Subject:Cadaver
Entries
Entry 817
About my cousin, my grandmother told me that - that's been round about twelve years ago, ten or twelve years ago. (Here - here in Vicksburg?) No, sir, that was in - up here in Shelby, Mississippi. (Shelbv, Mississippi.) Yes, sir, and she'd taken sick. Well, she and a lady friend was living together. Well, you see, she didn't know this girl had no grudge agin her; in fact, she could have did it for someone else, you see, got it for someone else. Well, she's a very beautiful girl and lotsa people liked her and some disliked her, you understand. Well, she was - dis lavatory was a good piece from de house and she would do what she was going to do in de house and take it out. So one day she did it and she didn't take it out except de girl did, and got part of it and stopped it up in a bottle, and so she'd taken sick from it. So, well, they never did take it to no two-headed person to find out what it was about; she went to a medical doctor. But her bowels was tied up - she could not do anything. And this bottle - after she was dead my grandmother saw [two- headed person] concerning of it. And she was told to go to her back steps, up under a board she had going to her lavatory, that bottle was buried with some of her in it; and say, when that stopper blew out, that's de cause her death.
(I see.)
So she died. They never did find it out till after she was dead.
Entry 46
Quite a while ago a friend of mines - dey don't know whether he got killed or don't know whether he died, because when dey held de inquest fo' him, dey didn't find no spot of where he was killed or either shot. De doctors 'xamined pretty good. Now, dat right chere in Waycross heah about three or foah years ago. But in examining him - yo' know, dey tells me dat a person kin be daid, dey kin be stiff, an' after being stiff - like if dey found a person dead an' dey being stiff, well de undertakers can't git him in dat casket until he's properly stretched out, but dey tells me dat chew kin jest walk up an' jest call dis person - a natural person, an' he limbers himself.
Entry 109
Now, if a man was to get kilt in my house an' it was a crowd there. Now, if I want anybody found out who kilt that man, I wouldn't let nobody come out of my house. I git me a straw [demonstrates] an' break it an' make a cross - jis' lak this, right across his forehead, an' let ev'ryone of den step over this man whut's dead. Well, now, when de right one stepped over this man whut's dead, well then de nose begins bleeding - that's him.
Entry 112
Well, you can find that out very easily. If I killed you and it seemed to be hard fer anybody to understand how it was done and who done it. See, you won't be naked, you bound to have some clothes on. They'll strip your clothes right off and put 'em to de side and get ready fer to lying you out as a corpse - you know, take 'em and stretch 'em right out right in de casket and lay you right on top of 'em. And I don't care where you are or where I am - if I've kill yuh, why I'm bound to be coming dere, and the moment I comes near, why the blood will gush out chure mouth and nose. It's not necessary to have the law do anything to me at all after dis, because I can't stay here. You bound to take me along with you.
Entry 222
I did hear one time that there was two girls which was partners, used to go to and fro together. So at last one day, one Sunday, they decided to go to church. And they went to Sunday school in the morning, also to eleven o'clock service, and that night one of the girls decided she Wanted to go to the night service. So when the one girl got to the other girl's house, the other girl was combing her hair. She told the other girl, "Leave us go to church." The other girl said to her in reply, "Before I go to church I'd rather go to hell with both eyes open without my hair being combed." After then they went. The next day, which was Monday, this girl was taken sick. Tuesday she died. On Thursday they were getting ready for her funeral. They had taken the corpse to the church. And after carrying it to the church they opened it so everybody could review. And after doing so, they went to pick up the coffin to put it to the hearse and they couldn't nobody move it. Then at last a gang of men put this coffin in the hearse. After the coffin got in the hearse they had four horses pulling the coffin. All four of those horses could not move it. It was an awful thing to see the great excitment. Then they decided to take this coffin out of the hearse and open it to see what was the trouble. So when they open this coffin there was a black cat in there combing this girl's hair with its paw.
Entry 1788
Jes' lak yo' or I has our picture made, see, an' folks don't like yo'. Dey has a way to git up to yo' with this. Well a person dies heah, yo' jes' put dat in de casket with dem, an' as de body molt away, see yo' does too. I really know that cause ah've see it tried.
