Spiders indicate where gold is to be found. (See Spiders Indicators of Gold.)
There are no spiders in Ireland, because St. Patrick cleared the island of all vermin.
Spiders envenom whatever they touch.
There may be in the cup
A spider steeped, and one may drink, depart,
And yet partake no evil.
Shakespeare, Winter’s Tale, act iii. sc. 1 (1604).
A spider enclosed in a quilt and hung round the neck will cure the ague.--Mrs. Delany, A Letter dated March 1, 1743.
I ... hung three spiders about my neck, and they drove my ague away.--Elias Ashmole, Diary (April 11, 1681).
A spider worn in a nutshell round the neck is a cure for fever.