Browse:FOLK MEDICINE (Volume 1, entries 963–1706)/Part 9
FOLK MEDICINE
Volume 1, entries 963–1706. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
1 listed entry is unavailable here.
Entries
Entry 1604
An' right in mah laig heah - ah couldn't move an' ah couldn't walk but mah sistah would bring whut ah'd tell her tuh me. Ah tole her, ah said, "Now yo' bring me a basin an' when ah urinate," ah said, "ketch dat fo' me." See, she Saved it twice, that made enough you know tuh bathe wit yo' see. An' then ah had her tuh bring me some salt an' some saltpeter. Den ah sent her tuh de drug sto' an' bought me some John de Conker an' ah had her tuh bathe me from heah out to de end of mah toes on both laigs. Ah jis' couldn't walk.
(What did you do with that John the Conker?)
Ah kept it roun' in mah pocket - jis' keep it in yore pocket.
(Why did she bathe you down that way?)
[Informant does not understand my question, I do not reask it. I wanted her to answer, "That made the cunjure go out through my toes."] She bathe me down dat way. Yo' know that cured it. Yo' see, this saltpeter an' this chamber lye an' table salt, it'll cure it. An' aftah she bathe me three times in dat ah got so ah could stretch out mah laigs an' jis' kept on an' kept on an' fin'lly till ah got up from bed an' went tuh walkin'. An' dat's whut cured me.
Entry 1605
If someone tryin' to put a spell on you, you make water and bathe in it fer nine mawnin's and throw dat watah toward de sunset.
Entry 1606
Ah hear dey say if yo' git hurted an' it ain't inside yo', yo' 'noint wheresomevah dis mis'ry is fo' nine mornin's an' de last morning dat chew 'noint it, why yo' throw de chamber lye whut yo' 'noint yoreself with - throw it sunrise an' it would kill it.
Entry 1607
Why they dress that hat fo' yo' head, an' they take that same chamber lye, as ah tole yo', an' bath that hat in it, saturate it in that water, and then bath yore head fo' nine mornin's that way. That relieves yo', yo' see in de haid.
(If they dressed your hat.)
Entry 1608
Yo' kin take and get saltpeter, you kin get the brine offa mack'rel fish, mix chamber lye with this. Now, I know this is real 'cause I did this - that happened to me. You bathe in that but you set in yore door, if you got a door facing the east. You set there, you bathe whatever parts that hurts you or that feels peculiar. You bathe that for nine mornings and yo' be all right.
(But you must sit right in that door facing the east?)
As the sun rise and do that for nine mornings, and as you do that, you mention the Lord's Name - say this, "In the Father, Son and de Holy Ghost."
(And you bathe. What time do you bathe yourself?)
Jest as the sun rise.
Entry 1609
How dey cure it - well it's very easy. Yo' use your own chamber lye, salt and red pepper and bath in it nine times - nine mornings.
(Nine times?)
No, jes' nine mornings, and you bath over running water - you know, either has a hydrant or anything where the Water is running. [In Brunswick, Georgia, a Woman buried something over the waterpipe coming from the street into the house.] And you bath in it and then you say a prayer when you bath in it and it'll carry that away, because nothing kin go against salt and pepper.
(What sort of a prayer would you use?)
Jest the Lord's Prayer.
(You say this happened to you?)
That happened to me.
(How was your hand harmed? How did they fix your hand that way?)
Don't know how they fixed it - don't know whatever they do to you, don't you know.
Entry 1610
A girl wanted me an' ah'm always mighty pertic'l'r 'bout goin' round girls an' ah nevah want nobody to see me hug or play wit 'em. Well, she went to a ole man tuh do somepin fo' her. Whut she done ah don't know - what he done. But he took somepin - he knowed ah 'us comin' dere dat night. He put somepin up ovah head de do' an' when ah walked in she was setting round ovah dere, an' ah walked - tried to hug an' kiss 'er right in company, somepin ah nevah done befo' an' ah caught mahself. Ah stepped.right back out de do' an' drawed watah an' took a swallah an' that thing left me.
(What did you drink water for?)
Mah own watah.
(What did you do that for?)
Ah always heerd if de woman - if yo' took - always take that watah, take yo' own watah.
(Oh, that would kill the spell. She had this thing dressed?)
Yes, sir. In a month or two.... (You drank this water. Then how long was it after that that you had this dream?) Ah think it was about the next week maybe or earlier.
(Tell me the dream - tell me the whole story.)
Ah dreamed dat right ovah mah head hit wus a rag in de home fo' me. That jes' what ah dreamed.
(In her house or your house?)
In her house. An' it wus on mah mind all dat day. Well, soon as ah knocked off mah work - ah wus on de farm - ah goes ovah an' she wus up to de white folks house an' ah'd gone roun' to where she stopped at. An' after while she come an' made up a little fire. It wus in April an' ah pulled off mah clothes an' got into bed. Mah mind told me tuh git into bed 'fore she did. Time ah got into bed ah reached up at it an' she looked back an' seed me. She jumped up an' run up thare tuh me an' ah knocked her down. That night goin' home. (Wait a minute - you pulled it out of that hole and left her?) [He is retell- ing a story I missed while Telediphone turned off.] Yes sir.
(What did it look like?)
Ah nevah looked at [into] it - little package wrahpped up. An' ah went on back home dat night and ah had tuh cross de branch of a running watah, yo' know, an' ah turned mah back as de ole saying used tuh say an' ah believe it, made mah wish dat mah mind would leave her an' throwed it in de watah. Mah mind left her jes' like dat.
Entry 1611
( chamber lye cure de cold - give it to yo' tuh drink in watah. Yeah, specially if ah wus sick an' had a cold or somepin, ah'd drink mah own chamber lye, see. Dat wus good fo' a cold.
