The Khan of the Tartars, who had not a house to dwell in, who subsisted by rapine, and lived on mare's milk and horse flesh, every day after his repast caused a herald to proclaim, "That the Khan having dined, all other potentates, princes and great men of the earth might go to dinner."
Throwing an Old Shoe.
The custom of throwing an old shoe after a person is still, in many rural districts, believed to propitiate success, as in servants seeking or entering upon situations, or about to be married. In Scripture, "the receiving of a shoe was an evidence and symbol of asserting or accepting dominion or ownership; the giving back the shoe was the symbol of rejecting or resigning it." Hence the throwing of a shoe after a bride was a symbol of renunciation of dominion over her by her father or guardian; and the receipt of the shoe by the bridegroom, even if accidental, was an omen that the authority was transferred to him.
Cock-crowing an Omen of Victory.
Cicero quotes an instance where a Bœotian soothsayer promised victory to the Thebans from the crowing of a cock. The same circumstance once served the Bœotians as an omen of victory over the Lacedæmonians.
The Unicorn's Horn.
The unicorn's horn was considered an amulet of singular efficacy. It is now known that the object shown as such in various museums is the horn of the rhinoceros. They were sold at six thousand ducats, and were thought infallible tests of poison, just as Venitian glass and some sorts of jewels were. The Dukes of Burgundy kept pieces of the horn in their wine jugs, and used others to touch all the meat they tasted. Drinking-cups of this kind were greatly esteemed in former times. In the inventory of jewels and plate in the Tower (1649), with cups and beakers of unicorn's horn, is entered, "A rinoceras cupp, graven with figures, with a golden foot," valued at £12. Decker, in "Gul's Hornbook," speaks of "the unicorn whose horn is worth a city."
The Evil Eye in Spain.
In the Gitano language casting the evil eye is called querelar nasula, which simply means "making sick," and which, according to the common superstition, is accomplished by casting an evil look at people, especially at children, who, from the tenderness of their constitution, are supposed to be more easily blighted than those of a more mature age. After receiving the evil glance, they fall sick and die in a few hours. The Spaniards have very little to say about the evil eye, though the belief in it is very prevalent, especially in Andalusia, among the lower orders. A stag's horn is considered a good safeguard, and on that account a small horn, tipped with silver, is frequently attached to the children's necks by means of a cord braided from the hair of a black mare's tail. Should the evil glance be cast, it is imagined that the horn receives it, and instantly snaps asunder. Such horns may be purchased in some of the silversmiths' shops at Seville.—Borrow.