Entry 1811
De bones of a dead man - yes, dey showed me dat in my studies. [This small-time doctor now tells me how to make and sell bone rings.] You take de bones of a dead man and if you kin get it and dry it and if anybody wanta do anything to you - anything in any way, you take that bone of a dead man and have ring make of it and wear dat ring. A bone ring dey call it - and nobody kin harm you. And if you git de bone of a dead man and make dat ring yourself, you kin sell those fer five dollars apiece - each ring is five dollars. Then everybody come to you and you say, "Now you put this ring on - it cost you five dollars" - be sure and make them give it to you first - "dat's a real ring - give it special to you and nobody kin harm you." You git dat bone - you speak to de undertaker when he begin embalmin'a body. He embalm de body and get a bone for you. You see dat's de spirit. There 206 bones in every parts of de body.
Entry 7356
Say, fer instant, now a man commits a crime. All right. Well now, yo' don't know who done de murdah. All right. But now, lak dey would go an' 'rrest a bunch of men, yo' see, dey would wanta fin' which one of 'em is de man dat done de killin' right dere. Dat is, if dey kin git dere, yo' undahstan', lak [soon aftah] it happens. Dey kin take dis man an' care [carry] him dere an' he'd place his han' on dat dead person. Why where he cut 'im or shot 'im or anythin' lak dat, he'll start to bleed ag'in.
Entry 7362
See, jes' lak a person would git kilt, well yo' don't know who kilt 'im. Dey might go to work an' bury him. Well, aftah dey bury him, dey go tuh work den an' wanta find out thurly [thoroughly] about dis man. Dey ain't satis- fied. If dey ain't satisfied, dey'll dig 'im up. Dey'll have evah'body dat knew 'im tuh come. Now de one dat done de killin', when yo' walk up tuh 'im yo' tetch 'im, why he goin' purge - he'll bleed.
Entry 7364
On a short ahdah [order] - ah'll jes' tell yo on a short ahdah [= quickly]. Yo' kin have a dozen men right in heah now an' ah kin walk in heah maybe an' kill one of 'em, yo' un'ahstan' me, an' ah'll git away. Well now, if yo' know dem mens, othah eight mens in dere dat was in dere when ah done dis killin' [his 12-l=8]. An' dey kin go off an' ketch me or get me. Dey will take an' walk right up an' jes' walk up to him, if he's daid - ah don't care how long he's been dead - if ah killed 'im, ah put mah hand on 'im dataway, he bleed jes' lak ah jes' stobbed 'im.
(They'll know that you killed him then.)
Yes sir.
Entry 7365
I have heard my grandmother say, that if a person has been murdered, that one way to find out the murderer is to allow a number of people to pass one by one and let each one put his hand on the murdered person. When touched by the guilty one the corpse will begin to bleed at that place. It is said that many murderers have been detected in that way. [By my contact man, Jerry Williams, by Ediphone at Ocean City, Md., in summer of 1936.]
Entry 7385
Ah heard dat jes' lak if some of mah people wus tuh git killed an' ah wouldn't know who killed 'em - lak ah'd find 'em daid somewhere an' ah wanted tuh know if somebody killed 'em. Well, den yo'd go to de undahtakah's shop an' yo' dress 'em, an yo' cut nine pieces out de tail or out de hem of whatsomevah dey had on. An' den you take dis heah an carry it to yore home, an' yo' keep it dere prob'ly until yo' git ready to bury 'em. Den dey tell me yo' prays nine prayahs ovah 'em, an' den yo' takes it an' carries it back to dis corpse, jes' lak if yo' goin' bury 'em. Yo' carry it back an' set it on de grave jes' yo' seen 'em bury dem right heah in de graveyard. Yo' take an' put one ovah his heart, yo' puts one ovah each eye an' one ovah 'is nose, one ovah his mouth an' one in each one of 'is ears, an' den put one in de palm of 'is han' - of dese heah little blocks yo' cut out de hem of 'is pants or dress or whatsomevah. An' den say, whosomevah killed dis person, dat dey would come back. (You put this right over the body itself, right over the eyes. You cut nine pieces, there are two eyes, nose and mouth - that's four. The ears, that is six. The two palms, one of each hand, that's eight. Now what is for the ninth piece?) One ovah the heart.
Entry 7418
(You lay this dead man on his face?)
