of this law,
on condition that every sneeze should be consecrated by an ejaculatory
prayer.[387] According to a well-known myth of classical antiquity,
Prometheus formed of clay the model of a man, and desiring to animate
the lifeless figure, was borne to heaven by the Goddess Minerva, where
he filled a reed with celestial fire stolen from a wheel of the Sun’s
chariot. Returning then to earth, he applied the magical reed to the
nostrils of the image, which thereupon became a living man, and began its
existence by sneezing. Prometheus, delighted with his success, uttered
a fervent wish for the welfare of his newly formed creature. The latter
thenceforward always repeated aloud the same benediction whenever he
heard any one sneeze, and enjoined upon his children the same practice,
which was thus transmitted to succeeding generations.

Famianus Strada, the Italian Jesuit historian (1572-1649), in his
“Prolusiones Academicæ,” relates that one day, when Cicero was present
at a performance of the Roman opera, he began to sneeze, whereupon the
entire audience, irrespective of rank, arose and with one accord cried
out, “God bless you!” or, as the common phrase was, “May Jupiter be with
thee!” Whereat three young men named Fannius, Fabalus, and Lemniscus, who
were lounging in one of the boxes, began an animated discussion in regard
to the antiquity of this custom, which all believed to have originated
with Prometheus.[388]

Even in the time of Aristotle, salutation after sneezing was considered
an ancient custom;[389] and references to it are to be found in the
writings of Roman authors. Pliny narrates in his “Natural History” that
the Emperor Tiberius Cæsar, who was known as one of the most melancholy
and unsociable of men, scrupulously exacted a benediction from his
attendants whenever he sneezed, whether in his palace or while driving
in his chariot; and Apuleius, the platonic philosopher of the second
century, alludes to the subject in his story of “The Fuller’s Wife.”

Although the fact of the existence of this custom centuries before
the Christian era is beyond cavil, yet a very general popular belief
attributes its origin to a much later period. The Italian historian,
Carlo Sigonio, voices this belief in his statement that the practice
began in the sixth century, during the pontificate of Gregory the Great.
At this period a virulent pestilence raged in Italy, which proved fatal
to those who sneezed. The Pope, therefore, ordered prayers to be said
against it, accompanied by certain signs of the cross.[390] And the
people were wont also to say to those who sneezed, “God help ye!”[391] a
revival of a custom dating back to prehistoric times.

Again, Jacobus de Voragine (1230-98) wrote as follows in the “Golden
Legend,” a popular religious work of the Middle Ages:—

    For a right grete and grevous maladye: for as the Romayns
    had in the lenton lyved sobrely and in contynence, and after
    at Ester had receyvd theyr Savyour; after they disordered
    them in etyng, in drynkyng, in playes, and in lecherye. And
    therefore our Lord was meuyed ayenst them and sent them a grete
    pestelence, which was called the Botche of impedymye, and that
    was cruell and sodayne, and caused peple to dye in goyng by
    the waye, in pleying, in leeying atte table, and in spekyng
    one with another sodeynly they deyed. In this manere somtyme
    snesyng they deyed; so that whan any persone was herd snesyng,
    anone they that were by said to hym, _God helpe you_, or _Cryst
    helpe_, and yet endureth the custome. And also whan he sneseth
    or gapeth, he maketh to fore his face the signe of the crosse
    and blessith hym. And yet endureth this custome.

The Icelander, when he sneezes, says, “God help me!” and to another
person who sneezes he says, “God help you!” In Icelandic tradition the
custom dates from a remote period, when the Black Pest raged virulently
in portions of the country, and the mortality therefrom was great.
At length the scourge reached a certain farm where lived a brother
and sister, and they observed that the members of the household who
succumbed to the disease were first attacked by a violent paroxysm of
sneezing; therefore they were wont to exclaim “God help me!” when they
themselves sneezed. Of all the inhabitants of that district, these two
were the only ones who survived the pest, and hence the Icelanders,
throughout succeeding generations, have continued the pious custom thus
originated.[392]

In mediæval German poetry are to be found occasional references to
this subject, as in the following passage quoted in Grimm’s “Teutonic
Mythology:” “The pagans durst not sneeze, even though one should say,
‘God help thee.’” And in the same work allusion is made to a quaint bit
of fairy-lore about enchanted sprites sneezing under a bridge, that some
one may call out “God help,” and undo the spell.

In the year 1542 the Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto, received a
visit in Florida from a native chief named Guachoya, and during their
interview the latter sneezed. Immediately his attendants arose and
saluted him with respectful gestures, at the same time saying: “May the
Sun guard thee, be with thee, enlighten thee, magnify thee, protect thee,
favor thee,” and other similar good wishes. And the Spaniards who were
present were impressed by the fact that, in connection with sneezing,
even more elaborate ceremonies were observed by savage tribes than those
which obtained among civilized nations. And hence they reasoned that
such observances were natural and instinctive with all mankind.[393] We
have the testimony of the earliest English explorers that the custom of
salutation after sneezing was common in the remotest portions of Africa
and in the far East. Speke and Grant were unable to discover any trace
of religion among the natives of equatorial Africa, except in their
practice of uttering an Arabic ejaculation or prayer whenever a person
sneezed.[394]

The Portuguese traveler, Godinho, wrote that whenever the emperor of
Monomotapa sneezed, acclamations were universal throughout his realm;
and in Guinea in the last century, whenever a person of rank sneezed,
every one present knelt down, clapped their hands, and wished him every
blessing. The courtiers of the king of Sennaar in Nubia are wont on the
occasion of a royal sneeze to turn their backs on their sovereign while
vigorously slapping the right hip.[395] Among the Zulu tribes, sneezing
is viewed as a favorable symptom in a sick person, and the natives
are accustomed to return thanks after it. In Madagascar, when a child
sneezes, its mother invokes the divine blessing, conformably to European
usage; and in Persia the sneezer is the recipient of congratulations and
good wishes.

In the “Zend-Avesta,” or sacred writings of the Persian religion, is
the injunction: “And whensoever it be that thou hearest a sneeze given
by thy neighbor, thou shalt say unto him, _Ahunavar Ashim-Vuhu_, and so
shall it be well with thee.”[396] In Egypt, if a man sneeze, he says,
“Praise be to God!” and all present, with the exception of servants,
rejoin, “God have mercy upon you!”[397]

The Omahas, Dakotas, and other Sioux tribes of American Indians attach
a peculiar importance to sneezing. Thus, if one of their number sneeze
once, he believes that his name has been called either by his son, his
wife, or some intimate friend. Hence he at once exclaims, “My son!” But
if he sneeze twice, he says, “My son and his mother!”[398]

In France the rules of etiquette formerly required that a gentleman who
sneezed in the presence of another should take off his hat, and on the
subsidence of the paroxysm he was expected formally to return the salutes
of all present. The salutation of sneezers by removal of the hat was
customary in England also. Joseph Hall, who was Bishop of Exeter in 1627,
wrote that when a superstitious man sneezed he did not reckon among his
friends those present who failed to uncover.

The Italians are wont to salute the sneezer with the ejaculation _Viva_,
or _Felicità_; and it has been reasoned that the latter expression may
have been sometimes employed under like circumstances by the ancient
Romans, because an advertisement on the walls of Pompeii concludes by
wishing the people Godspeed with the single word _Felicitas_!

So, too, in Ireland the sneezer is greeted with fervent benedictions,
such as, “The blessing of God and the holy Mary be upon you!” for such
invocations are thought to counteract the machinations of evil-disposed
fairies.[399]

The Siamese have a unique theory of their own on this subject. They
believe that the Supreme Judge of the spiritual world is continually
turning over the pages of a book containing an account of the life and
doings of every human being; and when he comes to the page relating to
any individual, the latter never fails to sneeze. In this way the Siamese
endeavor to give a plausible reason for the prevalence of sneezing among
men, and also for the accompanying salutation. In Siam and Laos the
ordinary expression is, “May the judgment be favorable to you.”[400]

In the Netherlands a person who sneezes is believed thereby to place
himself in the power of a witch, unless some one invokes a divine
blessing; and such notions afford a plausible explanation of one theory
of the origin of this custom.[401]

Grimm (vol. iv. p. 1637) refers to a passage in the “Avadanas,” or
Buddhist parables, in which the rat is represented as wishing the cat joy
when she sneezes. And in the department of Finistère in northwest France,
when a horse sneezes or coughs the people say, “May St. Eloy assist you!”
St. Eloy was the guardian of farriers and the tutelar god of horses.[402]

The natives of the Fiji Islands exclaim after a sneeze, “_Mbula_,” that
is, “May you live!” or “Health to you!” And the sneezer politely responds
with “_Mole_,” “Thanks.” Formerly Fijian etiquette was yet more exacting
and required the sneezer to add, “May you club some one!” or “May your
wife have twins!”[403]

A Spanish writer, Juan Cervera Bachiller, in his book “Creencias y
superstitiones,” Madrid, 1883, says that this widely diffused practice
appears to have originated partly from religious motives and partly from
gallantry, and that it is as obviously a relic of pagan times as are the
various omens which have ever been associated with sneezing.

The apparently independent origin of the custom of salutation after
sneezing among nations remote from each other, and its prevalence
from time immemorial alike in the most cultured communities and among
uncivilized races, have been thought to furnish striking evidence of the
essential similarity of human minds, whatever their environment.


VI. LEGENDS RELATING TO SNEEZING

In the traditional lore of ancient Picardy is the following legend:—

In the vicinity of Englebelmer nocturnal wayfarers were often surprised
at hearing repeated sneezes by the roadside, and the young people of
the neighboring villages made frequent attempts to ascertain the origin
of the mysterious sounds, but without avail. The mischievous spirit or
_lutin_ took pleasure in seeing them run about in a vain search while he
himself remained invisible. Finally people became accustomed to hearing
these phantom sneezes, and, as no harm had ever resulted to any one, with
the contempt bred of familiarity they gave little heed to the spiritual
manifestations, and were content with merely crossing themselves devoutly.

One fine moonlight evening in summer a peasant returning from market
heard the usual _Atchi, atchi_, but pursued his way with equanimity.
However, the _lutin_ pursued him for about a mile, sneezing repeatedly.
At length the peasant impatiently exclaimed, “May the good Lord bless you
and your cold in the head!” Scarcely had he spoken when there appeared
before him the apparition of a man clad in a long white garment. “Thank
you, my friend,” said he: “you have just released me from the spell under
which I have long rested. In consequence of my sins, God condemned me to
wander about this village sneezing without rest from eve till morn, until
some charitable person should deliver me by saying a benediction. For at
least five hundred years I have thus roamed about, and you are the first
one who has said to me ‘God bless you.’ Fortunately it occurred to me to
follow you, and thus I have been set free. I thank you. Good-by.”

Thereafter the mysterious sounds were no longer heard; and thus, in the
belief of the peasants of Picardy, arose the custom of salutation after
sneezing.[404]

Under a bridge near the town of Paderborn, in Prussia, there lives a
poor soul who does nothing but sneeze at frequent intervals. If a wagon
happens to pass over the bridge at the moment when a sneeze is heard,
and the driver fails to say “God help thee,” the vehicle will surely be
overturned, and the driver will become poor and break his leg.

Tradition says that a godless fellow who died long ago of incessant
sneezing, during an epidemic of the plague at Wurmlingen in Würtemberg,
was condemned on account of his sins to wander about the neighborhood,
still sneezing at intervals. One day, while one of the villagers was
crossing a bridge over some meadows near the town, he heard some one
underneath sneeze twice, and each time he piously responded, “God help
thee!” When, however, he heard a third sneeze, the villager thought to
himself, “That fellow may keep on sneezing for a long time and make a
fool of me.” So he cried out angrily, “May the Devil help you!” Thereupon
a voice from under the bridge exclaimed pitifully, “If you had only said,
‘God help thee!’ a third time, I should have been freed from the spell
which binds me.”[405]



DAYS OF GOOD AND EVIL OMEN

            Friday’s moon,
    Come when it will, it comes too soon.

                                         _Proverb._


I. EGYPTIAN DAYS

The belief in lucky and unlucky days appears to have been first taught by
the magicians of ancient Chaldea, and we learn from history that similar
notions affected every detail of primitive Babylonian life, thousands
of years before Christ. Reference to an “unlucky month” is to be found
in a list of deprecatory incantations contained in a document from the
library of the royal palace at Nineveh. This document is written in the
Accadian dialect of the Turanian language, which was akin to that spoken
in the region of the lower Euphrates; a language already obsolete and
unintelligible to the Assyrians of the seventh century B. C.[406] Certain
days were called _Dies Egyptiaci_, because they were thought to have been
pronounced unlucky by the astrologers of ancient Egypt.

In that country the unlucky days were, however, fewer in number than the
fortunate ones, and they also differed in the degree of their ill-luck.
Thus, while some were markedly ominous, others merely threatened
misfortune, and still others were of mixed augury, partly good and
partly evil. There were certain days upon which absolute idleness was
enjoined upon the people, when they were expected to sit quietly at home,
indulging in _dolce far niente_.[407]

The poet Hesiod, who is believed to have flourished about one thousand
years B. C., in the third book of his poem, “Works and Days,” which is
indeed a kind of metrical almanac, distinguishes lucky days from others,
and gives advice to farmers regarding the most favorable days for the
various operations of agriculture. Thus he recommends the eleventh of
the month as excellent for reaping corn, and the twelfth for shearing
sheep. But the thirteenth was an unlucky day for sowing, though favorable
for planting. The fifth of each month was an especially unfortunate day,
while the thirtieth was the most propitious of all.

Some of the most intelligent and learned Greeks were very punctilious
in their observance of Egyptian days. The philosopher Proclus (A. D.
412-485) was said to be even more scrupulous in this regard than the
Egyptians themselves. And Plotinus (A. D. 204-270), another eminent
Grecian philosopher, believed with the astrologers of a later day, that
the positions of the planets in the heavens exerted an influence over
human affairs.[408]

In an ancient calendar of the year 334, in the reign of Constantine the
Great, twenty-six Egyptian days were designated.[409] At an early period,
however, the church authorities forbade the superstitious observance of
these days.

Some of the most eminent early writers of the Christian Church, St.
Ambrose, St. Augustine, and St. Chrysostom, were earnest in their
denunciation of the prevalent custom of regulating the affairs of life by
reference to the supposed omens of the calendar. The fourth council of
Carthage, in 398, censured such practices; and the synod of Rouen, in the
reign of Clovis, anathematized those who placed faith in such relics of
paganism.[410]

We learn on the authority of Marco Polo that the Brahmins of the
province of Laristan, in southern Persia, in the thirteenth century,
were extremely punctilious in their choice of suitable days for the
performance of any business matters. This famous traveler wrote that a
Brahmin who contemplated making a purchase, for example, would measure
the length of his own shadow in the early morning sunlight, and if the
shadow were of the proper length, as officially prescribed for that day,
he would proceed to make the purchase; otherwise he would wait until the
shadow conformed in length to a predetermined standard for that day of
the week.

The Latin historian, Rolandino (1200-76), in the third book of his
“Chronicle,” describes an undertaking which resulted disastrously
because, as was alleged, it was rashly begun on an “Egyptian day.” There
is frequent mention of these days in many ancient manuscripts in the
Ambrosian Library at Milan.[411]

In a so-called “Book of Precedents,” printed in 1616, fifty-three days
are specified as being “such as the Egyptians noted to be dangerous to
begin or take anything in hand, or to take a journey or any such thing.”
An ancient manuscript mentions twenty-eight days in the year “which
were revealed by the Angel Gabriel to good Joseph, which ever have been
remarked to be very fortunayte dayes either to let blood, cure wounds,
use marchandizes, sow seed, build houses, or take journees.”

Astrologers formerly specified particular days when it was dangerous for
physicians to bleed patients; and especially to be avoided were the first
Monday in April, on which day Cain was born and his brother Abel slain;
the first Monday in August, the alleged anniversary of the destruction
of Sodom and Gomorrah; and the last Monday in December, which was the
reputed birthday of Judas Iscariot.

In Mason’s “Anatomie of Sorcerie” (1612), the prevailing notions on this
subject were characterized as vain speculations of the astrologers,
having neither foundation in God’s word nor yet natural reason to support
them, but being grounded only upon the superstitious imagination of
men. A work of 1620, entitled “Melton’s Astrologaster,” says that the
Christian faith is violated when, like a pagan and apostate, any man
“doth observe those days which are called _Egyptiaci_, or the calends of
January, or any month, day, time, or year, either to travel, marry or
do anything in.” And the learned Sir Thomas Browne, in his “Pseudodoxia
Epidemica,” published in 1658, declaimed in quaint but forcible language
against the frivolity of such doctrines.


II. ROMAN SUPERSTITION CONCERNING DAYS

The Romans had their _dies fasti_, corresponding to the modern court days
in England. On such days, of which there were thirty-eight in the year,
it was lawful for the prætor to administer justice and to pronounce the
three words, _Do, dico, addico_, “I give laws, declare right, and adjudge
losses.”

The days on which the courts were not held were called _nefasti_ (from
_ne_ and _fari_), because the three words could not then be legally
spoken by the prætor. But these days came to be regarded as unlucky, a
fact rendered evident by an expression of Horace. The Romans also classed
as unfortunate the days immediately following the calends, nones, and
ides of each month. Unlucky days were termed _dies atri_, because they
were marked in the calendar with black charcoal, the lucky ones being
indicated by means of white chalk. There were also days which were
thought especially favorable for martial operations, but the anniversary
of a national misfortune was considered very inauspicious. Thus after the
defeat of the Romans by the Gauls under Brennus on the banks of the river
Allia, July 16, 390 B. C., that date was given a prominent place among
the black days of the calendar. But not every general was influenced by
such superstitions. Lucullus, when an attempt was made to dissuade him
from attacking Tigranes, king of Armenia (whom he defeated B. C. 69),
because upon that date the Cimbri had vanquished a Roman army, replied,
“_I_ will make it a day of _good_ omen for the Romans.”[412] The Roman
ladies, we are told, gave less heed to the unlucky days of their own
calendar than to the works of Egyptian astrologers, among whom Petosiris
was their favorite authority, when they wished to ascertain the proper
day, and even the hour, for the performance of household and other
duties.[413]

Horace (book ii. ode xiii.) thus apostrophizes a tree, by whose fall he
narrowly escaped being crushed at Sabinum: “Thou cursed tree! whoever he
was that first planted thee did it surely on an unlucky day, and with a
sacrilegious hand.”

The Latin writer, Macrobius, stated that when one of the _nundinæ_ or
market days fell upon New Year’s, it was considered very unfortunate. In
such an event the Emperor Augustus, who was very superstitious, adopted
the method of inserting an extra day in the previous year and subtracting
one from that ensuing, thus preserving the regularity of the Julian
style of reckoning time. Ordinarily, however, New Year’s Day was deemed
auspicious, and on that day, as now, people were accustomed to wish each
other happiness and good fortune.


III. MEDIÆVAL BELIEF IN DAY-FATALITY

The early Saxons in England were extremely credulous in regard to the
luck or misfortune of particular days of the month, and derived a legion
of prognostics, both good and evil, from the age of the moon. Thus, they
considered the twelfth day of the lunar month a profitable one for
sowing, getting married, traveling, and blood-letting, but the thirteenth
day was in bad repute among the Saxons, an evil day for undertaking
any work. The fourteenth was good for all purposes, for buying serfs,
marrying, and putting children to school; whereas the sixteenth was
profitable for nothing but thieving. The twenty-second was a proper time
for buying villains, or agricultural bondmen, and a boy born on that day
would become a physician. The twenty-fifth was good for hunting, and a
girl then born would be of a greedy disposition and a “wool-teaser.”[414]

In an English manuscript of the twelfth century mentioned in Chambers’s
“Book of Days,” and known as the “Exeter Calendar,” New Year’s is set
down as a _Dies mala_. As an illustration of the credulity prevalent in
England in the fifteenth century regarding the influences, meteorological
and moral, of the occurrence of important church festivals on particular
days of the week, a few lines from a manuscript of the Harleian
Collection in the British Museum are here quoted:—

    Lordlings all of you I warn,
    If the day that Christ was born
    Fell upon a Sunday,
    The winter shall be good, I say,
    But great winds aloft shall be;
    The summer shall be fair and dry,
    By kind skill and without loss.
    Through all lands there shall be peace.
    Good time for all things to be done,
    But he that stealeth shall be found soon.
    What child that day born may be
    A great lord he shall live to be.

Not alone in Britain, but throughout the world, men have esteemed one
day above another. This universal tendency of the human mind is tersely
expressed in a translation by Barnaby Googe of some verses accredited
to the Bavarian theologian, Thomas Kirchmaier (1511-78), whose literary
pseudonym was Naogeorgus:—

    And first, betwixt the dayes they make no little difference,
    For all be not of vertue like, nor like preheminence,
    But some of them Egyptian are and full of jeopardee,
    And some againe, beside the rest, both good and luckie bee,
    Like difference of the nights they make, as if the Almightie King,
    That made them all, not gracious were to them in everything.[415]

John Gaule, in his “Magastromancer” (1652), remarks that, according to
the teachings of the astrologers,

    Times can give a certain fortune to our business. The magicians
    likewise have observed, and all the antient verse men consent
    in this, that it is of very great concernment in what moment
    of time and disposition of the heavens everything, whether
    naturall or artificial, hath received its being in this world:
    for they have delivered that the first moment hath so great
    power that all the course of fortune dependeth thereon and may
    be foretold thereby.

