Browse:"CHANNEL DE WORLD" (Volume 5, entries 10604–13458)/Part 8
"CHANNEL DE WORLD"
Volume 5, entries 10604–13458. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
1 listed entry is unavailable here.
Entries
Entry 11164
Heard tell of people usin' sompin dey call de devil's-shoestring. Yo' take de devil's-shoestring an' yo' slip it intuh dat house, if yo' kin take it an' chop it up a little bit an' throw dat devil's-shoestring round in dat house dere's goin' be hell tuh pay. (It's going to cause confus- ion in the family.) Yeah, cause confusion in de family. If yo' kin git in dere an' slip dat devil's-shoestring round in dere an' slip it round through de house an' in de bed an' all round lak dat. Dat's devil's-shoestring is a powder [can be bought as a powder?].
Entry 11165
Dere's a root out dere, ah don't know whether it's round here or not. Dat comes out de woods. [Take that] an' saltpeter. It's de devil's-shoestring! Dat's whut dey call it, de devil's-shoestring. An' beat it up - jest beat it up an' put it in yore pock- et - yo' understand, an' walk on in. An' as yo' walk in de office - dis is de office heah [demonstrates] jest put it in yore pocket an' rub yore hand lak dat over it. An' bit off a little piece an' jest lak yo' chewin' a piece of chewin' gum or somepin lak dat, an' talk to him. He'll give yo' a job. Yes sir, he'll give yo' a job.
(Do you come from South Carolina?)
North Carolina.
Entry 11166
(What do they do with the devil's-shoestring?)
Dey take dat and put it down in a bottle of perfume with some garlic and ies keep it in a bottle, you see. And if you got it at home, well every time you leave out of home, why you take it and rub it on your hands. Dat's fer luck. And fer your protection op de streets, you git dat devil's-shoestring and you take it and put it around your waist right to your skin. You tie it around your waist.
(What will that protect you from?)
Dat's to protect you from de law. All you gotta do is tie it to yoar shn.
Entry 11167
De devil's-shoestring is a good tonic. Yo' kin make medicine oat of it, yo' see.
Entry 11168
Yo' kin take a person's shoes an' go ahead an' dress 'en an' have dey foots all swell up.
(How do you dress those shoes?)
How would dey dress dose shoe? Well, yo' kin take dose shoes an' yo' kin go tuh work an' git chew some John de Conkah an' devil's-shoestring, an' make yo' a powder an' yo' kin sprinkle it all in dose shoes. An' dat person will go an git dose shoes an' put 'em on an' dat'll hurt his foot.
(Make sore feet.) [Feet are more than sore! Only a root doctor can cure them!]
Entry 11169
An' den tuh run 'em out, yo' kin put - jes' lak yo' rentin' a house an' ah don't want yo' tuh stay dere, I git some devil's-shoe- strings an' hang 'em ovah de do'.
(That will run me out?)
Yo' can't stay in dere an' dat will break yo' peace. Yo' an' yore wife - it will run yore wife off from yo'.
(Cause confusion in the family.)
Yes sir.
Entry 11170
A piece of de devil's-shoestring an' put it down at de do' where de person gotta travel back an' farwards, an' dey'll have bad luck an' can't git hold of no money much.
Entry 11171
If yo' git a chance tuh git in dat house - de devil's-shoestring, yo' take dat devil's-shoestring an' jes' ball a little bit of it an' put it ovah de do'sill or somewhere in de house, some corner of de house. Dey ain't goin' stay in dere. An' yo' kin give a fellah a walkin' figit. (How do you give a fellow a walking figit?) Jes' take some nails an' drive 'em in de ground an' turn 'em de way he goes. Put some needles an' pins between 'em. Off he go.
(Any special number?)
Nine [new] needles [nine new pins] an' nine new nails.
(You cover those up so they don't stick him?)
Jes' drive 'em right down in de ground.
(Where he'll walk over them.)
Entry 11172
Git a devil's-shoestring 'bout dat long an' tie it [demonstrates]. Jis' take it, it's jis' about dat long, an' bring a knot in it lak dat. Well, yo' kin keep it or yo' bury it. Jis' put it in a secret place. (Is that all she has to do to bring the man back?) He'll stay right dere [he will not leave].
Entry 11173
Lots of people talk about different things dat ah have nevah tried. but dis heah whut ah'm tellin' yo' now, ah've tried dis mahself, yo' see. If a person wants to mistreat yo' an' dis is yore place heah, yo' take devil's- shoestring - ah don't know whether yo' evah hear tell of it - devil's-shoestring an' blacksnake root. "Co'rse dey roots whut grows in de wood. An' yo' kin twist dem dere roots together [probably tie together so that they will not unravel], put them between yore mat- tress whut chew lay on. Dat'll constipate yore bowels where yo' can't have action an' well, den dat cause yo' to git in misery, make yo' sick. Unless some man come long wise enough to detect dat, dat devil- ment is undah dat mattress, why de doctors [M.D.'s] dey can't save yo', yo' see. But now, if a man come along have done experienced dis devilment, he knows jest exactly whut tuh take an' whut tuh tell yo' tuh do tuh git dat devilment. Look under dat mattress. [Waycross, Ga.,. (1120a), 1798:6.]
Entry 11174
Ah heard dat chew could take devil's-shoestring an' tie de two pieces together like yo'd Wanta part a man an' his wife [surely tie the pieces in shape of cross] an' hide it up ovah his [their] do' an' not let dem know it an' dey'd part.
(Hand it over their door?)
Yes sir.
