Browse:CURE AND PROTECTION (Volume 1, entries 1090–1706)
CURE AND PROTECTION
Volume 1, entries 1090–1706. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → FOLK MEDICINE. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 1090
If someone try do anything to you an' you die, you could put - jis' like de medicine you use in de body, you kin take dat an' put it in de grave when dey die, an' de person'll die right behind dem. [Note on my original pencil transcription reads "medicine in coffin."]
The body is named as a location of medicine use in a hypothetical account; the claimed later death is unverified.
Entry 1091
A boy was livin' down our house and he was goin' wid a girl and he quit her, and she says she gon'a have him fixed. So about a week after dat his leg swoll up, you know, jes' a kin'a roun' place like. So dey taken him to de doctor and it look like de more de doctor do for him de worser he'd git. So they taken him to a root doctor and he taken and give 'im a package, you know a piece of cloth, about as long as his leg was, and put nine needles in it and told him to, you know, when you go to sleep to lay his leg on that. And so he got all right. [The preceding medical pad for the leg is actually a hand. Many of these protective hands will be found in the following two subsections - (l) Cure and Protection, (2) Hands - and see Index.] [Wilmington, N. Car., (258), 253:4.] FOLK MEDICINE (2) [In Part One of Folk Medicine, Principles of Healing (p.361), some of the principles were given. Also, as I previously summarized: To catch a spirit or to protect your spirit against the catching or to release your caught spirit - this is the complete theory and practice of hoodoo (No. 38, p.24). We have now reached a place where specific substances must be named for guarding the uncaught spirit as well as freeing the caught spirit. Some of these substances have been described - here is a further list.]
Entry 1092
[The term Eve-and-Adam is more frequently used than Adam-and-Eve, a proper name for the plant, but what an informant means by either name I do not know - it could be a plant from six or seven genera. Since one informant calls this root (possibly a corm) Adam-and-Eve-and-Their Son, I would identify it as puttyroot, common name for Aplectrum hyemale, a North American orchid producing annually a solid corm, "two or three of which remain strung together." When there are two, we have Adam and Eve; when three, the son is added. This could suggest The Trinity or The Holy Family, but as often as I heard the plant named I remember the son once. Adam-and-Eve, like lodestone and some other objects, is one of these He-and-She ingredients - see Index.] Ah knows that. Ah had a cousin, she lived in Oil Town, Arkansas. She got poison, see. Dis woman had her howlin' [like a dog - see No. 775, p.256, and second cure under Dog in this subsection later]. Now, ah know this fo' a pus'nal fac'. She wus howlin' an' sometimes she jis' crawlin' on her knees, see. Stood up diff'rent times though. Mah uncle taken her tuh her daddy - he [daddy] taken her out heah tuh Newport, tuh Ca'Zine Dyer. He taken her out theah. She got some rattlesnake dust - ah nevah will fo'git this, an' she made some little bags an' she hung one undah dis arm an' one undah dis one, an' she went an' got some dat Eve-an'-Adam dust an' she place it on cousin right heah [demonstrates]. Now, mah cousin wus crazy - she wus stone crazy.
(Right on her breast?)
Yes. She wus crazy. One [bag] wus made outa rattlesnake dust an' one [bag] wus Eve-an'-Adam dust. Dis one right heah dat's Eve-an'-Adams' dust on yore chest, an' dat whut she put undah her arm dat wus rattlesnake dust yo' see. She put one undah each one of her arms. An' when she got that Eve-an'-Adams' dust, she put that little bag an swung it right there. An' she tole mah uncle tuh buy a bottle of turpentine an' say, "Now, fo' nine mawnin's straight yo' git up an' fix yore water in a washpan an' let her wash her han's fo' nine mawnin's straight an' throw it to de.east." An' mah cousin wus jis' crazy - she wus jis' howlin', she didn't have bita sense. An' when dat woman put that on her, she come back home an' she tole her mama, she say, "Ah feel lak a diff'rent pusson." Dat wus in Newport, [Arkansas]. Strictly brought her back to her min' an' she didn't have sense 'nuff even to entertain mama.
(How did he fix this water in the morning?)
Ah'll tell yo' whut chew do. See, yo' git some watah an' yo' put it in de pan an' yo' put that turpentine in there fo' nine mawnin's straight. Yo' see, yo' take it in yore han' jis' lak yo' goin' wash yore face - co'se lotta folks use a face towel but yo' use it jis' natural, yo' see. [For use it jis' natural, see also the Uncle Ben Mackey story, No. 918, p.337.] Rub it ovah yore han' and stroke it down ovah yore face an' throw it tuh de west. See, throw that tuh de west, an' yo' say, "Lawd, heah am ah. Take all mah troubles an' heal me, In de Name of de Father, Son an' Holy Ghost." Co'se ah wus with mah cousin when she do that an' she wus crazy. She wus jis' as crazy as a rud [red] lizard [see Index].
(When did this happen?)
Dis happen in 1929, Oil Town. An' ah nevah fo'git de woman's name dat did dat [spell]. Her name wus Lou T. [At a later date we shall meet Caroline Dyer again. See near end of my interview with Madam Collins of Memphis in Interview section.]
Entry 1093
Take yo'self - you kin git somepin and fix 'em up - dress yo'self so nobody could harm yo'. (Well, what do I get to dress myself?) Yo' could take three dimes and go to de graveyard - three dimes and three matches and three new pins, and any place you kin git some of dat dust, you pick it up and yo' pay 'em wit de matches and de dimes. Pay de grave. Take up a little of dat dust and fix 'em up together, understand, and git some of rock salt. Take some of dat dey call de elder [alder].
(What?) [Words alder and elder are frequently confused.]
Yo' know de elder [alder] dat grow in de creeks like, you take dat [graveyard dirt] and you fix/it wit dis elder [alder] and you bile 'em you understand. You boil 'em together and you git some gunpowder and you sew it up and wear it round your waist or your neck. Nothing could harm you....
(What do you do with that money and pins...?)