In the dark ages, and also in early modern times, the false doctrines of
astrology, an inheritance from the ancients, dominated the actions of
men. In all important enterprises, as well as in every-day labors, it was
deemed essential to make a beginning under the influence of a favorable
planet. Nor did these beliefs prevail exclusively among ignorant people,
but were as well a part of the creed of scholars, and of the nobility and
gentry. Modern astronomical discoveries, and especially the Copernican
system, availed to banish a vast amount of superstition regarding the
malevolent character of certain days. But neither science nor religion
have yet been able wholly to eradicate it, as is evident from the
ill-repute associated with the sixth day of the week even at the present
time, a subject to be considered later.

In the “Loseley Manuscripts,” edited by Alfred John Kempe, London, 1836,
is to be found a letter, some extracts from which may serve to illustrate
the paramount influence of astrology in England in the sixteenth century.
The letter is addressed to Mr. George More, at Thorpe:—

    As for my comming to you upon Wensday next … I cannot possibly
    be wᵗʰ you till Thursday.

    On Fryday and Saterday the signe will be in the heart, on
    Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the stomake, during wᶜʰ tyme
    it wil be no good dealing wᵗʰ your ordinary phisicke until
    Wensday come Sevenight at the nearest, and from that tyme
    forwards for 15 or 16 days passing good. In w’ch time yf
    it will please you to let me understand of your convenient
    opportunity and season, I will not faill to come along
    presently wᵗʰ your messenger.

                  Your worship’s assured
                                lovinge fr(ie)nd
                                                SIMON TRIPPE, M. D.

    WINTON. Septemb. 18. 1581.

The influence of the position of the moon in determining the proper
seasons for surgical operations, and for the administration of medicines,
may be best illustrated by a few extracts from ancient almanacs.

An antique illustrated manuscript almanac for the year 1386 contains the
following advice to physicians:

    In a new mone sal not be layting of blode, for yan are mennys
    bodyes voyed of blode and humos, and yan by layting of blode
    sal yay more be anoyded.

And again:—

    It es to know generally, yt ye tyme electe to gyve a medcyn in
    es whan ye mone and ye Lord ascendyng ar free from all ille and
    not let by it, … and it es hyely to be ware to a medcyn whyles
    ye mone es in an ill aspect, wt Satne or Mars.

An almanac for the year 1568, published by John Securis, London, contains
a list of days in that year favorable or otherwise for the preservation
of man’s health.

The second day of January was therein declared to be wholly propitious.
The twelfth was unfavorable, owing to the furious aspect of Mars to the
Sun, which was not, however, likely to cause bodily sickness, but rather
to incline the hearts of some people to imagine evil of their rulers. The
fifteenth of April was especially to be dreaded. On that day, says the
writer, “God keep us from the fury of Mars.”

In June evil passions were to stir men’s hearts, anger, hatred, and
strife; for in that month were no less than six quartile aspects of the
planets, one to another.

Many propitious days are also mentioned, and in conclusion _all_ days are
declared to be favorable to a good man.

“A New Almanacke and Prognostication for the Yeare of our Lord God 1569”
(London) says that surgical operations must be performed only when “the
Moone or Lorde of the firste house” is in the zodiacal sign governing the
particular member or organ which is to be operated upon.

And in an English almanac for the year 1571 we find the following
passage:—

    No part of man’s body ought to be touched with the Chirurgicall
    instruments, or cauterie actuall or potencial, when the Sunne
    or Moone, or the Lord of the Ascendent, is in the same signe
    that ruleth that part of man’s body.

    Also _Gemini_, _Leo_, the last halfe of _Libra_, and the
    first 12 degrees of _Scorpio_: with _Taurus_, _Virgo_, and
    _Capricorne_, are not good for the letting of bloud. Two days
    before the change of the Moone, and a day after, is yll to let
    bloud.…

    If the same be for the Pestilence, the Phrensie, the Pluresie,
    the Squincie, or for a Continuall headach, proceeding of
    choler or bloud; or for any burning Ague, or extreme paine of
    partes, a man may not so carefully stay for a chosen day by the
    _Almanack_: for that in the meane tyme the pacient perhaps may
    dye. For which cause let the skilfull Chirurgeon open a veine,
    unless he finde the pacient verie weake, or that the Moone be
    in the Same Syne that governeth that part of man’s body.

The persistence of similar beliefs is shown by the following extract from
“A Briefe Prognosticon or rather Diagnosticon for this Year of Grace”
(1615), by John Keene, London:—

    Seeing that these inferiour and sublunary mixt bodies are
    governed of the superiour and simple bodies, and especially by
    the motion of our neighbour Planet, the Moone, diseases vary
    and differ, and not for that she exceedes the rest in vertue
    and power, but because she is neerer us and swifter in motion;
    for wee see, the Moone increasing, humours increase; and when
    she decreaseth, humours decrease: for the bones in the full
    of the Moone are full of marrow, all living creatures both on
    sea and land, are then augmented in humiditie, as the Crab,
    Lobster, Oyster, etc. Also humours in man’s bodie and in Plants
    are then increased: for when the Sunne and Moone are in hot
    signes, heate is increased, in cold signes, cold exceedes
    heate; therefore have we just cause in purging of humours to
    consider the motion of the Moone through every signe of the
    Zodiacke, not only in purging of humours, but also in curing
    diseases and in strengthening the faculties and vertues.

In the “Dialogue of Dives and Pauper,” printed by Richard Pynson in 1493,
this subject is referred to as follows:—

    Alle that take hede to dysmal dayes, or use nyce observances
    in the newe moone, or in the newe yeere, as setting of mete or
    drynke by night on the benche to fede alholde (or gobelyn).

The French traveler, Jean Chardin (1643-1713), stated that in the year
1668 Cossacks invaded the northern provinces of Persia; and when the
inhabitants appealed to the Persian government for aid, they received
only the reply that no assistance could be sent them until the moon had
passed out of the sign of the Scorpion. The Persians formerly divided all
the days of the year into three classes,—preferable or lucky, middling or
indifferent, and unlucky or detested ones;[416] and the Emperor Frederick
the Great of Prussia (1712-86) was governed in his military operations by
the advice of astrologers, and always waited until they had indicated the
fortunate moment for a start.

The “English Apollo, by Richard Saunders, student in the divine,
laudable, and celestial sciences, London, 1656,” in giving advice to
mariners, says that the good or bad position of the planets at the time
of sailing has much influence over the fortunes of a voyage. The ancient
sages, moreover, declared that the chief means of averting evil were,
first, the devout invocation of Providence; and, secondly, the careful
choice of a proper time for sailing by observation of the rules of
astrology.

In William Jones’s “Credulities Past and Present” (1525), St. Augustine
is quoted as follows:—

    No man shall observe by the days on what day he travel, or on
    what he return; because God created all the seven days which
    run in the week to the end of this world. But whithersoever
    he desires to go, let him sing and say his _Paternoster_, if
    he know it, and call upon his Lord, and bless himself, and
    travel free from care, under the protection of God, without the
    sorceries of the Devil.


IV. PREVALENCE OF SIMILAR BELIEFS IN MODERN TIMES

Among the Chinese of to-day, as with the inhabitants of ancient
Babylon, the days which are deemed favorable or otherwise for business
transactions, farming operations, or for traveling are still determined
by astrologers, and are indicated in an official almanac published
annually at Pekin by the Imperial Board of Astronomers. The various
tribes of the island of Madagascar also are exceedingly superstitious in
regard to the luck or ill-luck attending certain days, and the lives of
children born at an unlucky time are sometimes sacrificed to save them
from anticipated misfortune.

Natives of the Gold Coast of West Africa, in their divisions of the
year, observe a “long time” consisting of nineteen lucky days, and a
“short time” of seven equally propitious days. The seven days intervening
between these two periods are considered unlucky, and during this time
they undertake no voyages nor warlike enterprises. Somewhat similar
ideas prevail in Java and Sumatra, and in many of the smaller islands of
the Malay Archipelago. The Cossacks of western Siberia, the natives of
the Baltic provinces of the Russian Empire, and the Laplanders of the
far North, all adapt their lives to the black and white days of their
calendar. The peasantry of West Sussex in England will not permit their
children to go blackberrying on the tenth day of October, on account
of a belief that the Devil goes afield on that day, and bad luck would
surely befall any one rash enough to eat fruit gathered under such
circumstances. The same people believe that all cats born in the month of
May are hypochondriacs, and have an unpleasant habit of bringing snakes
and vipers into the house.

Among the Moslems of India there are in each month seven evil days, on
which no enterprise is to be undertaken on any consideration. Some of
the peculiar superstitions of these people with regard to traveling on
the different week-days are shown in “Zanoon-E-Islam, or the Customs of
the Mussulmans of India,” by Jaffur Shurreef. Thus, if any one proposes
journeying on Saturday, he should eat fish before starting, in order
that his plan may be successfully accomplished, but on Sunday betel-leaf
is preferable for this purpose. In like manner, on Monday he should
look into a mirror in order to obtain wealth. On Tuesday he should eat
coriander-seed, and on Wednesday should partake of curdled milk before
starting. On Thursday, if he eat raw sugar, he may confidently anticipate
returning with plenty of merchandise; and on Friday, if he eat dressed
meat, he will bring back pearls and jewels galore.

Some idea of the beliefs current in the mother country during the last
century may be obtained by a study of the advertisements of astrologers
and medical charlatans in the public press of that period. For example,
in the year 1773 one Sylvester Partridge, proprietor and vendor of
antidotes, elixirs, washes for freckles, plumpers for rounding the
cheeks, glass eyes, calves and noses, ivory jaws, and a new receipt for
changing the color of the hair, offered for a consideration to furnish
advice as to the proper times and seasons for letting blood, and to
indicate the most favorable aspect of the moon for drawing teeth and
cutting corns. He proffered counsel, moreover, as to the avoidance of
unlucky days for paring the nails, and the kindest zodiacal sign for
grafting, inoculation, and opening of bee-hives.

In enlightened England there are still to be found many people who
believe that the relative positions of the sun, moon, and planets are
prime factors in determining the proper times and seasons for undertaking
terrestrial enterprises. Zadkiel’s Almanac for 1898 states that natural
astrology is making good progress towards becoming once more a recognized
science. To quote from the preface of this publication:—

    As the whole body of the ocean is not able to keep down one
    single particle of free air, which must assuredly force its
    way to the surface to unite with the atmosphere, so cannot the
    combined forces of the prejudice and studied contempt of all
    the _soi-disant_ “really scientific men” of the end of the
    century prevent the truth of _astrologia sana_ from soaring
    above their futile efforts to crush it down, to join the great
    atmosphere of natural science, to enlighten the human mind in
    its onward course and effort,—“to soar through Nature up to
    Nature’s God.”

One example may suffice to exhibit the character of the predictions given
in this same work. Under the caption, “Voice of the Stars,” August, 1898,
the writer says that the stationary positions of Saturn and Uranus are
likely to shake Spain (and perhaps Tuscany) physically and politically
about the 10th or 11th insts. There will be strained diplomatic relations
between the United States and Spain; for Mars in the sign Gemini, and
Saturn in Sagittarius, must create friction and disturbances in both
countries.

The Jewish current beliefs in the influence of certain days and seasons
appear to have been mostly derived from the Romans of old. Even nowadays
among the Jews no marriages are solemnized during the interval of fifty
days between the Feast of the Passover and Pentecost; and formerly the
favorite wedding-days were those of the new or full moon.[417] In Siam
the eighth and fifteenth days of the moon are observed as sacred, and
devoted to worship and rest from ordinary labor. Sportsmen are forbidden
to hunt or fish on these days. The Siamese astrologers indicate the
probable character of any year by associating it with some animal, upon
whose back the New Year is represented as being mounted.[418]


V. THE SIXTH DAY OF THE WEEK

Let us now consider the subject of Friday as an alleged _dies mala_.
The seven week-days were originally named after Saturn, Jupiter, Mars,
the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and the Moon, in the order given, and these
names are found in the early Christian calendars. The Teutonic nations,
however, adopted corresponding names in the Northern mythology,—the Sun
and Moon, Tyr, the Norse God of War, Wodan, Thor, Freyja, and Saturn; and
our early Saxon ancestors worshiped images representing all these deities
until Christianity supplanted paganism in Britain. It has been suggested
that our Friday may have been named after Frigga, the wife of Odin and
the principal goddess of the ancient Scandinavians. But it is much more
probable that the day derives its name from Freyja, the Goddess of Love,
a deity corresponding to the Roman Venus and the Grecian Aphrodite.
Freyja, the most easily propitiated of the goddesses, was wont to listen
favorably to all who invoked her aid, and was especially tender-hearted
to disconsolate lovers. She dwelt in a magnificent palace, and journeyed
about in a car drawn by two cats.[419]

It has been hinted that Freyja’s character was not irreproachable, and
that thence arose Friday’s ill-repute, but such an hypothesis is wholly
untenable.

From the prose “Edda” we learn that this goddess was the wife of one
Odur, and had a daughter named Hnossa, who was wonderfully beautiful. Sad
to relate, Freyja was abandoned by her husband, who went away to visit
foreign lands, and she has since spent much time in weeping, her tears
being turned into drops of pure gold.[420]

The fish was an emblem of Freyja, and as such was offered by the
Scandinavians to their goddess on the sixth day of the week.[421] The
fish was also held sacred by the Babylonians and Assyrians, and by the
ancient Romans as a symbol of Venus.

The generally accepted theory is that the crucifixion of our Lord on
Good Friday was the origin of the widespread superstitions regarding the
sixth day of the week. It is highly probable, however, that these beliefs
originated at a much earlier epoch; for similar ideas are current among
the inhabitants of heathen countries, as in Hindostan, for example.
According to an ancient monkish legend, Adam and Eve partook of the
forbidden fruit on a Friday; and in the Middle Ages many inauspicious
occurrences of history or tradition were thought to have happened on that
day.

In a French manuscript of the year 1285, preserved in the Bibliothèque
Nationale in Paris, entitled “Recommandation du Vendredi,” the following
events are alleged to have occurred on a Friday: Adam’s creation, his
sin and expulsion from Eden, the murder of Abel, Christ’s crucifixion,
the stoning of Stephen, the massacre of the Innocents by Herod, the
crucifixion of Peter, the beheading of Paul and that of John the Baptist,
and the flight of the children of Israel through the Red Sea; also
the Deluge, the Confusion of Tongues at the Tower of Babel, and the
infliction of the Plagues upon the land of Egypt.[422]

The following extract from a translation of a Saxon manuscript of about
the year 1120 may serve to illustrate the credulity of that epoch in
England, and the odium attaching to Friday:—

    Whoever is born on Sunday or its night, shall live without
    anxiety and be handsome. If he is born on Monday or its night,
    he shall be killed of men, be he laic or be he cleric. If on
    Tuesday or its night, he shall be corrupt in his life, and
    sinful and perverse. If he be born on Wednesday or its night,
    he shall be very peaceable and easy and shall grow up well and
    be a lover of good.… If he be born on Friday or its night, he
    shall be accursed of men, silly and crafty and loathsome to all
    men and shall ever be thinking evil in his heart, and shall
    be a thief and a great coward, and shall not live longer than
    to mid-age. If he is born on Saturday or its night, his deeds
    shall be renowned, he shall be an alderman, whether he be man
    or woman; many things shall happen unto him, and he shall live
    long.[423]

Although the superstitions of the dark ages may seem to us so
childish, it may yet be affirmed with reason that, in proportion to
the enlightenment of the times, the beliefs then current regarding
day-fatality were no more absurd than those of our own era. In the
“Reliques of Ancient English Poetry,” by Thomas Percy, D. D., is to be
found the following “excellent way to get a fayrie:”—

    First, get a broad square christall or Venice glasse, in length
    and breadth three inches. Then lay that glasse or christall in
    the blood of a white hen, three Wednesdayes or three Fridayes.
    Then take it out and wash it with holy aq; and fumigate it.
    Then take three hazle sticks or wands of an yeare groth; pill
    them fayre and white; and make them so longe as you write the
    spiritt’s name, or fayrie’s name, which you call three times on
    every stick being made flatt on one side. Then bury them under
    some hill, whereat you suppose fayries haunt, the Wednesday
    before you call her; and the Fridaye followinge take them uppe
    and at eight, or three or ten of the clocke which be good
    planetts and houres for that turne; but when you call be in
    cleane life and turn thy face towards the east, and when you
    have her bind her in that stone and glasse.[424]

Whiston, the translator of Josephus, publicly proclaimed in London that
the comet of 1712 would be visible on October 14 of that year, and that
on the Friday morning ensuing the world would be destroyed by fire.
In the resulting panic, many people embarked in boats on the Thames,
believing the water to be the safer element, on that particular Friday at
least.

Mr. Charles Godfrey Leland, in his “Etruscan Roman Remains,” says that
in certain mediæval manuscripts the Goddess Venus was represented as
the Queen of Hearts and a dealer of lucky cards. Therefore Friday, the
_Dies Veneris_, was sometimes considered a lucky day, especially for
matrimony. This opinion finds favor in Glasgow, where a large proportion
of marriages take place on this day; whereas, in the midland counties of
England, less than two per cent. of the weddings occur on the sixth day
of the week.[425]

References to the popular sentiment regarding Friday are frequent in the
works of English writers. Sir Thomas Overbury, in his description of “a
faire and happy Milk-mayd,” says: “Her dreams are so chaste that shee
dare tell them; only a Fridaie’s dream is all her superstition: that she
conceales for feare of anger.” Again, in the play of “Sir John Oldcastle”
is this passage: “Friday, quotha, a dismal day, Candlemas Day this year
was Friday.”[426] And in Scott’s “Marmion” is the following:—

    The Highlander, whose red claymore
    The battle turned on Maldas’ shore,
    Will on a Friday morn look pale
    If asked to tell a fairy tale.
    He fears the vengeful Elfin King,
    Who leaves that day his grassy ring;
    Invisible to human ken,
    He walks among the sons of men.

As a refreshing instance of independence of thought in a credulous age,
we may quote from a letter written by Sir Winston Churchill, father of
the Duke of Marlborough, and printed in a tract of 1687. The letter,
though ungrammatical, is given verbatim:—

    I have made great experience of the truth of it, and have set
    down Friday as my own lucky day, the day on which I was born,
    christened, married, and which, I believe, will be the day of
    my death. The day on which I have had sundry deliverances from
    perils by sea and land, perils by false brethren, perils of
    law-suits, etc. I was knighted (by chance unexpected of myself)
    on the same day and have several good accidents happened to
    me on that day; and am so superstitious in the belief of its
    good omen, that I choose to begin any considerable action that
    concerns me, on the same day.[427]


VI. FRIDAY IN MODERN TIMES

Friday is the Sabbath of the Moslems, corresponding to the Sunday of the
Christians and the Saturday of the Jews. In Egypt Friday is therefore
blessed above all other days, while Saturday is the most unfortunate.

However, although Friday was the day selected by Mahomet for the holding
of the Moslem Assembly, it was not wholly devoted to religious worship,
and at the conclusion of public prayers business was transacted as on
any other week-day.[428] Among Mohammedans Friday is considered the
most lucky of days; and it is also the most popular for commencing any
enterprise of importance, whether building a house, planting a garden,
embarking on a voyage, contracting a marriage, or making a garment.[429]

One reason for Mahomet’s choice of Friday as the day for public prayers
was probably because this day was consecrated by the people of many
nations to Alilat, the celestial Venus or Urania, whom the ancient Arabs
worshiped.[430] Mahomet said that whoever bathed on Friday and walked to
the public religious service, taking a seat near the _Imam_ or _Khalifah_
(the leader of a Moslem tribe), and listened attentively to the sermon,
avoiding meanwhile frivolous conversation, would obtain the reward of a
whole year’s prayers at night for every step which he took between his
home and the place of this assembly.[431]

The Moslems among the peasants inhabiting the frontier region between
Afghanistan and Hindostan have a special reverence for Friday; for they
believe that on that day God rested, after having created the world. On
Friday eve, according to their belief, the spirits of the departed are
wont to revisit their former abodes, and hence the custom prevails of
sending delicacies to the mosque at such times.[432]

Friday was the most popular day for weddings among the Jews in mediæval
times, and its selection appears to have been due to expediency, because
of its nearness to the Jewish Sabbath, and the convenience of associating
the marriage ceremony with the services in the synagogue on the latter
day. The bridal pair fasted on the morning of the wedding, and ashes were
sprinkled over their heads during the ceremony.[433]

According to the teachings of the Talmud, a second soul was believed to
enter men’s bodies every Friday evening and to remain throughout the
following day, its presence being indicated by an increased appetite for
food.[434]

On Friday, says an old tradition, is held the Witches’ Sabbath or
Assembly, and one should be careful not to speak of these creatures on
that day, for their hearing is then especially acute, and disrespectful
remarks will render one liable to incur their spite.