Entry 11175
Go an' git de herb, dey says. Dey tole me de herb dey calls de devil's-shoestring. Put it cross, right in de fo'k. (These two pieces you cross them. And where do you put them?) Put 'em right in de fo'ks of de road where he comes down an' he'll always be cross [not in disposition but crossed, hoodooed] an' travelin'.
Entry 11176
When you wanta cross a house, well you get you some devil's- shoestring - get you some devil's-shoestring, get you some John the Conquer, and get some winnomore seed.
(What kind?)
Winnamore. You get it out the woods, it's a kind of a seed.
(Wintermore or winnamore?)
Winnamore. You mix it together and then they can't stay in that house.
(Well, what do you do with that stuff, after you mix it?)
You grind it up, grind it all up, see. And you sprinkle it over the house, just sprinkle it right on over the house, and they really can't stay.
(That will make them move out.)
Yes, sir. [If a botonist is unable to identify anything remotely like winna- more (which may be a folk name), I suggest these seeds are sold by a hoodoo shop or mail-order house, and that they are sprinkled on the floor by gamblers to winnamore = win more! As we know, devil's-shoestring is sufficient to drive person out of house!]
Entry 11177
Yo' git devil's-shoe- string an' yo' cut it in three lengths in long strings. Yo' cut three pieces of it in three [long] lengths an' yo' git dat shoestring an' yo' go round a man's job an' chew dat shoestring an' spit all round, an' yo' could go to his steering wheel an' yo' spit some of de juice on yore han' an' wipe it on de steerin' wheel.
(The steering wheel of the boss' automobile.)
Entry 11178
Take three pieces of devil's-shoestring an' put it [one] on top of each other. An' de shortest piece, jest how long yo' want dem to stay dere, yo put it on dere long, yo' know, an' cut it in a piece like dis an' dey'll move. Ah see dat tried. (Where do you put that devil's-shoestring then?) Down at dey front do'step. (You take three pieces. Here's the long piece, and you put a shorter piece on top, and a shorter piece on top of that, and you bury it that way?) Bury, cover it up, or either put it in a box or somepin an' put it down dere, an' dey'll leave, dey won't stay dere. [These 3 pieces of different size mean almost simultaneously: (l) you decide to move, (2) you prepare to move, and (3) you move. This can be done in 3 hours or 3 days or 3 weeks. Reader may not find everything in the rite but it is there.]
Entry 11179
Lak yo' would leave some of yore wearin' clothes, why she could take some of yore underwear an' she kin ball 'em up. Now ah had dis trick tried on me, but ah don't know what 'fect it was takin'. But ah happened to be lucky tuh find it. Had a piece of dis devil's-shoestring an' she had three knots tied in it. (In the root or in the clothes?) In de root. Yo' know dat lak a string. An' she had it tied wit three knots, an' ah run 'cross it ah guess befo' she got it placed where she wanted it. But dey say as long as she keep dat knot tied in dere, she have de knots tied in it, yo' can't git away from her.
(After she had this wrapped up in your underclothing?)
Yes. Dis woman she had mine wropped up an' put right undah whar ah wuz sleepin' at. An' whether she goin' let it stay dere or not - but some Way ah turn roun' an' found it.
Entry 11180
( Git devil's-shoe- string an' yo' take an' bury hit at de fo' corners of dat person's house. Den yo' git underneat' de house an' bury it right in de center of dere bed, an' dey'll be uneasy an' restless, dissatisfied until dey move.
(You have to get five pieces of shoe-string altogether - devil's-shoestring.)
Yes.
Entry 11181
Now they take the nails an' they drive them down into - jes' lak yo' take dat Red Seal Lye, dat has five holes in it, an' they take an' drive a nail in each hole of the lye. An' they bury this lye undah the house an' they git it near as they possibly kin ovah that lye [devil's-shoestrings] on the inside of the house. They put whut they call de devil's-shoestring, that's a little weed- as near ovah the top of that [can of lye] as they possibly kin. That's tuh make this person weak, sickly. (They put this devil's- shoestring over that and they bury that can of lye.) Bury that can of lye jis' undah de house as near as they kin. Jis' say fo' in- stance, if dis wuz his bed, they bury it undah that as near as they kin git to it undah there. They then come up an' try tuh put whut they call de devil's-shoestring - which is jis' a little weed-lak, yo' know - put it as near undah [center] de bed as they kin.
[This is surely a quincunx rite.]
Entry 11182
Yo' kin git chew some lodestone [see later], it's sompin dat's lak a incense.
(Lodestone?)
Yes. All right. Yo' take dat an' yo' take some brown sugah an' yo' take some bluein' an' Redbird Epsom Salts an' devil's-shoestring, an' yo' mix allah [all of] dat up tuhgethah, an yo' sprinkle dat aroun' de house. Dat's tuh make dem move. [There appears to be at least three types of what is called lodestone: ground particles or a lump that can be pulverized, both at- tracting iron; and a third substance that is merely an incense.]
Entry 11183
Yo' go out early in de morning in de summertime when de bushes is blossoming yo' know. Yo' take dat string 'fore day at sunup an' pull dat string up. (What kind of string?) Devil's-shoestring. It's a long root. Yo' pull dat up an' yo' bring it round yore finger seven time. Dere seven day in de week, isn't it?
(You bend that root around your finger seven times. Any particular finger?)
Seven times, jes' any two [adjoining] fingers. Yo' see dere seven days in de week, yo' know. Seven times. An' jes' tie de thing in yore pocket, yo' know. An' keep it dressed with alcohol, yo' know. An' chew dat an' go to a man an' ask fo' a job, why he more den apt to give you a job.
(You only go out there once to get that root?)
Yes sir, one time. (And you bend this around your finger [2 fingers] seven times. That's to get a job.) Yes sir.