Well, ah tell yo' what ah do wit de money. Now if you go to de graveyard and don't pay 'em, dat one goin' - you understand, he.do somepin to harm yuh. You go and give him a dime. Now 'fore you git some dust - heah, yo' see [demonstrates]. You'll have de matches wit de pins stickin' in de matches head. Put dat dere and put a dime dere. An' you come back and you git some dirt. You do de same thing and when you done, you say, "De Lord giveth and de Lord taketh away, Blessed be de Lord." An' you walks straight away - back out.
(With this graveyard dirt.)
Dat's de graveyard dirt. Den bring it home and you go down to de creekside; you find yo'self a creek. Sometime dey find 'em in de tide - de root in de tide like, you see.
(The alder.)
Den dey git some of dem and dey bile 'em together, and when yo' done boilin' 'em you take dat same stuff and take the things out, you understand....
(What do you do with that graveyard dirt?)
You put de graveyard dirt and de elder [alder] root together and you bile it. Den when you done biling dem, understand, yo' take de water - leave it go off. You take de elder [alder] and same [graveyard] powder and you sew it up in a root bag or cloth or something like that and you wear it from your waist or from your neck and nobody can't harm you.
Entry 1095
They tell me that chew can wear some roots - High John the Conker, alligator root, and 'coon root, and put a little salt in that, a little cayenne pepper, and make a sack out of it [thus making a hand] and wear it round your neck with a little bluestone and alum in it, and that the individual can't hurt yah. [AZligator root is either shaped like an alligator or root from the sweet gum tree, often called alligator tree in Southern U. S. A. because of its bark - "wing-like projections" from the smaller branches. Coon root may be a root thought to be liked by racoons.]
Entry 1096
Take alum, a piece about big as a dime an' pound it up an' put it in a little sack, an' write de name of dose parties dat chew think dat's interfering an' put dat name in de sack wit dat an' wear it in yore pocket. Dey said dat would eliminate dat trouble.... (They couldn't harm you - couldn't hurt you in any way?) Couldn't hurt chew. [Alum - like other chemical, metallic and organic substances listed later, occurs in many curative or protective combinations of ingredients.]
Entry 1097
(How would they do that?)
We'll take a bath. You get some ammonia and a spoon of salt and vinegar and you bath nine nights or mornings, whichever you prefer. You take a bath in that. That protects you, keeps your enemies from doing you anything. [Magic three ingredients.] (How much ammonia do you use?) A tablespoon of each.
(Oh, a spoon each of all those three things?)
Yeah, a tablespoon of each and you bathe.
Entry 1098
Just like if they got you crossed.
(Yes.)
You be in bad luck. You know they trying to fix you. You got a mind that they got you fixed cause you going contrary from your character - your life, you understand. Just like you wanted to - see, I'm fixed now. You go to the drug store and get you some Housekeeper Ammonia. [Sounded like housekeepah 'monia.}
(Housekeep?)
Housekeeper ammonia. You know, they got two kind - you know, the strong one and the one you use in the house for bath, you understand. You gets a bottle of that. You get you some cinammon powder. See. Then you get you some of that saltpeter - see, saltpeter and some sugar. And you put that in the same water. And get you a bar of soap what ain't never been used. Then you get right in there and you go to scrubbing your head first - just scrub all over. Then you scrub your back - just scrub - and then all the bottom of your feet. [Bathing is downward - see p.369 and Index.] And just bathe yourself. And then you could get you some - maybe any kind a good powder, you know, and just powder yourself down. And you would do that for nine mornings and they just have - they couldn't do you nothing, no way they done try.
Entry 1099
I have known a woman who had a swelling from her knee down - from her knee down she was miserable. It hurt her, it kept her in terror, until she got so she could not walk. Finally, when the people had tried everything they knew to rub with and to bathe her legs with, her foot continued just to be swollen in such a nature of misery until she could not bear any weight on it. On a certain day an old woman came by the house. She said, "What have you done for that leg?" She asked how about her foot. They said, "We have done everything we know." She said, "Will you do this?" She said, "I will tell you what to do. You go out in an old field and when you find where these big red ants have made their nest" - it has a big hill, usually there is a lot of young ones in that hill - "you carry a pot with you, take a shovel, go around four ways around the nest and let it go in the ground. Then you just scoop that nest right up on the shovel and put it in that pot, all the live ants you can get, and cover the pot up and take it home. Put it over the fire, get some chamber lye, put the pot on the fire, put the chamber lye in, shut it up tight, let it get hot with the ants in there. When it gets hot and you know the ants is all dead and the dirt is hot through, open the pot, take a piece of cloth, spread this ant hill out on the cloth hot, apply it to the leg, as hot as she can bear it, bind it there and in her instep, bind it good and let it stand. I guarantee you that it will take the misery out of the swelling, because she has been cunjured." That was in Orangeburg County [South Carolina]. I saw the person. I saw the ant hill. I saw the poultice. And the next day she could put her foot to the floor. In four days she could walk. They repeated that twice and the leg Was healed. [New York Citv. (10, Ed.]
Entry 1100
Well, as fo' de red ants - if yo' have a chile dat waters de bed an' yo' kin git it tuh urinate in a pot, yo' kin put it in a red ants bed an' stop de chile from wettin' de bed.
Entry 1101
Yo' kin take a red ants nest an' go to it fo' nine mawnin's - dat if yo' wet de bed - fo' nine mawnin's, if yo' weak, a weak bladder understand. An' go to it nine mawnin's 'fore sunrise an' pee on dat, an' dat'll check dat up.
Entry 1102
If yo' were hurted - if someone take an' done somepin to yo', yo' see - take a red ant an' boil 'im. Take two or three of 'em, yo' know - two or three of 'em an' jes' boil 'em, boil down. Take 'em an' put 'em in a pan of water an' let 'em boil down to a tea an' drink dat, dat will take dat thing off yo'.
