Subject:Bore
Entries
Entry 3318
If a man or a woman wants tuh stop yo' from runnin' aftah anothah woman, she git chure urinate watah an' bottle it up, an' she'll take a auger an' bo' a hole in a tree [put the bottle in and stop it up]. It'll kill yore courage fo'evah. Yo' nevah have no nature - yo' wouldn't have any fo' her or nobody else.
Entry 3955
Ah hear dey say, take a woman's monthlies yo' know, an' bore a.hole in a tree an' put it in dat. Fo' nine mawnin's fore de sunrise an' - go an' hit it, drive it up. Dey say in de ninth mawnin' she'll be daid by dat. (Well, tell me the whole story.) Well, dey says dey take de monthlies an' bore a hole in a tree fo' nine mawnin's... (What about that hair though?) De hair? Well, now dey do de hair de same way.
Entry 6203
Dey say if yo' take it [hair] outa de mole of yore head - dat's what dey say. Dey say yo' get it from de centah, from de mole of yore haid yo' call it. Yo' pull it out until yo' kin see dat littlewhite. It looks lak de root of yore hair, yo' see. An' yo' take it up on a hilltop an' take a augah an' bore a hole in a green tree. When yo bore dat out yo' stick dat [hair] in dere an' den take eithah cement or mortah or somepin an' covah dat up in dere an' dis person will always suffah wit de beadache an' have a wandahin' mind.
Entry 6248
They run yuh crazy.
(How do they do that?)
They take a tree - they take de sunny side of de tree, when de sun rises on de tree, makes a hole wit a auger, den put dat hair in dere. Den take a ten- penny nail, yuh got'a have a ten-penny nail, den put dat hair in dere an' drive dat nail in dere. An' aftah de ba'k [bark] begins tuh grow dere ag'in, de weak- ah yuh git an' craziah [crazier] and foolishah. Dat causes yuh tuh be foolish, dat makes yuh lose yuh mind.
Entry 7333
Like if a fellah done kilt a man, regardless of what nationality or what color or whoever he are, he's goin' up befo' de judge - he's goin' fer 'is neck or life sentence. Yo' know some fellah, de fellah - yo' know what ah mean, dat he have kilt. Yo' go, yo' have to take anothah fellah wit yo' to do dis. Yo' take yo' a spade or whatevah yo' kin. Of co'se, yo' kin always git in de cemetery at night. Yo' gotta know where dis party's buried dat he kilt. Yo' dig 'im up till yo' git to his lef' ahrm [arm]. Yo' can't wait too long befo' yo' do dis, yo' gotta git 'im befo' he is spoiled. Yo' git 'is lef' ahrm or eithah his han' - anythin' yo' kin git. Yo' git all of dose fingahnails, de whole five of 'em offa dere. Yo' take 'em an' yo' git yo nine needles an' yo' heat dese needles. Yo' bore a hole in each one of dose fingahnails wit each needle. Yo' take dat an' yo' make a necklace outa hit. Now, dis is fo' de fellah dat did de killin'. Yo' give dis necklace to de fellah to wear when he go up befo' de judge, he's gotta get discharged.
(I see. You dig up that left arm. You mean you don't have to get the [whole]
left arm, just so you get the left hand?) Jes' so yo' kin get de...
(You don't want to get the left arm, just so you get the left hand?)
Git de fingahnails, dat's all yo' want. Yo' don't want de flesh at all, yo' jes' want de nails offa de hand.
Entry 8741
Ah've heard of a person kin write chure name on a piece of papah, an' go to a tree dat's growin' an' bo' a hole or eithah split a place big enough, an' drive dat name in dere on dat papah, an' let it grow up in dere, an' aftah so long a time dat person'll go clean away an' yo'll nevah see 'em or heah from 'em no mo'. Ah've heard of dat being done.
Entry 11324
Yo' kin go to a dogwood tree, yo' know, an git dis bark yo' know, an' do somepin to a person - a man eithah a woman. Yo' kin take somepin othah an' bo' a hole in dis tree. See, yo' take dis bark out an' bo' a hole in it [the wood part] an' git some of dat bark an' dat wood yo' understand out an' take an' mix it [bark and borings] up togethah, an' git some [of their] hair, an' den go back to dat place an' chunk [push] it [bark, borings and hair] back [in the hole] yo' undahstand. See, dat [hair] grow up in dere. An' take a - yo' know lak a person go to take a passage, yo' understan', take some of dat stuff [excrement] an' tie it up an' put it in dat hole. [Usually a hole with something in it is plugged up with a peg, perhaps not here.]