Entry 11184
Devil's-shoestring, yo' know it grows long, an' yo' tie nine knots in hit an' wear hit roun' yore waist an' dat'll he'p yo' tuh go through it, too.
(Through what?)
Any kinda trouble, anythin' - he'p yo', lucky.
Entry 11185
Ah heard dat yo' could git devil's-shoestring an' go to de window fo' nine mornings [face] tovards de sunrise an' make a wish. Jest whatsomevah yo' wish to come true. And loop [circle] say whatsomevah yo' wish [through it] an' tie it in one knot fo' nine mornings till yo' git nine ties. Then take it an' put it up ovah yore do'. De wish will come true.
(Any wish will come true.)
Yes sir... [I turned off machinetooquickly, hadto repeat his lost words.l (And you look through this loop as you tie it?) Look as de sun, jest as de sun be rising. (You look through that loop that you are making.) Yes sir.
Entry 11186
You take dat to de crossroads - dat nine strands of de devil's-shoestring dere. (Nine strands?) Of devil's-shoestring. (You take a piece of devil's-shoestring?) Devil's-shoestring, and you kin take nine strands and plant it at de crossroads: dat three in de east, three in de west and three in de north, and de south is open. And cover dat up. Under- stand me, after you cover dat up, den say one word to dat. Dere you are, and turn around and go away from it - dat's a very diff'rent proposition.
(What does that do?)
Dat's a detrimental character, dere you are. If you want a person to leave from 'round you, dere yo' are.
(I see, that will make them leave?)
Shore.
(You take nine strands of the...)
Devil's-shoestring.
(You put three strands to the east.)
Three in the west.
(Three west.)
Three in the north and leave the south then open.
(What do you say when you do that?)
I say, "Go, damn you, go."
(I see, you say that and then you cover it up.)
Cover it up dere.
(Where do you come from?)
New Orleans - 219 Ramport Street.
The informant describes nine devil's-shoestring strands at a crossroads, three each east, west and north with the south open, covered with a command to make a person leave. Repeated questions clarify placement and wording; the source's command and variable ordering of speaking and covering remain explicit. The later personal address is context only.
Entry 11187
(You get what?)
Somepin lak de' call de devil's toothpick, dat's a root, an' keep dat in mah mouth 'long as ah'm roun' de house. Well, dey nevah bothah yo' an' nevah have nuthin tuh say tuh yo'. Jis' soon's [as soon as] yo' git out de house yo' kin take dat out yore mouth an' put it in yore pocket, but ah keep it always in mah pocket.
(Why do you keep that in your mouth when you are round the house?)
Well, yo' see, dat call fo' mah luck, yo' see, an' dey won't bothah yo' an' won't have nuthin tuh say tuh yo'. (I asked you if they could make me move out of the house. And if I don't want to move what can I do?) Aw - yo' ah use dat devil's toothpick - dat's if ah didn't wanta move. Yo' kin git dat in de woods yo' see. Very few people know what it is.
(What does it look like?)
Have yo' evah seen Italian [something?] whut made outa pipes [something?] a little root? [Does he mean brier?] It's sompin lak dat [demonstrates].
(It runs along the ground. Is it the same thing as devil's-shoestring?)
No suh.
(Where is the toothpick, on the vine or under the vine?)
It grows in knots jis' lak Italian [brier?].
Entry 11188
This [is] what I used in gambling. I gambles myself. I have gambled - a long time ago - to meet paydays and things. Well, I'd take me and get me a Jockey Club perfume. Understand? I take Jockey Club perfume and I takes Luseen oil. (What kind? Luceen?) Yes, [Luseen or Luceen]. That's a yallow oil. You get it at the Cracker Jack Drug Store. Luseen oil. And get you that pure Jockey Club - pure stuff - and you get this much [demon- strates] for fifteen cents of that Luseen oil, you see, for to put down in there [your mixture]. And you put that in there and you get you three of them little small dice, you see. And you dress them [dice] with that [mixture] see. Take and cut 'em on each four corner, you understand, so you can know 'em when you turn - five and six at. Well, you take and you cut - you know seven make eleven. And you take them and put them in some powder and take 'em out of that powder. And take some of that perfume and stuff and put over 'em, you know, and shine 'em up like they shine. And put that in your pocket. Put that in your right pocket. And now, you have you another big pair of dices - that's for gambling with dices, see them big dices. And you put some of that perfume on it and you just have you somepin with this powder - just keep it in there and it just smell good all the time. And every time that you go, you go on to gambling or somepin, put them dice down in that. Somebody will be Wanting to stop playing with you, be saying, "Well, what's the matter with them dice?" Well, you setting just like you got a friend or buddy. You see, you don't want to all the time put 'em - let somebody else put 'em down. You say, "Let's change dice." You have him with a Pair and he take and change them. [Informant, woman, claimed to have worked with Madam Helen!]
Entry 11189
De dirt dauber.
(Sort of like a wasp or a bee?)
Yes. Well, didja evah see de little cells dat dey build?
(Yes.)
Well, now, de people down dis way - especially in dis part of de world at one tine - now ah know dis tuh be a fact. We were living in Conecuh County, Ala. We had a very disagreeable neighbor lived across de street from us, an' she rented from some white people, but we owned our property. And dis person was disagreeable. And de white people dat she liked, dey like her so well, un- til dey wouldn't have her move just tuh please someone else, you see. Well, mah mother told many different people about her. De woman was named Ada Sonworth [Stallworth] - of course I don't have to tell [her name]. Anyway, she was very disagreeable and she would argue. Well, anyway, as I started tuh tell you, dis woman was very disagreeable and it wasn't no possible chance of getting her tuh move. We wasn't going tuh move. And mah mother told an old man 'bout it. An' he was a man supposed tuh have some super-power.
