Browse:THE HAG - WITCH IN HAG FORM (Volume 1, entries 429–544)
THE HAG - WITCH IN HAG FORM
Volume 1, entries 429–544. Source context: SPIRITS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 429
Dey say a witch is a ole woman - say it's when a woman lives to be years old an' say she takes, gits to whare she'll come out 'er hide. She'll come out 'er skin, say at night when she gits ready to go out to do her devilment; say she'll git out 'er hide an' then she'll go out necked with dis heah skin off 'er. Say den, when she go out, say she kin go through yore keyhole anywhares - jump in de keyhole an' come in to whare yo' is. When she come in dey says she come in to yo' by night, and she's one of dese things then whut chew call - dey don't use a man at night. Make yo' have nightmares, yo' know. Sometime dey nature gits so high till dey jes' - at night, dey dreamin' yo' know. Dat's a witch - say dat's whut she's doin' at night when she comes into yore house.
Entry 430
A witch is something that comes to your bed after you lays down and he rides you. You can't speak either when he gets on you, they say. They just ride you till they bring you to nothing. You get so poor you can hardly live. You can't holler. You think you are hollering but you ain't saying anything. Some people call them nightmares now. Dey tell me, that if they once start after you, it's hard to break them off.
Entry 431
I knew a man that use to belong to this church, Tyree [African Methodist Episcopal] Church [just out of Berlin, Maryland]. It was his mother-in-law. She was one of these witches. So she got him in kin'a poor health, the way he told the story. Someone told him to catch her when she was riding him. When you are in bed asleep they get on you and bear on you. They ride horses too and tangle the manes. And so he caught his mother-in-law, so he told me. After that she came to so she couldn't talk, and just natch'ly pined away. She talked round - you couldn't understand her - until she died. Some call that nightmare.
Entry 432
Mah stepmother told a story of her father an' a witch. Her father went to sleep - he'd often heard tha' chew kin ketch witches if yo' put a Bible undah yo' haid - so he placed the sifter an' some mustard seed down besides the bed an' he went to sleep. The witch tried to lure him to sleep, he said, but jes' about de time dat she thought he was asleep she started to do something to him and he grabbed her; an' immediately when he hollered fo' his mother tuh come an' bring a light, she vanished out of his hands. Ah don't know how but that's all she tole me.
Entry 433
They say when they catch dem [witches] it's nothing but a bunch of rags: Dey turn into snakes and turn into a squich [screech] owl. A man told me he catch her and he hollered for his wife to bring the light, and it turned into a snake and slipped out of his hand. My uncle, he was laying in bed and de witch pitched right on de foot of de bed. And when he drawed his foot up to kick her, den she left. The witch looked just lak a little squich owl. Dat Was in slavery time here.
Entry 434
My mother was in bed, my mother and father had gone to bed, and mother Was making a funny noise like they do when they try to get their breath. And my father saw this old witch leaning over my mother. And my father knew it was her. They called it riding her. So he jumped up and grabbed her. He saw her. She looked like herself but she was not as visible. And my father said she changed just as quick. She turned into a leather strap and slipped through his hand. He stood there holding the strap. [An interesting little document - a man with strap in hand standing over sleeping wife!] [New York City, (1), by hand; Gaston Co., N. Car.,1890.]
Entry 435
I know a woman once who was a famiZar hag. She got mad with me because I was going to see another woman and wouldn't look after her. So she told me one day, "I am going to get even with you." So I told 'er it was all right, that if she was to monk [monkey] with me I would shoot 'er. She told me that I couldn't shoot 'er. So I said, "All right, you just try it." So after I had been over to my girl's house, you know, I went over to my batch. And after going home I had a chain on my door. Just as I undressed and went to bed I heard de chain rattle on my door and I wasn't a bit sleepy at that minute. After I got my clothes off I sat on the bed, I lit my pipe and began to smoke. As I smoked I began to get drowsy. Den I saw the door open and I saw de form of dis woman walking in. She came to me and used the expression by saying, "Shish, shish." And when she got close to me I fell asleep. When I fell asleep she jumped right on top of me and she rode me perilous and it was all I could do to catch her by the thumb, but hold her I could not. And when she got away from me I woke up immediately and she was gone. [Hampton, Va., (27), Ed.; near Hampton,1918.]
Entry 436
Way people go [travel], call a hag - ya' evah hear dat?
(Yes, yes. What do they do about that?)
And [a hag] goes out fishing - [she] open de light [old-time dark lantern] - jest like a torch [when lantern opened] and a man said one day he coming in de night - it was dark - an' he saw de light opening and he take out a knife - new steel knife and he hold 'em on it.
(He pointed this knife toward this light.) [See No. 517.]
An' de woman came direct up to him out de pond [where she had been fishing] - out de wood. He say, "Who dat? You?" It say, "Yes." He say, "Whatchu doin' heah?" It say, "Ah." It's a woman - ole woman - she said, "Don't tell nobody [see 'Shish, shish" in No. 435]." An' soon dat mornin' he come and tell my mother. Say he seed a hag last night - so it was so.
(What was she supposed to be?)
She a hag.
(And when she goes around she looks like a light?)
Yeah.
(Like a Jack-o'-lantern?)
Yah - dat's it. (Oh, a hag is a jack-o'-lantern?) [Travels like a jack-o'-lantern - see my comment at beginning of this subsection.l Yeah.
(Then that's true?) [I repeat his so it was so.]
Yeah, dat's a fac' and if it came to yo' house today and yo' want prove it, yo'd take yo' broom and put it to dat door, cross de door - he'll nevah go out de door today, he'll take up dat broom before he go out dere. I've seed dat.
Entry 437
(When a person wakes up in the morning?)
Yeah - it's jes' kinda lak a mucus in de corners of de mouth.
(And it comes from the mouth?)
Uh-hum.
(And they say that's the effect of what?)
It is de after effect of de hag ridin' yo' through dat night. [The informant had just made this brief statement while my Telediphone was switched off. This is a laborious attempt to obtain a repetition.] [Sumter, S. Car. (1344a), 2327:14.]
Entry 438
Now, I will tell you somepin that's a coincident [coincidence because I had just asked about witch-ridingl. It actually happened to me last week [August 1936, at Atlantic Hotel, Ocean City, Maryland, where my wife and I were staying while I collected hoodoo]. I was asleep one morning. I don't know whether I was dreaming or what happened, but I jumped and fell on the floor and I busted my knee. I thought a rat was riding me. After falling on the floor I tried to go out of the room and then I awoke. It must have been a nightmare or a dream or somepin. I really busted my knee. I found the rat wasn't there. I don't know whether I was doing somepin and somebody was riding me or not - that somebody was getting it back on me. I don't know anything in particular to account for it. [Ocean City, Md., (18), Ed. Informant was a young man who had graduated recently from a large high school in North Carolina.] [More examples of hag-or-witch riding will be found in the following margin- titles.]
The knee injury is claimed in the unbracketed account; bracketed interview context is editorial, and the cause is explicitly uncertain.