Entry 1612
Dey kin take yore chamber lye - jes' lak anybody go tuh work an' poison yo' or anything, yo' see. Well, yo' kin git some sweet milk, yo' see, an' honey, yo' understan', an' a lil' likker an' mix dat chamber lye - jes' a little, yo know - an' likker an' honey an' vinegar. Well, yo' take dat yo' see an' dat would make yo' vomit it up yo' see.
Entry 1613
If you kin get 'em [sick person] to urinate, then you take - yo' ketch de urinate, you take a dropper and pick up some of that urinate in a teacup or glass but not let it be in no tin or zinc or 'luminum. You drop nine drops of that urinate into that sweet milk and give it to them to drink.
(Whose urine do you use?)
De sick one. That will bring those things out [wasps and ants] and then after that why give them couple doses of castor oil to clear their system out.
Entry 1614
Whenevah yo' think that you have got the wrong thing inside of yo', see, fo' three mornin's yo' take three swallows of yore own urine.
(Your own chamber lye.)
Yes, take three swallows for three mornin's - see, dat's nine swallows of it.
(What will that do for me?)
Well, that will take all the infection out.
(If anybody has put anything in you.)
If anyone has give yo' anything to make yo' love them, don't chew know, an' yo' don't wanta love them, yo' take this yo' see an' that will kill it out. Dere won't be no mo' tuh dat.
Entry 1615
You take a ten-cent piece an' you file it down to nuthin but dust. You take a pinch of sulphur, about a halfa teaspoonful of sulphur, an' you take this on your tongue. An' you take a swallow of your own water. Whoever the person is, now, they got to have their own water - you know, whoever it is urination, just enough to swallow. An' I'll guarantee that ever'thing you eat, that'll come right up, an' it'll come these little ants or anything. While that silver's in you, you never git nuthin - won't nobody kin ever put nuthin in you.
Entry 1616
[Urine is frequently part of a hand (see subdivision Hands) and often by itself a hand.] And if you got a backward child in school and you can't get him to go to school and can't get along with him in school, you just take some of his urine water that he urinate and wash the soles of his shoes with it and I'll betcha you won't have no trouble with him.
(He'll improve.)
And makes him go to school regular. Wash the soles of his shoes - just the sole, not the heel.
Entry 1617
Lak yo' scared someone goin' hurt chew - yo' know, if yo' got enemies. Jes' take some red peppah an' salt an' sulphur - take an' sprinkle a little bit of chamber lye ovah dat an' wear dat in yore right-footed shoe. Yo' kin walk ovah anything in de world an' nuthin will evah harm yo'.
Entry 1618
Dey say dey use red peppah, sulphur, chamber lye an' make yo' a bag an' ev'ry mawnin' befo' yo' go out yo' takes an' 'noint [feed] dat bag [a hand] good an' yo' rub it in each one of yore shoes an' dey say dat yo' kin walk ovah any- thing dat's put down fo' yo'. (You put this pepper and salt in this bag and then you anoint it with this chamber lye each morning before you go out. What do you do - just rub that bag on the inside of the bottom of your shoe?) Yessuh - in de bottom of yore shoe.
Entry 1619
If they try to harm you and you know dey Wanta harm you, you takes a ball of thread - spool of thread, put nine knots in it. Call three colored fellah - three white fellah - three any man names dat any man you call is a great liar, an' you puts knots in it. Ev'ry time you knot it, you pull de knot to you; but if you finish dat end, you fling the other end around and you pull that to you. You take dat and make yo' water on it - de night water on it yoreself for nine mornings and take it and tie it around yore waist. Nobody kin harm yuh. [Informant is one of 6 or 7 doctors interviewed in Charleston: "Tues., June 29, 1937 - Charleston, S. C.... San Mongain - (R.D.)- good - brought by [[doctor]] Glover" - Numbers Book 442-621. Several years later while checking his cylinders against the transcription, I added a comment to his number in Numbers Book,"(use with care)" - meaning some of his material was not too good.]
Entry 1620
Ah tell yo' whut chew kin do. Yo' kin stop a person from comin' where yo' is if yo' go to dere foot track. Yo' git chew some chamber lye an' yo' take some chamber lye an' yo' kin drop nine drops in dey track. Dat'll stop dem from comin' where yo' is if dey's comin' tuh kill you or do anything: Yo' turns 'em aroun' wit dat. Nine drops in each one of dey tracks when dey's walkin' dere walkin' to yore place. Yo' kin stop 'em if dey walk backwards an' forwards right at dat time if yo' know dey track. "Yo' see dere track anywhere, all yo' got'a do is drop dat in dere.
Entry 1621
They took urine and sprinkled it around the doors of any house to keep away bad luck and evil spirits.
Entry 1622
Well, yo' keep it an' po' it undah yore step every mawnin' an' dat'll keep it down - keep down hands an' things. Jes' lak if somebody put somepin down fo' yo' [to walk over]. (You put the chamber lye under there.) Yessuh - under yore step every mawnin'.
Entry 1623
That ah know one thing 'bout chamber lye - throw chamber lye at chure front do' 'fore sunrise an' dat'll keep yore enemies away.
Entry 1624
I had a cousin. He say he 'us poison. He say they had to put some graveyard dirt on him or somepin or other, you know, to break him an' his wife up. They got him so he couldn't stay with his wife; he couldn't go home without fussin'. A ole lady tole him they went to de graveyard an' got some graveyard dirt an' throwed on him an' sprinkled it around his house to keep him fussin' an' fightin' all the time. So she told him to get some chamber lye an' keep it around his house an' that would kill it.
Entry 1625
That'll keep a root worker from the house if you know what to do with it. If you use chamber lye overnight an' let it set - let it set an' don't let it sunshine on it without [before] choo wan'a use it. [If] you wan'a use it, bottle it up - see, that creates a good odor, a strong odor. Well then, you see you say, "I don't want this devil to come here." You see, you git up in mornin' an' you pour you some out - don't care de whole bottle out. Take a whole jugful. pour you some in a sprinkling can, git to yore do' [an' sprinkle it]. Well, you see, dey come up dere an' dey can't come no further.