Entry 1103
Now if a person put a spell on yo' an' yo' have headache all de time, yo' kin go to one dem big red ants nest an' take a flour sack - a sack, yo' know or somethin' an' take up de whole, jes' as much dat nest as yo' kin. An' take it back home an' put de whole thing in a pan or kettle an' boil it. An' then bathe yo' haid in dat same watah. An' don't throw it out - jest bathe in it 'bout three times an' throw it tuhwards de sunrise. Dey say dat takes dat spell off yo' - yo' won't have dat headache spell no mo' or whatevah dey put on yo' like dat.
Entry 1104
He got in love wit a woman an' he wus a married man an' he wus about tuh quit home - say, he couldn't he'p himself. [This sort of thing is often considered a spell put on a man or woman; even a drunkard drinks because of a spell - see No. 78, p.33.] So he said he went to a ole man [doctor] an' de ole man tole him tuh take a pair of his socks an' put it in dat red ants nest. An' he did so. An' he tole in a certain period of time tuh go back tuh de ants nest an' look at dose socks. An' he said he went back dere an' dey jes' look lak a net, yo' know. An' he [doctor] said, jes' de same as he wus fond of dat woman, jes' dat same way dat he an' her were jes' lak dat, an' he would nevah go back dere any mo'. He jes' weaned off from her. Dat's all ah've evah heard about dat ants nest.
(And your cousin did that in order that he would stay with his wife?)
Dat's whut he did.
The informant narrates instructions to put socks in a red-ant nest; the later relationship change is a reported outcome.
Entry 1105
They carry assafitidee in a bag round their neck to pertek 'em from hoodooism.
Entry 1106
A good many of 'em use assafitidee and pepper and salt and dey put it in a little bag around dere neck and dat supposed to keep 'em from hurtin' you, too. They put all these things together in this bag. Dey sew it up in dere and put it around dere neck.
(I see. Any kind of a colored bag or any kind of cloth?)
Yeah, a yellow homespun bag. It have to be a yellow homespun an' it has to be new.
Entry 1107
Take and sew a piece of assafitidee and a piece of red flannel into a bag: You make a bag of the flannel, wear it in your pocket next to your heart and, if you have any enemies or anything, that will keep them down.
Entry 1108
You can get some assafitidee and gunpowder and wear it around your waist, and sprinkle a little in your shoes; that'll keep the spell off of you.
Entry 1109
If anybody puttin' things down lak dat, then yo' kin carry asafetida - yo' kin git it at de drug sto' - it'll stop all othah germs. Take this asafetida an' put it in a little bottle wit sulphur into it an' wrap it up. Say yo' kin walk ovah anything.
Entry 1110
You kin take three sticks of assafetidee an' you kin wrap 'em up in a black rag an' sew it up, you know, an' you jis' wure [wear] it in your clothes. But you had'a soak [feed] it once a week with yore urine an' once a week with whiskey: An' jis' as long as you wure that in your clothes, why you needn't worry - nobody kin harm you.
Entry 1111
Jes' take some dose ashes out de fireplace dere an' put some sulphah wit dose ashes. Yo' understood [understand] dat good - put some sulphah wit dose ashes an' yo' takes dose ashes [wrapped up in paper and cloth] an' tote 'em in yore pocket. Dat'll keep dat person from hurtin' yo'. Ah've tried dat. [Ashes out de fireplace dere - see my comments about weather and fireplace at Waycross in Introduction.]
Entry 1112
Whut ah was sayin' 'bout luck, yo' kin go in de left-hand side of yore fireplace an' take a fire coal, take two fire coals an' wear 'em in yore - put 'em in a little sack an' wear 'em in yore left pocket an' no one can't do yo' no harm. [These fire coals in country districts were small pieces of charred wood.]
Entry 1113
This is a fellah one time dat he wus in love wit a gurl but his parents didn't want him to marry this gurl, you see, an' so they got it in his min' to go away. An' a he wus in love with de gurl an' also de gurl was in love with him. So they tole him, says, "Now, we don't wan' choo to marry dat gurl, we wan' choo to go 'way." He says, "Well." This fellah he gits ready an' goes away. Well this worried this girl so, aftah he goes away dat she take sick, you see. So he goes away. An' he writes a couple'a lettahs home, an' aftah dat he don't write no more at all, you understand. So it's about fo' yeahs befo' he comes back, you understand, an' within this time - within about six months aftah he's gone, you understand, this gurl dies. Well, when they used to court, you understand, dey wus a church, you understand - a graveyard right backa de church, you understand. They set down on de steps there an' court, you know, an' plan for de weddin'. So aftah he'd gone, you understand, this gurl pined away an' died. So, he'd been absent from home about fo' yeahs an' he returned home. An' he don't write dat he's comin' home, you understand - he wants to come home an' surprise his people. So he gits off at de station, you understand, an' walks up about three miles, walking along, till he comes pass this graveyard an' - but befo' he gits to de church he looks up in de graveyard an' he sees a woman comin' out de grave- yard, but he don't pay much attention to it, walkin' along whistlin' to hisself. When she comes down an' comes through an' comes out de gate to de road, he starts to see dat it's de gurl dat he wus in love wid. So he steps in her path. This gurl's dead but he don't know anything about it, you see. So he stopped, you understand. She walked up to him - don't say anything. He speaks to her. He says, "Why, hello," he says, 'how do you feel, Carrie?'" She didn't say anything. He said, "Why Carrie," he says, "you ought to be glad to see me," he says, "I'm glad to see you," He says, "it seems to me that I've been gone long enough." He says, "You know I wus in love wid you and you wus in love wid me. It's funny you won't talk." She wouldn't even hold her head up. So she reaches in her bosom an' she takes out somethin' dat - dat looks like a bokay of flowers, an' she handed it to him. So then she turned back an' goes on back to de graveyard. So he goes on home. Aftah he gits home, you understan' de people's all glad to see him, you know, an' they set down an' talk. An' so he says to his mothah, he says, "Mothah," he says, "don' choo know," he Says, "tonight I wus comin' along," he says, "an' I meets Carrie." He says, "She wus comin' out de graveyard. I don't know whut she do by [there] dis time of night." Well, his mothah she turned aroun' an' looks at