Entry 439
I knew of an old man and he used to live at northwest Berlin [Maryland] and he was alone, and a woman stayed with him keeping house. And so she used to Watch him at night and she said he would go to an old wooden chest, and she would play that she was asleep, and he would go to de chimney, a old fireplace chimney and outten he would go up de chimney. She said she would lay there and sometimes would drop off to sleep for an hour or two. After awhile she would hear somepin scuttering. Down the chimney then he would come and go to this old box.
Entry 440
The old people tell this, that they [witches] take something, put on de hand and rub under their arms, went and smoothed it back of the chimley and say, "Mount devil and fly." And out their skin dey went.
Entry 441
He [informant's father] use to say that he heard that before they [witches] go out to do their mischief, that they would take a ole grease and grease all over. They kept the grease in a gourd - the big gourd for drinking. [Wilmington, N. Car., (158), 152:1; informant Carrie [Mrs. Gavin], in whose house I interviewed at Wilmington, was a sister of Julia in No. 1.]
Entry 442
An' they went tuh work - yes, if dey wanted tuh ketch de hag. An' they went tuh work and sit at his hour. Dey got [discovered] his hour he comes in to do his work and dey sit where he comed in, caught his trick - he'd git out of his skin [getting out of his skin was his trick]. Dey went tuh work after he come out of his skin, in order to ketch him so dey would know whether it was de man who was haggin' de people. [This is the only time I heard the verbal form of hag.] They took salt an' peppah an' put it in his skin, and when he come back an' pick up his skin - started to go back in it, it would burn him. He had a way of sayin', "Skin, skin, do yo' know me? Skin, skin, do yo' know me?" An' dey say his skin would crawl right back ovah his body an' he'd become all right. But the folks caught him with his trick by putting peppah an' salt in his skin, and dey find dat dat wus de man whut was haggin' de people.
Entry 443
I often hear people say a witch will ride yo'. Well, some people say, "Oh, dat's' [fogyism] - all right. So she goes in de room one night an' put her some salt right down by dis boy's bed. All right, an' she takes a little salt an' sprinkle it round, yo' know, at de side of de bed lak right along heah where yo' got'a git in de bed. An' say dis witch come - when dey git on yo', why dey pull off dere skin, yo' know an' git on yo'. See, de witch throwed de skin down on de flo' an' when it throwed it down why it got salt on it. When it jumped back in de skin, why it make a noise - de salt be burning yo' see an' it couldn't git back in de skin. So dey caught dat witch. Said it was a Woman right dere in town. Said dey caught dis lady an' said de white folks got her an' took her out an' burned her. Dat's a real fact. She [who?] tole me about it - dey took her out an' dey said dey burned dis lady.
Entry 444
Ah've heard dat dere wus a boy travelin' once an' he stopped at a lady's house - some widow wimmins wus stayin' out to deyselves, a whole lot of 'em, an' so he wus layin' dere an' he heard 'em whisperin' an' talkin' roun' dere an' he gits up an' peeks an' see whut dey wus doin'. Dey went up de chimley an' got somepin othah, an' dey - all three of 'em or all fo' of 'em - jes' put somepin on deyselves yo' see, an' say, "Devil, speedily fly." Yeah sir, an' said dey went right on out an' dis boy he got up an' done de same. An' he went on out an' then he found hisself in de store right whare dey wus. Well, when dey got whut dey wanted, dey said de same words an' dey went right back home whare dey come from. An' dis boy he said, "Lord, have mercy, ah don't know how ah'm goin' git out chere." An' he jes' turned right back lak he wus. An' so dey went dere den an' dey found him in dere an' he told dem how dey done an' carried 'em an' showed 'em how dey done, an' dey found deyself - dey Was in dat same store. An' dey said they burnt them [the witches] up.
(Where did you hear that storv?)
Ah heard de story when about fifteen yeah old.
Entry 445
Now, yo' take whut dey used to call de witches - yo' take a grease an dey'll grease deyselves all ovah, jes' like dey goin' out tuh do somepin an' git clean out dere skin. Well, when dey git clean out dere skin dey'd be in de house; dey has a word dey say, "Round an' about - out de keyhole go." Right out de keyhole dey'll go. Well, dey go on out an' do whut dey's gon'a do an' come back. And when dey come back, dey'd say de same thing, "Round an' about de key- hole - out de do' we go." Well, dey'd come back in. When dey'd come back in dey'd git back into dey skin, git in - walk up to de skin, say, "skinny, don't chew know me?" An' dey'd jump an' if - now, if a person be lucky 'nuff, dey'd git dere befo' dey git in dere skin an' take dat skin, den dey couldn't git back in it.
(What did the witches do - what did the witches used to do?)
Well, dey say now, witches, dey used to ride hosses. Dey go to a cowpen an' milk cows an' go in a smokehouse an' take meat an' things. Well, dey all jes' carry dat back to dey homes - dey nevah did do nuthin' but jes' practice dat.
(Were these men or women?)
Mens an' wimmin.
(Did the witches do any conjuration at all - or not?)
Well, dey done a whole lot'a dis cunjuration. Dey claim dat dat's where de cunjuration come from - de witch crowd.
(Were you born here in Georgia?)
Yes suh, born in Georgia.
Entry 446
There was a witch that used to go out every night. She would ride different people. Anyhow, she kept on riding different people. After awhile someone Was smart enough to go to work and ketch up with her. They caught her as she come out of her skin and they sprinkled salt into her skin. And when she came in and goes to work to put her skin on, the salt had drawn her skin up And her words was, "Do witch! Do come! Come on skin!" She couldn't get in her skin and died.
Entry 447
This is a story I used to hear my grandmother tell. There was once an old witch who used to go out every night. So one night she went out and jumped out of her skin and left it hanging on the door. So some of the folks in her house salted it and the next morning she came in late and jumped into her skin and it stung her so she jumped out and say, "Lookee here, old skin, don't you know me?" And she jumped in again and out again and say, "Lookee here, old skin, don't you know me?" So at last it worried her so she died.
Entry 448
"If you don't come in, a old witch will catch you." [This was a warning to children when they stayed outside too late at night.]
The editor characterizes the quoted statement as a warning to children who stayed outside late.
Entry 449
It was suppose to happen there home in the country. She was suppose to be a witch. That was years ago. My father used to tell us about it to scare us. I used to be a-scared to look out of the door at night, thought I would see her standing there out of her skin. At a certain time in the evening she would go about what they called witch-riding. Dem days witch-riding is what we call these days stagnation of the blood. Why I said that - when I came out of a operation in the hospital I saw about one thousand cats. The cats just clawed me. I woke up trying to get away from them cats. This witch would get out of her skin and go to somebody's place at night when they were asleep and ride dem. They would see things, just lak dem cats I told you about. She did that every night. Some- body said to find out where she lived and go where she lived and put salt in their skin. They leave their skin behind when dey go out, get right out of it. I don't know how they found out where she lived. When she came back to go into this skin she couldn't get in it. They must never let the light [dawn] catch dem without being in their skin - they will die sure. She couldn't get into the skin and dey say she went down [to the river] and jumped overboard.