Entry 1626
Mah auntie had to use that. They say when a person tryin' to poison yo', they say git up ev'ry mawnin' fer nine mawnin's an' throw yore chamber lye out backward over yore left shoulder backwards an' don't look back at it an' that will keep 'em from poison yeh. Yo' do that before the sunrise.
Entry 1627
Ah heard that if anybody has any witchcraft buried around yore home or anything of that kind, that chew kin take chanberline chamber lye an' throw it out there each morning to de front an' back steps or either yo' kin take fo' cans of Red Devil Lye an' put it to each post of yore house [many small houses in the lowlands rest aboveground on four posts] - dat will eat it all up.
(Do they throw that chamber lye there every morning?)
Yes.
(And they just put these four cans of lye one in each corner of the house.)
Red Devil Lye.
Entry 1628
Ah know dis mahself. Ah wus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, once an' ah wus workin' ovah dere. Ah lived ovah dere fo' seven-eight yeahs. An' a girl dere she had a boy fren' an' she liked him. Well, ah nevah know anythin' about her - she wus a Virginia girl. An' so she goes somewheah, ah dunno wheah an' - it wus mah idea - de [first] time ah evah knowin' sech things tuh happen, yo' see. An' she goes some place, ah dunno wheah. Dere wus a lil' path come right up from - lemme see now - jes' lak de house up heah. Well now, ( dey has upstairs. Yo' know people lives upstairs jes' lak yo' do downstairs. Dey live downstairs jes' lak dey do upstairs. Well, dis lady had a kitchen an' de bedroom. Well, ah had - an' dey had two rooms right back behin' dere, see. Well, yo' come right up dere out de front street into de gate right straight down de lil' steps, right straight on down to where ah wus to de house, an' den come up. [The house was below the street and on the side of a hill.] We wus all in de same house. An' so she came right on up de steps, goin' upstairs into de kitchen an' den goin' on upstairs. Ah saw dis fo' mahself. So a girl from Alabama, she wus tellin' me, she said, "Yo' watch dat girl." Say, "she goin' try trick yo'." Ah said, "Trick me? How? Whut she goin' do? Ah dunno what chew talkin' 'bout.' Well, ah wus dumb to de fac' 'cause ah nevah deal wit nuthin lak dat. An' so she said, "Well, now, yo' watch." She kept tellin' me dat. Ah wus workin'. Ah had a good job at $lO a week - yo' know, not knowin' - jes' mahself - not knowin' much about work. So ah goes back an' started tuh bed an' she says, "Come heah a minute." De windah wus up an' it wus upstairs an' we looked out an' she says, "Look." Yo' know de higher yo' up, de bettah yo' kin look out down on de groun'. An' she had somepin she wus puttin' it down, her an' a man - jes' strewin', strewin' it all roun'. An' ah said, "Fo' heaven's sake, whut is dat?" She say, "Well, don't chew go out dere. She done aim tuh trick yuh." Say, "She goin' kill yuh." Say, "If yo' cross dat stuff she's puttin' down dere she put it all down at de do' an' den back up to de gate - yo' know, back aroun' to dat place wheah ah walked. An' she say, "Now, ah tel 1 yo' whut chew do tomorrah mawnin'." It excited me 'cause ah nevah wus in nuthin lak dat. Says, "Ah tell yo' whut chew do tomorrah mawnin'." Says, "Yo' go somewheah an' yo' do sech-an'-sech a thing." We had a slop jar upstairs, yo' see, jes' fo' all three of us - us three women. An' so we did - we used it in de mawnin'. Well, de nex' mawnin' she tole us tuh put a box lye in it an' table salt, an' dis girl taken it herself an' carried it out in front of me, an' she jes' po'd it an' jes' strewed it yo' know. An' she said - well, ah wus afraid tuh go out. She said, "Dat's all right, yo' kin go on now." Ah re'lly know dat to be true - ah saw dat.
(They poured chamber lye around to keep out the stuff she put down for you?)
Yes - an' de box lye an' salt. Say de box lye eat it up an' de salt. [This old-fashioned term is box lye not box of lye - to distinguish it from chamber lye.]
Entry 1629
A woman was mad at my sister and I was staying across the street from her and she came by my house. And I got up next morning to go out and she had a whole lot of graveyard dirt throwed all over my porch. And do you know, I had to move out of that house - made me move. They sure make you move. I didn't know she put it there but someone tole me after I moved that she did. Of course, if I knew it, I wouldn't move I reckon. They tell me how to kill that out - to get some chamber lye and salt and pepper, and throw it all around yore house and that'll kill that out.
Entry 1630
I had a sister-in-law her husband tried to hurt her and she'd taken a simple thing - there was table salt, and red pepper and chamber lye and mixed it together, and sprinkled it all around her house - in her house (see No. 1634), and it killed what he had put down for her.
Entry 1631
To protect yo'self against dat if someone had put somepin down fo' yo' to walk ovah, why yo'd git joo some red peppah an' salt an' git joo some chamber lye an' put in that red peppah an' salt, an yo' would put that red peppah an' salt aroun' yore do' fo' nine mornings. This is, if something was planted aroun' yore do', yo'd put dat salt, red peppah an' chamber lye.
Entry 1632
All yo' have tuh do is take some chamber lye an' red peppah an' nine drops of turpentine an' some salt an' take yo' a halfa can of potash - probably a can of potash an' git up soon dat mawnin' an' sprinkle it all de way around yore house an' under yore step. Den dere's no way fo' no roots tuh take effect of yo' at all.
Entry 1633
Yo' kin take chamber lye an' sulphah an' cayenne peppah an' mix it all up togethah, an' go out one dark night, a real dark night, an' jes' throw it all roun' yore house, an' will jes' drive all enemies an' things from yore home.
