Browse:Doctor Frizzly (Volume 1, entries 209–214)
Doctor Frizzly
Volume 1, entries 209–214. Source context: SPIRITS → SPIRITS AND ANIMALS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 209
[Acquainted with Doctor Frizzly more than forty years, I could not include him among ordinary birds of the preceding margin-title; surely the zeal of Doctor Frizzly of Memphistown at the end of this medical group deserves special commendation by separation.] A woman from Beaufort [South Carolina] tole me dat. I went to 'er home one day an' see dis chicken, an' ask 'er why did she have dis little hen. She said she had dat frizzly hen to keep anyone from hurtin' 'er. An' I asked how she could keep anyone from hurtin' 'er. She say, well, dat hen, if anybody put down any roots or anything fer 'er, dat hen would scratch 'em up, an' of course if dat hen died, she would know dat she would die after dat, too.
(Well, why was that?)
Why dis root has [would have] poison 'er.
(Oh, it poisoned the chicken.)
Yeah, if it poisoned de chicken, of course it would poison 'er; but if dat hen lived an' scratched up de root, den she would liye, too.
(Where did you hear this?)
A woman from Beaufort told me dat.
(An old woman in Beaufort or from Beaufort.)
Right here in Charleston.
Entry 210
A black frizzly hen won't let nothin' stay in de yard - he'll scratch it up. You see some frizzly hen it be so necked [naked] in de back an' it'll be red? It be necked, then he done pick [up] a root. You see some chickens dat scratch aroun' de door for fresh worms? Well, if dere toby or anything stuck down here, if it's anything in a bag, dey [the ordinary chicken] ain't goin' do it; but a black frizzly hen, dey take it up an' eat all dat pisen an' den dat pisen, when he pick it up, he gets necked. An' de person who puts it down, dat hen take it up.
Entry 211
If yo' have a frizzly chicken - dey tell me dat if you always keep a frizzly chicken on yore yard, providin' if anybody puts down anything fo' yo tuh go ovah, de frizzly chicken will pick it up, an' if yo' see dat chicken begin gittin' necked, dat's what dat thing wus gon'a do fo' yo', an' de chicken git it [instead of you].
Entry 212
Yo'll git a black frizzly - dem othah chickens ain't no good - git a black frizzly. Yo'll turn dat black frizzly chicken in de yard an' yo'll gon'a notice her haid be clean as yore han'. Well, she done pick up stuff people done put roun' dere fo' yo' - de same kinda stuff lak ah'm tellin' yo', yo' see.
Entry 213
De frizzly chicken - most people have dem on dere yard. If anybody wanta do anything to yo', why dey supposed tuh scratch up all de poison.
Entry 214
Yo' kin take a frizzly chicken, if there's anything layin' roun' yore place - if anybody dress yore home, put anything down - dat chicken will find it, he'll scratch an' he'll find it an' he'll destroy it. Thare was a lady had one right heah an' he went from heah on 21st Street ovah in Memphistown somewhare. Dat chicken went thare hisself an' he found some stuff Was ovah thare. Dat was right heah in '26 [1926].
(How far is that?)
Well, Memphistown - ah don't know which way yo' come [to the hotel where I was interviewing in St. Petersburg] or.
(Is it a half mile or?)
Oh, Memphistown is two miles. He went all 'cross - well, dey didn't know [he had gone so far away]. Well, it's dis lady an' de lady dat lived ovah dere [in Memphistown] dey was fren's, yo' know, an' she tole dem, said, "Well, ah got a chicken heah an' if dere's anything lak dat - he be's gone [after itl. Ah don't know whare he is now. He's in de town heah somewhare now [looking for trouble]. He jes' goes about lak dat," an' she say, "if dere's anything dere he'll find it." An' sho' 'nuff he went dah an' found it.
(You mean this chicken just wanders around finding this stuff?)
Jes' all he do - dat s all he, dem kin'a chicken do - yo'[see] dem often, of dem kind. [For Memphistown, see Negro communities, some unofficial names for, in Index. Years ago the South End of Quincy, Illinois (mentioned frequently in FACI), used to be called Calftown, because so many of the German families living there kept a cow.]
Protection is inferred from the described finding and destruction of placed objects; the effects remain unverified.