Entry 450
There was a old witch. She said, "I'm gon'a get out of my skin and when I come back I will get in my skin." She lifted it right off like this [informant demonstrates, putting her hands to her shoulders and taking hold of the skin, lifted it off as she would her nightgown]. If you haven't anybody wise enough, she can go and stir up trouble. One time when she was out of her skin they put salt in it and when she got back she said, "Oop! My skin doesn't know me." She couldn't get in it. She died.
Entry 451
I've hear'n about one getting out of his skin and couldn't get back in. That had been going on for a long time. They had been missing some of the food, so they decided they would really watch to see. So this old man came in. They said he commenced to shake and shake like that [twisting his shoulders]. They said they were a-watching of him and they said he got out of his skin. They said he looked to be putting something [grease] on himself. I don't know what he put on. And they said when they came to look at him, sure enough, he pull it off and laid it aside, then he commenced going all over the place and getting ever what he wanted. In the meantime some of them said to put pepper and salt in that skin. They said he couldn't get back in. The last they saw of him he Was saying, "SkinI Skin! Don't you know me?" That's the last they saw of him. Then they left. They were scared to hang around for fear he might do them some harm. That's the end of it as far as I know. I was a small child when I hear'n that. That was seventy years ago [1866].
Entry 452
My grandmother, she knew of a party in this community that were accused of being a witch in her day [during slavery]. And this party always denied it. And they figured up ever' way to trick her. So finally they goes to the stable - this'll sound so unusual, but of course we had to believe it - and they find dat de horse was gone. The horse Was gone and there was her [the witch's] hide. They taken the hide and they put salt and pepper in the hide and that's how they found who the witch was.
Entry 453
I've heard the old story about the old lady who went out one night to a country fair and coming back home she thought she heard a noise. When she got in the house a witch was there. She saw herself [she herself saw] a witch. She looked and she shook and she crooked - and she moaned and she groaned - and she couldn't get out of her skin. She looked like she Was as tight as a fish in its skin. Just at once somebody shook her and she came to her senses and the witch was gone.
Entry 454
Once upon a time dey said there was an old woman and there was a certain family that was always pestered with what they called nightmares or hags. They called it hags in those days. Some people would get 'em. It seems it would bear on 'em so hard until they would just holler in their sleep. It was called a hag. And so, once upon a time, an old woman came and she said to the other woman, "You know what you do? You sprinkle salt all around your bed and later on you'll find out what that is that's bothering you." So that night the woman sprinkled salt all around her bed. She got in her bed. At the usual hour this thing came and she got all overpowered with it. She jumped up in her sleep and when she jumped up there was a man standing there. And he said, "Skin! skin! You don't know me! Skinl Skin! You don't know me!" So the woman caught him. And it was some man that she knew that was a witch. And he pulled his skin off and laid it down, then torment her. When he got ready to put it back on that night, it had salt on it and he could not put it back on. They said they caught him and tortured him and really destroyed him, because this other witch instructed them how to catch him.
Entry 455
(Did you ever hear that story about the old witch that got out of her skin - some old witch got out of her skin or something?) Well, yes, I heerd of dat. They tell me once that a witch used to go through the keyhole, get out and go to riding people. They'd get out of dere skin and they'd turn round in de room and say, "Round about, round about, and out you go. Well, they'd go through de keyhole. And they tell me once that a ole man was laying dere - it was chilly, you know, and he happen to watch dis witch. When she'd get out of her skin, he slips dere and takes salt and pepper and peppered dis skin; you know, filled it full of pepper as he could get it. And after he filled it full of pepper, why dis witch come back and went to get in dis skin, dis skin would burn her. Well, she was running round dere and she was hollering, "Skinny, don't choo know me! Skinny, don't choo know me!" Finally she couldn't stand it to get back in her hide, and finally she died.
Entry 456
Dey have some oil what dey grease wit, called witch oil, and dey grease wit dat oil and dey stretch demself and dey out dere skin. Den they go through a keyhole with a fellow, you know, and have a big time with de skin off 'em lak dat; you see, witches. Dey say, one time a old lady done dat and a boy saw her done it, and dey tell me dey put red pepper all in her skin, and so when she come back dat morning for to get in it, to get in her skin, dere was bubbles [?] on her and she couldn't get in it, and said she was laying down in de bed raw - all de skin off of her. So old master come dere and call her to go to work and she couldn't - wouldn't get up, you know. And dey pulled de covers off her and all de skin was off her.
Entry 457
I remember at one time the hags used to ride our horses. A young man and I - it was in the summertime in the month of July - we had been out visiting and in coming home, its being so hot, we decided to go up in the barn loft to sleep. That was right over de horses stable: So we opened both doors [of the loft] and there is where we laid. So each of us went to sleep. And at one time he was asleep and I was awake, and I heard the horses scrumbling in the stable. What was the matter I did not know. So finally, I got up and went downstairs in the stable, and when I got down there, the doors was open and the horses were out in the yard running to and fro. But what was on the horses I know not. I did see that there was a little knot upon their manes up around the shoulders. They tie this knot in his mane and use it as stirrups [witches' stirrups] and ride it until it drops dead. When we got the horses in the stable the horses were all wringing wet. [old Point Comfort, Va., (27), Ed.; Norfolk Co., Va.,1929.]
Entry 458
My father had a grey horse at home. He bought him from a very old man and this was his [the old man's] riding horse. Ev'ry morning he would find two little stirrups tied in his mane. The horse wouldn't get fat. Ev'ry morning my father would comb that all out nicely, each night when we get through feeding, and the next morning those two little knots would be tied in there. You would hear the horse groaning and groaning at nighttime. Someone told us that the old man was riding the horse and to turn the horse around the other way in the stall. After that the horse got all right. It was that old man. It was sold in his estate and he didn't want anyone to have it.
Entry 459
I had a horse that was real poor with a long mane. I combed that mane out every morning. I would get up the next morning and it was all tied up with stirrups from witches riding him. It looked like the more I fed him, the horse kept getting thinner. I told him what to do. I told him to go and get him a broom, drive a nail up behind the stable door, hang this broom up there. If this witch comes there, she has to count every straw in that broom before she can get a ride, then day will be on her and she will have to leave.
Entry 460
Now, I have seen this. I can say this. My uncle had a horse, a little black horse. He did dray work around the streets, hauling trunks and boxes and things for folks in town. And I've had him come and show us dat horse any number of mornings. She'd be soakin' wet, hardly could move de next day. And he'd show it to me for the fact and say to me, "De witches has rode dis horse last night." And then he has also showed me her mange [mane] de next day. It would be all pladed [plaited] up where they had developed over night. Now, what did that?
(Was there any way to protect the horse?)
No. De only thing, he had horseshoes stuck up over de doors.