(Did they have any special name for this man? Did they call him anything?)
Yes, dey called him a cunjure, as far as dat is concerned. Well, he told mah mother tuh go and get some of dis dirt dauber cells and pound dem up, and mix one cup of ground pepper and one of black pepper, and one of salt, and have us tuh go tuh her do', you see, at night when dey was 'sleep, and sprinkle it. Said tuh give it tuh us children [to sprinkle] and not her [the mother]. And when you go and sprinkle dat down at de door and walk backwards, you get tuh de gate and throw dat de way you Wanted her tuh go, and said she would leave within nine days. So mah mother didn't believe much about it but she said, well it wouldn't hurt tuh try. It would be so inexpensive until it wouldn't make any difference. So she prepared dis concotion dat we'd have heard, you see, and we did dat - mah brother. Mah brother lives here [Mobile] too, now. We tried dat when we were children and she really disappeared in de next two weeks. Dat's positive.
(How many years ago when you were a child?)
When I was a child dat was in 1915...it was in 1915, and dis little town where dis happened, was in Evergreen. Mah grandfather died in 1917. He was a man dat was very stingy. He was born a slave. "Corse ah don't have tuh tell you but our name is Dubon. Mah grand- father was owned by some French people and dey came from down New Orleans way some place and dey established up here in Conecuh County, and mah grandfather...
Entry 11190
Ah heard dey go an' git a dirt dauber nest an' some cayenne peppah an' sprinkle it undah de do'step an' turn yore back an' nevah look back, an' nevah look back, an' say "good-by." An' dat'll make 'em move an' dey cain't come back again.
Entry 11191
Dirt dauber nest, red pepper and salt mix, sprinkle or hang up or bury
[person must walk over or under it] causes confusion. [Mobile, Ala., 873:1.]
Entry 11192
To break up house, beat up dirt dauber's nest, salt in it, pepper [black or redi in it, sprinkle around or through house.
Entry 11193
Dirt dauber nest, red pepper, person's name on brown paper [and usu- ally if a white person, on white paper] parch on stove, sprinkle this dust, per- son leaves. [Burning person's name is usual, but sprinkling the dust is unusual.]
[Mobile, Ala., 944:9.]
Entry 11194
When yo' got somebody an' wanta make 'em move out chure house, [or] out de house nex' tuh yo', yo' git chew some dirt dabahs [larvae and their cells] but de wasp makes de nest. Yo' git dat dirt [and larvae]. Yo' git chew some cayenne peppah an' some Epsom salts and gunpowdahs, an' yo' mixes all dat up tuh- gethah. An' when yo' mixes dat up tuhgethah, yo' t'rows dat aroun' 'bout twelve a'clock at night - not in de day, at night. At twelve a'clock at night yo' t'rose it undah de step, an' when yo' t'ro' it yo' say, "Jes' lak ah t'row dis heah powdah, dat's de way ah want dem [you] tuh move out dis house." [For a special appreciation of the mud dauber and its larvae, see interview "TOMB OF DE BABE OF BETHLEHEM," Pp.1325-1335, v.2.]
Entry 11195
Throw mixture of dirt-dauber-nest powder and gunpowder near home for 9 mornings to make people move. [Wilmington, N. Car., 274:8+85.]
Entry 11196
You go out there and dis dirt dauber nest, yes. (What would you do with it?) Chuck [it] underneath de house - drop it underneath de house - an' make de folks mind upstir an' make 'em move.
(I see.)
Entry 11197
Dirt dauber powder in bottle, put under brick of house, "dey leave dere." [This probably means under a house but covered by a brick, not to hide it, but to add weight to your intention. Also under the house would mean removing a brick from one of the piers on which lowland houses rest; the bottle then being under a brick. Also possible but more difficult, unless everyone was away for the day, would be the removal of a brick from the hearth.] [Wilmington, N. Car., 261:4+85.]
Entry 11198
Dirt dauber's nest - take de dirt dauber's nest an' pound it with sulphur an' put it up ovah de do'post an' dat would separate a family an' make it go separately. [What is a doorpost? I would say one of the two posts of an un- ended door frame, such doors being fairly common.
Entry 11199
Git dirt daubah dat-a-way an' put it in a bottle wit vinegah. Dat's uhut chew call a shure shot. Put it in de bottle wit vinegah, de dirt daubah, wit black peppah an' red peppah, an' if de people of dis house wuz gittin' 'long fine, a person would slip [in] heah at night an' throw it undah de house or plant it anywhere in de yard. In two week's time dey would be axin' [asking] one 'nothah fo' a divorce.
Entry 11200
Yo' take a dirt dauber nest an' anything, jes' lak say, yo' wanta cause confusion or sompin lak dat in a home. Yo' take a dirt dauber nest an' yo' go dere a certain hour of de night an' yo' use dat jes' lak yo' do de aig. Jes' lak dirt dauber keep a-goin' an' conin', dat person keep a-goinin' an' comin'.
(What would you do with the dirt dauber's nest when you took it to that house?)
Yo' jes' carry it an' bust it ovah de house at twelve a'clock at night, jes' lak yo' bust a aig.
Entry 11201
They will spring your doors and things. (Well, how would they do that?) They'll take that - they'll go to three people's house and you can steal you some salt from three people's house, and take that cayenne pep- per and that black pepper and dirt dauber's nest and beat it together and sprinkle your door and you'll move.
(I see. And you'll move. But you only steal the salt?)
Steal the salt.
(The other things you don't take?)
