Horse.
A white horse figures in the superstition of school children. When the writer was a lad in school at Llanidloes, it was believed that if a white horse were met in the morning it was considered lucky, and should the boy who first saw the horse spit on the ground, and stealthily make the sign of a cross with his toe across the spittle, he was certain to find a coin on the road, or have a piece of money given to him before the day was over; but he was not to divulge to anyone what he had done, and for the working of the charm it was required that he should make sure that the horse was perfectly white, without any black hairs in any part of the body.
In Welshpool a like superstition prevails. Mr. Copnall, the master of the Boys’ National School in that town, has kindly supplied me with the following account of this matter:—“It is lucky to meet a white horse on the road, if, when you meet it, you spit three times over your little finger; if you
neglect this charm you will be unlucky. I asked the children if it signified whether it was the little finger on the right or left hand; some boys said the left, but the majority said it made no difference which hand.”
It was said that horses could see spirits, and that they could never be induced to proceed as long as the spirit stood before them. They perspired and trembled whilst the spirit blocked the way, but when it had disappeared, then the horses would go on.
Lady-bird.
This pretty spotted little beetle was used formerly in the neighbourhood of Llanidloes as a prognosticator of the weather. First of all the lady-bird was placed in the palm of the left hand, or right; I do not think it made any difference which hand was used, and the person who held it addressed it as follows:—
Iâr fach goch, gwtta,
Pa un ai gwlaw, neu hindda?
and then having said these words, the insect was thrown skywards, the person repeating the while—
Os mai gwlaw, cwympa lawr,
Os mai têg, hedfana;