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Legend tells us of H.M.S. Friday; her keel was laid on a Friday, she was launched on a Friday, crewed on a Friday and captained by James Friday. The British Admiralty were determined to use this ship to debunk sailor's superstitious fears of Friday, and so H.M.S. Friday duly set sail, on a Friday. The trouble was.... she was never heard of again. In a 19th Century flurry of paraskevidekatriaphobia (that's 'fear of Friday 13th' to you and me), Lloyds of London begun refusing insurance to any ship launched on Friday 13th.
It's quite plain that we still harbour an uneasy fear of this particularly portentous date; work absenteeism rises, few people will marry, less people travel, and worse still, according to a 1993 study by the British Medical Association, your chances of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent.
We've delved a little deeper into the dark cupboard of London's superstitions to bring out a few of its other rattling skeletons, quite literally in one case. Rabbit's foot clutched, horseshoe draped and fingers crossed as you search them out.
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Charing Cross