On 'is face. An' de person whut done it dey can't stay away, if yo' lay 'im on 'is face. But if yo' don't lay 'im on 'is face, yo' will nevah git de per- son what done it. If yo' lays 'im on de face an' put a fork in dere han' - any kin'a [fork] yes, but not de fork dat yo' done eat wit churesel'. Yo' puts it 'cross jes' lak dis [demonstrates] in each one of de han's, an' lay 'im, de whole body, right down on de face.
(Do you use one fork or two?)
Two. Cross it in both han's. An' if it won't lay in de hands, jes' tie it aroun' dere han's, cuz see, dey dead, an' lay dem on dey face. Dey [murderer] cain't git away from yo' to save dey life. [Cross the hands of the corpse, each hand holding a fork, so that the forks also cross. This creates the double-cross.1
Entry 7438
Bury murdered person wit egg undah left arm. [The usual rite is an egg buried in each armpit.
Entry 7860
I have heard that people go to the graveyard and get fresh dirt from a corpse lately died, and they will come to your home and sprinkle it on your porch or anywhere where you will have to cross, and you will begin to linger sick.
Entry 12480
Bury murdered person across de world and on his face to bring back murderer. [Charleston 641:10.]
Entry 12484
If corpse falls the way murderer goes, murderer will come back.
[Mobile 882:11.]
Entry 12485
If murdered man falls on face, turn him on his back, step over him, and you will not be caught. [Mobile 974:6.]
Entry 13440
If you have a win [wen], you might have a win on yah - course I jis' tellin' yah. When you have a win on yah, you kin take a dead man or a dead wo- man's hand, an' jes' take they hand after they done died an' layin' there, an' do it like this [demonstrates by rubbing imaginary wen] 9 times. That goes right away. [Richmond (404, Hwmpadee, female root doctor), 359:6.]
Entry 778
Aunt Dorothy Wallace, if you passed her an' made any remarks at her - she wus a quire [queer] lookin' woman, you know - if you passed her an' made a remark that anything, you know, wusn't right towards her, she would turn round an' look at you, she'd throw her hand out, she'd say, "You'll be a corpse befo' mornin'." An' you'd come nigh bein' there too.
Entry 7515
If yo' find a person daid an' yo' wanta find out who killed 'im - ah jes' tell yo' whut dey said, ah don' know. Dey say 'cordin' to how de man is layin', which way he's facin'. If he's layin' ovah on 'is side turnin' ovah on 'is face, de fellah dat killed 'im comin' back. An' says if yo' wan' to, when dey give de man a Wake, yo' go dere three nights han'rnnin' [= hand running = consecutively] at one 'clock at night an' say a prayah an' de one dat killed [him], he'll come dere durin' dat prayer. (You say if they found a man killed they just let him lie there and then his friends would go there every night for three nights and pray over the body, and the fellow that killed him would come back?) Durin' de third night. He would have to heah de prayah. [My comment apparently says the dead body lies at the scene of the crime of three days, so that his friends could go there three consecutive nights and pray over the body. My mistake began with the word when - when dey give de man a wake When, of course, here means after - after dey give de man a wake etc. On the three nights following the wake, friends at one o'clock visit the scene of the crime and say a special prayer to bring back the killer. The body was buried the day after the wake, that is, the day after the murder.]
Entry 821
I have a fellah, he told another boy an' myself - we always knowed 'im being very high [a high man = cunjureman] - he could do anything he wanted to do. In fact, I knowed 'em to put 'im in jail an' handcuff 'im, an' put 'im in a cell, a couple of hours after he'd be on the street. Nobody could never explain how he'd git out. They had to carry 'im back to jail. Jis' an ol' peaceful ol' quiet fellow, but would git drunk, you know, an' not create a scene, but jis' be disorderly we'll say. An' they'd put 'im in jail, an' the next morning they'd turn 'im out an' never would be no fine. So he said to me and another one of my boy friends - we were always walkin' down this town here - that he could fix us so that we could git all the money or anything else that we wanted, but we'd have to go with him at nighttime. Well, we decided to do it. So he told us to git shovels. So we got shovels. An' I'm not knowin' what he could do - of course, I'm skeered of those sort of things. An' we went around to his place about eight o'clock at night and he entertained us by playin' the guitar and the banjo, and singin' and dancin', till along about eleven o'clock we thought somepin ought to take place then, becuz it wus time for us to go home and go to bed. So he say at twelve o'clock we wus goin' out to the graveyard - to our colored graveyard, that there wus a body there had been buried jist a certain length of time. Seems as though a body had to be buried that's dead in a grave a certain length of time. And he said -
(Where was this cemetery?)