Entry 1634
Yes sir, ah hear it. Well, yo' take de chamber lye an' yo' take it an' place into a can, an' yo' take some sulphur an' yo' take cooking salt an' place into dis heah pot [can], an' yo' take it an' put it into de house an' take yo' a little old sprayer like an' jest spray it all round into de house (see No. 1630). An' dat would bring luck.
(Any particular kind of luck?)
Bring luck into yore home, see.
Entry 1635
Yo' kin take a - yore urine, see. If yo' think somebody put somepin down round yore place, yore steps, overnight joo understand, to do yo' some harm, yo' kin take yore urine an' put chew some salt an' sulphur in it an' stir it up good, an' bluestone, an' jes' [get] chew a swiss [swish] broom, see. [Swish broom is a one-handed broom; handle broom or stick broom requires two hands. Many substances were used: long grass, broom sedge (which see), leafy twigs, etc. Neither the short whisk broom nor longer besom describes this home- made article. I remember one of the housefly swishes; one large green top, or several small ones, of asparagus gone to seed.] Stick it in dere - put it in a pan - put in de broom, jes' [demonstrates].
(Sprinkle it around.)
Dat's right - yo' do dat fo' two-three mornings. Anytime dat yo' think that things is goin' wrong yo' jes' - dey kin put it there but it will kill it jes' as fast as it hit de ground. Now dese things ah'm telling you, ah've experienced dem.
Entry 1636
Well, dat's whut ah'm tellin' yo' - dat's jis' de same. All yo' do is put chure urinate in that saltpeter into somethin' an' ev'ry mawnin' 'bout fo' a'clock yo' git up an' po' that right down dere. Ah know it.
(Down where?)
Down at chure do' - po' that down at chure do' an' jis' continue fo' a long time an' dere cain't nuthin harm yo'. Dat saltpeter is wonderful.
Entry 1637
Ah wus fixed. Ah wus dressed one time an' ah wus tole to take some table salt an' go roun' an' roun' mah buildin' three time a week an' jes' scatter it 'long. An' take some of my chamber lye at night an' in de mawnin' throw a han'ful in de fire an' jes' sprinkle dat chamber lye right in de fire behin' yo' an' don't look back at it - jes' back up to de fire an' throw it in an' don't look back. An' it 'move mah misery - it painful all ovah.
(You threw that handful of salt in the fire every morning [for three mornings]
and then you threw that chamber lye behind it?) Yes - fo' three mawnin's, befo' sunrise.
(And you threw that salt around the house three mornings in the week?)
Three mornin' in de week.
(One morning right after the other or what?)
Yes sir, three mornin': Monday mornin', Tuesday mornin', an' Wednesday de last momin'.
Entry 1638
When a person git yore fingernail er toenail, he take de sweat - what ah mean, not de sweat - de chamber lye from his body and put it in a bottle and begin to shake it wit nine needles and he'll do that [for a] length of time. And how you got'a git rid of that - you got'a make yore chamber lye near de stove or anywhere you make a fire - make yore water in it and throw a handful of salt in dere fer nine mornings, and call "God de Father, God de Son and God de Holy Ghost." And git up [do this] four a'clock every morning. Then he'll turn you loose.
(What does he do with those fingernails: and toenails?)
Well, de fingernails and toenails in de bottle with it. (He puts them in the bottle, too. I see. And what is this supposed to do to you?) Well, he make you do jest what he wanta do. [Charleston, S. Car., (519), 613:4; Doctor San Mongain.1
Entry 1639
If a person poison yo', give you some kind of deadly poison, yo' know, tuh poison yo', take yo' a hoecake of [corn]meal out chure flour an' take yo' jes' any amount of chamber lye dat chew have from de night ovah an' mix it up. But chew buy yo' a brand-new yard of homespun cloth [almost always homespun; cloth rarely added] an' right at chure fireplace mix it up jes' like yo' mixing up dough. An' yo' make, yo' know, jes' a flat roun' hoecake an' put it in de backside of yo' fiahplace. Dat befo' yo make yo' fiah in de mornin', yo' under- stand, an' den builds yore fiah on top of it. An' whosomevah done anything to yo' - whosomevah poisoned yo', say dat'll turn it back on dem.
Entry 1640
This here thing of puttin' a spell on anybody, you takes that off wit dere water - see, dere own water. You make it in a bottle an' you git - it's nine pins. See, you turn four de p'ints up - de p'int of de pin. You tie them into a thread. Take a thread an' tie fo' of de p'ints up - de fo' cormer of de world, an' five down, you understand, an' jis' like it's joo, you take an' leak in de bottle an' put dese pin in dere, see, an' jis' stop dat bottle up. You go to a ole wrecken [delapidated] house dat nobody lives in an' take up a brick. [I ask a lost question] yeah, yeah, in de fiahplace some ole house in de country or anywhere dat dere nobody livin'. You know, take up a brick, take dis bottle - you got but three words to say to dis when you set it, see - you understand whut I mean, "Bad luck go away, good luck follah," three times. You set it [bottle] down an' place dat [brick] jis' like it was before, an' you go ahead an' return home. Don't look back - no lookin' back atall. I'm tellin' you ezactly whut will do dat. An' you go right on home. Den after you git in de house, you kin come out an' look where you wan' to - after you git tuh de house. Well, in nine days it'll [the spell will] be off. De fellah dat put it on them [you], dey'll
[he'll] be feelin' it.