No, you just steal that from somebody's house.
(Just the salt. Those other things you take from your own house?)
Yeah.
(I see. That will make you move out?)
Yes.
Entry 11202
Git 'em out of a house. Dey got some of 'em back dere now. Yo' kin git dirt dauber nest. Yo' know whut dey call dirt daubers. Well, yo' git dat an' cayenne peppah, but yo' have tuh git in de house tuh do dat. Yo' cain't do dat on de out- side of de house. See, cayenne peppah, Epsom salts, sulphur an' powdered asafetidy. Yo' know whut dey call powder asafetidy. Well, dey mix dat tuhgether. Well, if yo' cain't git chure tobacca, yo' kin git dis scotch snuff an' yo' mix dat, but chew gotta git in de house dat yo' kin sling it back in dere. Yo' know, an' 'noint de house, an' dey'll move.
(You just throw that in the house and these people will move away.)
Yes.
Entry 11203
Take nine dirt dauber nest an' pound 'em up together. Put some salt - jes' de least salt, into de nine, which id about a teaspoonful into de nine dirt dauber nests. Then yo' put three teaspoons fulla sugah into dat. Pound it up good together. Then yo' take - after pounding that all up together - then yo' take an' anywhere that a person gotta visit, if it in a home or anywhere that they got dealin's at in dat place, yo' sprinkle it In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost an' make yore wish the way that yo' want it to work. It will work.
(What will you wish for on that?)
Well, if yo' want 'em tuh quit workin' dere or tuh leave dere, why yo' kin wish that way. An' if a person wants tuh continue working to a place, why yo' make that wish there. [Nine dirt dauber nests surely means 9 cells from one dirt dauber nest, not 9 separate nests which would be quite a large amount of dirt.]
Entry 11204
You get you a sock or sompin like that, anything you wear. Take that sock, ball it together, put it with some dirt dauber nest, roll 'em together [sock sprinkled with dirt dauber is rolled up] and you put it in a jar or any kind of bucket or anything that unleaks - what won't leak. Take it to the river, throw it in the river and let it go downstream. You'll be gone!
Entry 11205
You take an old shoe - it don't mean like your [good] shoe - just any old shoe and you pound it up to dirt. You pound the dirt from it in[to] a box, you know, and make it like a powder and you burn it. Put it on the [remain- der of the shoe] and burn it in the house, smoke the house up, and make anybody - can run any enemy in the river. They'll just move up, they gotta go.
Entry 11206
Yo've heard tell of yo' takin' a dirt dauber, taking de nest out de house an' mix it up. Sift it in yore meal or flour whatsomevah yo do, an' cook it in yore bread, an' dat'll make yo' ole man love yo'.
(Make him love you.)
Entry 11207
Well, ah'll tell yo' whut tuh do wit dat. Go tuh a ole house an' yo' sees de dirt daubah build a nest. Yo' git nine an' yo' powdah it up an' yo' git chew a nine [cents] 股 worth of rock sulphuh [small cake of] an' yo' powdah hit up an' yo mix dat all up tuhgethah an' sew it up intuh a bag an' yo' put it right undahneath - intuh de mattress. Cut a hole intuh de mattress where he gen[eral]ly sleep at. An' he'll come home an' he'll sleep right on dat dat night, an' he wouldn't nevah leave home no mo'. He'll stay right dere wit yo'. Ah've seen dat done.
(They don't do anything else?)
Nuthin else.
Entry 11208
If ah have a mean husban' an' jes' lak he's argy [argues] all de time, ah jes' take dat dirt dauber an' beat it up fine an' throw it anywhere where he set at in de house - 'neath his fut or anywhere at de suppah table - an' why it will stop him from arguin' yo' understan', dat dirt dauber.
Entry 11209
Take de whole nest - she say, git it down whole, de dirt daubah nest. Take it whole an' don't break it. An' put in a cup or anything an' put some watah on tt, an' jes' about time it draw - in about fifteen minutes - jes' keep it an' drink off of it. (What will that do?) She says dat brings yore [her] husband down an' puts him undah her feet. Well, she shore got her'n [hers] undah her feet. She say dat's whut she use, she say dat's de best it is.
(Does she drink that water herself?)
Drinks dat. An' she say dat's shure fo' him. Ah know one thing, he's undah her feet all right.
Entry 11210
Dirt dauber nest [informant, a former midwife, called it "three finger dirt dauber because she used thumb and two adjoining fingers to pick up rather than thumb and index finger, the pinch measurement] make tea, "give it to a woman in labor, it will help her to come 'cross [across - to de- liver]. [Would those 3 fin- gers be a survival of the 3 HOLY NAMES?] [Mobile, Ala., 900:6.]
Entry 11211
Dirt dauber for labor pains. [Vicksburg, Miss., 1002:6.]
The complete short account says 'Dirt dauber for labor pains'; no method, direction of effect or result is supplied.
Entry 11212
Dey say dat chew kin take dirt daubah nest an' make a lickrish [liquid] outa hit an' write it - lak if mah husband was gone off an' quit me, ah could write a lettah tuh him lak ah was writing in ink - jes' dip it in dere [this dirt dauber ink] an' dey say when he read it, he'll come back. Ah've heard of dat. [A later comment of mine reads: usually for sending away.]
The informant compares the writing to ink. A later editorial comment describes sending away; neither the reported return nor removal is established.
Entry 11213
Take the dirt dauber and take dis man's name.
(Yes?)
And you write the man's name and you set this in the bottle, and when you puts this in the bottle...
(Now what do you put in the Bible?)
You puts - in de bottle!
(Oh, in a bottle. You put all this in a bottle?)