This cemetery wus about a half a mile out of this present town on this Deals Island road. And he said after a body laid in the grave so many days - I think he said ten days that there would be a slobber that would come from the mouth. And we had to git into this grave, that he would git this slobber. And he said twelve o'clock. Well, I wus through with 'im right then as soon as he said twelve o'clock. But he never told us whut we had to do until this particular night. And he would get this slobber. Our work would be to open the grave, and he'd go in it and git this off of this body; we'd cover it up and come on back. Then he'd build these things the next day. But he had to have that. Now I've heard speak of he had to have graveyard dust out of a coffin, but he never told us whut he could do with it or anything. But he did specialize in the slobber that would develop from a man's mouth or anyone that's been dead ten days. And that would be gotten and put together with various other things, and he would be equipped to do anything that he wanted to do and get away with.
Entry 6764
If a person got a wen on dere arm or anywhere about 'em, 20 wanted tuh git rid of dat wen, when a person dies, yo' kin go dere an' jis take dat wen an' wipe it on 'em jis' 'fore dey git cold, or eithah wash it down. Jis' take it an' wipe it on 'em. An' when dey bury dat person, in three day's time dat com- sence tuh wizen [wither or shrivel] away an' it'll go. [The verb to wizen, from the Anglo-Saxon, is obsolete, though it lingers on as dialect.] [Sumter, S. Car.,
(1368), 2422:2.] [Bone from dead cures warts, No.8027, p.3409.]
Entry 7270
If corpse falls the way murderer goes, murderer will come back [from that direction]. [A better statement of belief is given in its margin title.]
Entry 7276
To keep from being caught, let murderer jump backwards across the corpse and then put turpentine on feet.
Entry 7277
Said dat he could take de man dat he killed an' jump ovah him dis way [demonstrates] an' den jump backwards, but he do's it fo' three times an' den he goes on away. An' dey said he can't be caught, de hounds can't trail 'im. [Forwards and backwards is one time; do three times.]
Entry 7278
Know whut dey do to keep 'em from ketchin' 'im? Well, soon as de man fall - ah've seen dat mahself an' ah ain't nevah hear'd of dem ketchin' 'im. Soon as de man fall aftah dey shoot 'im, yo' know, an' he dies, why he steps cross 'im three times. He goes an' step cross 'im an' goes right roun' 'im an' step right cross 'im ag'in, three times.
(Steps forward over him?)
Yes sir, step fahward an' come right on back de same way an' step cross 'im three times, an' den leave. Dey'll har'ly ketch 'im. (He doesn't walk around the corpse [I demonstrate]: Steps [forward], over him like that, comes back [steps back over body], and then back [steps forward over body second time].) Yes sir, three times.
Entry 7281
If a man killed anybody an' don't want 'em tuh ketch 'im, he kin - de one dat he killed, he kin step backwards ovah 'im three times an' hug 'im an' kiss 'im, go to de graveyard an' put some dirt in each one of 'is shoes, an' dey can't ketch 'im.
Entry 7282
Ah've undahstood it dis way, dat when dey kills a man - aftah dey kill de man - dey turn an' walk backwards ovah 'im, for five paces I believe, back- Wards ovah de man; den dey turn facewards an' go in de same direction dat you turned an' dey couldn't ketch chew. [The murderer faces his victim while killing him, and then with his back to the corpse so that he can take one step backwards over the fall- en body, he continues five more steps backwards. At this spot the killer again turns 180 degrees to look towards the original or attack direction, the direction in which he now walks or runs away.]
Entry 7332
(You mean the knee from this dead man?)
De cap of de knee.
(How do they do that?)
