Browse:Horse (Volume 1, entries 1335–1338)
Horse
Volume 1, entries 1335–1338. 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 1335
Ah know a man right in heah, in Jacksonville, that had caught a spell and he told me that he was slobbering - took dat additional spell. And he tole me - said a man [doctor] give him a horsehair that he had pulled it out of de horse's tail, not at de tip end of de horse's tail [but] up heah some- wheres close to his back. And he put de horsehair into a bottle and he told him to let it stay in there nine days. And de horsehair, he told me, turned to a snake. And he said, he told him den, to take that water and bath his head with it and his eyes. And he [doctor] said after den, he said after den he never would have de spell. Now, that man is right here right now.
(You say he was slobbering.)
He was slobbering at de mouth. Ah know dat to be true - he was slobbering, he'd shake his head like dat and slobber-slobber go all over him.
Entry 1336
A woman's in de family way an' if it be from mah husband an' ah didn't care, an' ah knowed it be from mah husban', an' she give me a lot of trouble, den ah git a mare's rope an' put it right where she walks, an' put dat mare's rope an' if she cross it, she cain't have that baby - that baby's goin' be crossed in dere. Git a mare's rope.
(It just has to be the rope they tie around a mare's neck?)
Dat's right - whut dey been usin' on a ole mare horse. Try tuh git the rope from her an' put it in where she passes all de time an' if she cross it she can't have that baby.
Entry 1337
Well, dere somethin' de woman gits out his [horse's] laig called dat night-eye [see following rite], an' yo' take some of that, if a man or a woman is perishin' with de toothache an' dey can't git ease. Take a leetle bit of dat, take an' pound it up an' git it in de hollow of de tooth, an' yo' won't have any mo' toothache an' yo' won't have any trouble wit none of yore teeth.
Entry 1338
An' then, if you wan'a makes sores on a person - you wan'a know about that?
(Yes.)
Well now, if you wan'a make sores on a person fer jes' sass [perverseness], eat 'em up jes' like it do vitrine [vitriol], you know - eat choo up if they throw vitr'ol on you. Well now, you see these horses go up an' down the street? Well, you see them little black places on 'em? Those rough places?
(Those little knots like warts?)
Yeah. Dat's wha' choo call horse night-eyes. Now, I'll say fer a ninstance - now, if I wan'a hurt choo or harm you in any way, I cut dat out dat horse. Ain't gon'a hurt 'im, cut it out. An' then I take it an' rubs on your clothes, on your wearin' appureZ. See, rub it all on your collah [collar] - see, like this. An' then when I rub it on there, when you put them clothes on, that jes' continues to eat choo up - sores all over you.