Entry 461
In 1877 I lived wit a man by de name of Mr. Charlie B. My father hired me there for carrying Water for de women folks and bringing in kindling and stuff for the women. I was eleven years old and a little ways into twelve. A man from Snow Hill by the name of Mr. John S. - and in that time a horse and carriage was de fastest way to get along - he had a bay horse, come to Mr. Charlie B. And this horse, one day his mane was all tangled and mingled. And he wanted to lick me over it. Mr. Charlie B. told him, "No, that boy ain't bothered that horse, because my horse is so often like that when I go to take them out. And I know he didn't bother him." And he saved that man from cracking me. If you want to keep the witches from tangling them, you nailed a horseshoe right over the barn door with the points down to keep the witches from riding the horses.
Entry 462
They claim that a witch-hag would go to a stable and get a horse and get on his back backwards and come to your house and go through the keyhole while you were sleeping and ride you to death. That is [now] called stagnation of the blood.
Entry 463
I remember one night I was living on a farm all alone. Whilst being there, I had been told that this place was witchy, so I minded it not. So I went there to live. And after staying there for a period of time a witch came to my home. And I was told how to capture this witch. So I captured this witch. So after capturing this witch I had her on my way to the stable and she turned into a horse, a beautiful grey nag. After I put her in the stable, I was so delighted with my new horse that I hardly could sleep. I wanted day to come so bad so I could go down to the blacksmith shop and have my nag shod all round. So finally, the next morning - I stayed all night by her in the stable - and the next morning before breakfast I take my nag to the blacksmith shop and had her shod all round. After she had been shod I carried her back to the stable and put her up in the stable. One of the neighbors round there had taken violently ill. What was the trouble, nobody knowed. So they sent for the doctor. The doctor came. I told the doctor about my new pony. So I went to the stable to get my nag to show the doctor and when I got there de nag was gone. When I heard of this neighbor being so sick, deathly ill, I went to see her. And when I went to see her she refused to let me look at her hands and also her feet. I persisted on doing that and den I got help so I should examine her. After I examined her I found she had horse- shoes on each feet and on each hand. She was deathly tormented with those nails. She had den turned to a natural human form. (About 1886, near Hampton, Virginia. This is an example of a folktale told as a personal experience.) [This is my comment in 1936, after informant left room.]
Entry 464
I heard of a man, his wife she would go out hag-riding every night. And that night when she came in, her husband was in the horse stable when she brought the horse in. And when she opened the door he cut her finger off with the ring and he got that. She would go to the stable and get the prettiest white horse he had in there. And when he cut her finger off it dropped and he got the ring, she rushed to the house. And when he went in she were in bed. Next morning when he got up she had her finger tied up. So he asked what was the matter with her hand. She said she cut it. So then he asked her where was her ring. And then she said her finger was sore and her finger was gone. So then he asked her where was the finger. She didn't know where the finger was at. So he taken the finger and ring and showed them to her and told her, "This is the ring I gave you. You've been out hag-riding with my horse. I were in the stable when you came in. You don't need to worry because I'm going to kill you." And he killed her.
Entry 465
An old lady one time, her husband had give her a gold ring. She use to go out every night witch-riding. So that night when she went out and when she got out of her skin, she left her skin laying on the floor. So while she was gone her husband came home and he saw this skin on the floor. And he picked it up and he recognized the ring on it. So he took the ring off and put it away. So when she came that night and was in bed - no, he didn't say anything to her that night. So the next morning when he got up he asked her where was the ring. She said she had put it away. He told her to go and get it. She never did go and get the ring. So finally he asked her at midday to get the ring again. And she wouldn't get it. So the next night he asked her again where was her ring. And she wouldn't get it. So then he took the ring out of his pocket and asked her what was it doing on there with her skin. So he found out that she was a hag-rider. So then he burnt her up.
Entry 466
Ah heard dat a wumman jumped out de skin an' - it was in slav'ry times - say, ev'rytime dey'd go out dere yo' see, dey said dere would be a white gyp dog; a white dog would be trottin' round all de time, ev'rytime. Said, at last one mawnin' dere was a man took a axe an' chunked it at dat dog an' cut one of his laigs off - de front laig off. An' dey say dey picked it up an' it turned back to a nachur'l han'. An' dey went in an' tole - de han' had a gold di'mon' ring on it, an' dey showed it to de marster an' he tole 'em, say, dat look lak mah wife's han', an' dey went in dere an' he tole 'er, "Lemme see yah han'." An' it Was her han'.
Entry 467
They said there was some men traveling and they had no place to stay: They came to this house. This man told them there was a house there and there couldn't nobody stay in it. He give them some matches to make them a fire, he give them some potatoes and said they could roast them if they Wanted to. They made a fire and roasted these potatoes. Something came down the chimley and scratched the fire out. They had nerve enough to make the fire again. They scratched the fire out again. They decided they Wouldn't make the fire again. They blowed the light out. They lit the lamp and they blowed that out. They said they wouldn't light the lamp again. So they laid down to go to sleep. One man watched. After awhile a whole lot of people came in and began to dance. Then they went out and brought the card table in and began to play cards. Then they went out. And after awhile - this man was still watching - the door flew open. He fastened the door and the door flew open a second time. He fastened it a third time and the door blew open again. Then he happened to look up and this cat had her paw through the door. He said, "Now, I'm going to get that." He got up and goes around the side of the house and taken his knife and whacked off the paw. The ring dropped on the floor. He taken the ring up and put it in his pocket. So the next morning he walks on up to the house and this man says, "Well, you made a night of it." He says, "Yes sir." He said, "Well, did you see anything?" He said, "A plenty. There's one thing I want to tell you. Look what I got," and he held the ring up. He said, "Let me see that. Do you mind if I show this to my wife?" 'Not at all if you bring it back." So he went upstairs. And his wife was in bed. He said, "Haven't you got up yet?" She said, "Go away, I don't feel well." He said, "Look, I got something to show you." "Go on away from here, I don't want to see nothing." He pulled her over and took her by her hand and her finger was gone. That was his wife's ring. He said, "Well, if that's what you are, I'm going." So he left her. I heard that story ever since I was a little girl [in Orange County, Virginia,1886].
Entry 468
I remember one time about a shoemaker. He had a wife and three children. And one night this shoemaker was at his work late. So another woman went to the shoemaker's wife's home and began to talk to her, and as they began to talk, one says to the other, "Leave us transform ourselves." And they did so. And they turned to cats and went down to the shoe shop where her husband was working. And after they got there they set and watched him work on the shoes. And one of the cats pawed at this man, and while she did it, he grabbed a shoe knife and hacked at this cat with the knife and cut one of the cat's forefeet off. He left it standing there and the cats went away and he didn't see them any more. While he Was at his Work, the foot being lying on the floor, he got ready to go home. He picked up the foot and looked at it. And while he had it in his hand the foot turned to a natural hand. And on this hand was a ring. It was the engagement ring he had gave his wife before he married her, not knowing that he had married a hag.
Entry 469
"I heard a story of a man who had a mill. The miller died that owned the mill. There couldn't nobody work in that mill. They could go there all right in the day but at night there couldn't nobody stay there. This woman that owned the mill was a witch and turned into a cat. This cat would just dance around and all at once she would light on whoever was staying at the mill at night. So nobody couldn't stay there. One man said, "I'll stay there." He went to the mill. He had a very sharp knife. And when this cat commenced to dancing around and around he watched her. She lit on him and he cut her front paw off. It was the man's
[dead miller] wife's hand with a gold ring on.