Entry 1641
He lived in Vashington befo' ve were married - Vashington, D. C. Dat's when ve vus co'rtin'. An' 'bout six-eight mont's he fooze vritin' me [refused to write me] an' I didn't know why he fooze vritin' me. An' he say he vus jis' as blin' as a bat [and therefore could not write] jis' from - he say someone had hurt 'im. He vent to cunjure doctor an' he tole 'im dis fellah hurt 'im ovah dis Ind'an gurl - yerah fine-lookin' gurl. An' he tole 'im jis' take a small amount of his ureene [urine] you know, put it in a little bottle an' set it undah de sill of [other man's] do'step: He say 'e [she really says "e" instead of "he" everywhere] thinked dey hurt 'im ovah dis Ind'an gurl. De Ind'an gurl didn't took part in it. An' he [sayl take dis [iis'] a small amounta he ureene an' put in a bottle each mornin' jis' befo' de sunup, an' he'd stick [it] undah dat fellah do'step, an' - vell, hones' de true, he say 'es [his] eyes beginnin' tuh come open wit de furse mawnin' soon as 'e set [the urine] undah deah. An' 'e continoo dat fer six veek an' 'e got so 'e could see jis' as good as yo' or I. An' when 'e died why 'is eyesight vus perfectly nahmal. [Indian means American Indian, often with Negro blood, or a Negro with Indian blood.] [This transcrip- tion, never done by my transcriber, comes from my original pencil transcription, an unsuccessful attempt to spell what the woman says.]
Entry 1642
[This rite and the following one are examples of the well-known scrubs of New Orleans, which offer protection against anything, even the law. More of them will be found under subsection Business and Customers.]
(You say you get up early in the morning. What time is that?)
Roun' six o'clock or five o'clock in the morning.
(Yes, and you do what?)
You get up and you take you a bucket - you understand, your wash-scrub bucket and you put you some urinate in it and put some of that incense in there. Take you some lye and pour down in there, and you come there and you scrub it - don't put no clear water at all in it. Just mix all that up together and scrub your porch, just back and forth you know, but be always scrubbin' yourself inside always. Don't never scrub yourself out. Just like you'd have to scrub, you know, just scrub this way - scrub yourself right on back in your door. Like there's a step there, you are going to scrub from your step up - bring yourself inside all the time.
(What do you do that scrubbing for?)
Well, you see, that's to keep them from putting anything - from planting anything around your home to harm you. They can't do anything.
Entry 1643
I went to a lady onest an' it was a place I couldn't stay in de house, an' she told me to get up every morning and soon an' sprinkle a box of table salt all around the house, and leave that go until it penetrated into the place, you see. An' then around twelve o'clock, get out there with a box of lye, Red Seal Lye, and broom and some chamber lye, you know, and you scrub it. And said after that then throw nine buckets of water, clean water, and that will wash it all away - that's if somebody tricked around your place.
Entry 1644
Take an' sprinkle that aroun' yore do' - take chamber lye an' salt an Hearts Cologne, when yo' scrub off de step. Jes' keeps de evil from takin' effect, whut de mean people put down. Dat's whut ah hear dey say.
Entry 1645
Yo' use dis stuff ammonia an' lye - concentrated lye, an' chamber lye, that's yore watah, an' wash round dat place. Yo' takes a can of lye tuh cut out all devilment dat anybody would throw, 'cause if dey goin' throw dey goin' always mostly throw undah - lak a buildin' dat's made yo' know lak this where it's a steps. Yo' takes dat can of lye - yo' don't use none of it - yo' take it an' yo' open it an' sprinkle so much all around undah dere, dry. Den yo' take that can an' yo' bury it upside down, an' that ketches all de devilment that's throwed around.
(What do you do with that other stuff, that other stuff you spoke about?)
Yeah, dat's tuh wash - if yo' think anybody's doin' devilment, wash aroun' an' dat cleans all de devilment out. Don't care whut dey put down, dat cut it up.
Entry 1646
[Take] that there snakeroot and John de Conker root and boil it and take de urine after boilin' it and put some of that in it, and Hearts Perfume, and boil it so it git de odor through the house, and sprinkle in de front do' and back, mornin' an' night.
(What would they do that for?)
That would bring luck and stop de man from puttin' yo' out.
(Putting you out of the house.)
Yes, an' ah didn't have de money - didn't give a cent and he didn't put me out. Suah stopped that.
Entry 1647
You can easily just buy some of that van-van - they calls that stuff van-van - 'cause that what they use for to keep the evil spirit away from them. [Van-van, largely used for scrubs (scrubbing water) or human body, is a special perfume and oil of pungent quality originally confined to New Orleans - see p.132 and Index.] [New Orleans, La., (843). 1279:2.]
Entry 1648
Ah have been livin' close roun' people where they would throw down diff'rent things. Ah know of a lady was staying second door from me, she used to throw water fo' nine mornings. (Water? What kind of water?) Go to de hydrant and git clear water an' throw it fo' nine mornings towards de sunrise, yo' understand.
(Well, what would they throw that water to the sunrise for?)
Ah don't know why they throw it to de sunrise, but dey say at de end of the nine mornings dey would be rid of dey enemies.
Entry 1649
Yo' could take de same thing ah tole yo' about de success an' den yo' could take three buckets of watah an' pitch out yore do' an' yo' scrub it - yo' know, right in front yore do', lak yore steps in front. Take that an' that'll keep 'em from doin' yo' any harm.
(Just three buckets of water, that is all you use?)
Jis' three buckets of watah, clear watah. Jis' keep throwin' dat out dere ever' mawnin' roun' six a'clock - see, aftah yo' say yore prayers. Yo' git three buckets, if yo' got a hydrant in yore home - yo' know whut ah mean, inside yore house, jis' pitch out de three buckets of watah an' make yore wish. See, any evil works - cus lotsa people work de evil yo' understan'.
(That will keep down the evil?)
De three buckets of watah - dat's supposed tuh be the Father, Son an' de Holy Ghost.
(Say that when you put it down?)
Yes.
Entry 1650
Why she was down sick an' dey couldn't fin' no remedy 'tall fo' 'er so Uncle Winston, dey sont fo' 'im an' he found a crossed piece up under de left side of her bed. It had some of 'er hay [hair] in it and some of 'er raimints - near raimint dat go close to de body, an' he put it in de runnin' stream and dat family runned off and dey nevah been seen no mo'. [Word raiment lingers on from King James Version of Bible.]
