FIG. 84.—COLLECTION OF HARNESS AMULETS AND TEAM BELLS.
(In the possession of Mr. Charles Wayte, of Edenbridge.)
Although not necessarily objects to be worn, no doubt charms usually took the form of something which could be suspended, for the origin of the word coming to us through the Latin has been traced to an Arabic word, signifying a pendant. In the early Christian Church the fish was worn as a symbol or charm, and in many parts of rural England to-day amulets are kept, and even charms, as preventives against disease. Men and women buy so-called amulets from the jewellers' shops at the present time, and wear them on their watch chains or bangles, and round their necks; but the faith reposed in such charms by the educated classes in this country may be dismissed as a myth, for few really understand their true significance, or place any real reliance upon such fanciful relics of a former age—an age of superstition, when people blindly clutched at any mysterious protective power or emblem.
Horse Trappings.
Among the commoner emblems of good luck handed down from the far-off past, are the brass amulets worn on horse trappings even to-day. A set of brasses consists of a face brass, taking chief place of prominence on the horse's forehead; two ear brasses, which are seen behind the ears; ten martingale brasses, worn on the breast; and three brasses suspended from straps on each of the shoulders. These amulets were primarily worn to keep off the "evil eye," and thus protect the horse and its rider or its owner from calamity and harm. The brasses were varied in design, some of the more important being developments of the crescent moon. Some were made to imitate the sun with its pointed rays, others the Catherine wheel; the Kentish horse, too, a relic of Saxon days, has been frequently used, and there is the lotus flower of Egyptian origin. There are Moorish and Buddhist symbols, and many curious developments which have gone far astray from their original types. The agriculturist is still superstitious, and does not like to lessen the number of these somewhat weighty brasses suspended from his horse trappings. For purposes of utility they are useless; they remain, however, a connecting link with the superstitions of the past, and a collection of such curious objects is of extreme interest. In Fig. [84] is shown an exceptionally fine collection got together by Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge, who collects many such things.
Emblems of Luck.
There seems to be a distinctive difference between the amulets which were protectors against harm and those which are emblems of good fortune. Perhaps hovering between the two may be classed such curios as those which tradition has held to be a preservative of luck, like "the Luck of Eden Hall," that wonderful goblet preserved with such great care in its charming case of cour boulli. In this category are the numerous gifts from friend to friend having no special emblematic value, but which were frequently handed over with such sayings as: "I give you this for luck," and "May good luck go with you." The wish and implied virtue in the charm has about as much value in it as the wish playfully and unbelievingly uttered by the twentieth-century maiden at the wishing well to-day.
There is still, however, an undeniable lingering belief in the mysterious value in the possession of an emblem of luck, one of the best known and commonly used to-day being the horseshoe, preferably, according to old tradition, a cast shoe found and nailed up over the doorway or in some prominent place. It is generally believed that the horseshoe carries with it good luck on account of its form, which resembles the crescent moon, a notorious symbol in the days of the Crusaders, already referred to as being an important feature in the amulets or charms on horse trappings—such is the curious mixture of scepticism and superstitious faith met with to-day!