Subject:Bathe
Entries
Entry 3394
Dey kin use a dishrag on a sweetie, jis' lak if a sweetie's runnin' aroun'. Well, an' she ketch 'l 'sleep, yo' see. Yo' know jis' lak some men do sleep real fast. [The preceding fast = deep or sound; but to sleep fast is still an unusual expression in my experience - to go to sleep fast or quickly, yes.] Well, yo' take dat dishrag an' git at de end of dereself an' bath it up. Jis' lak dis hisself, lak dis [her] fingah, well yo' go to de end which is de haid of it, see, an' bath it up to his stomach. Bath it up nine times. An' den yo' hang it up in de cornah of yore house an' don' use it, see. An' dat rag'111 jis' dry up an' he cain't have no intahco'se wit nobody - no one.
Entry 3712
Go out to de henhouse an' git yo' nine dry hen turd an' put 'em in sompin an' let dat watah git lukewarm. Take dat an' stroke yo'self down good. Jes' lak yo' expect to go dere tomorrah, why yo'll do dat today. Den say, dat aftah tomorrah, de nex' day, yo' go an' buy a little bottle of Heart Cologne, an' go on back an' bathe wit it.
(That will restore his nature?) Yessuh, an' he do dat mo' den one time.
Entry 3718
Den if he wants tuh git rid of dat, he takes an' gits 'im a quart of sweet milk an' washes 'isself down wit it. Then he kin go an' have anybody he wants to. (He washes himself down. His whole body?) Jes' 'is private, yo' know.
(Couldn't he wash them up?)
Ah don't know, but dat whut dey always say, whenevah he wanta git rid dat. If anybody put anything lak dat on 'im so yo' can't use yo'self, jes' git chew a quart of sweet milk an' jes' bathe yo'self down wit it. An' let dat stay dere.
Entry 3719
(Is there anything that a man can do to get his nature back?)
Well, ah've had a woman took a dishrag an' kinda fixed me so ah couldn't have no othah woman but 'er. Ah've tried othah women. Ah've been a railroad man all de time, lak ah runnin'[from here] in to At- lanta. No mattah how badly ah wanted dis woman, how much powah ah had, de minute ah lay down on dis woman - be wit 'er yo' know - come to be jes' as limbah as de end of mah fingah [demonstrates] dataway. But de onliest way dat ah evah cured mahself of dat, git me some sweet milk an' bath mahself down wit it nine mawnin's Dat'll give me as much power as ah evah did have. Or ah'll go to some runnin' watah, watah dat's runnin', an' bath off dataway. Dat'll give yo' powah.
(You go to running water and bathe?)
Bathe, or bathe in sweet milk.
(How could you bathe there in running water?)
Evah nine mawnin's.
(Do you bathe up or down?)
Down, bringin' yo' out all de time. Yo' don't want nuthin tuh draw back. Let it stretch out.
Entry 3720
Dis is a story of mahself. Well, ah felt lak ah wuz messed up an' ah sent to a ole man down heah in de country an' he tole me dat time, says, "Well, Ton, yo' take some sweet milk an' take a bath wit it." Ah say, "Well, how long?" He says, "Well, yo' take dat three maonin's. An' take yo' bath wit it an' bring me de milk back, de las' milk yo' use." Well, ah tuk de milk an' carried it back to him an' den he put sulphah in dis milk an' den give it back to me, an' tole me co'se milk will clabbah, an' fo' me aftah tuh use it up to de ninth mawnin'. An' so ah did so, an' co'se de milk had clabbahed an' dat whey - dat sulphuh wuz in dere, kept it from turnin' all to whey. It would not turn tuh whey, see. An' shortly aftah, ah don' know whut ah done tuh make it do dat, but ah be dogged if ah didn't git straightened out on it all right.
(You got your nature back?)
Got it on back, doggone right.
(What did you do with that clabber then?)
AFTAH DE NINE MAWNIN'S WHY AH CARRIED IT BACK TUH 'IM, See. CO'SE HE BURIED IT.
(Well, what did you do with the clabber after that?)
Ah use dat milk right straight on.
(You kept bathing with this clabber then until the ninth morning?)
Yes.