Entry 11857
I could take just about three strands of hair of your head and go to a tree. And I would put it on the sunset side of that tree, where the sun goes down on that hair. And just take a long spike nail and bore a hole in that tree. And ball all that hair up on the sunset side of the tree, but it has got to be when the sap is up in the tree. By what I mean by the sap is when the leaves is on the tree. And bore a hole in that tree and stick that hair up in there, and drive that nail in there behind it. And when the sun commence to go down, that cause you to have headache, don't you see. And this headache will get worse every day, and from that it will drive you crazy, and from crazy it will kill you. [you do this] when the sap is up, because when the sap begins to go down you won't live very long.
Entry 11858
Dey carry dat to a tree.
(This hair from your head?)
Yes, sir. Take and put it in a tree, and bore a hole in de tree first, and put it in de tree. And I hear 'em say dey take it and make a peg, like a stop- per, you know, and put it in de tree and stop it up in dere. Heard 'em say dat, yes, sir. Stay in dere so many days. If you don't get somebody [hoodoo doctor] to take it off you, why you'll - you bound to go [die]. You're stopped up.
(Stopped up?)
Yes, give you what dey call locked bowels [which will kill you. No M.D. can help you. A common belief].
(I see.)
Entry 12288
Ah heard tell of a person takin' a string - a cord jes' like dey ties - if yo' want a person hurt. Why, where it will kill 'em, yo' know, or sompin like dat. Jes' git some of dis heah string an tie 9 knots in it, jes' as tight as yo' kin. An' bo' a hole into a green tree, any kind of a tree, jes' so it's green, an' put dat knot in it, dat dere string dat chew tied dem knots into dat tree, an' stop it up.
(Don't you say anything or do anything?)
Nosuh, jes' makes 'em sick till dey dies.
(You have to get a string from them, or what?)
Yassuh, from dey house. Anywhere roun' dere house yo' git dat string dat dey been usin'.
Entry 12511
Yo' cut a hole in de middle of it, de red onion. Yo' cut a hole in de middle of it, see, an' yo' take a cord string an' tie around it. An' yo' put sugah down at de end of dat red onion an' yo' tie it at chure front do', up ovah yore do', an' dat's tuh keep peace in yore house. [There are several ways to prepare this onion, a fairly small one.]
Entry 4404
Dey tell me dat chew kin take dat [human excrement] an' bo' a hole into a tree an' peg it tight, where it can't git out, an' it'll rush yo' wit headache all de time. Whut ah learned about dat.
Entry 1001
You taken a man or woman subject with astmee [asthma] - you make 'em passage, you go to a tree and you dig a hole, bore a hole in the tree and put that down in there - bore a hole with a auger and put that in there and stop that up. He's got no more astmee. [Stopping up a person's passage a dangerous rite - see Excrement and Black Bottle in Index.]
Entry 4004
Now, ah heard dis. Dey could go tuh work an' take yore urinate. Yo' see, jes' lak yo' urinate anywhere [they take it] an' go into de woods an' bo' a hole into de tree lak dis, yo' see. Take a augah an' bo' a hole in dere. Make yo' a peg, yo' see. Take dat [urinate] on a little peg an' go dere an' stick dat in dat little hole, yo' see. Yo'll tap dat evah mawnin' - see, fo' nine mawnin's tap dat peg. Let it stay in dere fo' nine mawnin's. Dey tell me, say, in de nine mawnin' yo' gone. Yore bowels are locked, yo' see. Yo' can't do yore business at all, yo' see.
(WHAT DO THEY PUT IN THAT HOLE IN THE TREE, YOUR WATER OR YOUR BOWELS?)
Dey puts yore urinate - yo' see, yore bowels. Yo' see de idea - jes' lak yo do yore business somewhere. [Fayetteville, N. Car., (somewhere between 1388 to 1391), 2489:3.]
Entry 4411
Now, jes' lak our bowels move, see. Well dey stop dat up in a bottle. Take a auger an' bo' a hole in dere - little round bottle. (Bore a hole in what?) In de tree. Put some of whut pass through from mah bowels in dis lit- tle bottle, an' put it in de tree, an' den nail [peg] a stoppah in dat. Well, dat will tie mah entrails up an' ah can't have no [more action].
Entry 4412
Jis' lak yuh go out aside an' dey know it, why dey kin go an' git dat an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up. An' when dey stop up dat bottle, why yuh can't have no passage den. (When you go outside, you mean your passage. They stop it up in a bottle, what comes from your bowels. What would they do with that bottle after they stop it up?) Yes, yes. Dey stop it up. An' dey tell me dey stop up dat bottle an' dey carry it to a tree. Bo' a hole in de tree an' den cut a round peg an' stop it up in dere.
[Sumter, S. Car., (1338)2311:9.]
