The Horseshoe as a Charm

It was the custom long ago to place in every church and home an image of its patron saint. Around the head of this image was carved the halo or glory, as we see painted in old pictures. Sometimes it was made of a piece of polished metal. The halo often remained after the figure of the saint had disappeared, and was fastened at the door as a substitute for the image itself. Soon these pieces of semi-circular metal became articles of sale in the shops, presently taking the shape of a horseshoe; they finally became the symbol of that protection which the saint was thought to give, and thus originated the charm imputed to the horseshoe. This myth is poetical. The Germans, however, account for the horseshoe's being deemed an amulet in a manner more prosaic. In their view, the shoe which reminds of the horse, that is of the noblest of domesticated animals, was first hung up indoors and out that men might always have in sight, and thus in mind, a symbol of the creature who has been man's most efficient helper in advancing his civilization.

In rural New England, worn-out horseshoes picked up on the highway are sometimes turned to account. A village blacksmith will charge but a shilling or two for mounting one so that it makes a very serviceable door-knocker. Its doing duty in this way will not lessen at all its potency as a charm. Thus Yankees contrive to make it pay a double debt.