Entry 470
An old witch used to worry the miller. He sat one night for to catch her. She came in the form of a cat. She put her paw through the hole to raise the latch up and he took a knife and chopped it off. She had her gold ring on her finger. He took the ring and carried it to her husband next morning and this finger. And he looked at the ring and knowed the ring, and he said, "This is my wife's ring." And he went upstairs and she was in the bed with her hand wrapped up. And he asked her what was the matter and she told him, "Nothing." He told her, "There is something the matter, '' and showed her the ring and said, "Ain't this your ring?" She tried to deny it but he wouldn't let her. I heard that he killed her.
Entry 471
I have heard that a miller was at his mill one night grinding corn. There was a big cat came in and put its paws upon him. He was setting down. So he took his knife and cut this cat's paw off. After awhile he began to examine it, and instead of seeing a cat's paw, it was a woman's hand. So when he goes home next morning he found his wife in bed. He asked her what was the matter. And she said she didn't feel very good. So he goes and turns the cover down and looks. And he had cut her finger off that had her engagement ring on. So his wife was a witch. That was down in Culpeper [County, Virginia] some place. They say it was done there.
Entry 472
Well, they tell me a man once lived by himself and there must have been a woman who had something against him for she turned herself into a witch and the form she taken was a cat, a black cat. So the man when he come in from work, he set down to eat, and the cat would grab at his food. He would just shoo the cat away. Finally the cat continued to do so and he kinda got angry and took his knife and when the cat grabbed at him again he chopped off his paw. When he chopped off the paw the cat disappeared. He was holding the paw of the cat and it turned into a woman's hand. So he decided to investigate. Next day he heard of this woman being sick who he knew. So he decided to visit her. So he went there to enquire of her what was the trouble. And she said, "Oh, nothing." And he said, "What's the matter with your hand?" She had it covered. She said, "Nothing." Then he pulled the cover back and found her hand was missing.
Entry 473
I can tell you one thing in my childhood days about a witch. There was a cat and it used to come and set right down on the hearth. And the cook would be cooking. She did that for weeks in and weeks out. She said, "I wonder why that old cat hangs around here every morning? I can't get rid of her." She said, "Never mind, I'm going to get rid of her. Some morning I'm going to have the poker and set it right here and I'm going to cut her feet out from under her." That went on maybe for a month or so. The cat came in, set down right in the corner, it was cool weather, very, just sat there. And the cook had that fire iron setting off there. The first time she got that cat's eye on her she grabbed that poker and swung it like that [in a sweep] and cut one foot off. It wasn't a foot no longer, it was a hand. It had real beautiful rings on it and she knew it was madam's hand that had the rings. I heard that told when I was a child [about 1866 near Elizabeth City, North Carolina]. That was in the morning. Then she took the breakfast from the kitchen and carried it on to the great house and served it there. After putting it on the table the boss [the master] came in and madam didn't come. The cook said, "Where's Miz Sarah?" He said, "She doesn't feel well this morning." So we went in to speak to her. In the meantime she had her hand all covered and wrapped over. She was never able to see that hand. The cat went on about its business. They never saw that cat come back. The cat went on. I can't remember just how long she stayed there, the cook, but they got rid of the cook. She was too smart. They claim she [the madam] turned into a witch. This cook knew about it and she said, "If there's any such thing as witches, I am going to find out." So that was the morning she found out.
Entry 474
I have heard that there was a man, his wife would be gone every night to a ball or a dance. The husband came to the party and asked for a drink of wine. The cat waited on him. It seems in some way or another she didn't satisfy him and he cut her paw off. It was a finger with a ring on. When he got back home he said to his wife, "Let me see that hand." And the finger with her wedding ring on was cut off.
Entry 475
Well, I know once, a witch used to ride a woman - a man, it was. You would like for to hear dis story'
(No, I never heard it - yes, yes, I'd like to hear it.)
Once dere was a boy he was traveling through de country and he went to a rich farmer's home and he asked him, said, "Mister, could you give me a place to stay tonight?" He says to him, said, "Yes, I got a big place over yonder," he said, "if you kin stay over dere," he say, "I'll give you dat place - you kin have it." He said, "Well, I'll go over dere and see kin I stay." He said, "It's really ha'nted, '' he say, "I never knowed no one to go there and stay." He say, "Well, I'll go try." So he cut up some wood dat day what he carried in to her and she fixed supper for him, and den she give him an old lamp and a little oil to go tc make him a fire, or so he could have a little lamp burning sittin' up dere by himself. Sittin' up dere by himself he started to burn dis old lamp. And after while, he had him some beans an' he ete up all dem beans. And after while he looked and he saw five black cats was coming down de stairs - looked to him they had a coffin totin' of it, and he'd taken his [New] Testament and begin to read it upside downwards. And the next thing walked in was five chickens. He's still reading - still reading. And the next thing he looked and saw a cat dipping his paw in de wash basin tryin' to put de light out.
(He what?)
The cat had his paw - putting it in de water, trying to slap de light out - splashing de water trying to put de light out - he still reading. And after while he looked and saw dis cat and he seed a ring on de cat's paw and he grabbed de hatchet, you know, and chopped de paw off and had taken it up and put it in his pocket with de ring on it. Well, de next morning he went up to de boss' house and spoke to him. De boss say, "Well, I'm surprised to see you here alive." He say, "Yes," say, "well, I made out all right but I had a hard time - [he's ahead of his story] - but jest before he gets: dere [to the boss], a little low-sided, gray-headed man walked in, which was a ghost. Well, dis boy -
(What kind of a man?)
A little short gray-headed man - about three foot high with beard hanging down to his shoe-top. Dis boy say, "What in the Name of the Lord, the Father, and the Son do you want here?" And dis ghost says, "You follow me," said, "I've got a fortune for you." Well, de boy went on down in a old out-house way down into de basement and he [ghost] put a mark down and he say, "You dig down here and you'll find a fortune." Well, de boy, he marked dis place and after he marks it, he waited till the moon got right - on the growing of de moon, he started to plan for to dig at dis place. Den he goes up to de house and the old man [the boss] says, "I'm surprised to see you livin'." He says, "Well, I had a hard time but I made it all right." Well, he told de boy he could have the place, which he gave de place to him, and de boy he run his hand in his pocket and passed him dis ring. De old man lqoked at the ring and says, "Seem lak I know dis ring." His wife was in bed very sick. Well, he got de doctor for her. When de doctor rech for her hand, she 'fused to pass him her right hand and give him de left hand. Well, why she give him de left hand? "Cause de right hand was chopped, you see, which had de finger cut off in de shape of a cat, for she was a witch, you see, but dis man didn't know she was a witch. Well, he made her hand her right hand and he happen to see de finger all chopped up dere and the hand being bloody. He wanted to know what was de trouble. He happen to look at de ring and he found it was de ring dat boy give him, and dey found out she to be a hag. Well, de old man got a little troubled den and got to worryin' over it. An ole riddle says, "He sent 'er out jes' as fur as men an' water could take 'er" - he got rid of 'er. An' dis boy he begin to dig down dere and he find a whole lot of silver and gold, what de spirit had give him.