Entry 5049
Oh, yes sir, dey could take yore socks. Dey could take yore socks an' git a augah, an' carry it in de woods an' bore a hole intuh a tree, an' stick it [socks] in dat hole an' stop it up airtight, see. Well, yuh wouldn't be no mo' good in yore limbs de balance of yore days.
(I see, you would be sort of a cripple.)
[The author is either rebuked or considered naive:]
YUH WOULDN'T BE SORTA CRIPPLE, YUH WILL BE CRIPPLE - likely tuh be Paralyzed, yuh cain't do nuthin.
Entry 1082
Well, for instance, somebody might have the measles - that's the first thing to start with, a child with the measles. You cut right in the mole [mold] of his head - a strand of hair out of the mole of his head. Go right direct to that tree and take that child and stand him right up there like that - have to be a young tree though, willow tree or something of that kind that's growing - and you just take a auger and bore a hole right in there and take that hair.
(Right from the top of his head?)
Yes. Take that hair and put it up in there and take a stob [peg or stake] and drive it up in there, and the more that he grows over that [taller than the stob] why you [he] improve. [After the cure] you transport it [the hair] back here where most the people can see. [This public display of hair causing the cure violates the fundamental rule of secrecy; the cured ailment could have returned. I would say that something more than ordinary measles is involved here, because usually magic measurement of a child is confined to recurrent disorders. For a child measured against a tree to cure asthma, see FACI,2ed., Nos. 5660-71, Pp.254-255. Also for various complaints children are measured against many objects: door, fireplace, wall, floor, ground, stick, string.]
Entry 1724
Well, you've heard of people being stopped from having their real actions. Have you ever heard about it? Well, now it is very true about that. Jest say for n'instance chew know someone - course it is not always you can get things like that unless it's in a country home, but if you know someone who uses that spot or go some place where you can get their actions. You go and bore a hole in a green tree - some tree that's not dead - it's gotta be green, and you get some of this and wrap it up, jest a small amount of this, and wrap it up in some new cloth and stuff it into a tree and jest force it back in dis tree. Get chew a piece of new tin and nine tacks, new brass tacks, and nail dis down and then paint over this tree - after you got, jest say a piece of bark or something of this tree - paint over that. That stays in this tree, which it will. This person's bowels will never move. Now, I know a lady right here in this town now - her bowels won't move, it moves out of her side. It is said that that caused this woman to be like that. Well, ah know 14 years ago that she was just as well as I am now, and no doctor that have ever diagnosed her case have been able to tell her whut's wrong. But they say for a fact that she was treated that way.
Entry 4419
Yuh kin take a person's a - yuh know ah couldn't use de proper name of it, yeah manure. Yuh kin take hit an' yuh kin go tuh a pine tree, an' go roun' right whare it pointed right to- wards de east, see. An' bore yuh a hole in dere, an' yuh could put it in dere an' stop it up, an' go dere nine mawnin's an' drive a nail, see, in- tuh dat. An' den go dere nine mawnin's an' drive dat nail fuhthah an' fuhthah in fo' nine mawnin's. Time comes it would come tuh 'im, yuh know, be worried wit 'is backside, yuh know, an' it will cuz him tuh have so much trouble it will kill 'im in de long run. [Informants proper nome of it is undoubtedly a messy four- lettered word!]
Entry 4423
Well, dat will stop 'em, too. Now, de way dat is done, yuh bo' a hole on de sunrise in de east an' den.
(You mean on the sunrise side of the tree?)
De tree, yes sir. An' aftah yuh bo' yuh hole in dere, den yuh take it an' put it in a piece of papah an' push it down dat hole an' drive a peg behin' it, an' call de person. Yuh call 'is name three times an' den evah time yuh call dey name yuh hit de peg. See, yuh got 'em. Dat locks 'is bowels. (Locks his bowel, after you put that passage in the hole.)
Entry 4438
Well now, ah learnt dat de passin' of a man's bowels, dey tell me dey do somepin wit it. Yuh want tuh know whut dey kin do. Dey'll take dat up an' dey'll put it in a bottle an' dey'll stop it up tight, airtight. An' dey'll carry it somewhere, an' git dem a augah, see, an' bo' a hole at de root of a tree. One dese li'le small bottle an' git chew a good augah an' bo' a hole in de tree. An' den yuh put dat in dere an' put a peg in dere. HE'LL NEVAH [wake] NO MO' TILL HE HEAR DE FIRST TRUMPET.
Entry 5723
Ah've heard den ag'in dat a man could - he could take dat if he wanted tuh do yo' real harm or wanted tuh take yore life. Take some of dat same stuff an' go to a tree. (This sand from the left footprint.) Yeah from de left feet. Bore a hole in a tree an' take dat sand an' set it in dat hole, an' take a piece of wood an' make a nice tight stoppah, an' bat it down in dere an' cut it off smooth. An' dat'll put chew tuh goin', dat'll Treck yore mind, perhaps take yore life. Dere's several diff'ren' ways yo' kin do dat, but dat's one of de main ways dat ah always did learn, wuz tole tuh me.