Entry 1651
One dat I have seen in mah lifetime to be - ah've seen dis. My mother she was visiting a neighbor across a milldam and, well, ah don't know whut [quarrel] rise against [between] them. But anyway, ah was a little baby fellah - ah could remember dat - ah was about nine years old. An' she goes over that evening to visit and on her way back, why all at once she got weakened down on de milldam so much so dat she couldn't cross - had to go right down to her knee an' crawl. An' dere was an' ole man met her. She was on de way home an' dis ole man lived across de milldam, why he was on de way tuh his home an' he met her on de milldam. An' he ast her whut was de matter, he says, "Whut is de matter wit chew so much so dat yo' gotta crawl." She say, "Ah don't know. Ah got weakened down when ah got on de milldam - ah got weakened down so much so ah can't stand up." He say, "Aw, stan' up anyhow." She say, "Ah can't stand up." He caught her an' he kinda lift her up an' he looked at her. He'd taken de bonnet off her haid an' throw it in de milldam, throw it ovah in de water an' de bonnet went swimming off down de milldam like unto a bird - quick jes' like a bird right on down de milldam. An' he said, "Now git up an' go on home." An' jes' whut - dey say dat if you take the hat of a person an' throw it into de running water, why dat person will travel all along during de time.
(Well, why did he throw this hat of your mother's into the milldam?)
Say dat the trick that worked on her, worked on her through her bonnet - well, de water would take it an' carry it away an' event'ly [eventually] all de evil.
(That was in her hat - caused that trouble.)
Caused that trouble. (He told her that the trouble was from her hat, didn't he?) [He says this but I am trying for a better statement and any additional detail.] In de hat. An' he'd taken the hat off an' throwed it into de water. WelI, de water had taken it an' carried it on off, an' immediately she got up an' went on about her business.
Entry 1652
They claim that they can make you step over most anything to hurt you. They claim if you're an enemy to him, he will put down something under the door for you; and if you step over that, then they got you like they want you. In four or five days you feel an ailment coming to you. Then you go to a hoodoo doctor and he'll explain to you what happened to you. He'll say there's some- thing planted at your doorstep. You go back home and get it up and bring it back to him, and he'll do something to it [dress it] and give it back to you to carry to running water, south running water, and that will go back to the person after you to hurt you.
Entry 1653
(You think this was an actual fact?)
I believe it's a actual fact because the young boy lives right in this town now, but he's not here in this house. Well, the reason why I believe that to be a fact. They say that a person does things to you like that and you crosses running water, why it does away with the Spell as long as you stay over - across that water. Well, there's a young fellow lives right here [in Elizabeth City] and he's been to the asylum, I guess, four times. Every time he crosses Albermarle Sound going to Goldsboro, when he gets there he's more sense than the man that carries him. [To cross Albermarle Sound on the way from Elizabeth City, North Carolina, to Goldsboro, could sound strange today, but back in the early 1930's a mental patient would take the train from Elizabeth City to Edenton, ferry some miles across Albermarle Sound to Skinnersville, and continue by train to Goldsboro. As I have noted elsewhere even my train trip from Waycross to Brunswick, Georgia, was a slow and tedious affair.] And he's there now. He's there now and getting along well and waiting on the tables - no more the matter with him in the world than when he first started. He married a girl here and this girl's mother seemed to be one of those fixers, you know, and she put those spells on this boy - that's what they said, and she died, and they say if a person dies that put those spells on you, you can't never be cured. You can be cured as long as they live, but if they died without you being cured, why it's an impossibility [see p.396]. That's what they tell me.
Entry 1654
See, when a person's luck is crossed an' yo' wants tuh uncross yore luck, yo' go cross watah but den yo' don't come back de way yo' go across. When you git middleways of dat watah, yo' git chew three pieces of any kind of money any three, anything yo' got three pieces of money, an' yo' throws it ovah yore left shoulder an' make yore wish. But when yo' come back - if yo' go 'cross, see, on dis side, right 'long heah, well yo' come back. Well, yo' don't come back on dis side, yo' go 'cross de right side goin' 'cross an' den come back across de right side - leave yore left side be back when yo' comin' back. Don't come straight 'cross back dat same spot where yo' went across, cause yo' bringin' luck back with yo'. But if yo' go across dere an' den come across anothah place, yo' breaks yore [crossed] luck - crossin' any kinda runnin' watah. (You cross - now, for example, if we cross on the ferry coming over here - we come across on the ferry, throw the money into the water. Then, how do we go back? Right back on the ferry again?) No. If dey got anothah ferry, if yo' got any kinda way, don't go back on dis same ferry. Go back on anothah faster even, but if dere's anothah ferry some- where an' yo' kin git to it, go on anothah ferry at closer distance and go cross dat watah.
(And you go to your right or to your left?)
To your right. (You turn and go to your right. If I cross on the ferry over here, I would go to my right going back?) Yassuh.
Entry 1655
Well, jes' lak if dey put anything down fo' yo' an' yo' finds it. Lak if dey buries anything down for you - yo' know, dat cunjuration dey calls it, make it little plainer to yo'. Well, yo' take that chew see when yo've found that - don't put chure han' on it. Jes' take a little iron or somepin other an' take it out an' put it in a paper sack an' carry it to a runnin' stream of water an' throw it ovah yore left shoulder. Turn around three time on yore heel an say, "In de Name of de Lord, drive mah enemies away from me." An' dey can't do yo' any harm.
Entry 1656
A man who dug up a bottle at his house threw it into running water, threw a handful of salt behind it and said, "Go, you devil, go."
