Michaels 25mm WFB Stuff...

[Old Hob]

horseshoes keep faeries out in your part of the country?

In British folklore fairies/elves can't touch iron. The 'good luck' you get from nailing an iron horseshoe above the door is that it keeps the little buggers out of your house.
The exception to the rule are the redcaps, a type of goblin from the Anglo-Scottish borders, who can not only touch iron, but have big iron boots (and dye their caps red by dipping them in human blood). Nasty so-and-sos.

 

[ManicMan]

Oh most magical creatures have a problem with iron in British folklore, same with evil, which is probably the connection (you can beat the devil with Iron etc) said to be due it to being a pure element or something which I'm always suspect of, but then there are soo many local variations around the UK like other places the myths of Cornwall are far from the same as the Scottish ones, or the more local ones to me like the Kent Heg. But Sussex is a bit low on local faerie myths. We are pretty iffy on local history and myth too... too many local groups love to remove as much local flavour as possible ¬_¬