Well, jes' lak if anybody kill a person, git in trouble an' wanta git away, so dey won't be caught chew know an' dey won't even look fo' dem; an' den, if dey run, happen tuh run 'cross 'em, dey can't handle 'em. All right. Dey kin go by a cemetery an' dey'll dig up a dead person, yo' know, if dey in trouble or sompin. An' dey want dat knee. An' dey:11 take dat knee an' dey'll tote it in dere pocket, see. All right. Befo' dey git dere, git dat knee - 'fo' dey git to dat knee, dey will take turpentine an' will rub it in dere shoes, see. Dat's tuh keep - jes' lak dey got dogs out aftah 'em or sompin, [keep dogs away] till dey git to de graveyard an' git dat knee. Take an' wrap it up or sompin an' put it in dere pocket an' go on 'bout dere business.
Entry 7363
Now, yo' kin take a man, jes' lak ah jes' go out dere an' kill a man. Well, ah'd make mah escape an' dere didn't nobody know who did it. Den yo' know somebody has fresh hen aigs fresh. Yo' goes an' gits two aigs an' put one in each one of mah han's - in de daid man's han's, an' den keep 'im out de ground 24 hours. An' at de end of 24 hours ah'll be standin' right dere.
[For use of eggs to discover or bring back murderer, see later.]
[Another method:]
Dey'd have me put mah han' on 'im, an' de minute ah put mah han' on 'im, de blood goin' go free from him lak ah jes' done it.
Entry 7367
[I am adding a number merely to call attention to several unusual rites that could have been included here: (l)
Break a straw into two pieces and cross them on the forehead of the murdered man. Each suspected person must then step over the dead body. As the murderer steps across, the corpse will begin to bleed (see No.109, p.40); (2) Two straws are crossed on the murdered man's stomach and a new pair of scissors is also used
(see No.7421, p.3273).]
Entry 7390
Well, de person dat killed dis person...the dead person, - yo' go to your hen-house where your poultry an' git chew a hot laid egg - a fresh laid egg, yo'understand, two of 'em an' put one in each hand.... If not that, yo' take this dead person's hat an' put it ovah their face see....right ovah his face. If yo' don't do dat, yo' take [demonstrates] his pocket han'kerchief an' spread it one corner on each side of the corner - heah an' one up heah, yo' see.
[I now describe his actions:]
(You take this dead man's handkerchief and you put it like a diamond over his head.) Dat's right, one point to the top of his head and one at his throat and one toward each shoulder. Dat's right. An' de hat yo' take an' place it right ovah his face.
(These are all separate ways of doing it.)
(To bring back the man who killed him?)
To bring back de man dat killed de man.
Entry 7413
Well, yo' kin take de water dey wash de individual [murdered man in].
(That they wash the dead man in.)
An' put it in a quart bottle. An' yo' know how yo' cut cork to grease a saw wit - cut a cork to grease a saw wit. Chew know how dey grease a saw, have oil in a bottle - kerosene in a bottle to grease a saw. Jah [did jah] evah see dat? (No. They use a piece of cork to do that, you say?) Yo' see people dat saw wood, don't cha? Den dey have oil dey 'put on de saw. (Yes.) Dey have a stoppah in de bottle don' dey? Have it cut aroun' dere so dat de kerosene come out dere lak dat. Jah evah seen dat? (No, I have never seen that, but I understand. They cut little ridges in the cork so that this kerosene will come out of the bottle.) [Informant is talking about cord wood which years ago (before World War I) in the cities and towns came already sawed for fireplace or wood stove. Sometimes a person did his own sawing on a sawbuck. I did very little of this type of work as a boy. If the saw was rusty, people I knew greased the saw with a fat piece of bacon (American, not English or Canadian), not with kerosene in a bottlehaving a drip cork.] Yeah, theah yo' are, cut ridges in dat cork de same way an' set it up dere somewheres where it will drip, where it will drip out. Put it underneat' de dead man left arm an' it drip. [When] all dat watah drip out dat bottle dat pusson be gone. (That person who killed him will be gone - will die.)
Entry 7426
If a man kill a man, see, ketch a raw egg quick an' bust it in de man, de dead man's han', dey'll ketch dat man in less time dan a hour if he gone.
(How do they do - I mean how do they catch him by doing that?)
Jes' git de egg an' bust it in 'is han'.
(In the dead man's hand?)
Yes, jes' de egg in de dead man's han', an' dey'll ketch 'im. If dey don't ketch 'im dere, dey'll ketch 'fore he kin git away.
(Any kind of a fresh egg.)
