Browse:Devil's Shoestring (Volume 1, entries 1207–1209)
Devil's Shoestring
Volume 1, entries 1207–1209. 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 1207
Dat devil-shoestring [goat's-rue - Tephrosia virginiana] - well, if anyone hurt chew, why yo' jis' git it an' jis' wear it in yore purse or pocket- book an' also dat John de Conker root. Yo' jis' wear it round yo'. An' den it's lucky, too.
Entry 1208
A woman live out heah - she out heah now. She lived out to - by de Fairfax[?]. Well, she wus heah [in town] an' somebody put somepin down to her do'step an' she stepped ovah it an' dis laig here drawed up. An' hit's a man lived out heah from Sappville[?], Uncle Tom Williams, he brought some devil's- shoestring an' he tole us about how he did it. An' he tied it round dis laig an' tied a piece round her wase [waist] an' one round her ahm [arm], an' she got so she could walk. An' de doctors say she would nevah walk no mo'. An' he took dat devil's-shoestring an' wrapped it an' twist it, put round dere - put three pieces round her. [The magic three.] Dat laig straightened out an' she went to walkin' agin.
Entry 1209
If they put somethin' down fo' yo' tuh walk ovah, yo'll take devil's- shoestring. Yo' know dis devil's-shoestring. Yo'll git dis devil's-shoestring an' yo' tie it round, possible round heah.
(Where?)
Round yore laigs - devil's-shoestring tied around yore laigs an' let it stay right there round yore laig nine days. After nine days yo' take it an' tie you nine knots in each one dem strings yo' got round laig. Den yo' kin walk ovah anything dey put down dere - won't harm yo'. Tie dat devil's-shoestring right round heah - two strands of it. An' after nine days, den yo' tie nine knots in it an' wear it nine mo' days, understand, an' then yo' kin walk ovah anything an' it ain't gonna hurt cha.
(You tie one piece around each leg just below the knee?)
That's right.