All this in a bottle. Well, I call a bottle a jar - one of these pickle jars - and put the vinegar in there with the man's name in there. That's the dauber dust. Then you takes this man's name and you just put the pin and the tacks and the needles in there. And then you put it in there, and every day at twelve o'clock you shake it up and call this man's name. Every day you do the same thing until the ninth day that you see that you get your wishes.
(What kind of wishes do you make?)
Well, the wishes that I would make, would be the bad destruction on him. That'd be bad luck for him to have. That's the bad wishes.
Entry 11214
Yo' kin take dirt dauber houses, yo' know, an' put 'em in a piece of rag an' hang it up ovah yore front do', an' ah don't care who yo' owe, dey won't come dere. Dey won't come nowhere round yo'.
Entry 11215
Dirt dauber nest, pound, put piece of garlic with, in purse for luck. [Garlic is lucky because it is a witchcraft deterrent.]
Entry 11216
Dirt dauber's nest, yeah. You take a dirt dauber's nest. You take it after it's dry. You take that and use that as a dust. You take that, you take sulphur - you take sulphur, you take carppis [copperas = green vitriol or ferrous sulfate].
(Carpus?)
[To my ears later the word was copperas.]
Coprus, yes. You mix that together. All right, you sprinkle that before the person's door or put it anywhere where they can step in it, see. And it'll worry them where they can step in it, see. And it'll worry them and it make their feet be tender. It gives them bad feet, so that they can't get around, see.
Entry 11217
Yo' kin take, yo' know, if yo' an' yore husband ain't gittin' long good in yore house, yo' kin take some spice an' dirt dauber nest an' mash it up together; an' after yo' sweep, sprinkle it in each corner of de house. Every- thing will git 'long lovely. Dat's all ah know it's good fo'; yo' know, killin' anything lak dat. Wear it in yore shoe for a fuss lak dat an' sprinkle it round yore house. Dat's all ah know dat it's good fo'.
Entry 11218
(What do you mean by nine times and nine days?)
That's what I say; nine days, you know.
(Well, tell me the whole story so I'll understand it.)
I say, that they says you can take a dirt dauber's nest and make you a tea, and as you give your husband his coffee, you might put a little in his coffee for nine days, and then that might would check him up from running around, you see. Running around, that's all I hears about dirt dauber's nest. (Running around with what?) Just going out aplenty. Going out so much, just don't know what he does; but however, he just be going all the time.
Entry 11219
You get the mud dauber.
(Yes.)
Out of a big stable anywhere. You stick this finger.
(Which finger?)
This one.
(The middle finger of the right hand?)
Yes. Get the blood out of it.
(Yes.)
Get all the blood. You write the name nine times on a piece of paper. You roll that mud dauber, that name, steel dust, lodestone, wrap it up. Roll it up tight, and you get [have] some luck. (It separates them.) Man and woman.
Entry 11220
The dirt dauber's nest, you go in a person's house and put it in the four corners of the house - graveyard dirt with the dirt dauber - and they move out of there. Just beat it up.
The printed account distinguishes graveyard dirt from a dirt-dauber nest in a mixture. The departure claim remains source-reported; the two ingredients are not treated as equivalent.
Entry 11221
Now, yo' take de [chicken] aig an' broke a little hole in it an' put some of dis graveyard dirt - jes' a drop of it - an' de dauber nest [dirt] an' throw it on de house, and run 'em away.
The informant describes graveyard dirt and dirt-dauber material with an egg. '[chicken]' and '[dirt]' are editorial identifications; the materials remain distinct and the departure claim source-reported.
Entry 11222
Yo' kin git dis heah dirt daubah nest an' de lettah whut he wrote chew. Yo' kin fix dat lettah all up an' send it back tuh him. (How do you mean, fix that let- ter all up?) Well, yo' take dis daubah nest an' a little bit, jes' a pinch of dis graveyard [dirt], an' put in dis lettah - not tuh let him see it, jes' dust ovah it - an' send it back tuh him.
(What will that do then?)
Dat will bring his mind back tuh yo'. [There is a collection of these letters in section LETTERS AND HANDWRITING, vol.4, Nos.8789-8881, Pp.3589-3610, some With graveyard dirt.]
Entry 11223
Take dirt dauber, cai-yanne peppah an' grave- yard dirt. Dat's tuh make people move, too. Yo' puts dem things intuh a ole cup an' yo' make a powdah of it, an' yo' go an' throw it aroun' dis place where yo' want de people tuh go.
Entry 11224
(What do they do with that?)
You see, you take the dirt dauber's nest and you'll mash it up good, and that dirt dauber's nest can make [a] fuss [quarrel]. And the dirt dauber's nest is good - now, dirt dauber's nest would be, if you got a sprain...
[Here I turn off machine but immediately restart it.] (And do what?)
[Take the dirt dauber's nest and get you some little] guinea peppers and get you some graveyard dirt [guinea peppers and graveyard dirt restarted machine] and fix that together, and then you can make a person move. I don't know where to[!].
(Well, how would you handle that?)
You see, you mix it all up together. Now, just like you go away, [like] you turn your back [to go away]. Well, I'd go throw that all around, or get some of it in your house. See, you'd pass over that. [Then you would soon leave that house or town.]
Entry 11225
Go to de graveyard an' git some dirt an' bring de dirt back home an' mix it up wit dirt dauber nest an' sulphur. An' mix it all up an' put it in de house - jes' a little bit in de house, a little bit. (What will that do?) Dat keepin' his mind, bring his mind back home.