In the popular belief of the Swabians, Friday is the day when the
witches celebrate their joint festival with the Devil on the Heuberg,
near Rotenburg, and afterward scour the country, intent on working all
manner of mischief upon the people and their cattle.[435]

According to a Scotch superstition, however, witches were supposed to
hold their weekly meetings on Saturdays, in unfrequented places. The
formal proceedings on these occasions included an address by the Devil,
and the holding of a court, wherein each witch was expected to give a
detailed statement of her doings; and those who had been idle were given
a beating with their own broomsticks, the diligent being rewarded by
gifts of enchanted bones. A dance followed, the Devil playing on the
bag-pipes, and leading the music.[436]

The Irish are careful not to mention fairies by name either on Wednesdays
or Fridays, for these invisible creatures are unusually alert on these
two days.

On Fridays especially, their power for evil is very strong. On that
day, therefore, a careful watch is kept over the children and cattle; a
lighted wisp of straw is waved about the baby’s head, and a quenched coal
is placed under the cradle and churn. And if the horses are more than
usually restive in their stalls, it is a sure sign that the fairies are
riding them; therefore the people spit three times at the animals, and
the fairies thereupon immediately take their departure.[437]

In Ireland Friday is _facile princeps_ among unlucky days, and especial
care should be taken not to open the door of one’s dwelling to any
stranger on that day. Neither butter nor milk should be given away, nor
should a cat be taken from one house to another on a Friday. To undo a
sorcerer’s spell, one should eat barley cakes over which an incantation
has been said; but the cakes must be eaten on a Monday or Thursday, and
never on Friday.[438]

In Welsh tradition the water-sprites are thought to keep an especially
watchful eye over the sea on Fridays, making it rough and tempestuous.

On a Friday morning in the year 1600, says an old legend, a ship set sail
from a Northern port, having on board a young man and a maiden of rare
beauty, whose strange actions and demeanor seemed to betoken that they
were supernatural beings. The vessel never reached port, but one stormy
night a phantom ship was seen, enveloped in an uncanny light; and on its
deck stood the youth and his sweetheart, a weird vision, as the spectral
craft moved along over the stormy sea against the wind.[439]

In Hesse Frau Hölle, the modern Freyja, is the special guardian and
protectress of newly married people, and so tenacious has been this old
belief in the minds of the Hessian peasants that the day of Venus is
still in high favor among them as the most propitious for weddings.[440]

In some places it is unlucky to receive any news, whether good or bad, on
a Friday; and, according to a Shropshire saying, “if you hear anything
new on a Friday, it gives you another wrinkle on your face, and adds
another year to your age.”[441] Indeed, the term “Friday-faced” was used
to denote a gloomy or dejected visage, as in the following quotation:—

    Marry, out upon him! what a friday-fac’d slave it is! I think
    in my conscience his face never keeps holiday.[442]

In Servia children born on Friday are thought to be invulnerable to the
assaults of the whole army of hags and sorcerers. In Germany Friday is
reckoned the most fateful of all the week-days, whether for good or evil.
The beliefs vary in different portions of the empire, but there is a
universal prejudice against setting out on a journey, moving into a new
house, or changing servants on this day. In eastern Prussia, whoever
bakes on a Friday will get but little bread; but Sunday baptisms are
thought to offset the unlucky auspices of children born on Friday. The
North German farmers consider Friday the best day on which to begin
gathering the harvest.[443]

In olden times Friday was the most favorable day for courtship and
weddings in Germany, and, unless a bride first entered her new home on
that day, domestic strife was likely to ensue.

If she wished to tame a bad-tempered husband, her first care was to
prepare for him a soup made with the rain-water of a Friday’s shower.
The magic charm of words wherewith cattle were freed from the mange was
spoken on a Friday morning; and a hare which had been shot on the first
Friday in March was of great therapeutic value, especially its eyes,
which were dried and carried about as a sovereign remedy for defective
vision.

Only on a Friday did the church-bells strike the hour for the release
of bewitched spirits, and the delivery of enchanted souls from their
spells.[444]

Doctor M. Höfler, in his “Volksmedizin und Aberglauben in Oberbayern”
(p. 208), says that Bavarian peasants still cherish many superstitions
about the sixth day of the week, the day sacred to Freyja, the old German
Goddess of Love. Moreover, wonderful amuletic virtues are attributed to
hens’ eggs laid during Good Friday night, and whoever eats these eggs is
thought to be thereby insured against bodily harm. How long this immunity
holds good does not appear; but probably until another Good Friday night
egg is eaten. In farmers’ households these precious eggs are therefore
eagerly sought by the house-mistress, who is wont to give them to her
husband and the farm-hands; or else she uses them as an ingredient of the
dough figures which ornament the Easter bread.

In some districts of Hungary the following peculiar custom is in vogue:—

Whenever any one’s name-day happens on a Friday, that person selects a
piece of one of his cast-off garments, rubs thereon a few drops of his
own blood and saliva, and then burns the fragment of clothing. By so
doing he burns up also all the ill luck which else might have befallen
him during the next year. In southeastern Transylvania a rag mystically
dealt with as above is hung on a tree before sunrise on the day in
question; if it disappear before dawn of the next day, the person who
thus superstitiously celebrates the occurrence of his name-day on a
Friday may laugh at ill luck for a year.[445]

The Magyars begin no work on a Friday, for it is bound to miscarry;
neither do they give any milk out of the house on that day, for by so
doing they imagine the usefulness of the cow to be impaired. In Bihar
County, Hungary, a loaf of bread baked on Friday and impaled upon a stick
is accounted a safeguard against the spread of fire. The natives of this
district likewise entertain various curious fancies which are decidedly
unique. For example, when a newly born child is knock-kneed, the mother
regards it as a changeling. She therefore seats herself on the threshold
on a Tuesday or Friday, when witches are abroad, and peremptorily
addresses those creatures, demanding the restoration of her own child,
whom she believes they have stolen away. “Pfui! Pfui! you scoundrels!”
she exclaims, “give it back!”[446]

The Sicilians have a host of superstitions on this subject. The following
are among the more interesting items of their folk-lore relating to
Friday. On this day the owner of a rented house will not hand over
the keys to a new tenant, neither would the latter receive them. In
the southern part of the province of Palermo no thief dares steal on
a Friday, and the accuracy of this statement is corroborated by the
criminal statistics. Indeed, on this day the most timid householder may
journey in safety anywhere in the province, a fact which the sagacious
traveler in a land notorious for brigandage will not fail to note. This
immunity is not attributable to any special veneration for Freyja’s day,
but rather to a popular belief that thefts and other misdemeanors then
committed are sure of speedy detection. Laughter is thought to offend
the goddess, and the proverb runs, “He who laughs on Friday weeps on
Saturday.” In an anonymous manuscript in the municipal library of Palermo
appears a statement that whoever cuts out garments on a Tuesday or a
Friday runs the risk of making them too short and of losing the cloth.
Such clothing has little wear in it, for nothing begun on these days has
any durability.[447]

The inhabitants of ancient Gascony are no less credulous, as is apparent
from the following bits of Friday lore. Any one rash enough to start on
a journey on horseback runs especial risk of falling off his horse, and
of being drowned in attempting to ford a stream. It has even happened
that newly baked loaves have been found tinged with blood in the oven.
However, Friday is a good day for making vinegar, and the casks filled at
three o’clock in the afternoon of that day are found to be superior to
others. This is because our Lord, while on the cross, was given vinegar
to drink, mingled with gall, at three o’clock on the afternoon of Good
Friday.[448]

In Normandy, also, Friday is the favorite day for putting water in wine
or cider, for the people believe that on any other day the mixture would
become sour.[449]

According to a quaint Italian belief, whoever is born on a Friday will be
of sanguine temperament, passionate, light-hearted, and handsome. He will
delight in music, both vocal and instrumental, and will have a liking for
fine clothes. Moreover, he will be voluble in speech, though of unstable
character.[450]

The Tyrolese have a saying, “Whoever is born on a Friday must experience
trouble,” and they regard it as folly to marry on that day.[451]

The French people share fully the general distrust of the sixth day of
the week. This is shown by statistics of the Parisian theatres, where
there are produced on an average nearly two hundred new pieces annually,
and for many years not one of these has had its first performance on a
Friday.[452]

In Alsace Wednesday and Friday are unlucky days, and the former is never
chosen for a wedding or baptism. But of the two, Friday is the more
undesirable, and no business of importance is done thereon, nor any
journey undertaken. It is foremost among witch days, for evil spirits
are then abroad, and their activity on a Friday is proverbial. These
sentiments prevail in other German districts, and are entertained by
people of cultivation and learning. Indeed, it may be affirmed truly that
the possession of intellectual force is by no means incompatible with
a superstitious belief in the luck or misfortune of particular days.
The credulousness of the great Napoleon in this regard is well known.
Bismarck is said to have once written to his wife from Letzlingen, a
village of Prussian Saxony: “I have not had such good luck in hunting
to-day as I had three years ago; but then—it is a Friday.”[453] The
French statesman, Gambetta, is reported to have arranged his journeyings
and business affairs with reference to auspicious hours, as determined by
a professional reader of cards; and President Felix Faure, we are told,
is similarly credulous. Indeed, so prevalent are notions of this kind in
the French capital that tastefully ornamented cards with a list of “hours
to be avoided” find a ready sale in the streets.[454]

Among the Slavonians St. Prascovia, the modern successor of Venus and
Freyja, is believed to visit the peasants’ houses every Friday, and woe
to the luckless woman whom she then finds engaged in certain occupations.
Local tradition says that sewing, spinning, and weaving on that day are
sinful, and are especially distasteful to St. Prascovia, familiarly
known as “Mother Friday,” because the dust so produced gets into her
eyes. She is very apt to take revenge by inflicting upon the offenders
divers physical ailments, such as sore eyes, whitlows, or hang-nails. In
some districts the peasants retire earlier than usual on Friday evenings,
under the impression that Mother Friday will punish those whom she may
find awake when she makes her evening visits. These popular beliefs are
exemplified in the following tradition:—

There was once a certain woman who did not pay due reverence to Mother
Friday, but set to work on a distaff full of flax, combing it and
whirling it. She spun away until dinner-time, then sleep fell upon her.
Suddenly the door opened, and in came Mother Friday, before the eyes of
all who were there, clad in a white dress, and in such a rage! And she
went straight up to the woman who had been spinning, and scooped up from
the floor a handful of the dust that had fallen out of the flax, and
began stuffing and stuffing that woman’s eyes full of it! After she had
stuffed them full, she went off in a rage,—disappeared without saying a
word.

When the woman awoke, she began squalling, at the top of her voice,
about her eyes, but could not tell what was the matter with them. The
other women, who had been much frightened, began to cry out: “Oh, you
wretch, you! you’ve brought a terrible punishment on yourself from Mother
Friday.” Then they told her all that had taken place. She listened to it
all, and then began imploring: “Mother Friday, forgive me! Pardon me, the
guilty one! I’ll offer thee a taper, and I’ll never let friend or foe
dishonor thee, mother!”

“Well, what do you think? During the night, back came Mother Friday, and
took the dust out of that woman’s eyes, so that she was able to get about
again. It’s a great sin to dishonor Mother Friday, combing and spinning
flax, forsooth!”[455]

Professor Max Müller, in his “Contributions to the Science of Mythology”
(New York and Bombay, 1897), cites a tradition of the as yet little
known mythology of the Mordvinians, a Finnish race inhabiting the middle
Volga provinces of Russia. A woman who had been working all day long on
a Friday, baking bread for some orphan children, was taken up in a dream
to the sun, and when she was nearly exhausted, owing to the effects of
the heat, and to the rapidly increasing size of a piece of dough which
she had put into her mouth, she was accosted by Chkaï, the large-eyed
Mordvine sun-god, who told her that she was being punished because she
had baked bread for the orphans on a Friday. She was charged, moreover,
to tell all the people so. “But who will be such a fool as to believe
me?” asked the woman most disrespectfully. Thereupon Chkaï placed his
mark in scarlet and blue upon her forehead,—an emblem which is thought
to bring luck. And after that the Mordvine women were careful to bake no
bread, nor to do any other work, on a Friday.

It was a very early custom in England to appoint Friday as the day for
the execution of criminals, and until recently the same was true in this
country, but through the persistent efforts of the “Thirteen Club,”
of New York, whose object is the discouragement of certain popular
superstitions, the sixth day of the week has been partially relieved of
the odium of being “hangman’s day” in the United States.

A writer of an inventive turn of mind has suggested that Friday’s
unpopularity is partly owing to its being late in the week and money runs
short to the poor. Saturday being the close of the week, and pay-day as
well, there is no time then to be superstitious.

Some modern writers have displayed a misguided zeal in the collection
of statistical evidence that Friday has been a most auspicious day in
American history, and have cited among other events the surrender of
Burgoyne at Saratoga, and that of Cornwallis at Yorktown, as occurring
on that day. But will such an argument appeal with success to English
readers? If by general consent we should teach our children that Friday
was the luckiest day of the week, evidence in favor of this theory would
no doubt rapidly accumulate, and the new belief would soon be worth just
as much as the old one.



SUPERSTITIOUS DEALINGS WITH ANIMALS


I. RATS AND MICE AS AVENGERS

When in ancient times fields were overrun and crops destroyed by swarms
of pestiferous animals or insects, these creatures were regarded either
as agents of the Devil, or as being themselves veritable demons. We
learn, moreover, that rats and mice were formerly especial objects of
superstition, and that their actions were carefully noted as auguries
of good or evil.[456] A rabbinical myth says that the rat and the hog
were created by Noah as scavengers of the Ark; but the rat becoming
a nuisance, the patriarch evoked a cat from the lion’s nose.[457] In
the “Horapollon,” the only ancient work now known which attempted to
explain Egyptian hieroglyphics, the rat is represented as a symbol of
destruction. But the Egyptians also regarded this animal as a type of
good judgment, because, when afforded the choice of several pieces of
bread, he always selects the best.[458]

According to an early legend, the Teucri, or founders of the Trojan
race, on leaving the island of Crete to found a colony elsewhere, were
instructed by an oracle to choose as a residence that place where they
should first be attacked by the aborigines of the country. On encamping
for the night, a swarm of mice appeared and gnawed the leathern thongs of
their armor, and accordingly they made that spot their home and erected
a temple to Apollo Smintheus,[459] this title being derived from the
word meaning “a rat” in the Æolic dialect. In ancient Troas mice were
objects of worship; and the Greek writer, Heraclides Ponticus, said that
they were held especially sacred at Chrysa, a town famous for its temple
of Apollo. At Hamaxitus, too, mice were fed at the public expense.[460]
Herodotus relates, on the authority of certain priests, that when in the
year B. C. 699 Egypt was invaded by an Assyrian army under Sennacherib,
it was revealed in a vision to the Egyptian king, Sethon, that he should
receive assistance from the gods. And on the eve of an expected battle
the camp of the Assyrians was attacked by a legion of field-mice, who
destroyed their quivers and bows, so that, being without serviceable
weapons, the invaders fled in dismay on the ensuing morning. And in
memory of this fabulous event a stone statue of King Sethon, bearing a
mouse in his hand, was erected in the temple of Vulcan at Memphis, with
this inscription: “Whoever looks on me, let him revere the Gods.”

Cicero, in his treatise on Divination, while commenting on the absurdity
of the prevalent belief in prodigies, remarked that, if reliance were
to be placed in omens of this kind, he ought naturally to tremble for
the safety of the Commonwealth, because mice had recently nibbled a copy
of Plato’s “Republic” in his library. Pliny wrote that rats foretold
the Marsian war, B. C. 89, by destroying silver shields and bucklers at
Lavinium, an ancient city near Rome; and that they also prognosticated
the death of the Roman general, Carbo, by eating his hose-garters and
shoe-strings at Clusium, the modern Chiusi, in Etruria. The same writer,
in the eighth book of his “Natural History,” devotes a short chapter
to an enumeration of instances, fabulous or historical, in which the
inhabitants of several cities of the Roman Empire were driven from
their homes by noxious animals, reptiles, and insects. He states, on
the authority of the Greek moralist, Theophrastus (B. C. 372-287), that
the natives of the island of Gyaros, one of the Cyclades, were forced
to abandon their homes owing to the ravages of rats and mice, which
devoured everything they could find, even including iron substances.

When the Philistines took the ark of the Lord from the camp of the
Israelites, as recorded in 1 Samuel iv., a plague of mice was sent to
devastate their lands; whereupon the Philistines returned the ark,
together with a trespass-offering, which included five golden mice, as an
atonement for their sacrilegious act.

In mediæval legendary lore rats figure not unfrequently as avengers.
The Polish king, Popiel II., who ascended the throne in the year 820,
rendered himself obnoxious to his subjects by his immorality and tyranny,
and, according to tradition, Heaven sent against him a multitude of rats,
which pursued him constantly. The king and his family sought refuge in a
castle situated on an island in the middle of Lake Goplo, on the Prussian
frontier. But the rats finally invaded this stronghold and devoured the
king and all belonging to him.

Again, in the year 970, so runs the legend, Hatto II., Archbishop of
Mayence, who had made himself hateful to his people on account of his
avarice and cruelty during a season of famine, was informed by one of his
servants that a vast multitude of rats were advancing along the roads
leading to the palace. The bishop betook himself at once to a tower in
the middle of the Rhine, near Bingen, still known as the “Mouse Tower,”
where he sought safety from his pursuers. But the rats swam out to the
tower, gnawed through its walls, and devoured him. We read also in “A
Chronicle of the Kings of England” that, in the reign of William the
Conqueror, a great lord was attacked by mice at a banquet, and “though
he were removed from land to sea and from sea to land again,” the mice
pursued him to his death.

Rats and mice were not, however, the only agents employed as avengers.
In the year 350, during a long siege of the Roman stronghold, Nisibis,
in Mesopotamia, by the Persian king, Sapor II., the inhabitants besought
their bishop, St. James, to utter a malediction against the enemy.
Accordingly the prelate, standing on one of the wall towers, prayed God
that a host of flies might be sent to attack the Persians, and tradition
has it that the prayer was answered at once. A multitude of the insects
descended upon the besiegers, their horses, and elephants; and men and
animals, thus goaded to frenzy, were compelled to retreat, and so the
siege was raised. The Philistines of old worshiped a special deity,
Beelzebub, to whom they attributed the power of destroying flies.[461]
This same region is still infested with insect plagues; but the modern
traveler, who has no faith in Beelzebub, is more likely to employ
fly-traps and energetic practical measures.

Such are a few instances of the supernatural employment of vermin and
insects as instruments of vengeance; and we need hardly wonder that,
conversely, people in olden times should avail themselves of supernatural
methods in order to protect themselves or their property from the ravages
of these noxious creatures.

In Mexico rats were anciently the objects of superstitious regard, for
they were credited with possessing a keen insight into the characters of
all members of a household, and were wont publicly to announce flagrant
breaches of morality on the part of such members by gnawing various
articles of domestic furniture, such as mats and baskets. It does not
appear, however, that the rodents were sagacious enough to indicate the
individual whose conduct had aroused their displeasure.

The Mexicans had also a superstition that whoever partook of food which
had been gnawed by rats would be falsely accused of some wrong-doing.[462]


II. SPIRITS ASSUME THE FORMS OF BLACK ANIMALS

The belief in the demoniacal possession of animals was prevalent in
Europe for several centuries, and in order to drive away the evil spirits
it was customary to employ various exorcisms and incantations, which were
supposed to be infallible after approval by ecclesiastical authority.
Reginald Scot, in his “Discovery of Witchcraft,” says that, according to
the testimony of reliable authors, spirits were wont to take the forms of
animals, and especially of horses, dogs, swine, goats, and hares. They
also appeared in the guise of crows and owls, but took the most delight
in the likenesses of snakes and dragons. Bewitched animals were usually
of a black color. A black cat is the traditional companion or familiar
of witches the world over, and the black dog is also associated with
sorcery in the folk-lore of some lands. Among the Slavs the black demon
Cernabog has this form, and the black hen is a common devil-symbol in
mediæval witch-lore. The gypsies believe, moreover, that black horses
are gifted with a supernatural sight, which enables them to see beings
invisible to the eye of man.[463] Black animals figure prominently in
many legends of the dark ages. Thus the Devil, in the form of a black
horse, disturbed a congregation which had gathered to listen to a
sermon delivered by St. Peter of Verona in the thirteenth century, but
was put to flight by the sign of the cross.[464] Among birds the crow
is considered an ominous creature in some countries, and in northeast
Scotland is always associated with the “black airt.”[465] The raven, too,
is traditionally portentous, and is sometimes called the Devil’s bird;
its plumage is said to have been changed from white to black on account
of its disobedience.[466] In Swedish legend the magpie shares the evil
reputation of the raven and crow, and is characterized as “a mystic bird,
a downright witches’ bird, belonging to the Devil and the other powers of
the night.”[467]

The Kirghis, a nomadic people of Turkestan, are very superstitious in
regard to the magpie, and note with care the direction whence the sound
of its cry is heard. If from the north, it portends evil; from the south,
a remarkable occurrence; from the east, it denotes the coming of guests;
and from the west, a journey.[468]

The Rev. Alexander Stewart, in his “Nether Lochaber,” deprecates as
unreasonable the universal distrust of the magpie. It seems probably that
this is due less to its color than to certain other characteristics;
for the magpie is a confirmed mimic and kleptomaniac, and of exceeding
slyness withal.