Entry 3721
He kin bathe in sweet milk fuh nine mawnin's - see, jis' de milk whut yo' milk out of a cow's bag whilst it's warm. An' bathe his privates down fuh nine mawnin's. An' take dat an' saltpetah, see an' alum fuh nine mawnin's, an' dat'll bring 'is nature back to him. (Do you take this milk bath separately or do you put this saltpeter and alum in it?) No, yo' see, yo' bathe in de raw milk by it- self warm, jis' as it come outa de cow's bag. An' aftah yo' do dat fuh nine mawnin's wit de milk, den yo' see when yo' take a bath, jis' a or'nary bath, yo' bath fuh nine days in dat saltpetah an' alum. An' dat'll restore yore nature back.
Entry 3724
[Some of the cylinders containing the interview of informant 962 were missed by my transcriber. While I was rechecking them I transcribed in pencil several of the rites and made a few brief notes of others, intending to return to the cylinders later for complete transcriptions of special material. My origlnal penciled note attached to this present statement in the original manuscript reads: Coal oil & sweet milk bathe down Memphis, Tenn., 1554:5 - 962 good.]
Entry 3733
Dey say if a man can't git up a heart, say if he take a dishrag an bathe hisself down wit it - yo' know, nobody don't know it but jes' 'isself, an dey say dat whatevah 'is wife or whoevah fixed 'im lak dat, why he kin git right lak he always wus. (That is all he has to do?) Yes, take dat dishrag, dat's all he do wit de dishrag.
Entry 3748
Ah know dis heah. If yo' think yo' got a woman an' she's indiff'ren', yo' take her wit dat snail. An' at night when yo' happen tuh be foolin' aroun', handlin' ovah 'er, yo' press dat snail ovah 'er, grease dat snail ovah 'er, an' den de nex' man - if she has othah ones about 'er, when he go tuh 'er, he can't git up no 'rection [erection], yo' see. Hit'll fall evah time. An' de onliest way now - now here's where tuh conkah 'it. When he finds out dat he can't have no intahco'se wit 'er, he'd steal a dishrag. He steal a dishrag from some wumman, somebody's place, an' bathe hisself down nine mornings - bathe hisself down nine mornings wit dat rag, an' den take it an' bury it at de do'step - dis same fellah's do'step now. An' den aftah de nine days - he bury it an' let it stay nine days. - aftah nine days he kin take 'er an' screw 'er jis' as much as he wants.
Entry 3754
A woman kin make a man lose his nature by taking a dishrag off de table an' washin' 'im undah 'is clothes aftah he gits through wit 'er.
(Then what does he do to get his nature back?) Bathes in chamber lye, dat'll kill it. (Bathe what?)
De same way she wash 'im, aftah she git through wit 'im wit a dishrag. He take a dishrag an' bathe in 'is own chamber lye. Dat'll kill it.
(Any kind of a rag?)
Any kind of cloth. It kin be a piece of clothes.
Entry 3758
(Well, suppose a man is tied up that way, how could he git rid of that?) Git rid of dat? He would take dat perfume whut de call Hearts Perfume, cinnamon, saltpetah an' chamber lye, his own, wit nine ten-penny nails. Takin' a bath from head to feet an' throwin' it out to- Wards sunrise. Den she cain't do anythin' unless she gits wit 'im [again]. Dat untie him.
Entry 3826
Bath [not bathe] yoreself wit runnin' watah an' ammonia fo' nine maw- nin's - dis cleanin' ammonia an' cinnamon. Bathe yo'self fo' nine mawnin's wit three diff'ren' mixed watah. Whut I mean by three diff'ren' mixed watahs' yo' git rivah watah, rain watah an' well watah. Do dat fo' nine mawnin's, an' aftah yo' finish bathin', yo' takes an' throws it ovah yore shouldah towards de sunrise. (Which shoulder? [Demonstrates.] That right shoulder?) Yes, sir. Your right shoulder. [The reader will notice this rite has no purpose, an omission that rarely happened. If I turned on my recording machine too late or stopped it too soon, I always managed to add the purpose to the cylinder. I have two written comments in the original MS about the present instance: the one, an early pen- ciled note small piece added to this, the other, a recent self-evident note transcriber omitted my comment. Here it is:] (Now, you just gave me one [a cure] of this - for when a woman has a man tied up. That [3 waters] will bring back his nature. That's the idea isn't it?)
[True, I am asking for a yes answer, but the answer is in the rite itself.]
Yes, sir.
Entry 6580
May water, cayenne pepper, nine pods of pep- per, salt; bathe down and take physic. Live things come out.