Entry 11226
Nine dirt dauber's nests, 9 pinches out of victim's left foot track, pound up together, make wishes over, take to a grave of evil person, bury you there, you will soon die. [This is my condensation of a long rite in the material of an interview missed by my transcriber. I never had time to return to it. Original condensation in pencil attached to final manuscript.]
Entry 11227
Well, now, yo' kin use dirt dauber in confinement an' yo' kin use dirt dauber fo' runnin' people outa town an' around like that.
(How would you run a person out of town with dirt dauber?)
Well, yo' have tuh take - yo' know the dirt dauber nest has all that stuff inside of that clay there, inside of that clay. Well, yo' git the inside [lar- vae] an' yo' kin mix that with cemetery dirt. Mix that with the cemetery dirt an' yo' git chew a piece of brim- stone an' a piece of blue- stone, an' pound it up to a powder an' put in that. An' yo' kin sprinkle that wherevah - whoevah yo' wanta do. Yo' kin sprinkle that an' that will certainly run 'em outa town - run 'em an' they keep agoin'.
Entry 11228
Well, yo' supposed tuh git it offa sinner, like yo' know a person's died a sinner - git it offa de breast of him. Imagine where de breast should be. Yo' git dat dirt. Take yo' left han' an' git dat, a left handful of dat dirt. Well, yo' takes cayenne pepper and table salt and dis ole dirt dauber dat be's in houses up in de walls. Yo' mix dat tuhgethah. Say dat'll make a fuss anywhere. It will even cause de law tuh come tuh yore place.
(Well, what do you do with this after you mix it up?)
After yo' mix it up, jest put it where yo' want it tuh be. Jest like if yo' are angry wit someone, or somebody yo' know is bothering yo' or sompin. Well, yo' wants dem tuh move or git on out de way. Yo' jest throw it where it can be tracked in dat house. Dey'll go tuh fighting and de law goin' come.
Entry 11229
Take graveyard dirt and dirt dauber's nest and cayenne pepper and new salt and parch it - you mix it and parch it and make a powder. And throw it Monday night, Wednesday night and Friday night where they walk over. They change their mind and they go on about their business. They move off and go off.
(They leave the house?)
Yes.
(You sow this on these nights. Do you throw it or sow it?)
You throw it around. (Oh, you throw it around.) [The preceding combination of 3 days is common in New Orleans for burning candles - see p.830, v.1.]
Entry 11230
For real good luck - real shure 'nuff good luck - yo' kin steal a dishrag outa dere house. Jes' slip [in] unbeknowst to 'em an' steal a dishrag, an' go ahead an' bury it some place way out [where houses and people are few] an' yo' git all de luck an' dey won't have any. Dey have yorn bad luck an' yo' have dere good luck.
Entry 11231
Yo' steal a person's dishrag an' hide it in de henhouse tuh make 'em move - make de person move. Jes' lak yo' didn't like me an' ah wuz in a place by yo' or sompin an' yo' didn't want me there, why yo' would steal mah dish- rag an' hide it in de henhouse 'mongst de chicken nests.
Entry 11232
When yo' wanta - if yo' be's on de job, an' yo' wanta keep it, an' if yo' be like a [something?] yo' jes' [go] an' wash yore face wit a dishrag an' they will keep likin' yo' all de time.
(Then you will stay on the job?)
Yes.
(That is if you are working some place?)
Yes.
Entry 11233
Well, de fact of it is, I know dat you kin take a dishrag, you see, and let a person hit chew in de face with dat dishrag on dat eye - got sompin on it [dishrag not clean, but got sompin on it]. Say dat'll move dat sty off. But I don't know, I never tried it. (I see, but they say it can be done?) Oh, sure. I've seen it did all right enough.
Entry 11234
If she have a husban' or either a fren', a man or sompin lak dat an' he runs around, she kin [take] any piece of his garment an' use it. Take an' wash any part of her body jes' lak she want to. Maybe use her dishtowels tuh wash any part of her body, an' wash it in de watah where she gotta wash her dishes, an' dat'll keep him home. Let him eat out of any pan or any pot, or sompin lak dat, an' dat'll keep him from runnin' roun' outside.
Entry 11235
All she gotta do - de really fac' about it - is tuh have a connection an' use herself. She supposed to give to de fellah de dishrag, wit him an' her both. Yo' know whut ah'm speakin' of. An' he can't ab- solutely go with no othah woman. [For many more of these dishrag and sex rites, see Pp.2391-2408, v.3.]
The informant names a dishrag in a reported relationship account. The euphemistic wording remains unresolved, and no claimed exclusivity is established.