Apropos of crows as foreboders, whether of good or evil, an amusing story
is told of a man who wished to test for himself the truth or falsity of
a popular belief that seeing a couple of crows in the early morning is a
sign of good luck. He therefore directed his servant to awaken him at
daybreak whenever two crows were to be seen. Accordingly one morning the
servant called him, but in the mean time one of the birds had flown away.
Thereupon the master became angry and gave his servant a sound beating,
upbraiding him with having delayed until but one crow remained. The
servant, however, nothing daunted, replied: “Lo, sir, have you not seen
the luck which is come to me from seeing two crows?”[469]

Superstition has been defined as “a belief not in accordance with the
facts,” but this is manifestly incorrect. An ignorant person, who thinks
that black cats are more evil-minded than white ones, thereby cherishes
a mistaken idea, but is not necessarily superstitious. If, however,
he believes that a black cat or any other animal is endowed with a
supernatural faculty of exerting evil influences over human beings, then
he is not only ignorant, but also superstitious.


III. EXORCISM AND CONJURATION OF VERMIN

The Grecian husbandmen were accustomed to drive away mice by writing them
a message on a piece of paper and sticking it on a stone in the infested
field. A specimen of such a message, beginning with an adjuration and
concluding with a threat, is to be found in the “Geoponica,” a Grecian
agricultural treatise.

In the endeavor to justify the employment of radical measures against
vermin, some curious questions of casuistry were involved. Rats and
mice being God’s creatures, one ought not to take their lives. But it
was considered entirely proper to drive them off one’s own domain,
while recommending as preferable the well-stocked cellar of a neighbor.
Formulæ of exorcism, or sentences containing warnings to depart, were
written on scraps of paper, which were then well greased and rolled
into little balls, or wrapped about poisoned edibles, and placed in the
rat-holes.[470]

Conjurations of vermin were usually in the name of St. Gertrude, the
first abbess of Nivelle in Belgium, and also the patron saint of
travelers and cats, and protectress against the ravages of the smaller
rodents.

The Spanish ecclesiastic, Martin Azpilcueta, surnamed Navarre, stated
that when rats were exorcised, it was customary to banish them formally
from the territory of Spain; and the creatures would then proceed to the
seashore and swim to some remote island, where they made their home.

The public records of Hameln, in the kingdom of Hannover, state that
in the year 1284 a stranger, in gay and fantastic attire, visited the
town and proclaimed himself a professional rat-catcher, offering for a
consideration to rid the place of the vermin which infested it. The
townsfolk having agreed to his proposal, the stranger began to play a
tune upon his pipe, whereupon the rats emerged in swarms from their
hiding-places and followed him to the river Weser, where they were
all drowned. The people of Hameln now repented of their bargain and
refused to pay the full amount agreed upon, for the alleged reason that
the rats had been driven away by the aid of sorcery. In revenge for
this, the piper played the same tune on the next day, and immediately
all the children of the town followed him to a cavern in the side of
a neighboring hill, called the Koppenberg. The piper and the children
entered the cavern, which closed after them; and in remembrance of this
tragic event several memorials are to be seen in Hameln. Indeed, some
writers maintain that the legend has an historical foundation, and such
appears to have been the opinion of the townspeople, inasmuch as for
years afterwards public and legal documents were dated from the mournful
occurrence.

An old tradition says that mice originally fell upon the earth from the
clouds during a thunder-storm, and hence these animals are emblematic of
storms; they are also mystical creatures, and have a relationship with
Donar, Wodan, and Frigg. In Bavaria profanity is thought to increase the
number of mice in a dwelling, and their appearance in the fields in large
numbers indicates war, pestilence, or famine.[471] Bohemian peasants are
wont to make a certain provision for these elfish rodents; on Christmas
Eve and on the first holiday of the year, whatever food remains from the
midday meal is thrown upon the barn floor, and the following sentence is
repeated: “O mice, eat these remnants and leave the grain in peace!” On
Christmas Eve, also, peas are placed in heaps, shaped like a cross, in
the four corners of a mouse-infested room, lest the vermin get the upper
hand and the premises be overrun. In eastern Prussia, when the harvest
is gathered, the last sheaf of corn is left standing in the field, while
the peasants surround it and sing a hymn as an incantation against
future devastation of their lands by rats or mice. Or, when the corn is
harvested, three inverted sheaves are fixed upon the barn floor for a
like purpose.[472]

According to a Bohemian legend, the mouse was originally a creation of
the Devil, at the time when Noah entered the Ark, attended by the members
of his family and followed by a numerous retinue of animals. The Devil,
so runs the tale, hated the patriarch for his piety, and with evil intent
created the mouse, whom he sent to gnaw a hole in the side of the Ark,
through which the water might enter. But God then created the cat, who
pursued and devoured the mouse, thus frustrating the design of the Evil
One.[473]

At the siege of Angers, the ancient capital of Anjou, in the year 845,
during the reign of King Charles the Bald, the French were much annoyed
by swarms of grasshoppers of unusual size. They were duly exorcised
according to the custom of the times, and having been put to flight, are
reported to have precipitated themselves into a river.[474]

The French writer, St. Foix, in his “Essais historiques sur Paris,” has
recorded that in the year 1120, the Bishop of Laon, in the Department of
Aisne, pronounced an injunction against field-mice, on account of their
ravages; and St. Bernard, a contemporary of that prelate, while preaching
at Foigny in the same diocese, in order to relieve his congregation of
the annoyance caused by a multitude of flies, repeated a formula of
excommunication against them, whereat, according to monkish records, the
flies fell dead in heaps and were gathered up with shovels.

The early Anglo-Saxons not only made use of amulets of wood or other
material, on which were engraven Runic characters, to secure protection
from elves and demons,[475] but they carried about with them the herb
called periwinkle, of the botanical genus _Vinca_, as a charm against
snakes and wild animals.[476]


IV. CHARMS AGAINST ANIMALS

As illustrative of the superstitious use of charms and exorcisms against
animals and reptiles in different epochs and countries, we have examples
from many and varied sources.

The Egyptians used, as charms against venomous serpents, various magic
formulæ inscribed upon strips of papyrus, which were rolled up and worn
as talismans. A specimen of such an one is to be seen among the Egyptian
manuscripts in the Louvre collection. The following is a translation of a
portion of one of these incantations, which invokes the aid of a god to
protect the bearer against wild animals and reptiles:—

    Come to me, O Lord of Gods, drive far from me the lions coming
    from the earth, the crocodiles issuing from the river, the
    mouth of all biting reptiles coming out of their holes.[477]

Pliny recommended a particular herb as an amulet against serpents and
vipers. This herb, to which he gives no less than five Latin names,
appears to be identical with the _Anchusa officinalis_ of modern
pharmacopœias, the bugloss or ox-tongue of southern Europe, a plant now
seldom used in therapeutics.

The Grecians also were doubtless addicted to the superstitious use
of charms against animals, although there is good authority for the
statement that the citizens of ancient Athens did not hesitate on
occasion to accelerate the flight of “ominous creatures, as cats and the
like,” by throwing stones or other handy missiles at them in the night,
a method wholly mundane and natural.[478] And in this connection we may
quote the opinion of the Rev. Father Pierre Le Brun, in his “Histoire
critique des pratiques superstitieuses” (Amsterdam, 1733). The learned
writer remarks that, if it were desired to drive a strange dog out of
one’s room, it would be quite unsuitable to _begin_ with prayer and the
use of holy water. One should rather first open the door and take hold
of a stick, or throw some food outside; and if these and other practical
measures fail, then recourse may be had to supernatural expedients,
provided these have ecclesiastical sanction.

In a treatise against superstition by a French _savant_, Martin of
Arles, published in 1650, it was stated that the friars of the monastery
of Ardennes were wont to boast that no rats could thrive in their
neighborhood, and that this fact was due to the merits of St. Ulric,
Bishop of Augsburg, some of whose relics were deposited in their church.
In this monastery also it had been formerly customary to scatter crumbs
of bread which had been blessed, in places infested by vermin, and the
monks believed that this procedure either caused the death of the animals
or frightened them away.

Thuringian houses are sometimes cleared of rats in the following
manner: Before sunrise on Good Friday morning, the master of the house,
barefooted and in his shirt-sleeves, goes through every room blowing
on a tiny whistle made out of the thigh bone of a rat’s hind leg.[479]
Another curious method of expelling vermin from a dwelling is in vogue
in some portions of the Austrian Empire. Before the dawn of a principal
feast day, one must take an old shoe which has not been recently cleaned,
and lay it on the ground at a place where two roads cross. No word
must meanwhile be spoken aloud, but a _Paternoster_ is to be silently
repeated. The direction in which the shoe points indicates the course to
be taken by the rats in their flight.[480] In the village of Bechlin, a
few miles north of Prague, troublesome mice are thus dealt with: Very
early on an Easter Sunday morning, before the bells have rung for the
first Mass, the peasant matron collects and fastens together all the
house-keys. Then she waits until the first stroke of the bell for High
Mass at noon, whereupon she proceeds to the cellar, meanwhile jingling
the keys vigorously so long as the church-bells ring; when they cease
she retraces her steps, still rattling the keys; and these measures are
believed to permanently frighten away the mice.[481]

Towards the middle of the seventeenth century a great army of locusts
invaded the fields in the neighborhood of the town of Mixco, in
Guatemala. So numerous were they as for a time to obscure the light of
the sun, and to break the branches of the trees whereon they clung; and
they speedily devoured the corn and other crops. Moreover, they covered
the highways and startled the traveling mules by their fluttering
movements. By order of the magistrates, the people of the country
assembled in the fields with trumpets and other instruments in order to
scare away the unwelcome visitors. Idols were brought out, especially
pictures of the Virgin and of St. Nicholas Tolentine. From the country
regions near and far came the Spanish farmers to the town of Mixco, with
propitiatory offerings for the saint, and all brought with them loaves of
bread to be blessed. These loaves they carried back to their farms, and
either threw into their cornfields or buried beneath their hedges, hoping
by this method to protect their crops from the locusts.[482]

The mountain ash, or rowan-tree (the Scotch _roun-tree_), is thought to
have derived its name from the Latin word _runa_, an incantation, because
of its employment in magical arts. Woe to the witch who is touched by a
branch of this tree in the hand of a christened man![483]

Much has been written concerning the folk-lore of the mountain ash,
and it is indeed a powerful rival of the horse-shoe in its talismanic
virtues, though not as a luck-bringer.

But for the protection of cattle from the incursions of witches, not even
the horse-shoe may assume to usurp the rowan’s prestige. Branches of
this favorite tree, when hung over the stalls of cows or wreathed about
their horns, are potent to avert the evil glances or contact, whether
of witches or malicious fairies. And their efficacy is enhanced if the
farmer is careful to repeat at regular intervals the following fervent
petition:—

    From Witches and Wizards, and long-tailed Buzzards, and
    creeping things that run in hedge-bottoms, good Lord, deliver
    us!

Jamieson, in his “Scottish Dictionary,” remarks that this practice of
twining the rowan about the horns of cows bears a certain resemblance to
an ancient custom of the Romans in their _Palilia_, or feast celebrated
at the end of April, whose object was the preservation of the flocks. He
says:—

    The Shepherd, in order to purify his sheep, was in the dusk of
    the evening to bedew the ground around them with a wet branch,
    then to adorn the fold with leaves and _green branches_ and to
    cover the door with garlands.

In China it is customary for the Taouist priests to perform certain
magical rites on the completion of a new pigsty, and before the admission
of the animals to their new quarters. An altar is erected in honor of the
Chu-Lan-Too-Tee, or genii of pigsties, and the walls of the compartments
of the sty are adorned with strips of red paper, upon which are Chinese
characters, signifying, “Let the enemies of horses, cows, sheep, fowls,
dogs, and pigs be appeased.”[484]


V. IMAGES OF ANIMALS AND BIRDS USED AS CHARMS

The belief that cities or towns may be protected from the incursions of
noxious animals, birds, or insects, by an image or figure representing
one of these creatures, is of great antiquity. This seems to be on the
principle of the homœopathic doctrine, “Like cures like.” A homely
illustration of the same idea is afforded by the shrewd farmer who hangs
up a dead crow in his cornfield to protect the crops. On the other hand,
the eccentric French writer, Antoine Mizauld, recommended the following
as an effective charm for attracting a large number of crows to one spot:
As soon as the constellation of the Virgin rises above the horizon, the
figure of a half crow is to be painted on a piece of cloth, while these
words are repeated: “Let no crow in all this district move away without
coming to this image, in whatever spot it may be buried.” The piece
of cloth, with its magical figure, is then interred and the charm is
complete.[485]

Apollonius of Tyana in Cappadocia, the philosopher and pretended magician
of the first century, is said to have freed Antioch from scorpions and
flies by means of the brazen image of a scorpion. The French bishop,
Gregory of Tours, mentions an ancient popular belief that no serpents or
dormice were to be seen in Paris. In his time, however, or toward the
close of the sixth century, while workmen were removing the mud which
covered one of the arches of the Bridge of Paris, they found imbedded
therein two brazen images of a serpent and dormouse, which were taken
away; and thenceforth, he says, the city was infested by prodigious
numbers of dormice and snakes. In Jean Baptiste Thiers’s treatise on
Superstitions (Paris, 1679), we find allusion to a serpent of brass at
Constantinople, which long served as a talisman to bar the entrance of
living serpents. But when the city was captured by Mahomet II. in 1453,
that monarch broke the teeth of the image by the force of an arrow-shot;
and immediately a legion of serpents attacked the inhabitants, but
without doing them any harm, for the teeth of all were broken. In the
reign of Charlemagne it was customary in Piedmont to use a formula for
blessing holy water with which to drive away noxious animals from the
crops, and with such success that not a single mole could be found in
the whole town of Aosta, nor within three thousand paces beyond its
boundaries.

Mr. Andrew Lang, in his volume entitled “Custom and Myth,” says that,
in a church of a certain old Saxon town, the verger is wont to exhibit
to visitors a silver mouse dedicated to Our Lady; explaining that the
town was infested with mice until this now precious relic was presented
by some ladies as a propitiatory offering, whereupon the creatures
disappeared at once.

According to the ancient Doctrine of Signatures, the therapeutic virtues
of plants were indicated by certain peculiarities of their external
appearance. Thus _Dracontium_, or great dragon, a plant which has a
fancied resemblance to this mythical monster, was thought to be a
preservative against serpents; and the scorpion-grass (_Myosotis_), whose
flower-spike was not unlike a scorpion’s tail, was deemed an antidote to
the stings of noxious insects.

Indeed, the old herbalists of England claimed by the sole use of herbs,
not only to cure all fleshly ills, but to drive away or keep at a
distance wolves, leopards, and all venomous wild beasts.[486]

In Tibet, according to L. Austine Waddell, M. B., ferocious mastiffs
are permitted to roam at large in the night, a source of terror to
wayfarers, who therefore carry about charms consisting of “the picture
of a dog muzzled and fettered by a chain, terminated by the mystic and
all-powerful thunderbolt sceptre,” while along the dog’s body are written
certain Sanskrit magical sentences.[487]


VI. WORDS USED AS CHARMS

The English word “charm” is derived from the Latin _carmen_, a verse; and
the magical potency of a sentence used as a charm was believed to rest
in the words themselves, and not in the person who uttered them. In the
opinion of the cabalistic magicians of the Middle Ages, the power of a
charm of words depended upon its being unintelligible.

The Latin poet, Varius, wrote in the first century B. C. that old women,
by the sole use of words as charms, were able not only to restrain and
subjugate wild animals and serpents, but also to drive away noxious
creatures and vermin. Few early writers allude to this practice, which
appears, however, to have been much in vogue in different countries
towards the close of the mediæval period. The Swiss theologian, Felix
Hammerlein (1389-1457), wrote of a peasant living near Zurich who was
able, by repeating a magic formula, to rid infested premises of adders,
vipers, lizards, and other reptiles;[488] and in some parts of Normandy
it was a custom formerly to place small rolls of hay under the fruit
trees. The hay was then set on fire by means of torches carried by young
children, who repeated meanwhile: “Mice, caterpillars, and moles, get out
of my field; I will burn your beard and your bones; trees and shrubs,
give me three bushels of apples.” Hampson remarks that this incantation
somewhat resembles one employed by the ancient Grecians against beetles,
whom they held responsible for the destruction of their corn. These
magical lines are thus translated: “Fly, beetles, the ravenous wolf
pursues you.”[489]

It was currently reported among the ancients that the famous philosopher,
Pythagoras, not only possessed the faculty of predicting storms and
earthquakes, but that he had by a magical word been enabled to tame
a Daunian bear, and had also prevented an ox from eating beans by
whispering in his ear.[490]

Antoine Mizauld, the French physician and astrologer, affirmed that,
according to Ptolemy, in order to drive away serpents, one should prepare
a talisman by engraving the figure of two serpents upon a square piece
of copper and pronouncing a charm of words as follows: “With this image
I forbid serpents to harm any one, and command them to leave the place
where it shall be buried.” In like manner, says the same authority, to
expel rats and mice, one has only to represent an image of one of these
creatures upon a piece of tin or copper, and at the proper time, as
determined by astrology, command them to depart.

In order to expel snakes, insects, and vermin from their dwellings, the
Bulgarian women of Turkey, on the last day of February, endeavor to
frighten the creatures by beating copper vessels all over the house,
while shouting, “Out with you, snakes, scorpions, flies, bugs, and
fleas!” One of the vessels is then taken into the court-yard, the pests
being expected to follow it. And in Serfo, an island of the Grecian
archipelago, at the commencement of the vintage a bunch of grapes is
thrown into each house to expel the vermin, while this formula is
repeated: “The black grape will sicken you; the black grape will poison
you! Out with you, rats and fleas!”[491]

In Albania, when locusts or cockchafers devastate the fields, a number
of women, having caught some of the insects, form a mock funeral
procession, and proceed to drown them in some convenient stream. And
while on their way thither they chant in turn the following dirge, which
all repeat in chorus:—

    O locusts, O cockchafers, parents kind,
    Orphaned you have left us all behind.

And this proceeding is thought to be destructive to the whole swarm of
insects.[492]

The following charm against foxes was formerly used in France, and was to
be repeated thrice a week:—

    Foxes, both male and female, I conjure you in the name of the
    Holy Trinity, that ye neither touch nor carry off any of my
    fowls, whether roosters, hens or chickens; nor eat their nests,
    nor suck their blood, nor break their eggs, nor do them any
    harm whatever.[493]

The Roman Catholic Church formerly sanctioned the use of certain
sentences as charms against vipers, and the following may serve as a
specimen:—

    I conjure thee, O serpent, in this hour, by the five holy
    wounds of Our Lord, that thou remove not out of this place,
    as certainly as God was born of a pure Virgine. Otherwise, I
    conjure thee, serpent, by Our Lady St. Mary, that thou obey
    me, as wax obeyeth the fire, and as fire obeyeth water, that
    thou neither hurt me nor any other Christian, as certainly
    as God was born of an immaculate Virgine, in which respect I
    take thee up. _In Nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti_.…
    Otherwise, O vermine, thou must come as God came unto the
    Jews.[494]

When a Turk chances to encounter a serpent, he is wont to invoke the aid
of Chah-Miran, the serpent-king, and in the name of this deity he bids
the reptile depart. Now Chah-Miran has long been dead, but the astute
Turk reasons that serpents are not aware of this fact, for, if they were,
the human race would be helpless against their attacks.[495]

As preservatives from the stings of insects, and to prevent the croaking
of frogs, the Moslems use scraps of paper containing magical formulæ,
or sentences from the Koran engraved on stones or pieces of metal;[496]
and a method formerly in vogue in France, to protect pigeons from the
incursions of scorpions, consisted in writing the word “Adam” on each of
the four walls of the pigeon-house.[497]

The natives of Mirzapur, in cases of scorpion-bite, recite a charm
meaning as follows: “Black scorpion of the limestone, green thy tail and
black thy mouth, God orders thee to go home. Come out, scorpion, at the
spell. Come out, come out!”[498]

The following charm against insects is in vogue in Lesbos: In the evening
a black-handled knife is stuck in some spot where the insects congregate,
and certain Greek verses are repeated, of which the following is a
translation:—

    I got three naughty bairns together,
    One a wasp, one caterpillar,
    And a swarming ant the other.
    Whate’er ye eat, whate’er ye drink,
    Hence, hence avaunt,
    To the hills and mountains flee,
    And unto each fruitless tree.

The knife is to remain in the same spot until the next morning, and
is then to be removed. This completes the charm, and the insects are
expected to depart at once.[499]

In Great Britain there formerly prevailed a belief that rats could be
rhymed to death by anathematizing them in metrical verse, a practice
mentioned by Shakespeare and contemporary poets, and which is even to-day
not wholly obsolete.[500]

In southern Germany, during the campaigns of Napoleon I., mice with inked
feet were placed upon the map of Europe, and their tracks were held to
foretell the routes by which the French soldiers would advance.[501]

The Hindus consider the rat to be a sacred animal, and among the lower
classes of the natives of western India it is thought unlucky to call a
rat by his own name, so they speak of him as the “rat-uncle.”[502]


VII. SUPERSTITIOUS DEALINGS WITH WILD ANIMALS

In encountering a wild animal, the ancients deemed it a matter of great
importance that a man should see the beast before the latter was aware of
a human presence. If a wolf, for example, first perceived the man, the
brute was master of the situation, and the man was bereft alike of speech
and strength; whereas the wolf, if first seen by the man, became an easy
prey. The side from which a wild beast approached was also of moment.
Thus the “Geoponica” warned its readers not to allow a hyena to approach
from the right side, lest one be rendered motionless by the fascination
of its presence; but if it appeared on the left side, the animal might be
attacked with confidence.

