Browse:Buzzard (Volume 1, entries 1148–1154)
Buzzard
Volume 1, entries 1148–1154. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → FOLK MEDICINE → CURE AND PROTECTION. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 1148
Say, if yo' ketch a buzzard an' kill 'im an' boil 'im an' git de grease out of 'im an' rub yo'self with it right good, dey say yo' lucky an' prosperous in all whut yo' goin' undertake. Jes' rub it on yore hands. It 'vaporates right in. It's got a bad odor, but as it 'vaporate in yo', continue in yo' - if the job gives out, kill another buzzard an' git his grease. Dey say it's good fo' yo' - it keeps yo' jints [joints] loosened, it's good for rheumatism.
Entry 1149
Take de buzzard an' cook 'im up an' let de oil - git dat oil from 'im, git dat oil from 'im whut chew call grease, yo' know, suh, an' you kin rub in it ev'ry mawnin' or ev'ry night whenevah yo' bathe off. Yo' git so limber you can't walk, if you use too much of it - it make active.
Entry 1150
Ah've heard talk of a buzzard. Now, yo' take a buzzard - jes' lak a person is whut we might call rheumatism or somepin lak dat, stiff-jointed. Yo' take a buzzard an' kill 'im - take a buzzard an' kill it an' pick 'im. Yo' lay 'im up somewhere an' let 'im dry. Yo' put a pan under 'im an' ketch dat grease. Take dat buzzard grease an' rub wit it - makes it [joints] jes' as slick an' limber. Now, dat's whut chew call - yo' kin take dat grease an' go through a keyhole in a do'. [This sounds like the witch oil (see No. 456; cf.440-441, 445, 451) used by witches to go through keyholes (see 429,445,455).]
Entry 1151
De buzzard, yo' use him fo' his grease fo' a chile dat is born an' nevah walks - yo' grease with it. An' a person dat is stiff-limbed an' a person dat has rheumatism uses his grease - de red-head one, de buzzard.
Entry 1152
Brimstone an' fat-lighter [pine] splinters an' feathers an' tar - jes' burn round yore place. Dat'll kill all poison - all ever'thin' yo' [someone] got down dere, can't nobody do nuthin to yo'.
(What kind of feathers would they be?)
Buzzard feathers.
Entry 1153
Heard of 'em takin' buzzard feathers an' runnin' people off - fixin' 'em [as a protective device]. Yo' take dem feathers an' yo' carry it home an' yo' burn dat feather till yo' burn it in a ashes. An' put it in any kinda little can an' set it afire - let it burn into ashes. Yo' take dat feather [ashes] an yo' put it in some vinegar - put it in some vinegar an' let it set fo' three mornin's. An' when yo' set it fo' three mornin's yo' kin take dat vinegar [and ashes] an' sprinkle it either on de steps or any porch - on de back porch or de front. If anybody yo' had dat yo' don't want 'em round yo', yo' sprinkle it - an' yo' see 'em comin' yo' sprinkle it. When dey git dere dey'll turn round an' go back. Dey can't come no further den de steps - wit de buzzard feathers.
(You burn that buzzard feather and then put the ashes in the vinegar?)
Yes - de ashes in vinegar.
Entry 1154
Now yo' take a buzzard, long [about] - yo' know dere's a time of de year dat de buzzards are nestin', if yo' kin git chew a buzzard alive an' carry him to some secret place where nobody knows nuthin about it. Well, yo' know a buzzard is a kinda funny thing. Yo' feed him diff'rent things an' some he vomit some an' some might come out de othah way. Well, yo' take some of both an' put it together an' put it in a sack of some sort to where yo' kin tie it. Maybe some of yore people long ago had some of these things did to 'em - de tricks yo' know, had 'em walkin' like a frog or hoppin'. Jest keep it, yo' know, where he [patient] kin sleep on it fo' several days an' he not knowin' anything about it. An' den yo' take it an' make him a belt of some sort where he kin wear it round his waist until dat stuff became hard - jest hard like a brick, hard jest like a brick. An' de thing dat dey have did to him dat causin' him tuh be dat way will go up in dat bag where dat stuff is.
(That is to cure him.)
Dat's tuh cure him.