(Where did you hear that story?)
Well, I heard dis story in North Carolina, down in Bertie County.[ Norfolk, Va., (466), 463:10; Doctor Paul Bowes.]
Entry 476
There was a man annoyed every night by being rid by a witch. He thought it was a certain woman who hated him through jealousy and worried every night. He did everything he could to prevent this witch from riding him. Finally one night he was ridden by this witch. He looked and he saw a woman sitting on the side of his bed, whom he knew very well, the same woman whom he had suspected. He struck at her with a pair of scissors and cut the end of her finger off. She then turned into a cat and went out the door with one of her paws cut off. Next morning a daughter of this lady's came over to the house and said her mother had one of her fingers cut off and she didn't know what happened. There's no doubt this Woman Was a witch in the form of a cat. [Fredericksburg, Va., (35), Ed.; happened (!) at White Oak,7 miles from Fredericksburg.]
Entry 477
We use to live in a house where a witch would come in dere ev'ry night - a little ole woman. She'd come in dere an' she'd ride me ev'ry night. Ev'ry night, Laws [Lord's] sake, she'd ride me - jes' worry me so ah couldn't sleep dere. An' when she'd come in she'd come in from de do', from de front do'. (How did you get rid of her?) Well, ah took an' put a Bible up undah mah haid. Yo' kin put a Bible up undah yore haid if yo' dream a lot - yo' kin stop it.
Entry 478
There's something on you riding and you can't speak. You get up and put de Bible under your head; open de Bible and put it under your head, then you'll - they come back there no more. Or you take a open knife or put a ice pick under there. See, those are evil spirits bothering you - see - and it won't bother you no more.
Entry 479
You put a Bible underneath your - open it to any chapter and turn it down under yore pillah, and then you kin put a pair of scissors and that will keep them away.
(The hag.)
Uh-huh.
Entry 480
You read de 35th Psalms of David and then after that reading that Psalm, you put the Bible under your head, but you must read that Psalm for nine nights and after reading that Psalm, you put it under your head, and then go to sleep and after that nine nights the hag will go away and won't worry you.
Entry 481
Put a Bible under your pillow. A witch will have to read that Bible backwards before she can ride you. Sometimes it takes much longer - if they miss one word in one chapter the witch must go straight on back [start] again, and by dat time it's daybreak and they can't ride you.
Entry 482
Dey put the Bible under dey haid - yeah, open it to any chapter in the Bible, iest put a key in it and close it back up and put it under their haid.
(What will that do?)
That keeps the hag from riding them.
Entry 483
I was living in a lady's house. I couldn't sleep in de bed for nothing. And I used to hate to go upstairs to bed because every night after I would go to bed I would hear something tipping on the steps. So when it would get about middleways on the floor it would jump on me and just nearly mash the life out of me. I waked up in de morning, the lady's grandmother lived across the street, I went over there and was telling her about it. And she said, "Honey, that's an old witch." She say, "You put a knife and de Bible under your head and she won't come back no more." So I put the Bible and knife under my head and never heard of her or seen her no more.
Entry 484
To keep a hag from ridin' a person, sleep in black - ole black - or ole black undershirt or even is worth while a black shirtwaist. Put on that and he can't come. [Charleston, S. Car., (512), 585: l. For black coat over outside door to keep out witches, see FACI,2ed., p.889.] [I should note here that hag riding was practically unknown in Adams County, Illinois; a community largely of German extraction. The word hag does not appear in the exhaustive index of the first edition of FACI.]
Entry 485
Once there was an ole lady and she kept comin' in the keyhole, and this Woman [the victim] would sleep flat on her back. So when this witch.would come, why she [the victim] stuck a pin in [the clothes at] her breast. This witch, when she go ride this lady, why she stick the pin in her [drawing blood] and that will keep the witch from ridin' you.
Entry 486
We were setting there talking. Somebody went to tell a tale. He said his mother said a witch rode her at night. Being much worried about it she told her parents and her parents told her to place a knife under her pillow at night. She did this. And they told her if the witch came, to cut it with the knife [to draw blood]. She did this the next time the witch came. Later on in the day she found out it was her brother. He had a cut arm. I don't know how true it is. [The knife (with Bible) under pillow (No. 483) is not used for drawing witch's blood - witch keeps away from it, afraid she will cut herself.]
Entry 487
I heard my mother say lots of times that witches used to ride people in olden times and she herself. A woman didn't like her and she thought that she came one night. She said she saw her come through the keyhole. There was no other Way to get in, she had fastened the door. It was just something [that came through the keyhole] but when she looked at the fire she saw [recognized] her. And she went to the fire and warmed her hands and walked back to the bed and then back to the fire again. And she saw her pull off her shoes. And she got on her in the bed and for hours she couldn't speak a word. And all the week she seemed to be sick from it. Then night after night she would sit up and watch for her but couldn't see her until she went to bed. Then she decided, if aunt Margaret come again - that Was the old lady's name - she was going to bite her, if she couldn't do anything else. So she did it. From that the witch had a bad hand. [More than this, drawing witch's blood stopped her permanently.] [Girdletree, Worcester Co., near Pocomoke City, Md., (89), by hand; happened 1886.]
Entry 488
Well, if you wan'a keep out witches and ha'nts away from your house, you can take bluestone [= blue vitriol], put it in the four corners of the house and right at the steps where you go over, and you won't be bothered with 'em no more. You puts nine grains [crystals] at each corner of the house and nine at the front door.
Entry 489
[The following eight beliefs are variations on the bottle rite for catching a person's spirit - see Nos. 38-44.] I heard about my uncle catching a witch. They hung a bottle up the chimney and crossed a knife and fork. It was bothering and bothering him every night. Somebody told him to do this and he did it. And the next morning he taken this bottle down and something was in it. He left it stopped up. Somebody told him this woman who was bothering him was sick. He didn't go to see her. Finally, she says for him to come and see her. She said, "For the Lord's sake, please let me out, I'll never bother you again." He turned her out and the woman got well.
Entry 490
You kin put down mustard seeds, sprinkle 'em over the floor, and ies before they go they'll have all them seeds to count. And you kin ketch 'em and you kin put it in a bottle and stop it up. And early that morning there'll be somebody come aroun' and want to borrow a match or salt or somepin.
Entry 491
Take nine new nails an' put 'em in a bottle or nine new needles, either one, to ketch a thing dey call a witch at night when dey ride yo'.
Entry 492
No, sir - say a witch don't put spells on you, a witch rides you. [A great amount of evidence is given in this book that a witch does put spells on you and also rides you.]
(How could you keep her from riding you?)