Entry 1657
A boy in de country said dat somebody gave 'im some whiskey. He had a snake into 'um. He said ev'ry now an' then it would turn in 'im. An' he said he went to somebody an' dey tole 'im to take a egg an' fifty-cents an' walk 'cross some runnin' wadah. He said he did dat an' he said it was all ovah. He jis took de egg an' when he got ready to go 'cross de wadah, he broke it an' suck it; he took de fifty-cent an' held it in [left] hand an' went on 'cross, went 'cross an' then came back. [The word "left" within brackets is in my original pencil transcription attached to MS; also a later note, "Check [[recheck]] for left." This means I asked, "Which hand," and informant replied, "Left," showing that I eliminated question and answer to save space. My failure to recheck indicates my later conviction that "yes or no" or "two-choice" questions are meaningless.]
reported literal breaking of an egg before sucking it and crossing water. The boy's experience and recovery are reported, not independently established. reported sucking of the broken egg. Preserve the original dialect/tense and the boy's nested reported action, not a firsthand performance by this narrator. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 1658
I've heard that if you - if somebody is trying to harm you - well, like you know me, you come to me if I know anything and you ask me about it. Well, I'll tell you what to do. Now, you go to the river, turn around, turn your back to it.
(Turn your back to the river.)
First, to the running water, then you turn your face.
(Oh, then you turn your face to the river.)
Like this [demonstrates].
(Put your hands over your eyes.)
Over your eyes and ask de Lord, "Lord, please help me."
("Lord, please help me.")
It's all gone - it's all gone.
Entry 1659
[Whiskey is frequently fed to a protective hand or to a troublesome spirit.] Well, dey say if a person dies, if he die cruel to yo' or something lak dat, say his spirit will come back. Well, it comes den through a dream - co'se dey has rid me, it jes' as natch'r'l though as I'm lookin' at chew. Dey jumps right up on yo' an' dey ketch yo' an' when dey ketches yo', yo try to call but yo' can't call - yo' jes' [demonstrates] (gasp - gasp) jes' lak dat until he turn yo' loose.
(Trying to catch your breath?) [For a hag or spirit riding, see p.135f.]
That's right - until he turn yo' loose an' yo' kin hear 'im when he hit de floor. An' yo' kin hear 'im when he come in, but chew can't not see 'im.
(This is a spirit?)
That's right.
(Well, can't you keep them out of the house any way?)
Yo' take a new piece of lumber [see p.513f.] an' take yo' a lamp. First, yo' take that lumber, a new piece dat never been used, an' drive it right cross de do' an' set dat lamp about three and a half feet from it, an' he'll never walk in no more.
(What kind of a lamp?)
Jest a ordinary burning lamp, oil lamp.
(You keep that lamp lighted at night or?)
Jes' turn it low an' put dat piece of new lumber down dere an' yo' won't be bothered with him any more - unless you'd use it, take it up. (Did you ever hear of them catching one of those people? Sometimes they catch them.) Well, ah've heard they catch them in a sifter. Yo' takes a sifter an' when yo' put it over yore face, right up on yore breast lak that, or if it's a person dat have drunk whiskey - if he is a whiskey drinker, yo' takes a little whiskey yo' put right round in dat place, an' when he comes, he'll git in that an' yo'll ketch him an' when yo' ketch him, he's jes' a lump of jelly.
Entry 1660
Take de whiskey an' yo'll hear 'em movin' aroun' in de home an' movin' things, po' some outside front de do', dey [spirit] go an' won't bother you.
Entry 1661
Put whiskey roun' de do', dey [spirit] want tuh drink whiskey.
Spirit is bracketed editorial matter; the eligible whiskey placement instruction does not identify dey.
Entry 1662
Any time yo' has a bruise why yo' git about a tablespoon of gunpowder an' put it in whiskey an' drink dat an' dat will scatter de bruise.
Entry 1663
If yo' wanta git a spell off anybody, take some sulphur an' put it in yore shoe, po' some whiskey in dere, in yore right shoe, an' drink it - drink dat whiskey an' sulphur right out dat shoe, see. If anybody put a spell on yo', dat'll git it off.
Entry 1664
(If you want to keep somebody from hurting you, what did you tell me before?) Tuh keep someone from hurtin' yo', yo'd wear garlic an' sulphur an' brimstone an' red peppah an' salt round yore waist, an' drink whiskey offa garlic[ii!].
Entry 1665
Git de willow tree bark off de sunrise, an' den go round to de back where de sun go down an' cut dat off, an' he took de piece of splinter off dat an' pick de tooth until it bleed. An' jes' take dat stick an' carry it an' wrahp it an' put it ovah yore do'. Yo'll nevah have no toothache any mo'.
(Which side do you get that splinter from? The sunrise side or sundown side?)
De sunrise an' dey go round to de sundown an' cut it de same way, but dey git de splinter from de sunrise.
(But they only get one splinter?)
One splinter - dat's all.
(Well, what do they do at the sundown side then?)
Yo' jes' cut dat de same direction - de same way.
(You don't do anything though?)
Yo' don't do anything. Jes' cut it de same way, de same direction - cut it lak dat. But yo' git dat splinter out de sunrise an' go down round de sunset an' do de same thing - lak ah tell yo' 'bout dis tidewater.
(What did you say before? Did you say something that you pick your teeth?)
Pick yore tooth till it bleeds, den spit it out an' yo' take dat splinter an' carry it an' tie it up in a rag an' put it ovah de do'.
Entry 1666
I say Clark built dis house. It wears de name Clark Hotel, an' had he of died wit displeasure an' lost it by death, an' yo' buy it an' come in an' he don't want chew to have it, dey say yo' replace some place on it wit new bo'ds - dat'll keep him away. (That will keep his spirit away.) [All interviewing was done at Clark Hotel (colored); whether within the city limits of St. Petersburg, I do not know. We passed through Memphistown (Negro settlement) to reach it - see No. 214, p.60.]
Entry 1667
I was living in an old house up on the railroad and every night there 'used to come a knocking. And if I would knock three times, it would knock three times. So I went and told my father I was going to move from up there. So he told me to get two pieces of new lumber that never was a nail in and put a piece over the front door and back door. I never heard it any more.
