Why We Ring Our Anvil...

[Rev]

Legend of the Ringing Anvil
or
Why We Ring Our Anvil
and, Whence Comes The Luck of the Horseshoe

IMAGINE . . .

THE old blacksmith is "sitting" with one hip propped on his anvil. Gathered around his feet are three or four little barefoot children. Obviously one of the kids has asked a question because in a deep Irish brogue, you hear the blacksmith saying,

"So you want to know why we sometimes tap our anvil while we work do ye?"

WELL then, Once upon a time long long ago and far far away; on an island where the grass is emerald green,

A VILLAGE SMITH was shoeing a horse at his open air shop. His large anvil rang with each blow to the shoes. Standing quietly in the shade of the spreading chestnut tree, the horse waited patiently.

THE DEVIL, passing by, heard the ringing of the anvil and decided to see what was going on. He stood watching as the blacksmith made a wonderful set of new shoes for the horse.

THE SMITH then proceeded to trim the horse's hooves and nail the shoes in place. The horse stood quietly as this was done, and when the smith finished, the owner of the horse mounted his steed and took him for a trot down the road.

THE HORSE was noticeably happy with his new shoes, for he danced and he pranced all the way to the corner and back.

SEEING THIS, the Devil being a hoofed creature himself, decided that he must have a set of these wonderful shoes. He approached the smith and told him to prepare a set of shoes for him.

THE SMITH (realizing that this was the Devil himself), made a set of shoes too small, trimmed the hooves too short and drove several close nails in each of the devils hooves. He also clinched them quite heavily so they would not come off easily. The Devil in terrible pain, lame and very sore footed went running away and suffered for many days.

SO to this very day when ever the Devil hears an anvil ringing he makes it a point to stay as far away as possible.

THIS is also why hanging a horseshoe over the door keeps the Devil away!

THERE be two ways to hang a shoe. The blacksmith will hang a shoe with the heels down, so that the luck of the shoe may pour over his forge. But YE must hang a shoe with the heels UP so that the luck will remain in your house!

AND ye canna just use a shoe ye find by the side of the road. For when the shoe was lost, the luck was also lost from the shoe. Instead, you must go to the blacksmith and buy an old shoe that he has taken off of the horse's hoof. For when he removed the shoe, he removed the luck with it, and tis still in the shoe!

[Uncle Russ]

I love that story!  
 

Uncle Russ....

[Roaddog]

Yep that is a goodn and I thank ya fer shring it with us.

[sse]

Is that a true story?

[Uncle Russ]

Of course it's a true story  Jimmmy Veee, ain't ya got no imagination!

This is one of those true stories that can be told over and over while adding a little here, taking a little there, and making a "nice" story out of it.

Everyone inspiring to be a Blacksmith should know this story, it's a very elementary part of their trade.

Ya old Potlicker! Ya probably don't believe in Santa Clause either......shame on ya.

Uncle Russ...

[sse]

LOL...I have a horse shoe over the back door, thought it was to bring good luck.  My aunt and uncle gave it to me from a farm up north (Midland area, for the michiganders).  Horse musta had big feet, it huge.  Been plannin to replace it with a crucifix.

[Uncle Russ]

Yeah Jim, If you got that shoe from the farm country up there it was likely for a big ol' Morgan.

That "big shoe" brings back some good memories................
Right after retirement from the US Army, my wife and I had a Ranch in Chaparral, New Mexico.
We had two Quarter Horses and a Morgan, plus a few other livestock....
The Morgan was given to us by a friend just to pasture for a year or two while he was in Costa Rica, and the horse  ended up staying with us the whole time we were on the Ranch.
When we sold the Ranch back in 1982  ol' dobbin went with the Ranch....the kids cried their eyes out for several months, even had to drive back there to see him 6 months months later.

While we had him, me and the kids would get "ol'dobbin" out every once and awhile for a little exercise and I rode him a few times. He was "born to the plow", not much for rideing, but he could pull a house off its foundation.
His gait was totally different than that of the Quarter Horse, and about an one-half  hour on his back was about all I cared for......and I was a fairly young man back then.
My kids loved that big horse, he was gentle as a Lamb.  My youngest daughter, who was maybe nine or ten years old at the time, would use the fence to get on and off his back, he was so gentle she would call him and he would side step right up to the fence for her to get on his back.

I forget the size shoe he wore, but it was BIG!  It seemed about the size of two regular shoes for the other horses.

Gawd! how time flies! Thinking back, all that seems like it was just last year.....life was indeed good back then.

Uncle Russ...

[rickevans]

I am a blacksmith. I shoo flies, I do not shoe horses.