her husband. He says, "You didn't see Carrie." "Don't tell me I didn't see Carrie," he says, "I've jis' been talkin' to her," he says, "leavin' de fact [excepting] I wus talkin' to her but she wusn't talkin' to me. She wouldn't say anything, you know. So I ask her why didn't she speak. She wouldn't say anything, ' ' he says. His mothah spoke up an' says, "You didn't see Carrie." He says, "I know bettah. I did see Carrie." His fathah spoke up an' say, "No, you didn't see Carrie. ". He says, "Don't you know one thing, son, he says, "we may nevah wrote to you an' tole you anything about it," he says, "but Carrie died about six months aftah you left." "Why", he says, "it makes no diff'rence when she died," he says, "I saw her tonight." He did. Well he sets down awhile an' he thinks about dis bokay which she give him, an' when he takes the bokay down it's a human bone insteada bokay of flowers. So he looked at it. Now, ever'body's skeared now, you understand. Well they calls in an ole lady there name of Ole Aunt Tracey: She wus suppose to be a witch. So things gotten in such a bad shape, you know, they had to call Ole Aunt Tracey to see how things wus goin' to work. Dey called Ole Aunt Tracey about dis bone you understand. Ole Aunt Tracey says, ["informant proceeds to imitate her voice" - my penciled comment when transcribing original cylinder], "Well er I tell now, '' she says, "it's bes' thing I know er do 'bout de thing," she says, "dis bone you'd better carry it back whare you got it." [This is the magic rite of returning dangerous object to the place found - see No. 903, p.330.] Ohl De boy wants to know how he's gon'a git it back. She says, "Well, about de very same time dat choo met her last night," she says, "you carry it back dere tonight," she says, "an' another thing," she says, "when you carry dis bone back," she says, '"you take a little infant baby wit you, cuz if you don't, you gon'a have trouble. Well, now dis fellah he's skeared an' his parents is all skeared, joo see. So they goes roun' through de country, you understand, an' barers [borrows] a little infant baby, you understan'. He's supposed to carry it. So he sets aroun' home till aftah about time dat he thinks is ever'thing in fairly good shape. He takes dis baby in his arms an' goes on wid dis bone an' he goes on down you understan'. So when he gits near de church he sees her come out de graveyard. But she's walkin' fast dat time - walkin' fast comin' out [as if] she don't wan'a stop. [Then] she stands and looks. So he walks on down, you understan', an' a when he gits purtty close to her, she's lookin' at him den real venimous. So he presents her dis bone. Aftah presentin' her dis bone, she takes it away from him - flaps it out his hand. She says, "Yes, an' if you didn't have dat little infant baby wit joo tonight, I'd tear you up."
Entry 1114
I've also heard that spirits do not appear in a house where there is an infant baby.
Entry 1115
Ah heard dat chew could take graveyard dirt offa a baby's grave an' it would drive away evil spirits. But chew would have to mix dis dirt wit salt an' gunpowders an' it's a perfume yo' git outa de drug sto' - dey call it a - it's a violet perfume dat chew git out de drug sto'. You mix dat together. [Violets are a graveyard flower: Some people say that the unusually large and beautiful violets which the children used to love to gather around the old deserted Seaman property [at Fourteenth and Main Street [[Quincy, Illinois]], but no longer deserted] were unusually beautiful because years and years ago there was a cemetery there, and the graves having fallen into abandon, neglected by any relatives and friends, that the spirits of the dead cultivated the natural flowers for their own sake, and that any that were plucked and taken away immed- iately wilted and died, so that finally none but children ever ventured to pick them. (FACI, 1st ed., No. 10368, p.595; 2ed., No. 15238, p.703.)]
Entry 1116
You get bazley. You take this bazley and you boil it. (You mean this vaseline out of a bottle?) No, bazley - it grows like a - smells sweet. (Basil?) Basil - sweet basil, they call it.
(Is it a flower?) [I still was not too certain.]
It's a leaf - it grows - you plant it - you gets the bazley seeds and you plant it, and it grows and it smells nice and is good around the place. Now, you take that bazley and you take some of those leaves and you boil 'em. And you take that water and you get you a handkerchief and, for instance, put it in a bowl with fust a little - that little water you boiled it in - and take it and do all this [demonstrates].
(Just wipe or wash yourself down.)
Bathe yourself with that - bathe yourself with that for nine mornings and they can't do you no harm.
(This sweet basil - is that called sweet basil?)
Basil - you buy it at the seed store and you plant it.
(Is this a kind of a flower?)
It comes up like it has a little flowers on it when it's going to seed.
(What color are those flowers?)
Little white flowers. [Good.]
(White flowers.)
And sweet smell all over - you can just put your hand over it like that and smell it - nice basil, sweet basil.
(Now, after you bathe that way, then what?)
Just throw that water out for nine mornings and they can't do you no harm.
(Just throw that water any place?)
Any place.
Entry 1117
(You get this one drop of blood from that same bug [Betsy bug] from an old hollow tree.) Yes, from a ole rotten tree. You drop this blood - one drop into a cup of - into a halfa teacup of grease. Then you get a piece of saltpeter about as big as a red bean. Get a teacup of sweet milk. You see you mix that all up together. You give that to that person that has been tricked and poisoned. They wull throw it up.
Entry 1118
I know on one occasion John Crutchfield was telling me he stayed at a house one night; nobody could stay there and he went in there. And things got so disagreeable in there: that he couldn't do nothing - very noisey, threw the cover off of him, moved his stuff around. Finally, he got a Bible that he had and started reading it backwards, and he began to pray, and the spirit left and he got along all right. [Fredericksburg, Va., (37), Ed.; King George Co., Va.,1906.]
Entry 1119
Whenevah ah'm afraid of someone doin' me harm ah read the 37 Psalms [Psalm 37] an' co'se ah leaves the Bible open with the head of it turned to the east as many as three days. An' den sometimes ah read it an' ah have read it an' left it open nine days - each mawnin' until aftah twelve at eatin' an' [then] ah closed it. An' ah found out that it re'lly did help me.