Various wonderful tales are current among the natives of Senegambia, and
other districts of western Africa, regarding the lion. This noble animal,
it is said, forbears to attack a man who salutes him with a respectful
gesture, and the same gallant instinct restrains the beast from harming
a woman.[503] In most lion-haunted regions, however, the natives do not
have such implicit confidence in the courtesy and forbearance of wild
animals, but trust rather to the efficacy of various amulets. The Kaffirs
of southeastern Africa, for example, on encountering a lion or leopard in
the forest, proceed at once to nibble a so-called lion-charm, which is
merely a small bit of wood or root. And if the animal moves away without
molesting him, the Kaffir attributes his security to the magic power of
the charm, not realizing that his escape is due to the natural dread of
man which is characteristic of animals generally.[504]

So, too, the priests of Mexico were accustomed to rub their bodies with
a certain ointment which they believed to be an efficient protection
against wild beasts, its pungent odor acting as a charm, so that they
were enabled to wander unmolested amid the wildest solitudes.[505] The
skilled hunter, however, confident in his own prowess, depends neither
upon the alleged gallantry of lions nor the potency of amulets, but
rather on his trusty rifle.

The belief in charms against noxious animals is widespread; for not
alone in African jungles does this form of superstition prevail: it is
found among civilized people as well, and more particularly in southern
lands; indeed, wherever venomous creatures abound. In a collection of
amulets belonging to Professor Joseph Belucci, of Perugia, Italy, which
was exhibited at the Paris Exposition, 1891, were a number of perforated
stones and other objects used by Italians as charms to protect the bearer
against the bite of serpents and reptiles.[506]


VIII. LEGAL PROSECUTION OF ANIMALS

Legal proceedings were formerly instituted against vermin, who were
thus treated as if they were human beings endowed with consciences and
responsible for their actions. Prosecutions of animals were common in
France and Switzerland, with a view to protect communities from their
depredations. Thus rats and mice, and also bulls, oxen, cows, and mares;
sheep, goats, pigs, and dogs; moles, leeches, caterpillars, and various
reptiles, were liable to punishment by legal process.[507] The Roman
Catholic Church claimed full power to anathematize all animate and
inanimate things, founding its authority on the Scriptural precedents of
the malediction pronounced on the serpent in the garden of Eden, and the
cursing of the barren fig-tree by our Lord.[508] The belief in the moral
responsibility of animals was also thought to be warranted by the old
Mosaic law as declared in Genesis ix. 5:—

    And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand
    of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man.

Also in Exodus xxi. 28:—

    If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox
    shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but
    the owner of the ox shall be quit.

In the Code of the Spartan lawgiver, Lycurgus, and in that of the
Athenian legislator, Draco, provision was made for the formal trial of
animals for misdemeanors.[509] A vestige of the unreasonable belief that
brutes and even inanimate objects were accountable for their actions is
to be found in that now obsolete term of English law, _deodand_, meaning,
according to Blackstone, “a personal chattel which was the immediate
cause of the death of a rational creature, and for that reason given
to God; that is, forfeited to the Crown to be applied to pious uses.”
The _deodand_ was of Grecian ancestry, as appears from the ceremonies
connected with the offering of a sacrifice by the Athenians. When the
animal or victim had been dispatched by an axe in the hands of the
officiating priest, the latter immediately fled, and to evade arrest he
threw away the axe. This instrument was then seized by his pursuers, and
an action entered against it. The advocate for the axe pleaded that it
was less guilty than the grinder who sharpened it; the grinder laid the
blame on the grindstone which he had used; and thus the whole process
became a farce and a mockery of justice.[510]

We learn from the writings of the Benedictine monk, Leonard Vair, that
in certain districts of Spain, in the fifteenth century, when the
inhabitants wished to drive away grasshoppers or noxious vermin, they
chose a conjurer as judge and appointed counsel for the defendants, with
a prosecuting attorney, who demanded justice in behalf of the aggrieved
community. The mischief-makers were finally declared guilty, and either
duly anathematized or formally excommunicated,[511] the technical
distinction between the two sentences being doubtless to them a matter of
profound indifference. At this period, also, prosecutions of pigs or sows
guilty of devouring young infants were not uncommon.

Barthélémy Chassaneux, a famous French advocate of the sixteenth century,
first won distinction by the originality of his pleas in defense of some
rats in a notable trial at Autun. He represented to the judge that his
clients found it extremely difficult to obey the summons issued to them
by the court, owing to their being obliged to traverse a region abounding
in cats, who were, moreover, especially alert on account of the notoriety
of the legal proceedings.[512]

Chassaneux wrote that the people of Autun had long agitated the question
how best to rid the province of Burgundy of locusts, and he expressed
the belief that a sure method of accomplishing so desirable a result was
by the scrupulous payment of all tithes and ecclesiastical dues, and by
causing a woman to walk barefoot round the infested fields.[513]

After the seventeenth century, prosecutions of animals and the use of
incantations for their expulsion became less common. The Ritual of
Séez in 1743 forbade such practices without the special permission of
the church, but the same volume contains a formula for driving away
grasshoppers, maybugs, and other insects. Mr. C. G. Leland states, in
his “Gypsy Sorcery,” that exorcism has been vigorously applied in the
United States, not only against the Colorado beetle and army worm, but
also for the suppression of blizzards and the grape disease. It has not
had much success hitherto, probably owing, as he naïvely remarks, to the
uncongenial climate.



THE LUCK OF ODD NUMBERS

    “For there’s luck in odd numbers,” says Rory O’More.—SAMUEL
    LOVER.


I. EARLY SIGNIFICANCE OF NUMBERS

In the “Cabala,” or ancient mystic philosophy of the Jews, much
importance is attributed to the combination of certain numbers, letters,
and words. According to one tradition, the earliest Cabala was given by
the angel Raziel to Adam, and orally transmitted through generations
until the time of Solomon, by whom it was first embodied in written
form. Another report alleges that the cabalistic secrets of nature were
received from God by Moses in the Mount, and afterwards taught to Joshua,
who communicated them to the seventy elders, and they have since been
treasured by the initiated among the Jews.

According to the doctrine of the Pythagoreans, the unit or monad was
regarded as the father of Numbers, while the duad, or two, was its
mother; and thus is explained one source of the general predilection for
odd numbers, the father being esteemed worthy of greater honor than the
mother, and the odd numbers being masculine, while the even numbers
were feminine. Moreover, the unit, being the origin of all numbers,
represented Divinity, as God was the creator and originator of all
things.[514] It was also the symbol of Harmony and Order, whereas the
duad signified Confusion and Disorder, and represented the Devil.

Plutarch remarks in his “Roman Questions” that the beginning of number,
or unity, is a divine thing; whereas the first of the even numbers, Deuz
or Deuce, is directly opposite in character. As for the even number, said
this writer, it is defective, imperfect, and indefinite; whereas the
uneven or odd number is finite, complete, and absolute.

The belief in the lucky significance of odd numbers is of great
antiquity, and reference to it is made by Virgil in the eighth Eclogue,
and by Pliny, who comments on its prevalence in his time, but offers no
explanation therefor. The Roman king, Numa Pompilius, is said to have
added days to certain months in order to make an odd number.

It is related, moreover, that the Emperor Julius Cæsar (B. C. 100-44),
having once been thrown out of his chariot through some mishap, refused
thereafter to set out upon a drive or journey until he had thrice
repeated a magic formula; and this practice appears to have been commonly
in vogue in those days.[515]

The persistency of a traditional belief is exemplified by the modern
association of luck with uneven numbers; and probably the Goddess Fortune
herself preferred a three-legged stool. However this may be, it is
evident that the legions of her worshipers to-day are firmly convinced
of the mystic charm inherent in triplets. The Chinese pagodas, or sacred
towers, built by devout persons with the object of improving the luck
of a neighborhood, have always an odd number of stories, being from
three to thirteen floors high.[516] In Siam, also, this superstition
holds universal sway, and its influence in the construction of buildings
is especially noticeable; for the Siamese religiously adhere to odd
numbers in architecture, and every house must have an uneven number of
rooms, windows, and doors; each staircase must have an uneven number of
steps.[517]

In the early literature and mythology of the Northern nations much
importance was attached to the numbers three and nine, which were held
especially sacred and dear to the gods. This fact is shown in their
religious ceremonies, and more particularly in their sacrifices, which
occurred every ninth month. Each sacrifice, moreover, lasted nine days,
and each day nine victims, whether men or animals, were offered up.[518]


II. THE NUMBER THREE

Three, as emblematic of the Trinity, has always been considered a sacred
number, and long before the Christian era God was worshiped as a triple
Deity. This is true not only of the Assyrians, Phœnicians, Greeks,
and Romans, but also of the ancient Scandinavians, the Druids, the
inhabitants of Mexico and Peru, as well as the Chinese and Japanese.

So from earliest times the Hindus have worshiped their triad of Brahma,
Vishnu, and Siva. In Holy Writ we find three sister virtues, Faith, Hope,
and Charity; and in classic mythology are trios of Graces, Fates, and
Furies, the three-forked lightning of Jupiter, the three-headed dog,
Cerberus, and the trident of Neptune. The tripod was anciently a symbol
of prophecy and of divine authority, and the triangle was originally the
pagan emblem of a holy triad.

The peculiar significance of the number three was due partly to the fact
of its being the first uneven number containing an even one; and from the
importance formerly attributed to it may have originated the familiar
saying, “The third time never fails.”

In the several codes of ancient Welsh laws are numerous so-called triads,
of which the following are curious examples:—

    Three things which a villain is not at liberty to sell without
    permission of his lord; a horse, swine, and honey. Three things
    not to be paid for though lost in a lodging-house; a knife, a
    sword, and trousers. There are three animals whose tails, eyes,
    and lives are of the same worth; a calf, a filly for common
    worth, and a cat, excepting the cat that shall watch the king’s
    barn.

Among the ancient Irish, also, considerable importance was attached to
the number three. Thus we read that among the household officials of the
High King of Erin were three royal jugglers, three jesters, three head
charioteers, three equerries, three swineherds, three janitors, and three
drink-bearers.

Multiples of the mystic number three were much employed by witches in
their incantations, and they are even now favorites with the Chinese, who
have a saying that one produced two and two produced three, while three
produced all things. This partiality is illustrated in the dimensions of
the Temple of Heaven in Pekin, where three and nine constantly recur.

In a book entitled “Varieties,” by David Person (London, 1635), being “a
surveigh of rare and excellent matters, necessary and delectable for all
sorts of persons,” the author comments at some length on the significance
of certain triads. Among others he mentions three things incident to
man,—to fall into sin, which is human; to rise out of it again, which is
angelical; and to lie in sin, which is diabolical. Again, three powerful
enemies, the world, the flesh, and the Devil, which constantly assail
man, should be opposed by three efficient weapons, fasting, prayer, and
almsgiving. Thomas Vaughan, in his “Anthroposophia Theomagica,” has much
to say concerning the virtues of numbers. “Every compound whatsoever,”
he says, “is three in one and one in three.” In speaking of a natural
triplicity, however, he does not wish to be understood as referring to
“kitchen-stuff, those three pet principles, water, oil, and the earth,
but to celestial hidden natures, known only to absolute magicians.”

In Northumberland smooth holly leaves, gathered late on a Friday, are
collected in a three-cornered handkerchief and carried home. Then nine of
the leaves are tied into a handkerchief with nine knots, and placed under
the would-be diviner’s pillow, and, as a result, interesting revelations
from dreamland are confidently anticipated. In another magical ceremony,
a maiden before retiring sets three pails of water on the floor of her
bedroom, and pins three holly leaves on her left breast. She will then,
conformably to the popular belief, be awakened from her first nap by
three loud yells, followed by three horse-laughs, whereupon the form of
her future husband will be revealed to her.[519]

The supposed efficacy of these rites doubtless depends chiefly upon
the use of the magical holly, but the repetition of odd numbers is also
characteristic of charms, incantations, and mystic procedures in all ages
and throughout the world.


III. THE NUMBER SEVEN

The number seven has ever been regarded as having a peculiar mystic
significance, and its manifold virtues have been the theme of elaborate
monographs. Alike in Holy Writ and among the earliest historic peoples,
in classic antiquity and in the mythologies of many nations, this number
has been most prominent, and to this fact may reasonably be attributed a
portion of the luck associated with odd numbers in general. A complete
enumeration of familiar examples of the use of this favorite number,
although germane to our subject, would be beyond the scope of this
sketch, but a few instances may be appropriately given.

The origin of the respect accorded this number by the nations of
antiquity was probably astronomical, or more properly astrological, and
arose from their observation of the seven great planets and of the lunar
phases, changing every seventh day.

    _Saturn_ is first, next _Jove_, _Mars_ third in place;
    The _Sun_ in midst, fifth _Venus_ runs her race,
    _Mercury_ sixth, _Moon_ lowest and last in band,
    The Planets in this rank and manner stand.[520]

It was a saying of Hippocrates that the number seven, by reason of its
mystic virtues, tended to the accomplishment of all things, and was
the dispenser of life and the fountain of all its changes; for as the
moon changes its phases every seven days, so this number influences all
sublunary beings.[521] The phrase “to be in the seventh heaven” was
derived from the seven planets, which were believed by the Babylonians
to be carried around upon as many globes of crystal, the seventh being
the highest.[522] In the writings of the Cabalists of old are likewise
portrayed seven heavens, one above another, and the seventh or highest
was the abode of God and the higher angels. The ultimate source of
the sanctity of the number seven has, however, been ascribed to the
_septentriones_, the seven ploughing oxen, stars of the constellation of
the Great Bear.

An ingenious but not especially plausible reason alleged for the
popularity of this number is the fact of its being composed of _three_,
the number of sides in a triangle, and _four_, the number of sides in a
square, thus representing two of the simplest geometric figures.[523]

Certain Biblical critics of a speculative turn of mind have concluded
that its prominence as a symbol is due to the emblematic significance of
its component parts, three and four; the former representing Divinity,
and the latter Humanity: in other words, “the union between God and
man, as affected by the manifestations of the Divinity in creation and
revelation.”[524]

In some portions of a great work on magic, discovered by Mr. A. H. Layard
among fragments of clay tablets in the ruins of a palace in ancient
Nineveh, are many incantations, formulæ, and conjurations, in which the
number seven occurs repeatedly.[525]

As familiar instances of the prominence of this number in former times
may be cited the seven wise men of Greece, the seven gates of Thebes, and
the legend of the seven sleepers of Ephesus.

Other examples are given in the following “seven heroic verses” sent by
a certain Mr. Michelburn to one Mr. Crisp, who owed the former seven
shillings:—

    Friend Crisp, I send you verses only sev’n,
    The number’s od, God numbers lovs unev’n;
    Sev’n Hills at Rome, sev’n mouths of _Nilus_ are,
    Sev’n sacred Arts, the World’s sev’n Wonders rare,
    The week sev’n dais, the Heav’ns sev’n Trions show.
    But one thing rests, sev’n shillings you me ow,
    Which that you’l pay, sev’n Verses I bestow.[526]

In ancient Ireland every well-to-do farmer had seven prime
possessions,—a house, a mill or a share in it, a kiln, barn, sheep-pen,
calf-house, and pigsty.

The number seven appears more than three hundred times in the Scriptures.
God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, and
throughout the Old Testament, as well as in the Apocalypse, the constant
recurrence of this sacred number is noteworthy. Thus we read of the seven
fat and seven lean kine of Pharaoh’s dream, and also, in the account
of the Fall of Jericho (Joshua vi. 4): “And seven priests shall bear
before the ark seven trumpets of rams horns: and the seventh day ye
shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the
trumpets.”

According to a popular mediæval tradition, Adam and Eve remained but
seven hours in Eden.

Seven archangels are mentioned in the Bible and in Jewish
writings,—_Michael_, who was the special guardian and protector of the
Jews, and in whose honor the Festival of Michaelmas is celebrated on
the twenty-ninth day of September by the Anglican and Roman Catholic
churches; _Gabriel_, the messenger who appeared to the Virgin Mary and
to Zacharias; _Raphael_, spoken of in the Book of Tobit as the companion
and guardian of Tobias, and conqueror of the demon Asmodeus; _Uriel_,
an angel mentioned in the Book of Esdras; _Chamuel_, who, according to
Jewish tradition, wrestled with Jacob; _Jophiel_, who expelled Adam and
Eve from Eden, and who was the guardian of the “tree of the knowledge
of good and evil;” and _Zadkiel_, the angel who is supposed to have
stayed the hand of Abraham when the latter was about to sacrifice his son
Isaac.[527]

Samson’s strength resided in seven locks of his hair, representing the
seven rays of Light, the source of Strength. And the shearing of these
seven locks by Delilah, a woman of low character, has been described as a
triumph of Evil in suppressing Light.[528]

According to Herodotus, the Arabs of the desert had a peculiar method of
confirming a vow of friendship. Two men stood on either side of a third,
who made incisions with a sharp stone on the palms of their hands, and,
having dipped in the blood therefrom some portion of a garment of each,
he proceeded to moisten with it seven stones lying on the ground.[529]

The age of the world, in the opinion of learned men of former times,
was properly divided into seven great epochs; namely, the _first_, from
the creation of Adam to the Deluge; _second_, from the latter event
to the time of Abraham; _third_, from Abraham to the Exodus of the
children of Israel; _fourth_, from that time to the building of Solomon’s
Temple; _fifth_, from then to the Babylonish Captivity; _sixth_, the
period between that and the coming of our Lord; and _seventh_, from the
beginning of the Christian era to the end of the world.

According to astrologers, man’s age was divided into seven parts,
governed by seven planets. The first part, _Infancy_, comprised four
years, and was ruled by the Moon, a weak, moist, and changeable body.
Next came _Childhood_, a period of ten years governed by Mercury, a
planet indifferently good or bad, according to the character of the
planets with whom he was associated. Following this came _Youthhead_,
from fourteen to twenty-two, over which Venus presided. Next was
_Adolescence_, lasting twenty years and ruled by the Sun, and in this age
man attained his full strength and vigor. The fifth, from forty-two to
fifty-six, was called _Manhood_, and was under the dominion of Mars, a
bad star. At this time men began to wax angry, impatient, and avaricious,
but were more temperate in their diet, and more discreet. The next period
of twelve years was called _Old Age_, governed by Jupiter, a noble
planet, whose influence rendered men religious, chaste, and just. The
seventh was _Decrepit Old Age_, ruled by Saturn, and comprising the years
from seventy-eight to ninety-eight.[530]

In the Lambeth Palace Library there is a manuscript of the fifteenth
century in which the seven canonical hours are compared with the seven
periods of human life, as follows:—

    Morning,                Infancy.
    Midmorrow,              Childhood.
    Undern,                 School Age.
    Mid-day,                the Knightly Age.
    Nones, or High Noon,    the Kingly Age.
    Midovernoon,            Elderly Age.
    Evenson,                Declining Age.[531]

In the “Secrets of Numbers,” by William Ingpen, Gent. (London, 1624),
the number seven is described as the most excellent of all for several
notable and curious reasons, and prominent among these was the alleged
fact that the Soul consists of seven parts, namely, Acuminie, Wit,
Diligence, Counsel, Reason, Wisdom, and Experience.


IV. ODD NUMBERS IN WITCHCRAFT

Odd numbers are intimately associated with the black art, for witches’
incantations are commonly repeated three or nine times. Who ever heard
of a witch performing any of her mystic rites exactly four or six times?
Apropos of this may be quoted the following story, taken from the advance
sheets of a work entitled “Golspie,” edited by Edward W. B. Nicholson,
M. A., Bodley’s Librarian in the University of Oxford, England, and
loaned by him to the writer. The book contains much interesting folk-lore
of the extreme north of Scotland:—

    A woman who lived near Golspie was always telling her neighbors
    that a woman whom they all believed to be a witch had cast
    an evil eye upon the cow and herself. “Her milk and butter
    were spoiled,” she said; and she also told them that in a
    dream she saw the witch in the shape of a hare come into her
    milk-house and drink the milk. One day when she was in the
    wood for sticks, her neighbors went into her byre, and seeing
    a petticoat on a nail, cut a number of crosses on it and put
    it in the cow’s stall. Then they tied nine rusty nails to a
    cord with nine knots on it. This cord they tied to the chain
    on the cow’s neck, and then went away. Shortly after the woman
    came home, she went into the byre, and seeing the petticoat,
    nails, etc., ran out to her neighbors screaming, and calling
    to them to go and see what the witch had done on her. To make
    sure that it was the witch’s work, she showed them the _unequal
    number_ of nails and knots. Then she took everything that she
    thought the witch had handled, and made a fire of them, saying
    that she could no longer harm any person, because her power was
    destroyed by fire.