Entry 7427
De man what dey bury, whut got killed, bury 'im wit a - wit a egg in his lef' han', a egg, an' dis fellah cain't stay away.
Entry 7428
Well, yo' know dat dead fellah, yo' kin put a aig in 'is han' an' dis is fac's an' a bran'-new pair of scis- sors undah 'is haid. When dat aig busts he'll come back an' give up. Ah know dat happen right heah in Memphis.
(What hand is that egg in?)
In de left han'.
(Any kind of an egg?)
A hen aig, gotta be a fresh aig, see.
(And a scissors under his head?)
Undah de dead woman's haid, an' de aig in de dead person's han', see. An' dey buried wit dat aig in dere han's.
Entry 7431
De man whut's daid, yo' take a fresh hen aig an' put it in 'is right han', an' close 'is han' up wit dat fresh hen aig in it, an' place it across 'is heart, see wit 'is han' close up, an' when dat aig bustess in 'is han' dis man will come an' give up.
(Put it in his hand and then lay his hand right over his heart?)
Dat's right.
Entry 7435
Yo' go to work an' yo' git choo a black hen's aig. Yo' take dat aig an' yo' bring it back to de party whut dat he killed, if yo' could git to 'em [the corpse]. Yo' put dat aig into his right han', yo' shet dat han' up on it, an' bury 'im wit dat aig in dere han'. An' he [the killer] boun' to come back to 'im. He'll come right back to dat same house where dey killed dat pusson [person].
Entry 7436
If he foun' dat man dead an' dat dead man jes' dere. Well, if dat dead jes' layin' - Jesus Christ said, "He dat kill shall be killed." Yo' git a fresh black hen's aig an' put it in, bind it in dat dead man's han' an' turn dat dead man ovah on 'is face, an' dat murderer will come dere.
(You put it in either hand?)
Put it in 'is right han'.
Entry 7462
Dey put two fresh eggs in de dead person's hands an' bury 'im wit dem two fresh eggs - black hen eggs - an' he'll come right straight back to where he done it den.
Entry 7463
This is only a small parable I want to give as an idea. If a young girl would go out wit some boy [if] he would drown this girl. Af- ter this girl had been drowned, she would rise in three day's time. All right. They go to some foreteller an' she say, "Yes, that's what you want." Well, the final facts - if the people want to see the facts - wants this boy to do the same thing that this girl did, commit suicide. Yo' may go to work an' take a rope, before buryin' dis girl, an' place aroun' 'er neck. Tie it, bring through each arm an' tie each arm.
(Tie her arms behind her?)
No, tie 'em down.
(I see, tie them down.)
The next knot goes in around her waist, but a piece of new rope. Then tie the legs together. May look an' git two black hen eggs, put in each hand an' cross 'em up in each hand. Bury the girl on 'er face. In nine days time or five days, this fellow will be floatin' round the same place where this girl was picked up from.
Entry 7466
If a man killed somebody an' run away, yo' will take de daid one an lay 'im on 'is face. An' yo' git three fresh aigs an' put one in each han'. Put one in each one of 'is han's an' lay one undah heah, right up undah his chin heah. Lay 'im on 'is face, de daid one. Dat's if yo' cain't identify de fellah, yo' lay de dead one on 'is face an' put one dem fresh aigs in each han' an' lay de one right undah his neck heah undah his face. If dat man, if he won' come back dere, he be put where he kin be seen.
Entry 7505
Well, it's jes' lak dis now, if yo' kill my brothah, or my sister, or any relation of me. All right. Well, dey'll take 'im to de undahtakah an' de undahtakah will 'balm dat body. Well aftah 'balmin' dat body dey will take 'im, an' have a wake - jes' lak dey call set up, yo' know, set up wit 'em yo' undah- stan' dat night, see. An' de nex' day dey bury 'em. [This burial the day fol- lowing death is almost the rule in these 4 volumes of HOODOO.] Well, dey set up wi t 'em dat night an' de nex' day dey'll take 'em to de cemetery. Well, aftah takin' 'em to de cemetery, yo' let 'em lay dere three days see, an' de third yo' die an' de third day yo' rose. All right. Aftah dey rose - yo' will rise on de third day - an' aftah dey rose, an' I knows it's de third day, well, I'll go to dat grave an' I'll stan' at de haid an' I'll call dat person who kill yo'. I will call 'im three times. See. Aftah I call 'em three times, I will call 'em twice, an' [after] I call 'em twice, den I'll turn around an' call 'em once [magic of diminishing amount] right at de head of de grave. An' [when] I call 'em once, den I'll kneel down an' I ask de Lord fo' what I want to be done to 'im. An' jes' de same [way] he killed yo' or me - if he killed me wit a knife, somebody will shoot 'im an' kill 'im; an' if he shoot me, somebody will cut 'im to death. [Murderer will suffer a death different from the one he gave.] See, but he'll have to die somehow.
