Silver Luckenbooth Brooch

Description

Sterling Silver Luckenbooth Brooch

Silver Luckenbooth Brooch, made from Sterling Silver, with safety pin clasp.

History of the Luckebooth:

A Luckenbooth is a Scottish brooch that is heart-shaped (frequently two hearts, side by side), occasionally surmounted by a crown (that of Mary, Queen of Scots) and sometimes with a Cairngorm or gemstone.  They are of medieval Scottish origin but continued to be popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. They were often sold in the Luckenbooths, or locked booths, near St. Giles Kirk, on the High Street in Edinburgh which is how they gained the name.

Luckenbooths were gifted when a couple became engaged or when they had their first child. Luckenbooths were also deemed to have magical properties, used to ward off the evil eye. Nursing mothers wore them to stop witches stealing their milk or harming their babies. Nowadays they are presented as a gift for good luck.