The employment of odd numbers in magical formulæ is exemplified in the
following recipe for a drink against all temptations of the Devil, used
by the Saxons in England:—

    Take betony, bishop wort, lupins, githrife, attorlothe,
    wolfscomb, yarrow; lay them under the altar, sing nine masses
    over them, scrape the worts into holy water, give the man to
    drink at night, fasting, a cup-full, and put the holy water
    into all the meat which the man taketh. Work thus a good salve
    against the temptations of the fiend.[532]

A Hindu woman, on returning with her young child from a strange village,
is careful, before entering her own dwelling, to pass seven small stones
seven times around the baby’s head, and throw them away in different
directions, in order thus to disperse any evil which may have been
contracted during her trip.[533]

And as a preliminary to other mystic procedures, in order to avert the
Evil Eye, the Hindus wave around the patient’s face seven pebbles taken
from a spot where three roads meet, seven leaves of the date-palm, and
seven bunches of leaves of the _bor_ tree.[534] It may not be surprising
that such mysterious rites, whose efficacy depends chiefly on the magical
potency of certain odd numbers, should be popular among the natives of
India, but it is noteworthy that these numbers are equally influential in
Christian lands. A multiplication of examples might serve to emphasize
this fact, but would occupy too much space. Charms and formulas are
commonly thrice repeated, probably in reference to the Holy Trinity.

    Of all the numbers arithmeticall,
    The number three is heald for principall,
    As well in naturall philosophy,
    As supernaturall theologie.[535]

The Bavarian peasant, in passing through a haunted place, considers
himself amply fortified against evil if he takes the precaution to carry
three things; namely, (1) a new knife which has never cut anything,
marked on the blade with three crosses; (2) a loaf of bread baked on
Epiphany Eve; (3) a black cat.[536]


V. ODD NUMBERS IN FOLK-MEDICINE

In a volume containing a great variety of ancient charms and magical
cures, collected by Marcellus Empiricus, a Latin writer of the fourth
century A. D., in which volume various remedial measures are described
with great minuteness, the even numbers seldom appear. Thus, for the
removal of a foreign substance from the eye, one should rub the affected
organ with the five fingers of the hand of the same side, and repeat
thrice a charm of words. Again, for the cure of a sty on the eyelid,
take nine grains of barley and poke the sty with each one separately,
meanwhile repeating a magic formula in Greek. Then throw away the nine
and do the same with seven, throw away the seven and do the same with
five, and so with three and one.

The early Saxon physicians in England seem also to have had faith in the
peculiar virtues of the number nine, as is evident from many of their
prescriptions, of which the following prefix to a lengthy Latin charm is
a fair specimen:—

    For flying venom and every venomous swelling, on a Friday churn
    butter which has been milked from a neat or hind all of one
    colour, and let it not be mingled with water. Sing over it nine
    times a litany and nine times the _Paternoster_, and nine times
    this incantation.[537]

In an ancient English manuscript (Harleian Collection, No. 585), frequent
examples are given of the employment of odd numbers in therapeutics.
Thus, for dropsical affections, a beverage containing alexander, betony,
and fennel is to be drunk daily for seven days. “To expel venom,”
centaury is to be taken for fifteen days, and a potion prepared from the
seed of cress is extolled for its curative qualities if taken faithfully
during three days.[538]

Indeed, the odd numbers are prominent in the annals of folk-medicine
throughout Great Britain. The three chief duties of a physician were
declared to be as follows: the restoration of health when lost, its
amelioration when weak, and its preservation when recovered. So also
three qualities were requisite in a surgeon; namely, an eagle’s eye, a
lion’s heart, and a lady’s hand, attributes equally essential to the
skillful operator of the present day.

The natives of the Hebrides inherit the old Scandinavian and Celtic
partiality for certain odd numbers. Thus in Tiree a favorite cure for
jaundice consists in wearing a shirt previously dipped in water taken
from the tops of nine waves, and in which nine stones have been boiled.
These same people formerly employed a peculiar method of treating sick
cattle. The veterinary, holding in his hands a cup of cream and an
oat-cake, takes his seat upon the animal, and repeats a Celtic charm
of words “nine times nine times,” taking “a bit and a sip” before each
repetition.[539]

In Cornwall, for the cure of inflammatory affections, the invocation of
three angels is thrice repeated to each one of nine bramble leaves; and
a popular remedy for whooping cough is to pass a child nine times under
and over a three-year-old donkey.[540] In the south of England, for
intermittent fever, the patient is recommended to eat seven sage leaves
on seven successive mornings, fasting meanwhile; and in northern Scotland
scrofulous affections are thought to yield to the touch of a seventh
son, when accompanied by an invocation of the Trinity.[541]

The belief in the magical curative qualities of the number nine was not
limited to the northern nations. Thus the inhabitant of ancient Apulia,
when bitten by a scorpion, proceeded to walk nine times around the walls
of his native town.

Dr. D. G. Brinton, in his “Nagualism, a Study of Native American
Folk-Lore and History,” remarks that the number nine recurs very often in
the conjurations of Mexican magicians.

The women of Canton, China, attribute magical properties for the cure of
cutaneous affections to water drawn after midnight of the seventh day of
the seventh month.

When a gypsy child bumps its head, a knife-blade is first pressed upon
the swelling, after which an incantation is pronounced three, seven, or
nine times, and the knife is stuck into the earth a like number of times.
Many charms employed by gypsies could be mentioned in illustration of the
avoidance of even numbers in all their mystic rites.[542]


VI. THE NUMBER THIRTEEN

In regard to the luck of odd numbers, the exception, which is commonly
supposed to prove the rule, is the much maligned thirteen.

In the Scandinavian mythology Loki, the Principle of Evil and the chief
author of human misfortunes, accompanied the twelve Æsir, or Demigods,
and was reckoned the thirteenth among them. Moreover, the Valkyrs,
or Virgins, who waited upon the heroes in Valhalla, were thirteen in
number, and from these sources is believed to have sprung the very common
superstition concerning the ill luck and fatality of the number thirteen,
especially in connection with a party of guests at table.

The most generally received explanation of the origin of this popular
belief refers it to the Last Supper of our Lord, where Judas is sometimes
represented as the thirteenth guest. But why Judas rather than John, the
beloved disciple? However, this is the generally accepted starting-point
of this notable superstition. As with the Jews the thirteenth month, and
with the Christians the thirteenth day of the year, which began with
Christmas, were accounted ominous, so, with the inhabitants of India,
the thirteenth year was considered to be of evil import. It is evident,
therefore, that the source of this nearly world-wide belief cannot be
attributed wholly either to the mythology of the north or to the Paschal
Supper.[543]

When the year was reckoned as thirteen lunar months of twenty-eight
days each, the number thirteen, according to one view, was considered
auspicious; but when, under the present method of solar time, the number
of months was reduced to twelve, thirteen’s reputation was changed for
the worse.[544]

In early times the Feast of the Epiphany, which is the thirteenth
day after Christmas Eve, was feared because at that time the three
goddesses, Berchta, Holle, and Befana, with their ghostly companions,
were especially active; and, as a guard against their machinations,
the initial letters of the names of the three kings, or wise men, were
written on many a door.

Of the former trio, Berchta was represented as a shaggy monster, whose
name was used as a bugbear with which to frighten children. She was
intrusted with the oversight of spinning, and on the eve of Epiphany she
visited the homes of the countryfolk, distributing empty reels, which she
required to be filled within a specified time; if her demands were not
complied with, she retaliated by tangling and befouling the flax.

Holle, or Holda, was a benignant and merciful goddess, of an obliging
disposition, who was usually most lenient, except when she noticed
disorder in the affairs of a household. Her favorite resorts were
the lakes and fountains, but she had also an oversight over domestic
concerns, and shared with Berchta the supervision of spinning. Sometimes,
however, she appeared as an old hag, with bristling, matted hair and long
teeth.

Befana, the third goddess, was of Italian origin, and her name signifies
Epiphany. On that day the women and children used to place a rag doll in
the window in her honor. In personal appearance she was black and ugly,
but her disposition was not unfriendly.

So universal has been the superstition regarding the number thirteen at
table, that it has long been a matter of etiquette in France to avoid
having exactly that number of guests at dinner-parties. The Parisian
_pique-assiette_, a person whose title corresponds to the English
“trencher friend” or “sponger,” is also known as a _quatorzième_, his
chief mission being to occupy the fourteenth seat at a banquet.

The ancients, we learn, had ideas of their own regarding the proper size
of festive gatherings, their favorite number of _convives_ being between
three and nine, the number of the Graces and Muses respectively.[545]

Opinions have differed as to whether misfortune were likely to befall
the whole company of thirteen persons rash enough to dine together, or
only the one leaving the room first after the repast. All evil, however,
was supposed to be averted by the entire company rising to their feet
together. It has been wittily remarked that the only occasion when
thirteen plates at table should cause disquietude is when the food is
only sufficient for twelve persons.

At the thirteenth annual dinner of that unique organization, the Thirteen
Club, held in New York city, January 13, 1895, at 7.13 o’clock, P.
M., the custodian delivered an address in which were recounted the
circumstances of the club’s formation. So prevalent was the apprehension
of evil likely to result from the assembling together of thirteen persons
that, when at length the requisite number were seated at table, it was
found desirable to lock the doors of the banquet-room, lest some faint
soul should retire abruptly.

Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, in his “Forty-One Years in India” (vol. i.
p. 24), mentions a circumstance occurring in his own experience, which
affords evidence, were any needed, of the falsity of the superstition in
question. On New Year’s Day, A. D. 1853, Lord Roberts was one of a party
of thirteen who dined together at a staff-officers’ mess at Peshawer, on
the Afghan frontier. Eleven years later all these officers were alive,
the greater number having participated in the suppression of the great
Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, during which several of them were wounded.

In Italy shrewd theatrical managers have found it expedient to change
the number of Box 13 to 12A, and in many streets of Rome and Florence
one may search in vain for house-numbers between 12½ and 14. A gentleman
of the writer’s acquaintance, living in Washington, D. C., sent a formal
petition to the authorities asking leave to change the number of his
house, for the sole reason that it contained the ominous figures.

As an illustration of the popular distrust of the number thirteen among
the villagers of the Department of Ille-et-Villaine, France, may be cited
the following custom, which is in vogue in that district. Children are
there usually taught the art of knitting by devout elderly women. The
little ones are first seated in a circle, and, to facilitate the work, on
the completion of the first round of knitting they are made to repeat the
following words: “_One_, the Father;” at the close of the second round,
“_Two_, the Son;” and so on, as follows: “_Three_, the Holy Spirit; the
_four_ Evangelists; the _five_ wounds of our Lord; the _six_ commandments
of the church; _seven_ sacraments; _eight_ beatitudes; _nine_ choirs of
angels; _ten_ commandments of God; _eleven_ thousand virgins; _twelve_
apostles;” and at the close of the _thirteenth_ round, the children
mention the name of Judas.[546]

This remarkable and unreasonable prejudice against an innocent number
seems to pervade all classes and communities. The possession of
intelligence and culture is no effective barrier against it. Arguments
and reasoning are alike vain. Even at this writing, an evening journal
records that at a recent meeting of a newly elected board of aldermen in
an enlightened city of eastern Massachusetts, one of the members objected
to casting lots for seats because he did not relish the idea of drawing
number thirteen. However, his scruples having been in a measure overcome,
he was much relieved to find that the number eleven, which is both uneven
and lucky, had fallen to his share.[547]

Brand quotes as follows from Fuller’s “Mixt Contemplations” (1660) in
reference to this subject:—

    A covetous Courtier complained to King Edward the sixt of
    Christ Colledge in Cambridge, that it was a superstitious
    foundation, consisting of a Master and twelve Fellowes, in
    imitation of Christ and His twelve Apostles. He advised the
    King also to take away one or two Fellowships, so as to
    discompose that superstitious number. “Oh, no!” said the King,
    “I have a better way than that to mar their conceit; I will add
    a thirteenth Fellowship unto them;” which he did accordingly,
    and so it remaineth unto this day.

Persians regard the number thirteen as so unlucky that they refrain
from naming it. When they wish to allude to this number, instead of
mentioning the proper term, they use words meaning “much more” or
“nothing.”[548]

The Moors, or Arabs, of northern Africa have similar prejudices, whereas
the American negro, ordinarily a most credulous being, appears to be
quite indifferent to the evil influences of the fateful number;[549]
but in Turkey, so great is the popular dislike of it that the word for
thirteen is seldom used.[550]

In Scotland this number is known as the “Deil’s Dozen,” a phrase which
has been supposed to have some connection with card-playing, there being
thirteen cards in each suit of the “Deil’s Books.” John Jamieson, in
his Scottish Dictionary, avows his inability to trace the superstition
to its source, but believes that it includes the idea of the thirteenth
being the Devil’s lot. The number thirteen is also sometimes known as
a “baker’s dozen,” because it was formerly a common practice to give
thirteen loaves for twelve, the extra piece being called the _in-bread_
or _to-bread_. This custom is supposed to have originated at a time when
heavy fines were imposed for short weights, the additional bread being
given by bakers as a precautionary measure.[551]

In certain cases, contrary to the general rule, thirteen is accounted a
fortunate numeral, or even as one possessing extraordinary virtues.

Dr. Daniel G. Brinton, in “A Primer of Mayan Hieroglyphics” (p. 25), says
that in the old language of the Mayas, an aboriginal tribe of Yucatan,
the numbers nine and thirteen were used to denote indefinite greatness
and supreme excellence. Thus a very fortunate man was possessed of nine
souls, and the phrase, “thirteen generations old,” conveyed the idea of
perpetuity. The “Demon with thirteen powers” was a prominent figure in
the mythology of the Tzentals, a Mayan tribe.

According to a widely prevalent popular impression, a brood is usually
odd in number, and therefore it is folly to set an even number of eggs
under a hen. In spite of the falsity of this idea, it is still quite
customary to set thirteen eggs, an even number in this case being
accounted unlucky.

Gerald Massey, in “The Natural Genesis,” remarks that “there were
thirteen kinds of spices set out in the Jewish religious service, along
with the zodiacal number of twelve loaves of shew-bread. There are
thirteen articles to the Hebrew faith, and the Cabalists have thirteen
rules by which they are enabled to penetrate the mysteries of the Hebrew
Scriptures. Thirteen are the dialectical canons of the Talmudical doctors
for determining the sense of the law in all civil and ecclesiastical
cases.”

In England the day of twenty-four hours was formerly divided into
thirteen parts, as follows:—

     1. After midnight.
     2. Cock-crow.
     3. Between the first cock-crow and daybreak.
     4. The dawn.
     5. Morning.
     6. Noon.
     7. Afternoon.
     8. Sunset.
     9. Twilight.
    10. Evening.
    11. Candle-time.
    12. Bed-time.
    13. Dead of night.

Recurring now to the prevalent notions regarding the sinister and
portentous character of this number, one may well inquire in all
seriousness whether the harboring of this and other firmly rooted
superstitious fancies is compatible with a deep and abiding Christian
faith. The answer is plainly in the negative. Therefore it is doubtless
true—and the truth should make us free—that the greater our indifference
to the various alleged omens and auguries which so easily beset us, the
more readily shall we acquire and retain a firm and enduring dependence
on Divine Providence.



FOOTNOTES


[1] _New Cabinet Cyclopædia._

[2] _Archæologia_, vol. iii. 1775.

[3] John Kitto, D. D., _Cyclopædia of Biblical Art_.

[4] John Beckman, _A History of Inventions_.

[5] Carmen XVIII. 26.

[6] Suetonius: “Soleis mularum argenteis.”

[7] Pliny: “Jumentis suis soleas ex auro induere.”

[8] Fosbroke, _Dictionary of Antiquities_.

[9] _Knight’s Mechanical Dictionary._

[10] Alexander Adam, LL. D., _Roman Antiquities_.

[11] _Archæologia_, vol. xlvii.

[12] _Scribner’s Magazine_, November, 1894.

[13] John Beckman, _A History of Inventions_.

[14] Fosbroke, _Archæologia_, vol. iii.

[15] _Notes and Queries_, series 3, vol. v. 1864.

[16] _Leicestershire and Rutland Notes and Queries_, vol. i. 1889-91.

[17] Margaret G. Finch, _The History of Oakham Castle_. Oakham, 1897.

[18] _Chambers’ Journal_, March 10, 1866.

[19] Cameron’s _Across Africa_.

[20] W. Crooke, B. A., _North Indian Folk-Lore_.

[21] Clara Erskine Clement, _Naples_.

[22] George Borrow, _The Zincali_.

[23] A. Certeux and E. Henry Carnoy, _L’Algérie traditionnelle_, tome i.
p. 159.

[24] _Folk-Lore_, June, 1896, p. 148.

[25] Lieutenant-Colonel N. Prejevalsky, _Mongolia_, vol. ii. p. 207.

[26] William M. Thomson, D. D., _The Land and the Book_.

[27] S. S. Thorburn, _Bannú_.

[28] Sir John Bowring, F. R. S., _The Kingdom and People of Siam_, vol.
i. p. 145.

[29] Clara Erskine Clement, _Naples_.

[30] Elworthy, _Evil Eye_, p. 261.

[31] _Popular Science Monthly_, November, 1896.

[32] Goblet D’Alviella, _La migration des symboles_, p. 25.

[33] Rennell Rodd, _The Customs and Lore of Modern Greece_. 1892.

[34] _Revue des traditions populaires_, tome viii. 1892.

[35] _Mélusine_, tome viii. No. 4. 1896.

[36] M’Clintock and Strong’s _Cyclopædia_, art. “Head-Dress.”

[37] Lucy M. J. Garnett, _The Christian Women of Turkey_.

[38] _L’Algérie traditionnelle_, tome i. p. 159. 1884.

[39] H. Clay Trumbull, _The Threshold Covenant_, p. 74.

[40] _Folk-Lore_, March, 1898, p. 10.

[41] _Mélusine_, tome viii. No. 3. 1896.

[42] _L’Algérie traditionelle_, tome i. p. 159. 1884.

[43] Richard Folkard, Jr., _Plant-Lore_.

[44] Rev. Timothy Harley, _Moon-Lore_, p. 192.

[45] Isaiah iii. 18.

[46] _Cornhill_, March, 1877.

[47] Thomas Inman, M. D., _Ancient Faiths embodied in Ancient Names_.

[48] Barclay V. Head, _Historia Numorum_. Oxford, 1887.

[49] _A Dictionary of Roman Coins._ London, 1889.

[50] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, vol. 84. 1814.

[51] _Popular Science Monthly_, November, 1895.

[52] _Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and
Ireland_, vol. 19. 1890.

[53] Bernard de Montfaucon, _L’antiquité expliquée_.

[54] Ph. Charles Berjean, _The Horses of Antiquity, Middle Ages, and
Renaissance_. London, 1864.

[55] Theodore Andrea Cook, B. A., _Old Touraine_.

[56] Professor C. H. Rochholz, _Alt-deutsches Bürgerleben_.

[57] Richard Folkard, Jr., _Plant-Lore_.

[58] Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et legendes du centre de la France_.
Paris, 1875.

[59] Merlin, _Book of Charms_.

[60] William A. Craigie, M. A., _Scandinavian Folk-Lore_, p. 396.

[61] Rudolph Keyser, _The Religion of the Northmen_, p. 299.

[62] _Popular Science Monthly_, vol. 44. 1894.

[63] Dr. Karl Sittl, _Archäologie der Kunst_, p. 210. 1895.

[64] Edward B. Tylor, LL. D., _Primitive Culture_.

[65] William S. Walsh, _Handy Book of Literary Curiosities_.

[66] Rev. Justus Doolittle, _Social Life of the Chinese_.

[67] _Rennell Rodd_, p. 165.

[68] William George Black, _Folk-Medicine_. London, 1883.

[69] J. B. Friedrich, _Die Symbolik und Mythologie der Natur_.

[70] F. Nork, _Mythologie der Volkssagen und Volksmärchen_. Stuttgart,
1848.

[71] Paul Sébillot, _Légendes et curiosités des métiers_.

[72] _The Folk-Lore Journal_, vol. vii. 1889.

[73] Jacob Larwood and John C. Hotten, _The History of Signboards_.

[74] William Mackay, _Urquhart and Glenmoriston_, p. 434.

[75] Daniel Wilson, _The Archæology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland_.

[76] Thomas Keightley, _The Fairy Mythology_, p. 352.

[77] F. S. Bassett, _Sea Phantoms_.

[78] James W. Mackinlay, _Folk-Lore of Scottish Lochs and Springs_, p. 6.

[79] William Jones, _Credulities Past and Present_.

[80] Giuseppe Pitré, _Usi e costumi, credenze, e pregiudizi del popolo
Siciliano_. Palermo, 1889.

[81] A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_, p. 92.

[82] _Cornhill_, N. S. vol. xix. 1892.

[83] Dr. H. Ploss, _Das Kind in Brauch und Sitte der Völker_, p. 122.

[84] A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_, p. 336.

[85] _Natural History_, book xxviii. ch. 81.

[86] Dr. G. Lammert, _Volksmedizin in Bayern_, p. 120.

[87] Campbell.

[88] W. Crooke, B. A., _Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India_.

[89] Letter to the writer from H. Clay Trumbull.

[90] _The Folk-Lore Journal_, vol. vi. p. 77.

[91] Jones and Kropf, _Folk-Tales of the Magyars_, p. 410, note.

[92] Thomas Keightley, _The Fairy Mythology_, p. 148.

[93] Moise Schuhl, _Superstitions et coutumes populaires du Judaisme_.

[94] John Gregorson Campbell, _The Fians_, p. 52.

[95] Fräulein Helene Raff.

[96] _L’Initiation_, 19ᵉ volume, April, 1893.

[97] J. C. Brown, LL. D., _People of Finland in Archaic Times_, p. 112.

[98] W. A. Craigie, _Scandinavian Folk-Lore_.

