Browse:Dogwood Tree (Volume 1, entries 360)
Dogwood Tree
Volume 1, entries 360. Source context: SPIRITS → SELL SELF TO THE DEVIL. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 360
Take ever' Sunday mornin' before sunup, about seven [Sundays] I think, an' go out in de woods an' go to a ole dogwood. Do ever'thing you kin do mean - say anything you kin to it [the tree]. You bury your face up [against the tree] an' de devil'll send his imps. An' de seven years up [the seven-year period for which you sold yourself to the devil], you can't rest, you can't stay in de house, you jis' have to walk all de time. Den, after a while he come an' git joo an' care [carry] you away.
Walking is the claimed later compulsion in the account; its cause and effect are unverified.