Entry 1120
Chills - like if you are subject to chills every day, you get the bitterweed that grows the yellow flowers on top and the cow eats those weeds and it makes her milk bitter. Well, if a person has got a chill, you take this cord string and measure it around their waist, when the chill is on them, and you measure just the size of their wrist and you take this thread.
(Either wrist?)
Either wrist, either one. You take this thread out to that bitterweed and you bunch it all on this branch, you see, and tie that string around it. Three days after you do that, the weed'll die and there'll be no more chills. I learnt that when I was thirteen years old.
Entry 1121
( Coming ovah agin - ah goes on an' take some of de same stuff, some of dat oil. Ah rub mah wife nine mawnin's with it. De black cat oil - yes sir. Rubs her nine mawnin's with it an' ah give her several High John de Conker Tablets - several. (Where do you get those?) Ah orders dem from Chicago, from King Neverson [Neilson?]. Ah give her seven of dem. She been up goin' ever since. [Small- time root worker. For protective Black Cat Wishing-Bone see subsection Hands.]
Entry 1122
Tea of silkweed, snakeroot, black master [root], gourd and cedar berries cures cunjuration [inside a person].
Entry 1123
I've heard of them taking black pepper and putting it in the shoe to keep a person from getting the dirt out of their footprint. They said the footprint won't register in the sand if they have black pepper in the shoe. [Snow Hill, Md., (83), 2:22; Nansemond Co., Va.] [Black pepper like red pepper usually occurs in combinations of ingredients; it being less frequently used than red.]
Entry 1124
My father was sick and we had the doctor come attend him and the doctor tended him and he couldn't diagnose his case. So we changed doctors and the [second] doctor waited on him about two weeks or more. He didn't seem to do any good and we changed to another [third] doctor. And we got him and he said, "Well, I don't see I kin do any good for him, becuz I think he's poisoned." [Would a Doctor of Medicine say this? See my comments in Introduction.] So a ole lady told me to go an' see a ole man by the name of Simmons. And I went and got a ole man by the name of Simmons and he came there and he talked to my father and he told me, he said, "Come on boy and go in the woods with me." And he got some whut they call blackroot - that's a weed that grows in the woods, a round root, right black, something like a little potato - and red oak bark. [For oak, see No. 1060, p.402, also margin-title OAK later, and Index. Black- root is a name for a number of plants, the present one probably being Chaenolobus undulatus, indigenous to Southern U. S. A., and having black tuberlike rootstocks.] And he sent me to the drug store while he's boilin' them to get him five cents Worth of bluestone and alum mixed. And he boil that and he made a tea out of that and he strained it, let it cook and he told him to take two swallahs of it three times a day. And the first swallahs - the first two swallahs - that my father taken of it he vomit somepin jis' as green as grass [a usual expression for vomit caused by inside cunjuration]. Then he got kin'a relief on the nex dose he taken. He didn't vomit. But on the third one he vomit again. Then [this third time] he vomit up somepin there - it look somepin like jelly. Then he commence to gettin' a little better and finally he kept on takin' it until he did get so he could get out.
Entry 1125
An' dere's a root dey call de blacksnake root. Yo' kin carry dat in yore pocket an' dere can't anything harm yo'. (Nothing could hurt you?) By walkin' ovah it.
Entry 1126
Heard dem say yo' go in de woods like dat an' git yo' some rattlesnake marster or blacksnake root, an' git a string an' tie it tight in so many knots.
(How many knots?)
About six knots - dat's a long string. Well, yo' wear that round yo'. If yo' don't yo' have to, yo' know, keep it in yore pocketbook - or either wear it round yo'. Dey say yo' holdin' dem den.
(By wearing that root - that's the way you do it?)
Yes sir, that's, yo' know, he pin de othah fellow. Yo' know, lak somebody wus goin' hurt chew an' yo' git dat root, why yo tyin' 'em up. See, yo' jes' tie dem knots - jes' as many kmots - why yo' tyin' den up.
(You don't mention anybody's name or anything?)
No sir, yo' jes' tyin' 'em up.
Entry 1127
[In the two preceding beliefs blacksnake root was a protection; here it is a crippling poison, which reminds us again that everything depends upon intention.1 My mother's sister was fixed like that. This guy went out in de woods and he got some blacksnake root, and he went and killed a rattlesnake and he got some blood off it and he cut off de rattlesnake's head, and buried it underneath the doorstep and de next morning when she step out - you know, she had to step right over it, her foot fastened up in her back and she still go about in dat position.
(It still fastened in her back?)
It still fastened in de back and she walk on crutches. (He got the rattlesnake and caught the blood and cut it up with this black- snake root.) With the blacksnake root and buried it under de steps. De first person that steps over that, that's the one goin' get it, see. [The first person that steps over that is sometimes heard, but it violates the widely accepted safety rule of It Warn't Put There For You, No. 653, p.220.]
Entry 1128
I tell yuh I heard 'em say where - say dey go up de street and get ten cent worth - dey say dey get de bloodroot. (The bloodroot.) I hear 'em say de bloodroot and High John de Conquer. I hear 'em tell dat. And dey say dey take dat and make a tea of it. And put table salt with it dey says and dey take it and make a salve of it, and rubs deyself down good wid it, dey says, and dey can become so dat people can't do anything with 'em. I heard dat.
(Well, where would they rub this salve?)
Dey say dey rub from dere neck to de feet.
(From the neck all the way down to the feet.)
And say you rub your hands just like dat [demonstrates], and say dey rubs 'em right on out, and dey can't do nothing with 'em.
(That's to throw the spell off you.)
Throw de spell off. Dey say that throws de spell off.
(Oh, that is used when-the spell is on, already?)
Yes, sir, and to fix it so dey can't put de spell on you.
