Subject:Buckeyes
Entries
Entry 3147
It's a ll'le bush grow dis high called de buckeye. Well, its in de summahtime de sun dries 'em an' it cracks open an' li'le black ball draps out on de ground. [The buckeye is a tree, it and the black balls I have known since childhood.] Yo' take dat ball up an' yo' take bunch of 'em an' yo' put 'em in yo' pocket den. All right. She take one an' den yo' takes one. Yo' go on about yo' business. [Here informant's words meaning little I stopped recording, but almost imedi- ately restarted machine to ask about some promising words I had missed.]
(What was that?)
Don't want anyone toward 'er whilst yo's gone [on] yo' job. Yo' kin go on yo' job about two or three weeks - ah got a job about two or three weeks ovah heah. All right, yo' pick up dem two balls an' she take a buckeye ball an' yo' go any- whah yo' wanta go, an' she satisfy no one.
(How many of those do you carry?)
Yo' carry two an' leave her one.
Entry 1144
In cases if a person is down sick wit de rheumatic rheumatism and it seems dat yo' go to de doctor - seem like dey can't cure it, yo wanta walk out in de woods and git chew two buckeye balls an' put in each pocket and wear 'em in yore pocket until de hull comes off of 'em. An' you gits rid of de rheumatism.
Entry 1760
Say yo' go to some kinda tree in de woods an' git somepin whut dey call a buckeye an' carry that with yo' all de time. Yo' have good luck.
(Good luck in what?) In gamblin'.
Entry 1761
Git chew a buckeye. Yo' know whut a buckeye is - it grows in a hull like a chestnut, great big one. Git chew one of them an' contin'lly carry it in yore pocket an' yore employer will always - seem like yo' nearer to 'em than any other one.
(Which pocket do you carry it in?)
Carry it in your right pocket. A buckeye - dey hard to git. That keep yo' job.
Entry 10833
Whensomevah yo' want a job, yo' kin take one of dese heah buckeyes. Yo' know it's sompin dey call buckeyes dat grow in de woods, some kinda thing dey call de buckeye. An' yo kin take some of dat, cake bit an' put it in yore pocket. Bole [hold] it in yore hand an' squeeze it in yore hand when yo' go look fo' a job, any kinda favor. Dey'll nevah deny yo'. While yo' talkin', hol' dat buck- eye in yore hand; yo' know, squeeze it tight an' talk to dem, an' dey won' deny yo' fo' yo' job, whatsomevah yo' go dere fo'.
Entry 1762
Git de buckeye and wear it in yore pocket. Yo' wanta sprinkle it though about ev'ry other day with some Hearts Cologne and wear it in yore pocket, and git dis incense and burn it around de house co'se, an' git some peanuts and put on de front [but not in the house]. Dat buckeye now, yo' need tuh git on de no'th side of de tree. Dere's a he buckeye and a she buckeye, yo' wanta git dose on de no'th side of de tree. A he buckeye supposed to have two eyes and de she one. Yo' wear dem in yore pocket.
(This is to bring in trade?)
Yes sir.
Entry 8996
Yo' take those ole buckeyes, yo' see, an' yo' carry one in yore pocket; an' jes' lak if yo' had one, get to de co't, why yo' take it an' chew it.
(That's to influence the judge.)
Entry 8997
Git de buckeye an' red peppah an' John de Conkah root an' jes' pound that up into a powder an' sprinkle it in de co'troom, an' dat makes a deal of dif- ference. (Well, what do you use of the buckeye, the knob [shell] or - the knob or what?) De knob.
Entry 10612
If yo' want a job, yo' go down tuh de boss. Well, if dis fellah want- ed a job, didn't have no work an' didn't have nowhere tuh stay, an' everybody dat he went to, had turned him away. An' he went tuh a fellah dat supposed tuh know. De fellah give him three kind of roots: give Adam an' Eve, an' dis blacksnake root an' dis heah devil snakeroot [see later]. He taken dat root.... (Devil snakeroot or devil's shoestring?) Devil's shoestring! Dey called it de devil root. Take dat root an' fix dat root up in a kind of a compound an' he go down dere. When he git dere tuh dat man he take it an' goes an' git him a buckeye an' puts hit in his pocket. An' he wears dat buckeye. De buckeye made out of - dem lit- tle black buckeye lak dat. He takes dat an' he goes down an' he talks to de man. He put all of dat in Hearts Cologne an' he goes down dere to de man an' he gits tuh rubbin' his hand lak dat. An' walks up tuh de man an' started tuh talkin' with de man. De man will tell him, no, but be shore tuh come back de next day. Well, he'll come back de next dat still a-rubbin' dat root. Well, he'll git dat root, every one of 'em, one in each pocket an' one in each foot. An' he gits dere an' de man go tuh talkin' an' he'll have a piece in his mouth chewin'. When he git dere de man go tuh talkin' an' say, "Well, ah guess, if yo' think yo' kin work, ah'll give yo' a job." An' yo' tell de man yo' kin work. Jes' as long as yo' keep dat roots rubbed up an' keep it fulla Hearts Cologne, well de man will nevah fiah yo', but de time dat yo' lose dat root, yo' lose yore job.