Subject:Bite
Related combinations
Entries
Entry 3992
If.anybody bites chew, makes a bruise on yuh, all yuh gotta do is git some of dere own urine an' rub it on de place, an' den yo' kin wipe it off. [This is the hair of the dog that bit you!] Co'se ah'd hate tuh put mah han's in somebody else's an' rub it on dat place. Said evah tooth in dere head will fall out in de long run. (In other words, if I bit you, you'd have to get my urine and wipe it on the bite. My teeth will come out?) Rub it on. Yuh teeth will shed - rot out by degrees.
Entry 6782
If bitten by a dog, catch the dog, cut hair off end of his tail, bury under the steps. Keeps you from bein' poisoned. [This is an unusual version of 'the hair of the dog that bit you." Poison here does not mean hoodoo poison but rabies. Even so, persons could have been found who would have said some evil- ainded person sent a mad dog to bite the victim, thus making it a hoodoo poison affair.]
Entry 6790
If a person bites yo' wit blue gums, yo' kin take a li'le of yore action, yore action an' put it on dere an' rub it in dere roun' good. (Rub it into the bite?) Yeah, an' go git chew some sulphuh an' burn it an' put it on dere, an' slip tuh 'is house. When yo' git dere, an' jis' lak yo' wanta a drink of watah, say, "Git me a glass of watah - git me some watah." An' carry a li'le dat burnt sulphuh wit chew an' - now, lak yo' wan' some watah. Rub it roun' intuh dat glass an' blow yore breath in it three times an' set it down nice, an' tell 'em tuh 'ave a drink of watah. He'll take a drink of watah an' he'll start tuh sufferin' wit de pyorrhea, los' [lostl de teeth outa his haid. (That burnt sulphur that you use in putting on your arm, that is out of the same batch of stuff?) Yes.
Entry 6802
Yo' kin split a live frog open an' put it on dat place where yo' snake bitten at an' de poison will come intuh de frog.
Entry 6826
Now, suppose dat chew would git in a fight wit a pusun [person] an' dat dey bit chah. Why yo' go tuh de grave- yard fer nine mawnin's an' put a li'le graveyard dirt on dat, an' it'll rot dere teeth out.
Entry 9889
If a snake bite chew, [I will] start on dat firse [first]. If a snake bite chew an' yo' kin do yore goodsness [aid] fur dat bite right on de minute [immediately], it would he'p tuh git [it] out chew; but if yo' don't [have im- mediate aid] it might run a long ways. Yo' hardly git shet of it. [Without immediate aid a snake bite may be fatal.l But yo ketch yo' a toadfrog an' tie 'em a lettle above dat place dere [the bite]. Take yo' a string an' tie hit up above [the bite]. Don't have it too small [tight] tuh stop yore blood from runnin', yo' know. But have [do] dat an' jes' [as] de poison gwine out from dat frog, de mo' de poison he gwine out [you] chew know, an' it [poison] go right on out [of you]. [Here is the principle of poison kills poison.] An' move yore string, move it all. An' when it [poison] git out good, go tuh de drug stop, an' git chew white smellin' - ah fo'got de name yo' call it. Anyhow yo' go dere an' git it, tuh he'p [help] tuh git chure flesh smooth - yo' ou, lak it was.
Entry 9918
Well, once a man went picking huckleberries an' he got bit by a rattle- snake, so he run to a woman's house an' de woman said, "Ah'll git a bullfrog right quick." So she went out in de bushes an' caught a big bullfrog an' cut 'im an' jes' laid 'im right on de place where he was bit at. Let dat [bullfrog] blood run down on dat place. An' so he made it tuh de doctah an' de doctah saved 'im.
Entry 10953
For snake bite or rat bite, Doctor King, temporarily of Richmond and elsewhere, used a fresh black chicken poultice.
Entry 10954
Kill de chicken while it's live an' cut it open an' put it on de wound, it will kill poison from de rattlesnake.
Entry 11049
[All the following chicken-manure rites, not identical ones, will be found somewhere in HOODOO. They appear everywhere out in the field. If there is no preference concerning the type - color and source - of the material used, sup- pose we begin with the chicken-house itself. But sometimes for a human bite bird manure is used - see No.10721, p.4054, v.5.1 Well, if anybody bite chew like dat, yo' take an' place - go to a chicken coop an' place some chicken 'nure [manure] on dere an' make yo' [the biter] lose yore teeth.
Entry 11052
Ah heard dat if somebody bite chew dat yo' gits black chicken manure an' rub it on dere, an' it will rot all dere teeth out.
Entry 11058
You kin take manure from a chicken - has to be a black one, though - an' dat place [where you were bitten] put it on there an' tie it up, an keep it tied up for three days. Dat will take all their teeth out.
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 652
Ah heard that if a person bit chew that had them blue gums, you would spread that [see later] over it an' it would kill de sore, but yore [the biter's] teeth would drop out or something of that kind like that.
(Well, what do the blue gums have to do with it?)
Well, dey claim that would poison yo'. (The person with the blue gums would poison you. And this chicken manure will take it off. What kind of chicken manure?) Black.