Entry 1129
Well, you've gotta go to work then to get you some - you kin dress your home, you have to dress your home with bluestone water to keep down all danger, you see. You sprinkles with that every morning - you sprinkle your home with bluestone water. You have a sprinkler, you know, and you go round and you sprinkle all around your steps and everything like that. That kills out the power of everything. Bluestone is the strongest thing in the world that you could use.
Entry 1130
Wear powdered bluestone in both shoes; change bluestone once a week. [Wilmington, N. Car., (?), 233:1.] Bluestone worn in bag round neck. [Richmond, Va., (?), 336:1.] If feet swollen from walking over something [surface or buried hoodoo object], bathe with bluestone and sulphur and throw some [of this water] about door. [Norfolk, Va., (?), 530:6.] Burn bluestone in house; kills evil and cun, juration. [Charleston, S. Car., (502), 546:10.]
Entry 1131
Ef anybody got de bad disease, yo' kin take shoe sole an burn it [and take these ashes] an' bluestone an' alum [and] bram- booberry [brambleberry] root an' boil it an' mix it together an' give him. Let dem take a tablespoonful ev'ry three times a day an' mix physic salts in it, an' spit some on dose sores. Dat's a solid cure fo' dat, 'cause ah've cured many people wit dat. [Here are combined the magic rite spitting (see No. 1057, p.401) - often to show contempt for spirit causing trouble - and the magic healing substance saliva (see Index).]
Entry 1132
Git yo'self some 20 mule borax and bathe yo'self in it - in luke- Warm Water and if anythin' went wrong, why you bathe yo'self all ovah and dey won't hurt chew.
Entry 1133
If yo' think dat chew got something in yo', yo' know, poison; then if yo' take a dose of brimstone, it couldn't stay in yo' - yo'd have to throw it up. (What kind of poison do you mean?) Ah mean ordinary poison - ah don't mean drug poison. [He means cunjure or hoodoo poison, as drug poison and brimstone show. Since brimstone comes from the devil it is often used against his work.]
Entry 1134
Burn a broomstraw if a chile won't walk [and with the charred end] put some cross marks 'gin [against] de bottom of each one of his feet and he'll walk in eight or nine days.
Entry 1135
Yo' takes de broomstraw [from a used broom], dey says, an' boil it an' boil it in watah till it comes right yellah - hit'll come yellah. Dey say yo' kin drink dat; cure any kinda cold.
Entry 1136
Dey take two broomstraws an' wear it right in de mole [mold] of dey haid. Well, dat's jes' only a little simple remedy fo' headaches - lak if some people got a headache, well dat broomstraw is fo' dat purpose. It's no evil purpose in that.
Entry 1137
If somebody have come to yore house an' yo' don't want them come there agin or somethin' lak that, take three straws out chure broom an' put 'em up ovah yore do' there an' name one of 'em, "Name de Father, Name of de Son an' Name of de Holy Spirit," an' den yo' put a little sulphur an' salt on it an' tell it whut chew want it tuh do. Tell it, "Name of de Father, Son an' Holy Ghost, ah don't Want 'em tuh come back heah no mo', ah don't want 'em return." Let them straws stay up there an' don't take 'em down.
Entry 1138
I have heard that sometimes, if they die dissatisfied about something and they will keep coming back until they tell somebody, if the ghost comes in the door annoying you about midnight, that is the time they usually come, put nine broomstraws across the door so they join together, and they can't cross it. A broom sweeps out. That will sweep the spirit out.
Entry 1139
Jes' lak if somebody goin' come to yore house an' - yo' take the nine straws out de broom an' you set those straws - lak if yo' have a piece of cloth, yo' set those straws an' yo' take nine needles an' stick in those straws into the [cloth] piece, an' yo' put it up ovah yore do' where dose peoples comes in, an put dere name behin' de [cloth] piece lak dis, "In de Name of de Father an' de Son, ah want chew tuh stay 'way." Dey come all in at one time an' dey goin' out de back do' an' dey won't come in no mo'.
Entry 1140
Heard of 'em usin' a broom string - dey use dat fo' cramps. If someone have tricked yo', yo' take a broom string. First yo' take it from de opposite end an' den dip it in some vinegar, an' den take it an' bring it roun' yore waist an' tie it in nine knots all de way. An' dat drives de cramps away. (You said, when you have cramps you tie this string, from the broom, round your waist, and tie nine knots in it and let the knots stay over your navel.) Let it hang ovah de navel. [You unwind the string backwards from the broom, beginning at de opposite end, the last part of the string sewed to the broom. This is a backwards rite, one of many reversing actions in magicl]
Entry 1141
Ah heard dat yo' kin take a broom an' put it 'cross de do' an' if it's a person dat has bad wishes against yo' or any evil against yo', dey wouldn't walk ovah it.
Entry 1142
You can take a broom and take two straws out of that broom - of course, jis' like I'm sitting here - when I git ready to go out I wouldn't pay attention what's on this floor. You take those two straws and you cross them, just like I would put one here and one there and put 'em any place she have to go and sit down." Just put them where she gotta walk over to go and sit down. But you gotta cross 'em - well, I say just like that [she shows how]. Now, if she walk over them straws - or either you can put a broom down somewhere and if she make a mistake and walks over that broom - or if she makes a mistake where you put a, tie a horse or anything and she walk over that rope - well, she'll never be delivered of it.
(She'll never deliver that child.)
No000. Just an ordinary broom, and either walk over a rope tied to a horse.
Entry 1143
Yo' take broom sage [broom sedge = broom grass]; de ole-time broom sage whut people used tuh sweep flo's wit. Dat whut yo' speakin' of [not of the modern broom].
(Yes.)
All right. Yo' go to de - if yo' got any ole smokehouse or wherevah yo' keep it an' yo' take this broom sage an' make yo' a tea off it an' drink it. Dat will break up de croup. (Break up the croup. You mean this old-fashioned home-made broom? What they made out of broom sedge?) Yes, but chew go an' break it lak dat. [Fayetteville, N. C., (1397), 2516:4.]
[Broom rites are many - see Sweeping, No. 1061, p.402, and Index.]