Well, you git - lemme see now - you gits new needles and you gits [new] pins - I know a man had ketched one of 'em - git new needles - he was a sensible man - you know, he know all dem things - he was a sensi'le man - he died now - he caught one. You git new needles and you got'a pins - git new needles and pins, he say, and put 'em in a bottle and when he come a-riding, you know, someone will call his name. You see, someone will be shaking his side to wake him up and somebody will call him - jus' like if I'm over here and you say "John" - you call my name and dat bottle'll be open and slap dat bottle up like dat [demonstrates], you see, and you got his spirit. See, you got de spirit and dey say you kin see de little black thing running around in de bottle. And this one this man had ketched, he stopped de bottle - dey called his [witch's] name - his [victim's] wife called his [witch's name] while he was riding her husband and stopped de bottle up - stopped de spirit up in de bottle, you see, and [later] dis witch takes fits and dey takes him ovah to the hospital and de witch never did get better. And dis witch say if he [could] see dis man - dis man was by de name of Mr. Joe Richardson - he says, "If I could see Mr. Rich- ardson, I would git well." You see, if he could see you and just talk wit you, you see, he would get better - see, because it would git his spirit back. You see, dis man had his spirit. But dis man wouldn't go to de hospital and see 'im, you see, because he done belonged to de same church dat dis man belonged tuh and that he Was a witch. And everybody used to say he was a witch, but you see, some people doesn't believe it. Well, this gentleman [Richardson] he was, you see, half-white and half-colored but he was more white den he was colored and he had plenty sense. So he say, "I tell you he's a witch all right," he say, "I'm goin' ketch him because I know how to ketch him - I'm goin' ketch him." And he [his wife] got de bottle and stopped de bottle up and called his name and ketched his spirit in de bottle wit de new needles and pins, and he tuk sick and he was sick until he died - he died in de hospital. Dey come to your house in de night - late hours.
(Now tell me how to catch a spirit - what will they do now?)
Dey call you late hours in de night when you sleepin' and when you answer 'em, den dey shut de bottle up and shut your spirit up in de bottle. Dat's de way dey catch you.
(I see - you have to answer them though before they catch you?)
Yes, answer - you got'a answer 'em, and if you don't answer 'em dey can't ketch you - your spirit.
(This is if somebody wants to get your spirit to harm you?)
That's right.
(What if they catch your spirit - what will happen to you then?)
Well, you may be spritely and, you know, plenty of spirit in you, and then you be's deadlike - you have to be just like how I am - you see, I can't work - I ain't workded for over two years, I'm not able to work.
(Well, what do you think is wrong with you?)
You see, I was poisoned. You see, I use to been smart, you see, and working, going all de time, and dey didn't like dat - they fixed something you see to take all of my strength away from me.
Entry 493
That's if he is a human an' be a livin' pusson.
(What have you heard about that?)
Dey [hag or witch] jis' take an' strip off necked [naked], jis' strip off necked, if dey gon'a ride joo. Dey write chore name down fo' diff'ren' places - write it on one piece of papah, write it on anothah piece, write it on anothah, an' on anothah one. He'll take it an' tie it roun' his ahm, he'll tie one roun' dis laig, an' one on dis laig, an' one on dis ahm. An' he'll put one roun' dere [his neck]. Dat'll be five pieces - jis' yo' name on it - two feets an' yo' ahms, an' put one piece aroun' de neck. An' aftah dey do dat, why dey grease all ovah wit fresh hog lah'd [lard]. Dat make 'im go to bed wit dis thing on his min'. An' in de night when you lay in bed sleepin', his spirit wandah an' git where you's at, an' jis'beat on yo', knock on yo', choke on yo', an' have yo so yo can't har'ly ta'k. An' de way to git 'im, de only way yo' can git 'im, is jis' take some peppah an' pu't in a bottle, red peppah pu't in a bottle, an' open de top of it. An' he'll go down in dat bottle an' he can't git out, an' he'll stay thah, in thah till nex' mawnin'. He'll put on his clothes [next morning], wherevah he be he'll put his clothes on, an' it'll be de firs' one at yo' house dat mawnin' axin' yo' fo' somepin. An' if yo' don't care wha' chew give im out chore han', dat'll turn 'im loose out dat bottle. An' while he's in dat bottle he turn into all kin' of insex, ants, bugs. An' when he come to yo' house dat mawnin', an' if yo' give 'im anything, a couple of matches or any- thing, why you turn 'im loose. When he come thah he'll be down [dejected], lak dat, chew know.
(Suppose you burn that bottle up?)
He'll die. Dat is his spirit.
Entry 494
I have heard that if a witch rides you at night take a small vial, put hairpins and plain pins and vinegar and a loose stopper in the bottle, and put it under your pillow, and they say it will catch the witch. The witch will get in the bottle, can't get out. The pins will catch the witch and keep him in, and the vinegar will dissolve him and change the color of the contents and you will know that you have the witch. You'll never have trouble with witches as long as you live.
Entry 495
I did hear the old people say at one time that a witch came in the house and got in a wine bottle and drank too much and couldn't get out. Ev'ry once in awhile she would holler about the keyhole, trying to go through it to escape, and fall back on the floor. There where the witch was caught. The olden people use to make the wine and set it under the bed or table and the witch got in one of these bottles.
Entry 496
They tell me that they take a bottle and pee in it and put that bottle up the chimley and when the witch comes in and comes down the chimley she'll go right in that bottle. Then cork it right up and that holds her until you find out who she is. [Wilmington, N. Car., (181),?]
Entry 497
Yo' takes dis chamber lye an' yo' puts it in somepin an' stops it up an' let it stay fo' nine days, an' ev'ry mawnin' dis witch will come to yo' to borrah somepin. Slong [so long] as yo' keep dat dere, don' nevah lend 'er anythin', an' if yo' do not lend 'er anythin', well, den she'll bust. But if yo' jes' keep dat den she'll bust. But if yo' - she'll come to yo' fo' nine mawnin's an' if yo lend 'er somethin' ev'ry time she come to yo, den she kin git ovah it. But if yo' don't lend 'er anythin', why it's nuthin' she kin do.
(Whose water do you put in that bottle?)
Yo' put de witch's watah - oh! yo' put chure watah in de bottle - yo' know, yore chamber lye, yo' put hit in de bottle.
(You have this bottle by your bed when you sleep at night?)
Yes sir, an' yo' turn two fo'ks up - yo' take a fo'k an' a knife an' yo' stick de knife in de fo'k [making a cross] an' lay it undah yore pillah, an' den if she starts ridin' yo' yo'll see her, yo'll wake an' she'll appear tuh yo'. (You use both the fork an' the knife, an' this bottle of chamber lye - all together?) No sir, yo' leave de chamber lye yo' put hit in de bottle de next morning, after yo' see this witch.
(Oh, you have to see her that night.)
You will see her if yo' put dat fo'k dere.
Entry 498
My mother was rode by a witch. I used to sleep in the next room from her. When a witch rides you you can't talk, you holler, you just make a b-o-o-m sound. Then you know something is wrong. My mother started to making that fuss and I called and asked her what was the matter with her. And she said a witch was riding her. So I told her the next time a witch got after her I was going to catch whoever it was. They say you take a sifter, a bottle of water and a broom. You put it down at the bottom of the [door] steps. The witch has to count all those holes in the sifter, all those straws in the broom, and if day- break catches him he goes in the bottle of water and you stop him up, and you find out who was riding you. The person will come to you and beg you to turn them out of that bottle.