Entry 11051
If anybody bite chew or anything like dat, see, jes' git dis where de chicken has been, yo' know, an' put it on dat place. Dat will rot all dey teeth out.
Entry 823
I know a lady whose husband would fight her quite often and he was noted for biting her when he fought her. And she was told, when he bit her severely, to go to the cemetery and get some of the dirt from the graveyard, and put on this where he bit her, and it would cause all of his teeth to drop out. (Did she do it?) Well, she went out there and put it on, but whether his teeth dropped out or not I don't know.
Entry 888
And that's another experience I had. You see, I'm kind of old - I know a whole lotta things. Well, I had a friend once, years ago after I lost my first husband - I've had three husbands and they all dead - and you know, he was a drunkard. And when he got to drinkin' he was rough - he'd fight me, he'd bite too, he bite and knock, and he bit me on the shoulder. It right there to show for itself. Ah told a lady one day, ah say, "You know Vander and he was fightin last night," and I say, "Vander bit me.
(What was his name?)
Vander - Vander Graham. I say, "Vander bit me," and I said, "I don't like it neither," I say, "comin' bitin' me like I was a dog or nothin'." And she say, "Let me see it," and I let her looked at it and she say, "You got any chickens?" I say, "Yes." She say, "What kind of chickens you have?" I say, "I have all kind - I have no special, they all mixed up." She say, "You have no black chickens?" I say, "Yes, I have a black hen - and she settin' though." She said, "Well, that's more the better," she say, "come on and I go home with you." And we go on home and she went in and say, "Where is the black hen?" I showed 'er and she went and runned 'er up. You know, quite natch'ral you run a hen up and she been settin' there so long she do what she goin' have to do. Well, she did a whole lot. She say, "Well, that's all I want." And she'd taken it and rubbed it on this place [the bite] and do you know that all his teeth dropped out. Not a tooth did he have. He wus jes' as toothless as I am now - co'se the doctor had all of mine pulled out on account of my health, and that ain't done me much good 'cause i' tain't nothin' but that ole medicine, you know, they give you. And so he'd sit down to de table sometimes eatin' and he'd say, "Ugh," he say, "you know, ah believe I'm goin' lose ev'ry one of my teeth - they're all loose.' Ah say, "They is?" And he say, "Yes." He say, "Ah had a pretty set of teeth." He didn't have a decayed teeth in his head. But this old lady put this on me and she say, "Any time anybody bite you, you stop 'em from biting you," she say, "jis' git some black hen manure and put on that place and let it heal up with it. and they won't have nothin' to bit with nc more." I'm telling you it was true.
(After that what happened?)
And when he left me - now, I'm goin' tell you this. I runned him away from me because he was too bad drunkard and fightin', but he'd take care of me nice and everything. He would dress me nice and buy plenty of food and everything, and he bought a nice little home and everything for us, but oh! he Was awful drunk', you see, and fighting all de time - all de time he was drunk. He would work, he was smart, but from Sat'day - he would come in Friday from his Work, didn't go back till Monday. He worked de [that] way - all de time. And he'd come in with 'im a jug of liquor and he would drink and fight me - he would make me sit up all night long under a gun.
(Under a gun?)
Under a gun - have a gun on me and didn' 'low me to close my eyes. I just got sick of it. And this same Doctor Tiggers - I had him run 'im on away from here.
(How did he run him away?)
I don't know - he never give me anything, you see, but chew just tell him what you Want, write him, anything. Tell 'im what chew want him to do and when it's done - he'd say, you don't worry, everything will come around all right. He'd never write you much [see No. 887, p.319]. But hit'll come just like he say. He sent him away from me and I haven't seen Vander since.
(Well, why did he hold a gun at you that way?)
Well - me? Just mean to keep me from going to sleep. I'd be so sleepy I'd be just noddin' off and he'd say, "Wake up," and curse me. "Wake up - wake up or I'll blow your brains out." I got sick of that. But when he left me, he didn't have no teeth. I ain't got none now but the doctor's pulled mine - his'n dropped out.
Entry 1193
[The preceding teeth rites using chicken manure are usual; not so usual are teeth rites using chicken eggs that follow:] A black hen egg is for to rot your teeth out, something like that if a person bites cha.
(How would you do that?)
Well, if I'd bite you and put a bad bite on you, you would take a black hen's egg: You'd take that egg and break the egg and rubs it on this place. When this place gets well your teeth gon'a fall out. But you gotta shorely get a black hen's egg.
Entry 1320
Now, dis thing, when yo' go to this cemetery an' git this dirt, if a person happen tuh bite chew or anything, jes' take dis dirt an' put it on dis place an' it will rot out dere teeth. [The usual rite to rot teeth of a person biting you demands chicken manure (No. 1189f., p.428); less usual, chicken egg, No.1193f., p.429.]
The informant describes cemetery dirt and a claimed effect on a biter's teeth. Hyatt's following comparison with chicken manure and egg rites is separate editorial commentary, not a statement by the informant.