Entry 1144
In cases if a person is down sick wit de rheumatic rheumatism and it seems dat yo' go to de doctor - seem like dey can't cure it, yo wanta walk out in de woods and git chew two buckeye balls an' put in each pocket and wear 'em in yore pocket until de hull comes off of 'em. An' you gits rid of de rheumatism.
Entry 1145
Bull nettle. Well, yo' make a tea out of that. Yo' make a tea outa bull nettle an' drink it an' at least thirty days or a little mo', it'll cure de worse case syphilis. [Bull nettle, also known as horse nettle, is a short prickly weed (Solanun carolinense), a pasture or lawn nuisance with purplish flower and small yellow fruit, common in eastern and southern U. S. A., and once used for epilepsy.
Entry 1146
Well, in another case of my mother's, they used on her a root called Bull of de Woods, and black snake root, and made a tea for her and gave her dat. Well, dat brought it out of her. And she used to low jest like a cow - she was turrble bad off. [The doctor gave her bull of the woods because she low jest like a cow - similia similibus curantur, see Like Cures Like, p.394, and Index.1
(Well, what did they give her to make her that way?)
They fixed her in a fresh fish. She was very fond of fresh fish and they had stayed at my home. So this lady's husband used to go fishing - set traps for de fish, you know. So she fixed de fish. But my mother suffered turrible.
(What did they put in that fish, then? You know?)
Uh-huh, they put snake dust in it. [The connection between snake dust and low like a cow is not so remote if the snake had recently sucked a cow. For this belief see FACI,2ed., Nos. 1567-1574, Pp.62-63. As near as I can come to a cow lowing for a snake instead of a calf is the following: "A cow will become so attached to this snake that she will hold back her milk at night... The cows do like the snakes to suck them; would rather have a snake any day than a calf to suck" No. 1567, p.62.]
(Where did that happen?)
It happened at her home in Warren County, North Carolina.
Entry 1147
Well, there's a little willow that grows about that big [demonstrates height] and it spreads all out - it's called button willow. [Cephalanthus occidentalis L. Probably button bush - unrelated to true willows.] (It grows about four or five feet tall?) That's all.
(Grows by the river? Water?)
Yes, sir, many thousands of 'em - look white - looks like a stone mountain flower when you off a distance - only this one is white. But when you get to it, ain't nothing to it - it ain't no flower. You take that and you get two or three limbs and break it up - small enough to get it into a vessel and boil it in a gallon of water down to a half gallon of water. And you kin take that and get you some grain alcohol and put you - well in that quart of water you put in about a half of a half pint and you sweeten it. You take a half of a half of a pint of grain alcohol, you understand, and you pour that into that half a gallon of button-willow water that you boil down, and then you sweeten it. And then you put you about - well, somewhere around about two tablespoonsful of sweet spirits of niter into that, and you let her take a tablespoonful of it about every three and a half hours. And them chills is going to leave her. Same thing with the typhoid fever. Hit'll sweat her and hit'll work her just the same as any other kind of medicine or purgative medicine that you kin give her - something like them - pills or calomel or something like that. Hit'll clean her system up ~ do away with those chills - yes, sir.
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.
Entry 1155
A buzzard lays twelve eggs, you see, just like twelve and - and all of the eggs hatches. Now, it got a buzzard test - that's for a man to do anything, but you gotta make the buzzard get the test. Now, the buzzard, she sets on her eggs and after she sets on her eggs, she goes off to feed exactly thirty minutes. You gotta go to the nest and take one of them eggs out of the nest when she go off the nest feeding. You know she feeds thirty minutes, [therefore] you boil the egg about fifteen minutes and then you slip back there and put that egg in the nest. Now she going to hatch all them buzzards but that one egg, and she going to sit on that one egg nine days. After she see that egg don't hatch, she going off and get something and put on [test] the egg. Then she see that egg was not good. And then, when she see that egg was not good, she going to take all her young ones away from there and she going to leave that test there. What she left there - a little rock or something and you going to get that little rock. You take that little rock and do anything in the world with it, but you gotta make the buzzard get it though.
(You mean she goes away to feed herself for thirty minutes?)
Yeah, goes feeds herself and that's the time you get the egg out of that nest and you get that buzzard test. If you get that, why you kin go any place without being seen.
(I see. They can't see you.)
They can't see you.
(This egg that isn't any good - it turns to a rock?)
No, the egg don't turn to a rock. She goes off and gets something - we li'ble be walking over it but you don't know what it is. She goes gets it. You gotta make her go get it. And she put it on her egg to see was the egg good, and after she find out the egg was no good and it didn't hatch, then she going to leave there, but [before the test] she going to sit on the egg nine days. (After she finds out that egg is no good with that rock - she tests that egg with the rock?) Yeah, she tests that - we call it a buzzard test.
(A buzzard test. And she finds out that that egg is no good.)
No good.
(Then she just goes on away.)
She go on away.
(And she leaves both the egg and the rock in the nest?)
Leaves the egg and the rock and you goes there and gets that.
(You just take the rock - you don't get the egg?)
You don't get the egg, just get the rock. [There are similar stories of the raven.]
Entry 1156
Go to a buzzard. Well, now ah have heard of a lotta people dat seen it but ah have nevah seen it done yet. Dey tell me dat chew kin go to a buzzard nest when dis hen is on her nest layin' - ready fo' hatchin'. Dey tell me dat a buzzard nest is made on de ground, not built up high in de trees. Yo' go to dis nest an' yo' takes yo' a stick - a long stick dat chew kin stand about five feet from dis nest - an' yo' push de aigs out dis nest. An' she has one big aig in de middle - a large aig in de middle. See, yo' take dat stick an' yo' rake dat aig to you, an' yo' puts dat aig in yore pocket. Den yo' takes dose othah aigs an' yo' takes yore han' an' put 'em back in dere. Don't put 'em back with de stick, jes' put 'em back wit chure han'. Now when she come to git on dis nest, yo' see, she ain't gon'a git on dis nest 'fore she know dat somethin' wrong 'cause dat big aig not dere. An' after she git on de nest, [if she doesn't see the big aig], she gon'a git off an' she gon'a fly away, an' when she come back she gon'a bring whut dey call a male or man buzzard back with her. An' after she bring him back he gon'a have a root. Dey tell me he gon'a have a root in his mouth an' he gon'a test de aigs by dis root. Now, if anybody put dey hands on dose aigs, dat root is to let him know and he ain't gon'a let 'er git on de nest. Well, now dey tell me if yo' kin git a chance to hit 'im hard enough to git dat root dat he put down dere, dey says dat root's good fo' diff rent othah things. But ah don't see how it could be good fo' somethin'- - yo' don't put nuthin with it, jest a lucky root. Jt jes' lak a person use a black cat bone or lak dat - if yo' don't put nuthin on it, dey tell it's better luck wit hit.
