Browse:Urine (Volume 1, entries 1591–1649)
Urine
Volume 1, entries 1591–1649. 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 1591
Go to the woods and get yourself some turpentine and get you some bark from a walnut tree. Take this turpentine and bark and put it in water and let it boil for ten minutes. Take this water and throw it over your left shoulder. When you get through with that take two teaspoonfuls in your body. And that will keep evils and all hoodoos away from you. Another thing, if you find a bottle underneath your door and don't know what's in it, never touch it, but go to the woods and get some turpentine [raw sap from turpentine tree - several pines] and some walnut tree bark and sprinkle it over that bottle first. Then you move it and you won't be cunjured. That's the best thing I know for cunjures.
Entry 1592
Like somebody put somepin on cheh [here] fo' yo' an' right along yore path and when yo' steps on dis, why you'd have a pain in yore laig. Well, yo' Wouldn't know what caused it but chew would go to someone and dey would tell yo' right away. Git sulphur, spirits of turpentine, put all dat on mah han's - spirits of turpentine [and sulphur] and take mah han' and go to de chamber lye and bath 'em in dat, and go right on dere [to buried cunjure] and take it up. [I can now] go over dere and dey won't ketch me, de pain won't ketch me atall. Ah'd take it [cunjuring object] up and take, carry it to de fork of de road and burn it. When ah carry it to de fork of de road and build a fire under it, why it sparks. Well, it's all gone - it go right back to where it come from, see.
[I now ask informant to repeat part of story I failed to record.]
(How did you say you knew this was laid down out there for you?)
Ah seen de spirit - jest like you'd dream, ah seen de spirit and dey go on showed it tuh me. Ah git up in morning and ah goes right straight to it. See. Ah goes straight to it and ah 11 take and bath mah face and han s in dat - dis urinate in de night, and den ah take de spirits of turpentine and ah saturate mah han's good with dat. See. Den ah'll take dat sulphur and saturate mah hands good and den ah'll go dere to de hole and dig it up. When ah dig it up ah'll pick it up and ah'll take it to de four corners of de road and put it in de middle of de street and burns it. When ah put it down dere and build mah fire under early in de morning or late in de evening, an' when ah do that why dat pops. When it pops it goes back to where it come from.
Entry 1593
A fellow once, named Brown, a root doctor - me and my wife was on de outs. Course I caught her wrong and I went away from her. So he [Brown] was working in the shipyards. He say, "I found a shoe." So I say, "All right, I'll take it." He said it was a right shoe - brand new shoe - just had a little - and he had got that snake's blood and put all on de inside of it. And I put dat shoe on. In nine days time my ankle give away and commence to hurt me and so I says, "Mother, since I been wearing dat shoe Mr. Brown give me," I said, "I been having trouble with my ankle. I think I'll go to de doctor." So she looked at de shoe. So then I went to Dr. Willis and took dat shoe and cut de top off it - the entire top and give it to him and he took it and put it in something and sterilized it and found out it was snake blood. That's Dr. Willis dere - chemistry.
(Dr. Woodard?)
Willis - in the drug store.
(I see - from the drug store and he found it was snake blood?)
Yeah - what he told me.
(What did he put that in to sterilize it, I wonder.)
I don't know. He used a lot of chemistry - you know how dey have chemistry, and it all up-separated off the leather, come off the sweat and ev'rything else. And he said, "That's snake's blood, boy." I said, "It look peculiar cause ev'ry time it rained it would freshen up just like fresh paint, red paint, but when the sun was shining it was dry and looked kind of scaley, you know, kind of brownish looking.
(How did you get rid of that then - from that snake blood?)
Well, I tell you, I got rid of it. My mother took 'bacco. She turned around and took a chicken and she put a chicken poultice on there first. And then she took tobacco and my water and boil it hot and let me put my feet right down in de hot water.
(Did she boil that tobacco and your water together?)
Yes, and put my feet in there. I put it in there ever' night and put salt brine in there and it came all right.
Entry 1594
I had experience of dis myself, I'm fixin' to tell yo' now. I wus goin' wid some woman once. Someone poisoned 'er in some fish an' dey did somepin tuh 'er. An' whutevah dey did, it went true [through] 'er han', broke out in bumps - big large ones 'bout dis size [demonstrates], right true de han'. Yo' could see it. If it hit dere [on one side of her hand], it would come out dere [on the other side of her hand] - look like dey connect wid one 'nothah. Feets an' han's. An' she couldn't put 'er foot on de floah [floor]. I goes me to work an' I got me some Brown Mule [trademark] tobacco. I got me some snuff, Railroad Mail [trademark]. I got me some sulphah. I got me some salt, some salts physic [probably Epsom salts], an' got me some of 'er watah an' some of mine. I mixed it togethah. I say, "Save me all de watah you kin fer de nex' hour or two, [that is] as much as yo' git fer de nex' night er [or] day." I mixes all dat togethah an' I boil it good. I set up wid 'er 'bouts couplea days an' nights er mo' bathin' [bath-ing, not bathe-ing] 'er feets. She couldn't touch de floor [her feet pained so much]. Well, I kep' bath-in' 'er an' kep' bath'in' 'er in dat stuff, an' kep' bath-in' 'er in dat stuff till fin'lly I cured 'er like dat. Den I went an' got some of dis potash fer 'er tuh take - jes' a little bita watah. Yo' kin take dat very easily in a little watah.
