There was not a barn or byre in the district that had not its horseshoe over the door.

Another popular device for frightening away witches and fairies was to hang bunches of garlic about the farms.

I have known a black-fishing expedition stopped because a "yellow yite," or yellowhammer, hovered round the gang when they were setting out.

Still more ominous was the "peat" when it appeared with one or three companions.

An old rhyme about this bird runs--"One is joy, two is grief, three's a bridal, four is death." Such snatches of superstition are still to be heard amidst the gossip of a north-country smithy.
Each black-fisher brought his own spear and torch, both more or less home-made.