Browse:HAT AS A WHOLE (Volume 3, entries 4509–4516)
HAT AS A WHOLE
Volume 3, entries 4509–4516. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → SWEAT → HAT - SWEATBAND - BOW. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 4509
Dey take dis watah dat yuh bath in, if dey wanted tuh hurt cha. Dey git holt of dis watah dat yo' bath in. Dey take an' make some sea watah an' mix it wit it, dis watah yuh bath in, an' dig a hole durin' de night an' po' it down in dere. Dat'll put yuh down in bed.
Entry 4510
Dey git hold of yuh [bath] watah. Dey take dat watah, see. Well, if dey wanta drown yuh, if dey wanta make yuh drown, yuh see, dey take dat watah an' carry it tuh a well, sompin like dat, an' dey'll throw dat dirty watah into de good watah. Well, yuh know when yuh don' bath yuh dirt an' all will come up in dat watah, yuh see. Well, when yuh bath yuh mind is on nuthin else but dat bath, see. Yuh realize dat when yuh bath, ain't it? All right, yuh look all ovah yuhself. Yuh take a nice bath an', why yuh figah [figure] how ah'm nice an' clean. Well, yuh look at de watah an' say, "Well, dat watah mighty dirty. Well, dat sure is dirty." Like dat or sompin like dat. Well, if de watah was not soil much, yuh say, "Well, ah sure wasn't dirty, but ah take a bath anyhow an' now ah feel bettah." Dey'll [an enemy] take dat dirty watah an' dey will carry it tuh de well an' dey will throw it in de well, see. Dey will throw it in de well an' perhaps somebody might go dere an' fin' yuh dere in dat well drownded. [Charleston, S. Car., (511), 575:5.] [If hat as a whole does not appeal to the hoodoo believer, sweatband and especially sweatband bow do; the former as a place to hide cunjure, the latter as a small pliable object full of symbolism, easily concealed, and usually worn or kept for a love hand. The preceding title I have separated into three head- ingS: HAT AS A WHOLE, SWEATBAND OF HAT EXCLUDING BOW, and BOW FROM SWEATBAND OF HAT.]
Entry 4511
If she's got 'is hat, she kin take his hat an' hole [hold] it ovah a lamp an' let it git warm inside, an' den jis' take it an' put it right in de middle of de bed. He'll come home. (With the crown down or up?) Dis way, see [demonstrates].
(The crown down on the bed.)
Entry 4512
Well, if mah wife want me tuh stay home, she could take mah hat an' put on de bed. Take a little piece of green leaf an' put in de back of it [in back = behind syeatband] an' let it stay on de bed. Evah time he go tuh pass dat night he'll nevah go nowhere. (What kind of a leaf is that?) A peah leaf or eithah a green apple - de apples whut grown down heah [in this part of the country]. Eithah one of dose or eithah one dem leaves out de [something].
(Where did she put that hat?)
Right on de foot of de bed.
(He'd see it there wouldn't he?)
Wake up an' *see de hat dere but he wouldn't know how it got dere. He jes' lay down.
Entry 4513
A girl came from N'Yawk [New York]. She tole me whut tuh do if a man, if he doesn't love yo'. She tole me whut tuh do wit 'is hat. She said if a man doesn't love yuh an' yuh love him, dat yuh take his hat. An' when yuh walk off, yuh an' 'im walk off from de house, an' yuh turn roun'. Yuh know, perten' dat yo' have tuh go back tuh de house. An' yuh take his hat an' pull yore pants down an' rub it 'tween yuh legs twice an' walk on back. An' she said dis man would be crazy about chew. (What do you do when you turn around? You snatch his hat. You mean away from him?) Yuh know, some girls jes' take dere boy fren's hat an' put it on dere haid an' perten' dat it's cold or somepin an' jes' have on dere hat. It rainin' or sompin an' jes' have on dere hat - it rainin' or sompin. Dey jes' wanta put it on.
(She'll go on back to the house wearing his hat?)
Uh-huh. Do it twice.
Entry 4514
Yuh could go to any tree - take de top outa a woman or a man hat, but dat will run 'em crazy. An' yo' bo' a hole in dis tree an' take dat hat [top] an' put it in dere. Den cut chew a little piece of stick dey call a peg an' yuh drive it in dere tight. See, lak dat. See, yuh drive it up tight an' yuh smooth it off. Well, dat tree - dat green tree, dat flesh [bark] will grow ovah dat, an' dat will run 'em 'way from dat place.
Entry 4515
If a man lef' home an' yuh kin fine [find] any one of de hats dat he have wore, or any of 'is undahclothes, yuh take it an' cut chew a piece off it. A woman kin do dat, cut a piece off it, an' tie: it up in a red little cloth. Put a white piece of cloth ovah it an' sew it up an' tote it in yuh pocket. An' by an' by dis man will come back home an' he won't know how he come back home. Jes' come right on back to yuh.
Entry 4516
Take de hatban'. Yuh see, like a woman, she or her an' 'er frien' has busted up. Well, she jes' tryin' - say tryin' tuh make love wit a man. She kin take his hatban' or a ban' in 'is cap. Yuh see, dat's where he sweat, his sweat- ban'. An' yuh'll git a quartah of a yard of yellah cotton. (Yellow cotton?) Yellah cotton. Use it bran'-new. An' yuh will pin dat wit bran'-new pins, not no pins dat been used roun' de house. Yuh git yuh some pins dat has nevah been used fer nuthin atall. An' yuh take dat sweat- ban' an' dat piece of cotton an' make a belt as long enough - jes' add enough yellah cotton tuh dat hatban' or de ban' of de cap dat reach aroun' yuh wais'. An' as long as dey wears it dere, dey is boun' tuh follah 'er.