(How did she get this way?)
At someone's house she got dataway by eatin'. I know it. I went to a fortune teller. Dey tole me dat dat wus zackly how she got it. Dey even picked it out [while running the cards] an' it was some of 'er own people did it.
(Did the fortune teller tell you what to do?)
Dey didn't tell me. A ole woman tole me dis long long years ago. She always tole me, she says, "Yo' look out, '' she says, "whenevah dat to happen an' know whut tuh do fo' yoreself, if anyone hurt yo'. Git dat an' bath [not bathe] yore- self from de knees on down [see p.369] an' it'll nevah cause no swellin' in de knees." It didn't swell a bit.
Entry 1595
Ah heard that yo' could take chamber water, chamber lye - jes' lak yo' got sores anywhere on yore flesh or on yore skin, yo' kin take yore chamber watah an' 'noint 'em sores each day an' fin'lly at last yo'll git rid of 'em.
Entry 1596
If yo' got a bad cold an' yo' nostrils all stopped up - somepin lak dat, yo' kin jes' take yore chamber lye, yore own chamber lye an' wash yore face an' it will help yo'. Some people use it fo' rough skin, dey chamber lye.
Entry 1597
At one time I was off from my work and my wife was sweeping our back yard and she swept over a jelly jar. It was stopped up and turned bottom up in the yard. By the sun shining I see that jar and I stopped and asked her what was that shining. I thought it was a piece of money. So I went there and dug it up out of the ground in my back yard. I came to the steps and I opened it. It had some kind of powder.
(Do you know what the powder was?)
No, I don't know what kind - it was a brown powder.
(All right - go ahead.)
And something like a sponge was mixed up and stopped in there. When I opened it, it knocked me down when I inhaled it. [As I explain elsewhere, this sort of thing is a hyperbole, not a lie.] Later on, my wife's leg broke out - swole up rather, and my leg swole up. And we heard of a man who could tell you things, and we went there and he told me that I had stepped over something. And I asked him what could he do for it. He told me that he believed through the help of God that he could cure me. And I told him that I would be pretty glad if he would. And he got some ashes, some salt, some red pepper and some chamber lye and he mixeded that up in a pan - stirred it thoroughly well and he took and got us there to the pan and washed our leg down, washed this leg down. So later on, two or three days maybe, the leg went down, and it broke out little skin - little dry lookin' skin on there. Well, all of that come off and my leg began to get all right.
Entry 1598
Use chamber lye an' stop poison. Jes' take it an' boil it - grate a dime an' put it in it an' boil it wit red peppah an' wash, bathe it down. Dat'll kill poison. (You mean poison that someone has put into you like live things, things of that sort?) Yes sir, like skippers - something like dat.
Entry 1599
Well they claim, if you near-sighted or somepin like that in your eyes an' mis'ry in yore haid all the while, they say you take chamber lye an' heat wit salt you know for pains. You bathe the haid an' the steam that choo - hol' [hold your head] you know over the bucket like that. You put salt in it. Sometime it git ole. They say the older it gits you know an' smell [the better]. A man, his daughter use it one day. She was near-sighted. She couldn't see atall. An' she bathe in that for a week [7 days] an' when de week out after she'd used it, then she could see.
Entry 1600
My sister wus tricked. She wus tricked from water from a pump. Whut- evah dey did dey jis' put into de pump. An' it made her eyes sore an' she thought she wus goin' blind, an' so dey had de doctor. An' de doctor couldn't cure her. Everything he did for sore eyes it didn't do any good. So my mothah - de first whut started to heal it, she put a salt poultice to it with [corn] meal and salt. Well, dat kin'a holp a little. An' den somebody tole 'er de thing to get 'er to see wus to let a child have an action [of urine], an' den put it in an' ole cup an' put some salt in dere an' cook dat, an' dis [jis'] put de necked [naked or bare] thing right ovah 'er eye an' dat'd draw 'er sight back to her. An' dat's whut cured her.
Entry 1601
It's a way dey kin throw dere water [urine] befo' de sun rise.
(How do they do that?)
Well, dey takes saltpeter, dat's whenevah a person is hurt - ah knows dey take saltpeter an' red peppah an' chamber lye an' bath [not bathe] in it an' take it an' throw it out befo' de sun rise.
(That will cure them?)
Yes sir.
Entry 1602
[Here is a belief similar to the preceding and following ones but without the bath:] Ah heard 'em say yo' take yore chamber watah - yo' know, in de mawnin' 'fore sunrise take it an' throw it sunset an' it would keep all harm [away].
(How would you throw it?)
Throw it ovah yore left shoulder lak that [demonstrates] an' don't look back. (The water that was made that night and you throw it at [before] sunrise in the morning?) Yes.
The informant reports a chamber-water practice said to keep harm away; its effect is unverified and away is an editorial insertion.
Entry 1603
They told me to go to the drug store and get some saltpeter - saltpeter and take my urine when I, you know, urinate and put it in warm water.
(Put it in some warm water.)
And put my feet in that and wash my feet with it. Carry it to my back door. Throw it over my left shoulder and walk back in the house and don't look back.
(That'll keep them from harming you?)
Yes, sir.
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.