Entry 1669
To make it more quiet around the house they go to work and some people puts on doors to keep them from worrying them. I remember one time we had some- thing like that occur to us. They would come in and you could hear kindling PoP like they were getting their supper or something. They done that along about twelve or one o'clock. That was a farm they used to live on before the War [Civil War]. My father, he suggested that they put on new doors and new window screens and it would stop them. We did. We put them on and we didn't hear any- thing more of them. That was in King William County, Virginia, near fifty years ago [1886]. [A new door on the house confuses the spirit; he does not recognize his old home. New window screens serve the same purpose. Instead of a new door, it is sometimes repainted - see No. 1038, p.395.]
Entry 1670
Change doors and locks if spirit comes back. [Changing locks is rare.]
This is a printed editorial summary; its conditional wording and bracketed comment remain source statements.
Entry 1671
Yo' buy three bo'ds of new lumber an' nail two on de outside of yore house an' one in de house with new nails, an' dey say de ghosts will nevah come there.
Entry 1672
Put a horseshoe up ovah de do' an' that will keep 'em away - de spirit or ghost away. Or either yo' kin take new timber, a piece of new wood, an' jes' throw it up on top [of the house]. That will keep them away.
Entry 1673
If some party's dead and dey don't like you, wal, dey worry yuh. Yo' Wanta go git chew a brand-new piece of bo'd and you wanta put it in yore house; yo'll puts it on de outside of your house - got'a put fo' nails in it, one to de fo' corners. Dere's fo' corners to a bo'd. Put fo' nails in dat and throw it in de house and call dat person name and dere won't be nobody worry yuh no more.
(You throw it in the house?)
Throw it underneath the house.
(But you nail it into the house first, outside.)
Yeah, yo' nail it outside.
(Then you throw it into the house?) [This into probably intentional.]
Den yo' throw it underneat' de house and nuthin nevah worry yuh no mo'.
Entry 1675
Nail a bo'd clear around. See, dat's tuh keep 'em from comin' cross any way atall - a new piece of bo'd all de way round de house. An' dey says dere cain't no ghost cross it - new lumber. [New lumber completely round the house, often a small cabin, would mean either laths or small slabs from small lumber. This belief comes from the second of the two boy-qirls (because they wore men's slacks) I interviewed - see comment on hermaphrodites in Introduction.]
Entry 1676
Any time dat lightnin' strike a tree, why yo' kin take a piece of dat, yo' see, an' use it fo' any kind of pains lak dat. (How would you use it?) Well, yo' boil it yo' see an' yo' wash yoreself, bathe in it.
Entry 1677
Ah don't know if dey use it fo' de same thing, but ah know lak a tree dat been struck by lightnin' dataway, an' yo' go in de side - yo' see, yo' take a tree where de sun rise at it's practic'ly smooth cause it pressed [east side of tree has smooth bark because sun presses it], whereas it goes down dat draws it uP [west side of tree has rough bark because sun drows it]. Well, aftah de tree is struck by lightnin' an' yo' taken dat bark off of it, dey claim dat if a man is subject wit rheumatical pains, see - takin' an' boilin' dat bah'k an' vo' see puttin' dat in his watah when he bathe, he'll be practic'ly himself, yo' see. Where it struck wit lightnin', if it struck on de west side. See, on de east side of de tree she press de bark off de tree pretty smooth. When she goes down she draws. See. Take it from dat bah'k on de west side fo' rheumatical pain - it's de best pain dat it evah wus used fo'.
Entry 1678
Ah heard if de lightnin' strike a tree an' yo' kin go dere where dat lightnin' strike dis tree an' git some of dat bark offa de tree an' boil it good; if yo' got a person dat any person's been sick for a long time or sufferin' wit rheumatism or somepin like dat, or been hurt in whiskey or anything - let 'em drink dat tea offa dat bark an' dey will gain dere strength back.
(If they have been hurt - you mean tricked?)
If dey been tricked in any kinda thing.
Entry 1679
It will cure de asthmee. If it been struck by lightnin', yo' take it an' yo' boil it an' make a tea of it an' drink it an' it will shure cure de asthmee.
(Any kind of a tree that has been struck by lightning?)
Yessuh.
Entry 1680
Dey git de lightnin'-struck tree - a pine or what not, an' it cure de thrush. Jes' take an' boil it an' make tea out of it an' give it to whosomevah have de thrush - dat will cure it.
Entry 1681
It's good fo', understan', fo' a person dat's sick an' it's good fo' luck. Yo' kin use dat. Yo' take about - ah say about fo' or five splinters an' use 'em as a - yo' got'a chip 'em up real fine, see, 'cause dem splinters come from a tree from lightnin'. It's not lak ord'ary splinters when yo' cut it an' shave it from wood. Dere are re'ly kinda bark, understan, an' dey've got rough ends, but yo' got'a smooth these ends down an' use turpentine on 'em fo' a sick person. That's to give 'em bettah health. Understan', if yo' wanta put a person in bad luck [long digression about bad luck follows].... An' den yo' kin use it [lightning-struck wood] wit turpentine if a person is sick. Yo' put it [splinters] underneath his bed under de mattress an' it's good fo' recovery fo' dem.
Entry 1682
Well, dey say fo' n'instance now, if a oak tree wus right out dere an' de lightnin' strike it an' which an' it kill de part it strikes, well dat makes dat wood turn brown. Well, yo' jes' go dere an' take yore axe an' cut yo' a piece of dat oak bark an' bring it home an' chip it up fine jes' like yo' would Irish potatoes an' put it into a pot an' boil it - make a tea off it an' drink it, an' yo' hol' it on dat tooth. It'll shore stop de toothache - ah know dat.
Entry 1683
A tree whut's struck by lightnin', yo' kin git dat an' make toothpicks tuh use fo' yore teeth an' yo'll nevah have the toothache.