[99] T. F. Thiselton Dyer, M. A., _British Popular Customs_, p. 424.

[100] _Mélusine_, tome iv. p. 367.

[101] R. G. Haliburton, _The Dwarfs of Mount Atlas_.

[102] Dr. Ludwig Beck, _Die Geschichte des Eisens_, p. 879.

[103] A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_, p. 263.

[104] For this legend, and for other information regarding the traditions
and customs of the Bavarian and Tyrolese peasantry, the writer is
indebted to Fräulein Helene Raff, of Munich.

[105] Crooke, p. 199.

[106] Gregor, _Scotch Folk-Lore_, p. 45.

[107] E. Daumas, _The Horses of the Sahara_, pp. 150 _et seq._

[108] Rev. James Macdonald, _Religion and Myth_, p. 92.

[109] Dr. O. Schrader, _Prehistoric Antiquities_.

[110] Richard Andree, _Ethnographische Parallelen und Vergleiche_, p. 155.

[111] Chambers’ _Encyclopædia_.

[112] Banier, _Mythology_, vol. ii. p. 570.

[113] Brinton, _Religions of Primitive Peoples_, p. 142.

[114] Henry Yule, _Cathay and the Way Thither_.

[115] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, vol. 281, p. 514. 1896.

[116] _The Comical Pilgrim’s Pilgrimage into Ireland_, 1723, p. 92.

[117] Dyer, _British Popular Customs_, p. 322.

[118] W. K. Kelly, _Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and
Folk-Lore_, p. 48.

[119] Campbell, p. 24.

[120] Campbell, p. 318.

[121] L. Maria Child, _The Progress of Religious Ideas_, vol. i. p. 276.

[122] Theophilus Hahn, Ph. D., _Tsuni-Goam_, p. 77.

[123] The Werner Company, _Art Treasures from the World’s Fair_. Chicago,
1895.

[124] _All the Year Round_, N. S. vol. xxxix. 1887.

[125] _Indian Antiquary_, vol. xv. 1886.

[126] _Cornhill Magazine_, vol. xix. 1869.

[127] E. G. Squier, A. M., _The Serpent Symbol_.

[128] Sir John Lubbock, _The Origin of Civilization_.

[129] Marc Monnier, _Les contes populaires en Italie_.

[130] _Grosses Universal Lexicon._

[131] Astley, _Collection of Voyages_.

[132] Dr. Friedrich S. Krauss, _Sréca, Glück und Schicksal im
Volksglauben der Südslaven_. Wien, 1886.

[133] A. W. Buckland, _St. Paul’s Magazine_, vol. i. 1874.

[134] _Amer. Antiq._, vol. xviii. p. 141. 1896.

[135] Lucy M. J. Garnett, _The Christian Women of Turkey_.

[136] _Popular Science Monthly_, vol. 35. 1889.

[137] _Mélusine_, tome viii. No. 2. 1896.

[138] _The Myths of the New World_, p. 132.

[139] John Newton, _Notes and Queries_, 7th series, vol. iii. April, 1887.

[140] W. Crooke, B. A., _Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern
India_.

[141] Jacob Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_.

[142] Friedrich Creuzer, _Symbolik und Mythologie der alten Völker_, vol.
iv. p. 380.

[143] _Das Kloster_, vol. ix. p. 97.

[144] Friedrich, p. 454.

[145] L. Austine Waddell, M. B., _The Buddhism of Tibet_, p. 413.

[146] Campbell, p. 457.

[147] Schuyler, _Turkistan_, p. 30.

[148] _Mélusine_, tome viii. No. 1, p. 17. 1896.

[149] Max Jähns, _Ross und Reiter_, i. 371.

[150] _Ulster Journal of Archæology_, vol. vii. p. 69.

[151] _Cornhill Magazine_, article on “Comparative Folk-Lore,” vol. lxxvi.

[152] Thomas A. Wise, M. D., _History of Paganism in Caledonia_.

[153] Mallet, _Northern Antiquities_, p. 154.

[154] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, vol. 278, p. 417. 1895.

[155] Fräulein Helene Raff.

[156] Professor Dr. Sepp, _Die Religion der alten Deutschen_, p. 340.
1890.

[157] Jähns, i. pp. 294-296.

[158] Wuttke, p. 185.

[159] Wuttke, p. 423.

[160] Richard Andree, _Braunschweiger Volkskunde_, p. 128.

[161] Grimm, vol. i. p. 47.

[162] S. Baring-Gould, M. A., _Strange Survivals_.

[163] J. Scheible, _Das Kloster_, Band ix. p. 101; Thomas Carlyle, _Early
Kings of Norway_, p. 8.

[164] Dr. Karl Weinhold, _Altnordisches Leben_, p. 145. 1856.

[165] Brand, vol. ii. p. 664.

[166] Fräulein Helene Raff.

[167] J. B. Friedrich, _Die Symbolik und Mythologie der Natur_.

[168] E. Rolland, _Faune populaire de la France_, tome iv.

[169] C. G. Leland, _Gypsy Sorcery_.

[170] Gerald Massey, _A Book of Beginnings_.

[171] _Folk-Lore_, vol. iv. p. 6. 1893.

[172] _Mélusine_, tome viii. No. 1, p. 17. 1896.

[173] Professor Dr. Sepp, _Die Religion der alten Deutschen_, p. 263.
1890.

[174] Jähns, vol. i. p. 373.

[175] _Das Buck der ritterlichen Reutterkunst._

[176] Heinrich von Wlislocki, _Aus dem Volksleben der Magyaren_, pp. 9,
10.

[177] Heinrich von Wlislocki, _Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der
Zigeuner_.

[178] M’Clintock and Strong’s _Encyclopædia_, art. “Shamanism;” E. B.
Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, vol. ii. p. 142.

[179] _Gentleman’s Magazine._ 1867.

[180] Rev. T. Thiselton Dyer, _Domestic Folk-Lore_.

[181] _Museum of Foreign Literature_, vol. xxvi. 1835.

[182] The Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL. D., _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable_.

[183] Robert Ford, _Thistledown_.

[184] _Boston Transcript_, May 9, 1898.

[185] Turner’s _Anglo-Saxons_.

[186] John Brooks Felton, _The Horse-Shoe_, a Poem. Cambridge, 1849.

[187] James Napier in _Folk-Lore_.

[188] H. Clay Trumbull, _The Threshold Covenant_, chap. i.

[189] Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 136.

[190] Bonami, _Nineveh and its Palaces_, p. 159.

[191] _Popular Science Monthly_, vol. 44, p. 520. February, 1894.

[192] C. G. Leland, _Etruscan Roman Remains_, p. 282.

[193] Petersen, _Hufeisen_, p. 7.

[194] Waddell, p. 484.

[195] Edmond O’Donovan, _The Merv Oasis_, vol. ii. p. 141.

[196] A. Featherman, _Social History of Mankind_.

[197] Rev. Charles Rogers, D. D., _Social Life in Scotland_, vol. iii. p.
229.

[198] Robert Ford, _Thistledown_, p. 262.

[199] Gregor, _Scotch Folk-Lore_.

[200] A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_. Berlin, 1869.

[201] Robert Thorne, M. A., _A Dictionary of Rare and Curious
Information_.

[202] _The Denham Tracts._

[203] _Fortnightly Review._

[204] Sidney Oldall Addy, M. A., _Household Tales_. 1895.

[205] Edward W. B. Nicholson, M. A., _Golspie_. Edinburgh, 1897.

[206] _Notes and Queries_, 5th series, vol. ix. p. 65. January, 1878.

[207] Rev. James Macdonald, _Religion and Myth_, p. 92.

[208] _Novellenzeitung_, sechster Jahrgang, No. 51, p. 812.

[209] C. G. Leland, _Etruscan Roman Remains_.

[210] Thomas A. Wise, M. D., _History of Paganism in Caledonia_.

[211] _The Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopædia._ London, 1824.

[212] Petersen, _Hufeisen_, p. 8.

[213] Camden’s _Britannia_.

[214] Thorpe’s _Northern Mythology_.

[215] Francis Parry, F. R. G. S., _The Sacred Symbols and Numbers of
Aboriginal America in Ancient and Modern Times_.

[216] _The American Antiquarian_, vol. xii. p. 356; vol. xiii. p. 58.

[217] Leopold Wagner, _Manners, Customs, and Observances_.

[218] S. H. Killikelly, _Curious Questions_.

[219] _Leicestershire and Rutland Notes and Queries_, vol. ii. 1891-93.

[220] Grimm, p. 34.

[221] J. Scheible, _Das Kloster_, vol. ix. p. 422.

[222] Arnold Frost, _The Ballad of the Wind, the Devil, and Lincoln
Minster_. Lincoln, 1897.

[223] J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, p. 91.

[224] Ignaz V. Zingerle, _Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des tiroler
Volkes_. Innsbruck, 1857.

[225] Herman Schmid and Karl Stieler, _The Bavarian Highlands and the
Salzkammergut_.

[226] Anton Birlinger, _Sagen, Legenden und Volksaberglauben_, vol. i. p.
49.

[227] _Belgravia_, vol. iv. 1887.

[228] _Yule-Tide Stories_, edited by Benjamin Thorpe. London, 1853.

[229] J. Scheible, _Das Kloster_.

[230] Thorpe’s _Northern Mythology_, vol. ii. p. 190.

[231] Ernst Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_.
Stuttgart, 1852.

[232] Friedrich Panzer, _Bayerische Sagen und Bräuche_, vol. i. p. 127.

[233] _Cyclopædia of Arts._ Philadelphia.

[234] F. Allègre, _Étude sur la déesse grecque Tyché_. Paris, 1889.

[235] Plutarch’s _Opinions of Philosophers_.

[236] Lyon, _Nouveau dictionnaire historique_. 1804.

[237] _History of Rome._

[238] George Crabb, _English Synonymes_.

[239] Andrew Tooke, A. M., _The Pantheon_. Dublin, 1792.

[240] Anthon’s _Classical Dictionary_.

[241] F. Noel, _Dictionnaire de la fable_. Paris, 1803.

[242] P. Galtruchius, _History of the Heathen Gods_. 1671.

[243] Daniel Watson, A. M., _A History of the Gods and Goddesses_.

[244] Plutarch’s _Roman Questions_.

[245] Roscher, _Lexicon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie_, p.
1523.

[246] _The Antiquarian Repertory_, vol. iv. p. 256. London, 1784.

[247] Basil H. Chamberlin, _Things Japanese_.

[248] L. Austine Waddell, B. A., _The Buddhism of Tibet_, p. 512.

[249] _Mythology and Monuments of Ancient Athens._

[250] Rodolfo Lanciani, _Pagan and Christian Rome_.

[251] Thomas Wright, _The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon_.

[252] Read at the Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society, New
York, December 29, 1896.

[253] Banier’s _Mythology_. London, 1739.

[254] Bancroft, _Native Races_, vol. ii. p. 353.

[255] J. J. L. Ratton, M. D., M. C., _A Hand-Book of Common Salt_.

[256] J. B. Friedrich, _Die Symbolik und Mythologie der Natur_.

[257] Calmet’s _Dictionary of the Holy Bible_.

[258] Philemon Holland, _The Morals or Miscellane Works of Plutarch_.

[259] Horst, _Dæmonomagie_. Frankfurt, 1818.

[260] Richalmus, _Liber Revelationum de Insidiis et Versutiis Dæmonum
adversus Homines_.

[261] Dr. Heinrich von Wlislocki, _Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der
Magyar_, p. 151.

[262] W. Mannhardt, _Germanische Mythen_. Berlin, 1858.

[263] W. Crooke, B. A., p. 147.

[264] Alexander Adam, LL. D., _Roman Antiquities_.

[265] _Grosses Universal Lexicon._ Leipzig and Halle, 1742.

[266] John Borrow, F. R. S., _Travels in China_.

[267] _Natural History_, book xxxi. ch. 41.

[268] Elias Artista Hermetica, _Das Geheimniss vom Salz_.

[269] _Il a répandu le sel à pleines mains dans ses écrits._

[270] Baret, 1580.

[271] Brewer’s _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable_.

[272] _Edinburgh Monthly Magazine_, June, 1817.

[273] Chevalier d’Arvieux, _Memoir_. Paris, 1735.

[274] J. J. Manley, M. A., _Salt and Other Condiments_, p. 90.

[275] Karl Baedeker, _The Eastern Alps_, p. 124. 1895.

[276] _Spectator_, vol. 66. 1891.

[277] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, part i. 1833.

[278] Felix Liebrecht, _Die Symbolik und Mythologie der Natur_.

[279] Owen on _Serpents_.

[280] The writer is indebted for this translation to John P. Hopkinson,
Esq.

[281] Felix Liebrecht, _Zur Volkskunde_. 1877.

[282] Shakespeare refers to this subject in several passages, and among
them the following:—

    How came her eyes so bright? Not with salt tears.

                             _Midsummer Night’s Dream._

    With tears as salt as sea.

                             _2 Henry VI._

[283] _Current Superstitions_, edited by Fanny D. Bergen.

[284] Clifton Johnson, _What they say in New England_, p. 92. 1896.

[285] M. J. Schleiden, _Das Salz_, p. 73.

[286] _The Study of Sociology_, p. 5.

[287] _Revue des traditions populaires_, tome i. 1886.

[288] _A Theological and Philosophical Treatise of the Nature and
Goodnesse of Salt._ Imprinted by Felix Kyngston for Richard Boyle at
London, 1612.

[289] James Napier, _Folk-Lore_, p. 33.

[290] Pitré, vol. iv. p. 102.

[291] R. T. Hampson, _Medii Ævi Kalendarium_. London, 1841.

[292] Pitré, vol. ii. p. 161.

[293] Dr. Heino Pfannenschmid, _Das Weihwasser im heidnischen und
christlichen Cultus_.

[294] _Notes and Queries_, 6th series, vol. ix. p. 428. May, 1884.

[295] _Century Dictionary._

[296] Francis Grose, _Popular Superstitions_.

[297] Spenser’s _Faerie Queene_.

[298] Clara Erskine Clement, _Naples_.

[299] Grimm’s _Teutonic Mythology_.

[300] _The Folk-Lore Journal_, vol. vii. 1889.

[301] _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, No. xviii. 1892.

[302] _The Washington Post_, November 27, 1894.

[303] William Henderson, _Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern
Countries of England_.

[304] _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, No. 19. 1892.

[305] Keightley’s _Fairy Mythology_.

[306] Giuseppe Pitré, _Usi e costumi, credenze e pregiudizi del popolo
Siciliano_, vol. iii. p. 426. Palermo, 1889.

[307] _Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft_, edited by Rev. Oswald
Cockayne. London, 1865.

[308] Rev. Charles Rogers, LL. D., _Scotland, Social and Domestic_.

[309] _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, No. 13. 1891.

[310] James M. Campbell, _Notes on the Spirit-Basis of Belief and Custom_.

[311] Lady Wilde, _Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of
Ireland_.

[312] _Revue des traditions populaires_, tome vi. p. 43. 1891.

[313] _Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, Band iv.

[314] _Sitzungberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften._

[315] Abraham Fornander, _An Account of the Polynesian Race_, vol. i.

[316] _Aus dem Volksleben der Magyaren_, p. 111.

[317] William Elliot Griffis, A. M., _The Mikado’s Empire_.

[318] Rogers, vol. iii. p. 288.

[319] Henderson, p. 217.

[320] Burkhardt’s _Nubia_.

[321] M. J. Schleiden, _Das Salz_.

[322] Waldron’s _History_.

[323] Pitré.

[324] M. J. Schleiden, _Das Salz_, p. 71.

[325] _The Leisure Hour_, vol. xliii. p. 805. 1894.

[326] _The Book of Ser Marco Polo._ London, 1874.

[327] Lieutenant-Colonel N. Prejevalsky, _Mongolia_, vol. i. p. 122.

[328] J. J. Manley, M. A., _Salt and Other Condiments_.

[329] J. J. Manley, p. 13.

[330] _Nares’ Glossary_, vol. ii. p. 763.

[331] _Cosmopolitan_, vol. xx. p. 94. 1894.

[332] _Contemporary Review_, vol. xxxi.

[333] R. H. Busk, _Roman Legends_.

[334] Schleiden, p. 73.

[335] M. Dacier, _The Life of Pythagoras_, p. 60. London, 1707.

[336] Feu M. Jean François Buddeus, _Traité de l’athéisme et de la
superstition_.

[337] Thomas Wright, _A History of Domestic Manners in England during the
Middle Ages_.

[338] Richard Boyle. 1612.

[339] Chambers’s _Book of Days_.

[340] Emily S. Holt, _Ye Olden Time_, p. 130.

[341] Fosbroke, _Encyclopædia of Antiquities_.

[342] _Leges Curiales Regis Canuti; apud Bartholin_, p. 583; J. S.
Forsyth, _The Antiquary’s Portfolio_. London, 1825.

[343] Elizabeth Hodges, _Some Ancient English Homes_.

[344] Rogers, vol. i. p. 233.

[345] P. H. Ditchfield, M. A., F. S. A., _Old English Customs_. 1896.

[346] Martin Schoock, _De Sternutatione Tractatus Copiosus_. Amsterdam,
1664.

[347] Joh. Gerhardus Menschen, _Disquisitio Philologica de Ritu Salutandi
Sternutantes_. Kiloni, 1704.

[348] John Potter, D. D., _Antiquities of Greece_.

[349] Francis Rous, _Archæologiæ Atticæ_. London, 1685.

[350] _Encyclopédie méthodique._ Paris, 1788.

[351] U. S. _Literary Gazette_, vol. iv. 1826.

[352] Eustace Neville Rolfe, B. A., _Pompeii, Popular and Practical_.
London, 1888.

[353] Gerald Massey, _The Natural Genesis_, vol. i. pp. 83-85.

[354] Henderson, p. 128.

[355] _Mélusine_, vol. iv. 1888-89.

[356] William Jones, _Credulities_.

[357] John Beaumont, Gent., _A Treatise of Spirits_. London, 1705.

[358] _Twelfth Annual Report of the Thirteen Club of New York_, January,
1894. The writer has also consulted the original manuscript.

[359] Grimm’s _Teutonic Mythology_.

[360] A. Featherman, _The Social History of the Races of Mankind_.

[361] R. H. Codrington, D. D., _The Melanesians_.

[362] _Notes and Queries_, 1st series, vol. xii.

[363] Rev. Charles Rogers, LL. D., F. S. A., _Scotland, Social and
Domestic_.

[364] Alexandre Desrousseaux, _Mœurs populaires de la Flandre française_.

[365] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, vol. 252, p. 237. January, 1882.

[366] Wuttke, p. 243.

[367] _Philadelphia Inquirer_, February 24, 1898.

[368] Eugene Schuyler, _Turkistan_, p. 29.

[369] Griffis, _Japan_, p. 187.

[370] _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, vol. x. p. 272. 1897.

[371] Henderson, p. 206.

[372] Vol. 73, pp. 41, 42. 1896.

[373] _Cornhill Magazine_, vol. 76.

[374] Lecture by Dr. D. G. Brinton, at the Lowell Institute, Boston,
Mass., November 9, 1896.

[375] Elijah M. Haines, _The American Indian_, p. 416.

[376] D. G. Brinton, _Myths of the New World_, p. 307.

[377] Andree, _Ethnographische Parallelen_, p. 177.

[378] Herbert Spencer, _Principles of Sociology_, vol. iii. p. 186.

[379] Rev. William Wyatt Gill, B. A., _Myths and Songs from the South
Pacific_.

[380] L. Maria Child, _The Progress of Religious Ideas_, vol. i. p. 276.

[381] Schuyler, _Turkistan_, p. 29.

[382] Isabella L. Bishop, _Among the Tibetans_, p. 104.

[383] Rev. J. A. Graham, M. A., _On the Threshold of Three Closed Lands_,
p. 76.

[384] G. Maspero, _The Dawn of Civilization_. 1894.

[385] Professor E. P. Evans, _Popular Science Monthly_, November, 1895.

[386] W. Crooke, B. A., _Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern
India_.

[387] S. Baring Gould, _Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets_.

[388] _The Catholic World_, vol. iii. 1866.

[389] Brand’s _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_.

[390] _Encyclopædia of Arts and Sciences._ Philadelphia, 1798.

[391] Pedro Mexio, _The Treasurie of Auncient and Moderne Times_. 1613.

[392] _Legends of Iceland_, collected by Jón Arnason, 2d series, p. 646.

[393] Edward B. Tylor, _Primitive Culture_.

[394] _Temple Bar_, vol. 43. 1875.

[395] _Dictionnaire des sciences occultes._

[396] William S. Walsh, _Handy-Book of Literary Curiosities_.

[397] Edward William Lane, _The Modern Egyptians_.

[398] James Owen Dorsey, “A Study of Siouan Cults,” _Eleventh Annual
Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_, Washington, D. C.

[399] Lady Wilde’s _Ancient Cures, Charms, and Usages of Ireland_.

[400] M. l’Abbé Bertram, _Dictionnaire de toutes les religions_.

[401] _Cornhill Magazine_, vol. 76.

[402] Brand, vol. i. p. 361.

[403] C. F. Gordon-Cumming, _At Home in Fiji_, p. 105.

[404] E. Henry Carnay, _Litterature orale de la Picardie_. Paris, 1883.

[405] Ernst Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_.
Stuttgart, 1852.

[406] François Lenormant, _Chaldean Magic_.

