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.]