Entry 5726
Dey say yo' go tuh work an' take a tapeline an' measure 'im, yo' know, from 'is head tuh 'is feet - so many feet. Den yo' put it on a piece of papah, yo' know, de length of 'im. An' git some of 'is tracks, yo' know, an' car- ry it way out in de woods somewheres an' bore a hole in a tree. (They measure you with this tapeline, this measure, and they put it down on a piece of paper - your length. And then they put your foot track in there?) They put chure foot track an' de length wit de papah. Den dey go way out in de woods somewheres another, off choo know, an' dey bore a hole an' put it in dere - drive dat in dere.
(What will that do?)
Well, dey tell me dat's a good thing, yo' know, drive 'em off from de land. Jis' lak yo' had a piece of land or sompin yo' know, dat will drive 'em off from de land. Ah seen a ole fellow doin' dat. He tole me whut he wuz doin'.
Entry 5730
Ah tell yo' about de foot track as fur as ah knows. Yo' drags dat track from de toe an' drag it back wit dem two fingers, until yo' thoroughly gits back to de heel. [Demon- strates.] (You take the right hand and the index finger and the little finger. Make them as a shovel and drag it back towards the heel. And you begin with that track - your thumb must touch the heel and then where those two fingers rest, you draw them back like that.) Right in de centah of de track. Yo' takes dat track an' yo' buy yo' a bottle of ink, an' yo' mix jis' enough of dat in dat track tuh make a li'le, yo' know, a dough of it yo' might say. Den yo' go tuh a growin' tree on de sundown side an' bo' a hole right down at de foot of it. Put dat in it, pack it up, an' go back dere fo' three days evah mawnin' an' give it [peg] one tap. De third mawnin' yo' have it [peg] in wit [even with] de tree. Den take some of dat same ink an' stain all roun' dat place, an' go on about chure business. Dat man nevah go out in peace. Dat will jis' run 'im com- plete 'way from dere.
Entry 5731
They take the right footprint and take this and wrap that in a rag. And put High John de Conquer and Adam-and-Eve, and they said a eagle's feather, and put that in a [the same] rag. And cut a hole with a auger in a green tree and put that in there. And strike nine licks on the stopper that chew put in there for nine days. And you do that in the morning before sunrise and then do it before you speak to anybody in the moring. That will put the person in a lingering condition and will finally die.
Entry 6238
They kin take your hair from out of your temple. See, jis' a small pinch, two or three grains; that is, if they Wanta do you harm - make you sick, headache all de time. An' bore a hole in a tree befo' de sap rise, an' put it in there an' plug it up right tight. You'll have a headache an' die purtty soon afterwards.
Entry 11911
Bore hole into tree and in it stop up person's hair to run him crazy.
[Washington, D. C., 837:3.]
Entry 11913
You can give a person a headache by boring a hole in a tree and plug- ging up some of his hair. [Old Point Comfort, Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 11914
By boring a hole in a tree and stopping up in it some of victim's hair, you give him a headache. [Wilmington 116:7+85.]
Entry 11935
Bore hole on east side of tree and stop up person's hair to give him a headache. [Richmond 333:9.]
Entry 11944
On the growing of the moon is the proper time to bore a hole into a tree and to put into it victim's hair and 9 tenpenny nails. This will run victim crazy in 9 days. [Norfolk 491:6.]
Entry 4002
Yo' kin do anythin' wit dat. Now listen, yo' kin take a person urinate an' say git chew a little ragful. Yo' could bo' a hole in a pine tree an' put a peg in dere an' drive dat up, an' dat would lock dere bowels jes' as doh [though] if he didn't have none. He would nevah have anothah passage as long as he live, an' yo' know it ain't goin' be long befo' he gone. Dat's a shuh [sure] bet.
(THAT chamber lye LOCKS HIS BOWELS DID YOU SAY?)
No, locks his urinate.
[Yet informant did say lock dere bowels.]
(YOU SOAK THAT RAG IN A PERSON'S chamber lye OR HIS PASSAGE?)
No, yo' wrap up 'is passage an' yo' bo' a hole in a tree.
(That locks his bowels.)
[As the reader can see, this informant equates urinate with bowels. He could have repeated preceding informant's statement about chamber lye stopped up in a tree: It'll cut chuh watah off an' constipate yuh bowels.]
The informant describes boring a hole in a pine tree. The exchange contradicts itself about urine, passage and bowels; those contradictions remain visible.