Entry 11236
[Since we are now in the letter "D" of CHANNEL DE WORLD material - a division arranged alphabetically instead of sectionally to avoid typing compli- cations - the following 30 pages or more will be concerned with doctors, something by them or about them. Doctors of course will appear among later letters of the alphabet, but here was a convenient place to concentrate some of them. I begin with a folding rite that contains a close relative, a wrapping rite. The verb to fold does not appear in the index of Folklore from Adams County Illinois, 1st ed., 1935, and I doubt its appearance in the indexless 2nd ed. There is an index only in the files of the Center for the Study of Comparative Folklore and Mythology, University of California, Los Angeles, California. De- spite rarity, HOODOO has a number of folding rites, some of them quite compli- cated: Nos.3126, 3182-3190, etc., v.3 and elsewhere. To fold to you or away from you is a usual theme, but our present rite is an accordian fold. Especially interesting to me is the doctor, place of hearing, and time. My record concern- ing him reads: "Thurs. Feb. 15, 1940, informant No.1565, man 45, Crackerjack Store, paid, ng." (From note books E Series, 2nd New Orleans trip, numbers of informants 1558 to 1605). More about that ng in a moment. Informant was brought to me by the black man preceding him, a man who worked at the Crackerjack Store - sometimes called drug store - a famous hoodoo emporiun of that date. During the following interview I was utterly unaware that this would be my last dat at Pat- terson Hotel, 759 S. Rampart St., corner of Julia, New Orleans, La. Years later I would pay my respects to the old building by printing her picture at the end of HOODOO volume 2! The folding rite follows:] Say fo' instance yo' wanta git rid of a man. All right yo'd git his photo- graph, not a tintype. Git a cardboard [photograph] an' de medium size. Git it an' fold it in half an' find, say lak a dead chicken or a dead dog or somepin aroun' [or lying about] wit maggots. Ah mean large-size maggots as dey walkin'.... Well, yo' crease de photograph in nine folds an' as yo fold it in de nine folds, yo' drop a maggot in each one of 'em; in every fold until yo' git de nine mag- gots. Den yo' git chew a piece of separate black cord an' tie it [folded photo] nine times; den yo' git chew a piece of red [cord] an' yo' make six knots [about folded photo]. An' put in dem nine knots an' six knots.... Dat [package] is representin' dey cof- fin. Aftah yo' git through wit dat, den yo' wrap it up in a piece of cloth, which would be about fully de same size, an' git chew de nine of spades, an' wrap dat up nine times, an' jes' take an' fold it wit [3 ingredients]: one flake [flick = pinch] of salt, an' one flake of black peppah, an' one flake of red pep- pah - cayenne peppah. An' wrap 'em all up. An' yo' close it up an' regardless of whut de individual's name may be, yo' put it down nine times in a piece of silk tissue papah, fold it every time nine times. Take a match an' burn it, an' as yo' burn it, leave dem ashes go right on top.... Den yo' take all dat cloth [the several packages together] tuhgethah an' reenfold it [in one cloth] an' git chew some rivah sand, an' jes' put it in dere an' dry [tie] it up [into one pack- age]. Den yo' goes on tuh de neahest runnin' watah dat yo' kin git tuh an' dig yo' a small pit, jes' a small hole.... Dig it out six inches, jes' as dere grave. Aftah yo' do it, den yo' says - be mastah of de ceremony which is his funeral. As yo' be blessin' de body as it goin' down, every word yo' say yo' curse in between it, which is his name in between. An' as yo' doin' dat, den yo' throws a little bit of sherry wine, or if he drinks, regardless of whatevah it is, jes' throw it right on in dere....an' covah it up - an' drop it as it [coffin] goin' doup: [After this mock funeral ceremony] nine words yo' says, every day nine words, an' in de 18th day whoevah de individual will be, dey comin' unnormal deathly sick. De doctor [M.D.] or no othah one will undahstan' his case no kinda way. He'll die an' swell up [he'll swell up and die] in de next, say six or seven months, or maybe in de comin' future yeahs, from dat date.... (And you say you say nine words to that thing each day. Have you any special words you say?) Lak if de individual wuz a gamblah or a thief or a murderah, he may come home an' he'll be worried or somepin. Well yo' jes' curse him in dat name, "Yo' son of bitch. Yo' bastard. Yore mothah's no good. Yore fathah's no good. An aftah yo' hit me, whut ah won't do tuh yo'." An' aftah whut chew do to him, yo' say a prayah, "Name de Fathah, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, Amen. "... Every day [the unrecorded things done I pick up in my following comment].
(You say just nine prayers like that. Nine things you say.)
Cussin' him all de time.... [Informant had seen his best days as a doctor, that is why I preserved the remainder of his interview under the last alphabetical division XYZ. Those 4....indicate repetition of what had been said.]
Entry 11237
"Called cunjures down around Charlotte, Va., and "devil head" [Balti- more, Md., (138), 37:3, recording bad.] ["Charlotte, Va." is a vague reference but fortunately No.1477 (p.478, v.1) tells us this is Charlotte Co., Va., in the center of Virginia near the N. Car. line; Charlotte Court House the county seat, population less than 1000. As far as I can remember, this is my only ref- erence to devil head. What I wrote at the beginning is a copy of my original pencil transcription made soon after it was collected; now attached to present manuscript.]
The entry records cunjures in quoted wording described as a pencil-transcription copy. The recording is marked bad; no original speaker, referent or universal term equivalence is established.
Entry 11238
Here we have another unique term: cunjurin' rooten doctors! Once more an only example and it means: root doctors who also do a little conjuring as a side line! [Wilmington, N. Car., (271), 191:4+85.] My original transcription in pencil - made a few months after recording and later crossed out for ink - is attached.
Entry 11239
The root doctor regardless of his various titles was usually called "high man on Deal Island and elsewhere on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the land between Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. There are other examples of this name in HOODOO. [Deal Island, Md., (107), 20: last item on record.]
Entry 11240
Similar to the preceding high man is high folks collected somewhere on the Eastern Shore; my only example of it (informant 130, cylinder 45:1). Original pencil transcription made at the time attached.
Entry 11241
Send a letter to a root doctor [explaining your troubles or ailment] and he will send letter back telling what to do.
Entry 11242
Put the root doctor's fee down anywhere in the house or yard, he will get it and write a letter thanking you.
Entry 11243
"Years ago root doctors were better." This is my original note in pencil made from the original cylinder several months after it was recorded in 1937. I am now attaching it to the final manuscript. What informant says is true. I met a few oldtime root doctors, but even they had been influenced by commercialism and pseudo science. For a mixture of these two, see MY FIRST DOCTOR, Pp.933-948, v.2.
The printed quotation is presented within Hyatt’s later account of a pencil note made from a cylinder. The remaining passage is his commentary; it is not all one informant statement.