Entry 1157
I have a sister and she was hurt and she jis' started to screamin' an' hollerin' and we didn't know exactly what was wrong with her. And so we jis' run aroun' and ast diff'rent ones. And so they told us to get some caraway seed and bluestone and salt [three things] and rub her wit it; and ever time we rub her with it, that we must say, "In the Name of the Lord and the Holy Ghost," and rub her down; and give her brimstone in water - yo' know, the water drunkt off of that. Let her drink it. Of course we had to do other things. We used sulphur. We rub her with some of it and then let her eat some of it.
Entry 1158
Well, if anybody - now mostly ah nuse [use] dat to break - lak if dysente'y or somepin lak dat, yo' know. Or if yo' believed yo're poisoned or somepin of de kind lak dat. Well, den yo' git, yo' see, de bark off de tree on de sundown side, an' chip it sundown side, an' yo'll boil dat an' when yo' boil it, yo'll put a piece of gumbo wax in it. Ah guess yo' know dat. An' yo' make dat up as a powder an' let it resolve [dissolve] an' yo' kin use dat.
(What tree do you take that bark from?)
Yo' kin take dat from either a cedar tree or short-leaf [pine] or a black gum or sweet gum; either one of dem trees - short-leaf pine, or rosemary-leaf [pine] or( de thing dat chew call long-leaf [pine]. Yo' use either one of dem. [Since I did not ask about giobo wax, I must have assumed she was talking about the mucilaginous substance of boiled gumbo (okra). I did not ask which of the three so-called cedars or two black gums she used. Rosemary-leaf was unusual for rosemary pine (= loblolly = old-field).]
Entry 1159
De yallah jander [= janders = jaundice], anything lak dat, yo' git a yallah hen an' cook it an' if yo' can't eat it all at one time, jes' eat till yo' eat it all yoreself - it'll cure dat.
Entry 1160
Take a black hen an' bury it alive. (Where?) Bury it under de steps an' that will stop everything.
(What do you mean - stop what?)
Stop 'em if a person wanted tuh harm yo' - dey couldn't git up to yo'.
Entry 1161
Go in the fowl coop - you know, go in backwards while the chickens are in there, an' as the chickens start to flyin' out, why you come out an' let them fly over you one by one as they comin' out. You jis' come from the back of the coop, an' comin' out like that an' let them fly over you, an' that care [carry] the chickenpox away.
Entry 1162
My uncle was fixed oncest and they took a chicken, a black hen - he had a black snake in his arm.
(He had a black snake in his arm?)
Yes, sir - lady that had 'em [him] fixed put it there, and when the snake came out - when the hoodoo had the snake to come out, she say, "You kill a black chicken' - we had a black-feathered chicken - 'and take that blood and cook it and put over dat place. It healed dat - where dat snake had came out. Jest take and use it as a salve, you know.
Entry 1163
Then ah've used a black hen's blood fo' dat - like dat. Jes' cut de hen's haid off. Ah jes' took de hen up an' jes' let it bled on it, an' it killed de shingles.
Entry 1164
A black hen, now, dat's for when anything - a snake or rattlesnake bites you. Wanta see what a rattlesnake is, you jes' go out here in de woods. If you is goin' huntin' purtty soon you see a rattlesnake down here [in this part of the South]. You know a rattlesnake look green-grayish; you know you can't hardly know it's a rattlesnake lessen you look down good. Well, if he bites you, if you kin git to a frog or a black hen and cut him open while he is alive - cut him open and put him on dat, it will draw all dat pizen out. [The blood is the essential element in these split live-animal rites, which cure just about everything.]
Entry 1165
We had [here in the neighborhood] once [about 1886] a sick boy and they said somebody hurt him and he was very low. Someone told him to get a black chicken and cut that chicken open - don't kill it, and bind it alive to his feet. They say that cured him of cunjuration. They said it would draw it out [through the feet]. [Boxiron, Md., by hand; my note "old cunjure-woman" in parentheses indicates she handled the case.]
Entry 1166
Ah've heard dat chew could take a black hen's aig an' it would cure a hunyun [hernia] on a baby's navel. Yo' know, jes' like a baby have a large navel an' dey wear a bandage around it - dat chew could take a black hen's aig, a fresh hen aig soon as she lay it an' take it an' rub it on a baby's navel. Rub down his navel three times an' bury it under de do'step, an' it will carry dat away.
(You mean that big bump on the navel?)
Yes sir - it would carry it away.
Entry 1167
Yo' kin take a chicken aig - if yo' have a young child born, take a fresh chicken aig an' tie it up ovah de do' an' he cut all his teeth an' yo' won't know when he cut 'em.
Entry 1168
Whenevah yo' have a snake bite, yo' jes' take [a] black chicken dat, chew know, her aig an' bust it an' put it in - plaster [broken egg] anywheres on yo'[!] an' band it tight dere an' it draw de poison good out - de black chicken aig.
The instruction specifies a black chicken's egg; its claimed effect on snakebite is unverified.
Entry 1169
De aig of a black hen is fo' de smallpox [probably means chickenpox]. Take an' boil de aig - boil de aig an' drink de watah of a black hen [egg] fo' de smallpox.
The item instructs boiling a black hen's egg; its stated medicinal use remains unverified.