Entry 6732
Well, dey say if a person bit chew, all yo' have tuh do is git some chicken manure an' put it on de sore where dat person bit chew, an' yore teeth will fall out - jes' rot out.
(Any kind of chicken manure?)
Any kind. [I have included this belief here because it states "any kind." The same belief is found everywhere, including Mobile, Ala., (704-706), 969:2; Charleston, S. Car., (511), 517:3; etc.] [Fayetteville, N. Car., (1390), 2491:9.]
Entry 6735
Take black chicken manure an' put on it, on de bite. An' jes' lak if anybody bite chew, jes' go an' git some black chicken manure an' put it on dere, an' all yore teeth rotten out. [Sumter, S. Car., (1368), 2426:4.] [The same belief from: Richmond, Va., (404), 353:7; and Norfolk, Va., (about 464), 454:6.]
Entry 6737
If a black-gummed person bites you, put black hen manure on the bite and the biter's teeth will decay and drop out.
Entry 6738
Put black hen manure on bite, heals bite and rots biter's teeth. [The healing of the bite is understood in all these rites; the biter's teeth dropping out is a revenge rite.]
Entry 6739
Ah've heard people say that if anybody bite chew, yo' could take brown chicken manure an' use it on it as a salve, an' it would rot dere teeth out.
Entry 6740
If a person bites yo', yo' kin go an' git black hen's manure an' rub it on dere, an' dere [the biter's] teeth will turn black, too.
Entry 11053
Now, dey tell me yo' kin take a black hen's dung - a black hen's dung. In de places where he bit chew, anoint dat place wit dat, an' it will cause all dere teeth tuh come out.
Entry 12609
I know my brother did it. You kin take a pound of black pepper - dis grain [whole] pepper - and a pound of sugar. And you kin sit down and bite dis pepper and sugar together and put it in your pocket and go on the job. The man will give you a job. (You say your brother did that?) Yes sir.
Entry 13091
(Yes, how the quarrel started.)
De first thing, he had a mule named Julia. When ah wuz a boy dey used to have gin house whut dey pull mill round tuh gin cotton. See. Dey didn't have dese steam gins den. Out in de country dey had eight mules to it [etc.], have de first mule heah, one on dat end, one ovah heah and one ovah dere, and den dey have two mules heah and two mules ovah dere an' ah used to dirve de mules. So his mule would bite cha an' so ah wouldn't carry his mule, so he whupped me be- cause ah wouldn't carry it fo' him. Him an' I - his boy an' I got in a fight - so ah whupped him. An' so he whupped me again.
(The father?)
Yassuh, de father - ole man Spencer whupped me. So we boys met him [son] one night an' - ah didn't hit him but ah mean de other boys [did]. An' so ah left mah cap at his house. An' mah uncle Winston tole me he'd taken dis [capl de shed of a rattlesnake and rubbed de band of mah hat [capl. An' when ah sweated...an when ah put it on mah haid, my eyes went an' ah ain't saw no mo' since.
(When did this happen?)
1904.
(And this happened up in Perry county?)
Dat's Perry County, Alabama, Scott Station.
(Got it dry and took this dust and put it in your hatband and made you blind?)
Yes.
Entry 6731
[The following chicken manure beliefs and others I heard several hun- dred times, so often I did not record many of the duplicates. The locus classi- nos for this rite must be - but let me quote myself: the story told by Vander's wife is surely an unsurpassable account for this rite (No.1189, p.428), her story itself in No.888, p.319). These beliefs are also scattered throughout INTERVIEWS and elsewhere.] Well, dey say if someone bite chew an' yo' goes in de henhouse an' yo' use, Yo' know, whut de hen perform, an' yo' rub it all in [the bite] an' yo' bandage it aroun' dere an' weah it aroun' dere till - yo' gotta draw de spit [from the bite] out. Yo' weah it aroun' dere at least - some say 24 hours, aftah yo' git dat paste on dere lak a li'le pad. Den yo' weah dis band aroun' dere 24 hours, until it - it'll graj'ly [gradually] go in dere drawin' de poison out dey teeth bite. An' 'is teeth will rot out. Hit'll take effect on 'is own mouth. De poison'll [come] out of yore flesh intuh 'is [biter's] mouth.
The informant introduces the account with dey say and a conditional bite. The preceding bracketed recording notice is editorial, and the reported treatment effects are not established.
Entry 6734
Well, be sure it's a black hen. Watch 'er where she goin' an', yo' know [her] mess, yo' take dat an' rub it ovah dat bite. Tell me dat'll split de person [biter's] teeth.
(Do what?)
Dat'll rot dere teeth. [Usually these chicken manure rites mean a hen, chicken almost always being a synonym for hen. At the moment I do not recall manure from a black rooster.]
The account names the bite as the place of application. Editorial insertions and the interviewer question remain separate; the reported bodily effects are not established.
Entry 6736
Rub the black part of chicken manure [black chicken's manure not speci- fied] on bit and biter's teeth will rot out.
The source prints bit in an account mentioning the biter. That wording is preserved; the manure clarification is editorial and the reported tooth effect is not established.