Entry 6695
Yo' kin take saltpetah an' yo' kin take whut chew calls, de medicine dey calls aloes, an' yo' put dat tuhgethah in some salts [salt] an' some warm watah. An' yo' kin take a good bath all ovah with dat stuff, make enough of it tuh give yo' a good bath. Bath [not bathe] yo'self all ovah. Den yo' kin take anothah, dis same medi- cine an' boil it, an' drink it. Drink it jes' as hot as yo' kin at night an' dat kills whutsomevah germ is in yo'. An' den aftah doin' dat, den yo' git chew a bottle of sweet milk an' a cup of lard an' lemme see - an' a teaspoon of salt- petah an' stir it all. Jes' stir it all up tuhgethah an' yo' drink dat. An' den five minutes aftah dat, if yo' hurt [hoodooed] yo'll throw it up. De white stuff, 'xactly [exactly] whut yo' done eat, yo' know, de milk will come back firs' lak dat. Den aftah dat it comes green, whole lotta green stuff vill come out of yo' system 'cuz yo' done vomit it up.
(What is that green stuff?)
Dat's dat poison dat is put down in yore stomic, dat's tyin' yo' up.
Entry 6696
( Git some sugah an' ammonia an' bathe yo'- self in it yo' know. Well, yo' bathe yo'self, dat keeps de cross off yo' - keep it from 'im.
Entry 6697
Yo' go tuh a druggist or grocery sto', eithah one, an' yo' git chew some saltpetahs, some ammonia, household ammonia, bluein' [three ingredients]. An' yo' take all dat an' yo' fix dat ingredients tuhgethah, an yo' use it in de watah whut chew bathe in. But in de meantime yo' supposed tuh bathe three times a week: Mondays, Wednesdays an' Fridays. [For this three evenly spaced days a week, see p.830.]
(At any particular time of the day?)
Well, say, six in de mawnin', twelve at noon an' six at night. [For this evenly spaced time-of-day formula, see p.830.]
(Any one of those times or three times?)
Well, yo' kin bathe once but eithah one of dem hours yo' kin, yo' see. An' den yo' take dis saltpetah an' yo' puts it in yore shoe an' yo' weah it. Dat'll perteck [protect] yo' from any kinda home or anybody tryin' tuh do yo' harm. (Well, there's also some of that saltpeter in the bath water, too. Those three things are all in the bath water?) Yessuh.
(Then you save some of that saltpeter and put it in your shoe?)
Put it in yore shoe an' weah it in yore shoe fo' pertekshon [protection].
Entry 6752
Dey tell me dat chew git a po'tion [por- tion not potion] of rat- tlesnake dust, red peppah, gunpowdah in yore shoes, dat'll cuz [cause] yo' tuh have achin' an' swellin' j'ints an' stuff. Dat'll put a spell on yo'.
(Sort of swell up your feet or make your joints ache?)
Yeah, yore j'ints ache, an' swell yore j'ints up, too.
(Well, is there any way you can cure that, I wonder?)
Yessir, yo' go tuh a cow stall an' yo' git dat dung, dat rakin' of de cow stall where de cow trample.
(The cow manure?)
Yeah. Yo' take dat an' yo' boil dat an' yo' bathe yore feets in dere. Yo' dilute dat an' put a li'le salt in it. Bathe yore feets in dere wit dat. An' yo' take dat an' yo' THROW DAT SUNDOWN SIDE. DAT MEANS FO' DE MISERY TUH GO DOWN, de sweat of it goes down an' de mis'ry [misery] tuh go out. Yo' throw dat sundown side.
Entry 6827
Well, yo' take graveyard dust - see, I wuz a person hurted in dis right feet heah an' it wuz ah had tuh bathe intuh hot watah - boilin' watah intuh red peppah an' ammonia, saltpetah [defect here, could not tell whether salt or saltpeter] an' mah urine - an' jis' bathe in dat fo' nine mawnin's. An' den ah made - it wuz plaster made outa fresh lard an' graveyard dust, see. An' dat's whut drawed de misery out.
(I see, if you were hurt in that right foot.)
Yes. Ah wuz crippled fo' three months an' dat's de only thing dat cured it. A woman came along an' cured it.
(Who came along?)
A woman. She know right smart.