[407] Adolf Erman, _Life in Ancient Egypt_, p. 351.

[408] F. Chabas, _Le calendrier des jours fastes et néfastes et de
l’année egyptienne_, p. 124.

[409] M. Court de Gebelin, _Monde primitif_, vol. iv. Paris, 1776.

[410] Jean Baptiste Thiers, _Traité des superstitions_. Paris, 1679.

[411] _Historia litteraria_, vol. ii. London, 1731.

[412] Monsieur Danet, _A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_.
London, 1700.

[413] Chabas, p. 124.

[414] Rev. Edward Cockayne, M. A., _Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft
of Early England_.

[415] Brand’s _Popular Antiquities_.

[416] Dr. C. Edward Sachan, _The Chronology of Ancient Nations_. London,
1879.

[417] Israel Abrahams, M. A., _Jewish Life in the Middle Ages_, p. 184.

[418] Bowring, _Siam_, vol. i. p. 158.

[419] Mallet’s _Northern Antiquities_.

[420] Mallet, p. 426.

[421] Clifford Howard, _Sex Worship_, p. 119.

[422] Mélusine, tome iv. 1888-89.

[423] Cockayne, vol. iii. p. 163.

[424] “Popular Superstitions,” _Gentleman’s Magazine Library_, vol. i.

[425] William Jones, _Credulities Past and Present_.

[426] T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_.

[427] Isaac Disraeli, _Curiosities of Literature_, vol. i. p. 280.

[428] Sir William Muir, K. C. S. I., _The Life of Mahomet_.

[429] John J. Pool, _Studies in Mohammedanism_, p. 103.

[430] M. l’Abbé Bertrand, _Dictionnaire universel de toutes les
religions_.

[431] Thomas Patrick Hughes, B. D., M. R. A. S., _A Dictionary of Islam_.

[432] S. S. Thorburn, _Bannú_.

[433] Israel Abrahams, M. A., _Jewish Life in the Middle Ages_, p. 186.

[434] Gerald Massey, _The Natural Genesis_, vol. ii. p. 298.

[435] Moritz Busch, _Deutscher Volksglaube_.

[436] Rogers, vol. iii. p. 278.

[437] Lady Wilde, _Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of
Ireland_, p. 136.

[438] Lady Wilde, _Ancient Cures, Charms, and Usages of Ireland_.

[439] P. G. Heims, _Seespuk_, p. 135.

[440] Wilhelm Kolbe, _Hessische Volks-Sitten und Gebräuche_.

[441] _Shropshire Folk-Lore_, p. 260.

[442] “Wily Beguiled,” Hawkins’s _English Drama_, vol. iii. p. 356.

[443] Dr. Adolf Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_. Berlin, 1869.

[444] E. L. Rochholz, _Alt-deutsches Bürgerleben_, pp. 52, 53.

[445] Wlislocki, _Aus dem Volksleben der Magyaren_, p. 68.

[446] _Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde_, vol. iv. p. 307. 1894.

[447] Giuseppe Pitré, _Usi e costumi, credenze e pregiudizi del popolo
Siciliano_. 1889.

[448] M. Jean-François Bladé, _Contes populaires de la Gascogne_. Paris,
1886.

[449] M. l’Abbé Migne, _Dictionnaire des superstitions populaires_.

[450] Giuseppe Pitré, _Il venerdi nelle tradizioni popolari italiane_.

[451] Busch, _op. cit._

[452] _A World of Wonders_, edited by Albany Poyntz.

[453] _Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie_, iv. 147.

[454] _Boston Herald_, May 1, 1898.

[455] W. R. S. Ralston, M. A., _Russian Folk-Tales_.

[456] Larousse, _Grand dictionnaire universel_.

[457] M. D. Conway, _Demonology and Devil-Lore_.

[458] Fr. Noel, _Dictionnaire de la fable_.

[459] Danet’s _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_. London, 1700.

[460] Andrew Lang, _Custom and Myth_.

[461] Ermete Pierotti, _Customs and Traditions of Palestine_.

[462] _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, vol. x. No. 39, p. 274. 1897.

[463] Leland’s _Gypsy Sorcery_.

[464] Brewer’s _Dictionary of Miracles_.

[465] Rev. Walter Gregor, M. A., _Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northeast
of Scotland_.

[466] Hulme, _Natural History Lore and Legend_, p. 241.

[467] Thorpe, ii. p. 84.

[468] Schuyler, _Turkestan_, p. 30.

[469] Edward Jewitt Robinson, _Tales and Poems of South India_, p. 378.

[470] E. Rolland, _Faune populaire de la France_. Paris, 1877.

[471] Wuttke, p. 118.

[472] Wuttke, p. 276.

[473] Dr. Joseph Virgil Grohmann, _Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen
und Mähren_, p. 232.

[474] _Encyclopédie theologique_, tome, “Sciences occultes.”

[475] John Thrupp, _The Anglo-Saxon Home_. London, 1852.

[476] _Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft_, edited by the Rev. Oswald
Cockayne.

[477] Francis Lenormant, _Chaldean Magic and Sorcery_.

[478] Francis Rous, _Archæologiæ Atticæ_. London, 1635.

[479] Grohmann, _Apollo Smintheus_, p. 60.

[480] Grohmann, _Aberglauben_, vol. i. p. 59.

[481] Grohmann, _Aberglauben_, vol. i. p. 61.

[482] Thomas Gage, _A New Survey of the West Indies_. London, 1677.

[483] Rev. Hilderic Friend, _Flowers and Flower-Lore_, p. 554.

[484] John Henry Gray, M. A., LL. D., _China_, p. 169.

[485] Martin Frederick Blumber, _A History of Amulets_.

[486] Richard Folkard, Jr., _Plant-Lore_, p. 160.

[487] _The Buddhism of Tibet._

[488] _The Nation._ June 15, 1866.

[489] R. T. Hampson, _Medii Ævi Kalendarium_. See, also, article by W. W.
Newell in _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, vol. v. No. 14.

[490] Anthon’s _Classical Dictionary_.

[491] Garnett, p. 340.

[492] Lucy M. J. Garnett, _The Women of Turkey_, p. 286.

[493] Jean Frederic Bernard, _Superstitions anciennes et modernes_, tome
i. p. 101. 1733.

[494] Scot’s _Discoverie of Witchcraft_.

[495] _The Folk-Lorist_, vol. i. July, 1893.

[496] William Jones, _Credulities Past and Present_.

[497] J. B. Thiers, _Traité des superstitions_.

[498] W. Crooke, B. A., _North Indian Folk-Lore_.

[499] _Folk-Lore._ June, 1896.

[500] W. W. Newell, _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, No. 16. 1892.

[501] M. D. Conway, _Demonology and Devil-Lore_.

[502] James M. Campbell, _Notes on the Spirit Basis of Belief and Custom_.

[503] _Bulletin de la societé d’ethnographie._ July, 1887.

[504] Rev. J. G. Wood, M. A., _The Uncivilized Races of Men_.

[505] _The Occult Sciences_, from the French of Eusebe Salverte.

[506] _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, No. 13. 1891.

[507] L. Lalanne, _Curiosités des traditions_. Paris, 1847.

[508] E. P. Evans, _Atlantic Monthly_, vol. 54. 1884.

[509] W. Lander Lindsay, M. D., _Mind in the Lower Animals_.

[510] Banier’s _Mythology_.

[511] J. B. Thiers, _Traité des superstitions_.

[512] Louis Duval, _Rôle des croyances populaires dans la protection des
animaux_. 1889.

[513] _The Student and Intellectual Observer_, vol. iii. 1869.

[514] Rev. G. Oliver, D. D., _The Pythagorean Triangle_.

[515] Pliny, _Natural History_, book xxviii.

[516] _Century Dictionary._

[517] Sir John Bowring, F. R. S., _The Kingdom and People of Siam_, vol.
i. p. 139.

[518] Mallet’s _Northern Antiquities_, p. 112.

[519] Folkard, p. 377.

[520] Robert Vilvain, of Excester, _Enchiridium Epigrammatum_, p. 148.
1654.

[521] T. Wain, _The Wonderful Number Seven_.

[522] Charles De B. Mills, _The Tree of Mythology_.

[523] _The International Cyclopædia_, vol. xiii. p. 360.

[524] Smith’s _Dictionary of the Bible_, art. “Seven.”

[525] F. Lenormant, _Chaldean Magic and Sorcery_.

[526] _Enchiridium Epigrammatum_, p. 141. 1654.

[527] T. Wain, _The Wonderful Number Seven_.

[528] S. Pancoast, M. D., _The Kabbala_, p. 247.

[529] _The National Review_, vol. xxi. p. 199. 1893.

[530] D. Person, _Varieties_.

[531] _All the Year Round_, vol. iii. 1870.

[532] Cockayne, vol. ii. p. 335.

[533] Crooke, p. 199.

[534] Campbell, _Spirit Basis of Custom and Belief_, p. 208.

[535] _Times’ Whistle._

[536] Fräulein Helene Raff.

[537] _Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft_, edited by the Rev. Oswald
Cockayne.

[538] _Archæologia_, vol. xxx. p. 427. 1844.

[539] _Celtic Magazine_, vol. viii. p. 252.

[540] William G. Black, _Folk-Medicine_.

[541] _Social Life in Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 227.

[542] C. G. Leland, _Gypsy Sorcery_.

[543] _Das Kloster_, Band xii. p. 771; Thorpe’s _Northern Mythology_,
vol. i. p. 227; Grimm’s _Teutonic Mythology_, vol. i. pp. 272 _et seq._

[544] Gerald Massey, _Luniolatry_, p. 17.

[545] J. B. Salgues, _Des erreurs et des préjuges_.

[546] _Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde_, vol. iv. p. 250. 1894.

[547] _Boston Transcript_, December 30, 1897.

[548] Surgeon-General Edward Balfour, _The Encyclopædia of India_.

[549] _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, No. 17. April, 1892.

[550] Brewers’ _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable_.

[551] _The Century Dictionary._



TOPICAL INDEX


  Above and below the salt, 202-205.

  Æsir, the twelve; demigods, 331.

  Animals, superstitious dealings with, 279-311.
    charms against, 292-297.
    spirits assume the forms of black, 284-287.
    legal prosecution of, 308-311.

  Archangels, 321, 322.

  Artisans, dwarfish, 28, 49.

  Astrology, 19, 20, 248-253, 255-257.

  Auguries derived from the sneeze of a cat, 212, 218, 219.

  Augustine, Saint, quoted, 211.

  Aureole or nimbus, 120, 121.

  Avadanas, or Buddhist parables, 235.


  Beelzebub, the fly-god, 283.

  _Bhúts_, or malignant spirits, 160, 227.

  Black animals not more vicious than others, 287.

  Blacksmiths, credited with supernatural attributes, 40-53.
    usually able to recognize the Devil, 50.

  Board’s end, 202.

  British Apollo quoted, 170.


  Camels instinctively browse upon saline plants, 187.

  Ceremonies associated with sneezing, 231.

  Cernabog, the black Slav demon, 285.

  Chah-Miran, the serpent-king, 304.

  Changelings, 176, 177, 271.

  Chinese pagodas have always an odd number of stories, 314.

  Chkaï, the Mordvine sun-god, 276, 277.

  Clement, Saint, 46, 47.

  Copernican system, 248.

  Cosmopolitan condiment, salt thus termed, 188.

  Covenant of salt, 157, 164-166.

  Crescent, the Turkish symbol, 21, 22.

  Crescents and half-moon-shaped amulets, 18-26.

  Cross, the, most potent of talismans, 99.

  Crows, as foreboders, 285-287.

  Cure for deafness, 219, 220.

  Cyclops, the, 41, 49.


  Dactyls, mythical artisans, 41.

  Days, of good and evil omen, 239-278.
    Egyptian, 239-243.
    Roman superstition concerning, 243-245.
    mediæval belief in day-fatality, 245-253.
    modern belief in day-fatality, 253-257.
    the sixth day of the week, 258-263.
    Friday in modern times, 263-278.

  Demon-mare, 74.

  Deodand, obsolete term of English law, 309.

  Deuz or Deuce, the number two, 313.

  Devil, the, 26, 31, 50, 69, 98, 123, 124, 130, 135, 136, 158, 159, 167,
    218, 238, 254, 279, 285, 286, 290, 313.

  Devil’s foot, imprint of, 136.

  _Dies atri_, 244.

  _Dies Egyptiaci_, 239-243, 247.

  _Dies fasti_ and _nefasti_, 243, 244.

  _Dies mala_, 246.

  _Dies Veneris_, 262.

  Diet regulated by the days of the week, 255.

  Divining rod, 15.


  Elf-bolt, 33.

  Eloy, Saint, 47, 48, 235.

  England, the day formerly divided into thirteen parts, 339.

  Exorcism, of haunted house, 93.
    of vermin, 287.

  Evil eye, 10-13.

  Evil spirits, keep aloof from iron, 38.
    dislike salt, 159.
    cause sickness, 220-227.


  Fairies, when especially alert, 266, 267.

  Farriers, 52.

  Farriery, introduction of modern, 4.

  Fire, a spirit-scaring element, 54-58.

  Fires, midsummer, 55, 56.

  Fireflies, 28.

  Fish, an emblem of Freyja, 259.

  Fortune, the Roman goddess, 141-149.

  Fortune and luck, 145-153.
    temples of, 149, 150.

  Foxes, charm against, 303.

  French Canadian legend, 97, 98.

  Freyja, the Northern goddess of love, 258, 259, 269, 274.

  Friday, 258-278.
    Moslem beliefs regarding, 264.
    Jewish beliefs regarding, 265.

  Froth from a horse’s mouth repels demons, 68.


  Geoponica, the, Grecian treatise on agriculture, 287, 306.

  George, Saint, 126, 127.

  Gertrude, Saint, patron saint of travelers and cats, 288.


  Half-moon tavern symbols, 120.

  Hamlin, the pied piper of, 288, 289.

  Hammer, Thor’s emblem, 127.

  Hand, symbol of the open, 16-18.
    in Palestine, 16.
    in Syria, 17.

  Hand, symbol of the open, in Germany, 17.

  Hatto II., Archbishop of Mayence, legend concerning, 282, 283.

  Hebrides, preference for odd numbers, in the, 329.

  Hecate, 23.

  Hernia, cure for, 37.

  Holy water, 182.

  Horapollon, a treatise on Egyptian hieroglyphics, 210, 279.

  Horn, of the fabulous unicorn, 9.

  Horns, and other two-pronged objects, 8-15.

  Horns of animals, used as amulets:—
    of the stag, 10, 14.
    of cattle, 10, 11.
    of antelopes, 11.
    of reindeer, 14.

  Horse, the, a luck-bringer, 68.
    a divinatory animal, 69, 70.

  Horse-shoe, history of the, 1-6.
    as a safeguard, 7, 8.
    as a symbol of the horse, 68-78.
    as a favorite anti-witch charm, 88-94.
    position of, as a protector of buildings, 99-104.
    as an emblem of good luck, 104-116.
    as a phallic symbol, 116-118.
    on tavern sign-boards, 118-120.
    on church-doors, 120-127.
    legendary lore, 128-136.

  Horse-shoe arch, in Caledonian hieroglyphics, 65-68.

  Horse-Shoe of Luck, story for children, 107, 108.

  Horse-worship, 73.

  Horses, Wodan’s favorite animals, 76.

  Horses’ heads, as talismans, 78-87.
    on house gables, 82.

  Horses’ hoofs, the sound of, frightens spirits, 71.

  Horses’ skulls, 86, 87.

  Houses, haunted, 93, 94.

  Huixtocihuatl, Mexican goddess of salt, 155.


  Idiots alleged to be incapable of sneezing, 216.

  Inscriptions above entrances of dwellings, 101.

  Intellectual force not incompatible with superstitious fancies, 274.

  Ireland, origin of name, 30, 31.

  Iron, as a protective charm, 26-40.
    use of, in folk-medicine, 36, 37.
    religious prejudice against, 29.

  Iron and flint, affinity between, 33.

  Iron-workers, regarded as sorcerers, 48.


  Jinn, the, mythical demons, 29, 30.


  Kalevalla, ancient Finnish epic poem, 42.


  Legends, 30-32, 43-46, 50, 69, 70, 79, 91, 128-136, 154, 155, 160, 192,
    193, 227, 228, 236, 237.

  Leonard, Saint, 124, 126.

  Lesbos, charm against insects in vogue in, 305.

  Lincoln Cathedral, 123, 124.

  Lincoln Imp, 123.

  Locusts invade fields, 295.

  Loki, the Principle of Evil in Northern mythology, 331.

  _Lutins_, mischievous imps, 179, 236.


  _Mano cornuta_, or anti-witch gesture, 12-14.

  Medical superstitions regarding days, 251, 252.

  Metal working and sorcery, early association of, 53.

  Mexican priests, use magical ointment as a charm against wild
    beasts, 307.

  Moon, superstitions concerning the, 19-21.

  Moon-worship, 19.

  Moonwort, 25.


  Nagendra, Cingalese serpent-king, 65.

  Nail, story of the, 6, 7.

  Neapolitan evil-eye amulets, survivals of ancient Chaldean symbols, 13.

  _Neck_, or Scandinavian river-spirit, 38.

  North, the unblessed heathen quarter, 122, 123.

  Numbers, the luck of odd, 302-339.
    early significance of, 312-314.
    the number three, 315-318.
    the number seven, 318-324.
    odd numbers in witchcraft, 324-327.
    odd numbers in folk-medicine, 327-330.
    thirteen, 331-339.

  _Nundinæ_, or market days, 245.


  Oakham castle in Rutlandshire, 4, 5.

  Odd numbers, 312-339.

  Ormuzd, chief deity of the Parsees, 57, 223.


  Passover, Feast of the, 7, 8, 257.

  Perforated stones as talismans, 75, 97.

  Persians, share popular distrust of the number thirteen, 336.

  Phelo, Chinese idol, 155.

  Popiel II., king of Poland, pursued by rats, 282.

  Position of horse-shoe as amulet, 94-103.

  Prascovia, Saint, 274, 275.

  Prometheus, myth concerning, 227, 228.

  Put-sign, Egyptian, 66.

  Pythagorean doctrine of numbers, 312.


  Rats and mice as avengers, 279, 284.

  Rats rhymed to death, 305.

  Raven, the, a portentous bird, 285.

  Recapitulation of theories of the origin of the horse-shoe
    superstition, 137, 138.

  Rickets, cure for, in Scotland, 51.

  Rites connected with sneezing, 230-233.

  Rowan-tree, 92, 102, 196.


  Salt, the folk-lore of common, 154-205.
    origin and history of, 154-157.
    uncongenial to witches and devils, 158-161.
    the Latin word _sal_, 161-163.
    employed to confirm an oath, 164-166.
    salt-spilling as an omen, 166-172.
    helping to salt at table, 172, 173.
    as a protection to infants, 173-177.
    as a magical substance, 177-184.
    miscellaneous remarks on, 184-196.
    used as money, 186, 187.
    regarded as an obnoxious article, 189-191.
    The Value of Salt. A Roman folk-tale, 193-196.
    the salt-cellar, 196-205.

  Saxon superstitions, 260.

  Septentriones, or seven stars of the constellation of the Great
    Bear, 319.

  Serpent as an amuletic symbol, 58-60, 64, 65.
    as a tutelary divinity, 61.
    serpent-worship, 59-61.

  Serpentine shape of the horse-shoe, 58-65.

  Seven, the number, 318-324.

  Shastra, or holy books of the Hindus, 224.

  Sneezing, the omens of, 206-238.
    in ancient times, 206-211.
    mediæval beliefs concerning, 211-214.
    modern superstitions about, 215-220.
    doctrine of demoniacal possession, 220-227.
    salutation after sneezing, 227-236.
    alleged origin of custom, 229, 230.
    legends, 236-238.

  Spite-stake, 79.


  Talismanic coiffure, 14.

  Talismans, complex, of the Tibetans, 100.

  _Tantura_, head-dress, 15.

  Teutonic beliefs about sneezing, 215.

  Thieves fear to steal on a Friday, in Palermo, 271.

  Thirteen, the number, 331-339.

  Thirteen Club, 334.

  Three, the number, 315-318.
    a favorite of witches, 316.

  Threshold, a sacred place, 96-98.

  Triads, in the codes of ancient Welsh laws, 315.

  Tyche, Grecian goddess of good luck, 140, 141.

  Typhon, the personification of evil, 26.


  Ukko, a Finnish deity, 154.

  Unit, a symbol of harmony and order, 312.

  Universality of horse-shoe amulet noteworthy, 88.


  Valhalla, 331.

  Valkyrs, or thirteen virgins, 331.

  Vermin, curious methods of expelling, 291, 294.

  Vulcan, Roman god of fire, 40-42.


  Water-sprites, active on Fridays, 267.

  Witches crave salt, 159.

  Witches’ sabbath, 265, 266.

  Wodan or Odin, the chief Northern deity, 29, 44, 69, 76, 85, 111, 112,
    126, 132, 136, 138, 258, 289.

  Words used as charms, 300-306.


  Xenophon, processes for strengthening the hoofs of horses recommended
      by, 1.
    regards sneezing as a happy omen, 208.


  Yawning considered dangerous, 226.

  _Yoni_ symbol, 117.


  Zadkiel’s Almanac, 20, 256.

  Zend-Avesta, or sacred Persian writings, 232.

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