Entry 499
Use de straw from a broom for a hag. Take de straws from de broom an' take de broom an' lie it down side de bed, an' de nex' mawnin' dere will be somepin down dere side de bed. People say it be's de hag, but say dat de firs' pusson dat came to your house to borrah somepin from yo', don' loan it to 'em, say dat'll be de same pusson dat rode joo.
Entry 500
Jes' lak if a hag be ridin' yo' ev'ry night - ev'ry night yo' go to bed an' a hag ride yo', jes' take de broom an' sleep wit de broom 'cross yore foot ev'ry night an' dat'll keep de hag away.
Entry 501
Dey only use a broom in case [what] dey call de hag or some kind of a witchcraft rides yo' at night. Dey takes an' put it 'cross de do' an' - sprinkle lot'a salt on de flo' yo' know an' den take an' put it cross de do'. Dat stops dem from comin' in.
Entry 502
In Norfolk city [not the county], there was an old witch that used to go around riding people. So one day an old woman came around and told them, "I can do something so they won't come in. You take straws from the broom you sweep with and lay them all a-way across the door." They mustn't come together like that but cross like that [demonstrates].
(One straw overlapping the other.)
"And if a witch comes to that door, she can't come in. She can't cross the straws because a broom sweeps out." [New York Citv. (4), Ed.: from Norfolk, Va.]
Entry 503
Take nine straws, broomstraws, an' yo' put 'em down - yo' kinda pound 'em an' yo' put 'em down. Put nine to de haid an' nine middleways an' nine to de foot on de flo'. Then yo' put nine on de middleways an' den put de whole straw on de back an' a bottle right down by dem nine straws. When de hag git on yo' he got'a start tuh countin' dem straws, he count dem straws - he count right dere an' yo' ketch him, ketch him in dat bottle.
(What does he look like, then?)
Says he look lak a jelly of blood - jes' lak a lump of jelly.
(Now, about those straws - how many straws do you put on the bed?)
Put nine each ways - nine on de flo', nine up de next de post an' tuh de back.
(Well, where do you put the three nines now?)
From de straw broom jes' git de straw an' put nine up dere; jes' lak yo' plantin' - nine dere, nine heah an' nine dere.
(Where do you put the first nine?)
On de flo'.
(Where do you put the second nine?)
On de bed.
(Where do you put the third nine?)
On de back - dat's de broom, de whole broom - right undah de bed right 'bout chure haid. (You have to do that with the broomstraws, too.) [Have I suddenly become incoherent - too?] An' de bottle 'long wit it.
Entry 504
I told him to get some pepper an' throw de seeds all aroun' on de floor. Well, after dey [a hag] came in there, they've got to pick up ever' grain of dat pepper before they kin get out. They kin ketch 'em and they won't come no more.
(Why won't he do that?)
I don't know, sir. He's 'fraid, say he git de pepper - might git it in his eyes or somepin or 'nother like that. Den I told him, I said, "Well, if 'fraid dat," I say, "well, take your broom and sweep your bed down," I say, "ever' night befo' you get in de bed." He do it for about nine nights or nine mornings, why dey won't bother him no more. But dey ride him most ever' night. See, he'll be hollerin' and moanin'.
(Where does he live?)
Next door. So one night, de night befo' last, he wus hollerin' and strugglin' in his sleep. So I called and ast him what wus de matter. And he ast de Lord to help him. He say he tore de cat up and threw him in de fire. [Informant paused here and I turned off my machine, thinking she had ended. But, she added a final statement which I had to repeat as a question to the quickly turned on machine.]
(When he woken up the cat was gone?)
Yes sir. [The witch-hag had changed into a cat before riding this man.]
Entry 505
You buy yo' five cents worth of [corn] meal an' you go to yo' bed an' you sweep de floor clean an' take dat meal an' set it right down by yo' bed on each side. Well, now he got'a count ev'ry nine grains of that thing, ev'ry nine piece of it. In which you got'a go to work an' - [unless you set the witch this counting task] your blood, you get strangulation an' yo' can't speak, yo' Rin not say nothin'. [But] when dem nine grain dere - all dat meal down - counted it, all dem grains - [the witch] can't [do] nothin' - [from] de time yo' go to sleep ain't nothin' harm yo' till yo' wake up. [Charleston, S. Car., (525), 630:8.] [This witch in hag form is quite simple-minded, able to count only to nine - the reason why he must separate thousands of corn-meal grains into little piles of nine. Such a primitive system of counting he had inherited from his witch ancestors. Witches are most conservative. Using the four fingers of his left hand - a witch would never start with the right hand - he presses each in turn against his left thumb; then he presses the four fingers and thumb of the right hand against the left thumb. The total is nine - a magic number. Yes, he forgot to count his left thumb! Actually, the left thumb of a right-handed person was useless until late in civilization when an unknown genius gave us one of the greatest of all inventions, a concept of vast importance - he called the left thumb zero. The decimal system was born.]
The informant claims freedom from harm between sleep and waking; the counting explanation is separate editorial commentary.
Entry 506
Well, now, yo' kin take a broom an' jes' lay it crossways under yore bed an' dat'll stop 'em. Or yo' kin go to three crossways - go to three crossroads an' pick up a little sand outa three crossroads an' throw it up under yore bed an' they wouldn't bother yo' no mo' tuh save yore life. If dey do, ah'll eat dis hat [my black hat containing concealed microphone - see Hat, my black, in Index].
(That will stop these witches?)
Yes sir - dat'll shore stop 'em.
Entry 507
Git yo' three fat-lighter splinters; yo' take a horsehair and tie it with three crosses in it [demonstrates] - yo' cross one dis way and den lay one in that angle. [Yo' cross One (splinter) dis way (over another splinter, making letter X or cross) and den lay one (the third splinter) in that angle (of the X - like this six-pointed star the latter making three crosses).] Take that horsehair and tie it and whoever yo' think that witch is, set a chair by de side of de bed and lay it [three fat-lighter splinters tied by horsehair into three crosses] right in there overnight. If dat witch comes up dere, he will throw that out of the chair on de floor and yo' won't be worried with him any more.
(You have to throw it out on the floor?)
No, he will. He will do that himself because he comes up and sits down in dat chair and he sits on dat and it gits him and he jumps; you know, jest like if you in a chair somewheres and dere's a pin sticking in dat chair - same you, yo' jump up and put chure han' behin' yo'. Well, he throws dat on de floor.
Entry 508
A broom what you sweep with, you leave that to yore feet an' a Bible at chure head and dey won't worry you. But, if you wanta ketch 'em, you sprinkle - you go to de drug store and you buy a nickel's worth of flaxseed and you sprinkle that around in de room, and if de come in dere, you'll wake 'fore he done pick up every one, 'cause dey got'a pick up every one of 'em an' 'fore he done pick 'em up you kin ketch him.