Entry 7726
Yo' take de foot- bo'd tuh de haid an' jes' whatevah yo' want done, vell yo' gotta say dat fo' yo'self yo' see; but chew take it, an' see how it's turnt one way, den yo' pull it up an' den yo' turn it roun' de othah way. See.
(You mean you put the head part [headboard] down to the foot?)
Yeah, yo' take de haid part - yo' take it from de haid an' put it tuh de foot an' den yo' - but chew turn it upside down. Don't turn it lak yo' pull it up. (You put the top [part.of graveboard] down into the hole. What do you do with the footboard then?) Yo' do de same thing. Yo' take de footbo'd an' put it to de haid an' yo' take de haid an' put it tuh de foot.
(But you must put them upside down?)
Upside down. Jes' whutevah yo' want did, den yo' ast dis dead body tuh do dat fo' yo' - jes' whutevah wish yo' want, whutevah yo' want did, yo' do dat. [Sumter, S. Car., (1348), 2330:9.] With all the graveyard dirt previously given and more to follow this subsec- tion (2), what is the reader to do? Remember only, graveyard dirt full of the spirit refuses to be confined within man-made schemes of order.]
Entry 7905
[Before I turned on my recording machine I had asked about spitting.l Dey take dat yo' know [I interrupt]. (This saliva.) Yeah, dey took dat an' fixed it up an' call it by name, an' put dat wit a li'le red peppah. An' take dat an' bury dat at de feet of de - anywheres dere's a corpse, a dead body in de grave. An' dat cuz yo' tuh suffah a stroke. An' it cut de speech, too, yo' know; an' yo' kin drivel up.
Entry 7999
Put dat undah de step yo' see, or put a little coffin. Make yo' a image of a man wit wax, see. Dey put a corpse wit nine needles through de wax, yo' see. Dat will make dose individual dat live in dat house, dey nevah be happy, lak yo' put two enemy tuhgethah. Yo' nevah be able tuh put two of 'em tuhgethah. Dey walk- in' ovah it day an' night yo' see.
Entry 11341
Dese little mawnin' birds like a turtledove, dey calls it - lak a dove, a mawnin' dove. It's lak a [something] but it's a smaller bird. See, if dere's a sick[ness], dere 'fliction around de house, yo' see him come light around dere. Pretty soon dat's a dead body. [A note of mine reads: "The drunk who came in twice.'"'
Entry 12281
Yo' kin during so many days tie knots in a string an' dey say dere a way of dressing dat. Git chure clothes an' put [knots] in dat an' bury it. When dem 9 days out yo'll be a corpse. (How would you dress those strings, those knots?) Dey dress with whut chew call - it's a root dey call a ~uampole root." It grows lak a great big white onion...
[I turned off machine and turned it on again.]
(It's a bitter weed, you say.)
[Is informant talking about wild onion?]
Yes sir, a hog loves it, de bitterest in de world. He scream when eatin' it. [This screaming sounds like folklore.] An' if yo' bite it an' swallow dat, it Will tie yo' up inside an' kill yo'. [Is this based upon pigs hunting for truf- fles, the pig being hit on the nose when he finds one (the cause of the squeal) so that he does not eat it?]
(Constipate you?)
Yo' kin bite it but don't swallow it.
(That's warpole root?)
Yes, wampole root. Dey takes dat string an' de salt[?] outa wampole root until dat thing git wet through an' through an' put dem knots in it. It will tie yo' up jes' lak...
(That is to tie your bowels up?)
Yes sir. Yo' heard of people wit locked bowels from dat. (What do they do with this string first? Do they have to get it out of your clothing or something?) Dey git chure clothing an' wrap dat string wit it. (Oh, you wrap that string around your piece of clothing.)