Entry 6895
Den yuh kin git some root whut dey call de blacksnake root, grain [green] root, an' arrowroot, an' High John de Conkah. Well, dat's de root, dat John de Conquah, dat is goin' tuh conquah mos' anythin', any kinda HO0- DOO dat come. DAT'S A Did yuh git chew [down] [blacksnake root] grain root, an' de arrowroot, an' John de Conquah? DAT RooT'S VERY EXPENSIVE AN' AH KNOW ZACTLY WHERE TUH GIT IT, see. Yuh kin [take] dose roots an' boil 'em tuhgethah an' if anybody wuz HOoDOOED, if mah lady wuz HOODO0, take some of dat root when it's dry an' beat it.up an' give it tuh a lady in some ine an' dat'll perform. Yuh kin see it, scorpion drived an' - given in powdah tuh someone - movin' in 'er laigs. Git dat stuff an' boil it an' make tea out it, an' in ten days dat git de pain outa yuh body. Dat came out. One time she couldn't walk straight. Evah time she stand up she fell on de floah. Ah goes tuh dat dere fellah an' ah says, "Look, ah wan' chew tuh drive me out tuh de country. See yo' got a li'le hatchet." Ah want tuh get me a hatchet an' he gave me de hatchet, an' ah went tuh de red oak tree. Ah trimmed off de white bark an' de black bark ovah it an' cut down tuh de juicy wood. Ah cut me fo' chips out on east side. Ah goes tuh de west side of de tree an' ah cuts me fo' more. Ah cut de chips off de east side firs', den ah go tuh de west side. Den ah git me some blackberry root, chew undahstan'. Den ah git some mul- lein an' ah take dat home, put it tuhgethah. Ah gits home an' ah tell mah wife, ah say, "Look, git me about two quarts of vinegah." An' she put dat on de fiah an' boil it, boil it an' boil it. An' she let it cool. Den she bathe me from mah haid tuh mah feet [downward bathing so that it will go out through his feet] in de tub, an' ah ain't had a pain in dis laig since.
Entry 6897
Lak if yo're hurt, den yo' kin take red onions, an' urination, sulphuh, salt, vinegah an' boil all dat tuhgethah an' bathe 'em down in it, an' dat will run de poison out of dem.
Entry 9081
Yo' go out an'.git chew one dose conkah roots - 20 fo' a dollah. Git chew one of dose, an' yo' goes up dere. Bathe yuhself all ovah good wit salt- petah, an' sugah an' chamber lye. An' yo' git up dere an' go befo' de judge. As yo' walk in de co't, yo' jis' spit as yo' go up dere fo' 'im. An' dat'll change 'is mind.
Entry 9110
If yo' can get de judge's name, well yo' use dis name nine times into yore shoe, in each shoe, an' mix it wit parsley, an' yo' dress yoreself wit a oil: oil of verbena, oil of mor- itil [myrtle] an' pine oil. Yo takes a bath in dem. (What are those oils now?) Oil of verbena, oil of moritil [myrtle] an' pine oil. Yo' takes a bath in dat.
(Oil of moritil [myrtle]?)
Yes, sir. Three mornings befo' yore case comin' up, when yo' gets a sub- poena, well yo' do dat fo' three mornings. See, de last morning, dat's when yo' are goin' befo' de judge.
Entry 9664
All right. Well, first, if they trying to harm you, you get you some Epsom salts, take you some table salt. All right. And you take you some warm water and let that set overnight. Then you take you a good bath with that. Well, they can't do anything with you.
Entry 9915
"To take off spell - boil frog - bathe down - then mix some water with this and let patient drink it."
Entry 10188
For success in business either at home or outside the house, bathe with 3 ingredients: bluestone, saltpeter and sugar. Or else bathe with blueing and sugar. Either bath is for personal protection. At place of business mop up with Red Seal Lye and burn brimstone as a purification. But before leaving home for work or opening the house for business, make wishes and light a yellow candle. [Did the maker of this rite realize that in some place during the late Middle Ages prostitutes legally had to wear yellow?]
Entry 10261
If a woman have tricked him where he can't do business, well every morning he take dat. Take some milk an' put it in de pan an' bathe down wit it; an' throw it toward de risin' sun, every morning fo' nine mornings. [I had stopped machine but restarted it to include informant's use of the word courage.]
(What will that do then? That will restore his courage?)
Yes, restore his courage. [Stop machine.]
[Start machine again to pick up another addition.]
(You say bathe down.)
Entry 10629
Take Eve-an'-Adam root an' Queen Elizabeth root an' five-finger grass an' bind dem together an' put on [them] whiskey, an' let it soak fo' seven days to abstract dere pow- ers. An' yo' take yore- self: yo' bathe yore body, anoint yore body [with this concotion] an' dey say dat will bring back love an' luck to yore lose ones, put man an' wife back together.