The folk lore of the horse / by Edward Lovett.

  • Lovett, Edward.
Date:
[1910?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The folk lore of the horse / by Edward Lovett. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    3/22
    THE FOLK-LORE OF THE HORSE. By Edward Lovett. IN this short paper I wish to put on record the notes and observations I have made upon the Folk-Lore of the Horse, not only in this country, but in some of the coun¬ tries of Europe that I have had opportunities of' visiting. In doing this, I am fully aware of the little I have' done in comparison with that which is left undone, but the subject is so vast and complex that a lifetime would be all too short to deal with it exhaustively! Still, I hope that some of my notes may be considered of sufficient interest to serve as a starting point from which others may carry out more fully the investigation of this most delightfully interesting subject! I remember, as a boy, in the “fifties,’’ a, sentence in my school reading book, which ran : “The horse is a. noble animal, and very useful to man” 1 I think it might have gone even farther and said that> the horsei was by far the most^ importaiit animal, next to man, that the world has ever seen. Indeed, it would not be going too far to' say that the> present arrange¬ ment of the Empires of the world is due, to some extent, tO' the influence of the horse. In some of the' early great battles, when the value of the horse began to be appreciated, it was used, not for direct fighting, but for the rapid movement of troops, whoi then dismounted and fought on foot. Such un¬ expected means of transport would naturally turn the' scale of victory to the army which possessed such superior means of cutting an enemy’s communications, even if such enemy were the stronger under normal conditions. No' wonder, then, that the horse has always enjoyed such a high reputation, which has woven around it a web of romance and Folk-Lore such as no other animal has ever enjoyed. A brief perusal of the names of the celebrated horses of historical times is quite sufficient to' show how great was the appreciation of this remarkable animal. But' it is when we turn to the pages of Legend that we appreciate more fully the position the horse occupied in the thoughts of those early people, tO' whom we are indebted for the romantic records of Folk-Lore. And how beautiful, and even grand, are some