Subject:Coffin
Entries
Entry 89
When I was a little boy [in 1860] I was praying an old-fashioned prayer the colored people used to pray. They went to the graveyard to get their souls converted. I went and prayed on a man's grave that was buried that day and I heard him moving and knocking on the coffin. I never paid no attention. [The knocking or beating on the coffin, once a common expression, survived in a few love divinations also about extinct - see FACI, 2ed., p.391. For praying in the graveyard and conversion, see my experience at Tyree Church in Introduction.]
Entry 826
You take nine pins an' fold 'em a certain way an' stick 'em in a piece of papah - I knew a girl, the reason I [know this]. I know a girl gota hold a girl's han'writin' one time. Dey wus arguin' about a fellah. This woman took this han'writin' an' these nine pins an' pinned them all roun' togethah. (How did she pin that around?) She pinned them somepin like a coffin.
(On this piece of paper?)
Yeah. She pinned dem pins all around like a coffin. An' she told her child to throw this in de river - in runnin' watah. This girl didn't live ovah three or four months afterward. Now, dat's cruel. She couldn't been jis' gon'a die anyhow. But that's whut happened [1926 in Richmond]. ["383 - woman about 50 - bootlegger" - Numbers Book 340-442.]
Entry 2926
(Tell me the whole thing all over again about that doll baby. What did they do with that?) You see, you takes a doll - you make it like in the shape of a person. Then you put my name - put the name there. Write your name all along there. Well, I name this person such-and-such a name - that's the person. Well, you'll take that doll and you'll put it in a box. Well, every morning you take that and you'll take a black candle and you'll set that doll, set that down there, put it on top of the box, but with the person's name who you want to do that to. Then you do that for nine mornings, and after that, you'll take that doll and you'll put - make a little coffin and you'll put that doll in a coffin, and you get you nine red beans and you put 'em in there, and then you'll take that person's name and then with that doll, and you'll take and take a lemon and you'll bury that doll. But you see, the doll don't get in the lemon, but you'll put their name and put that doll in the ground, and then put their name and the lemon on top of it and bury it.
(What will that do?)
Well, that make 'em all upset - that will make 'em wander, see.
Entry 6006
If yo' know someone dat chew wanta git rid of 'em an' dey are casin' confusion in yore home, why yo' kin take dere hair an', yo' know, git jis' fo' needles. Yo' cross dose needles somepin lak dat [demonstrates]. Make a square. [This square or oblong is a symbolical coffin or grave.] (Put two parallel needles like that, and two parallel - on the top and the bottom.) Dat's right. An' den yo' take dere hair, an' cut de hair out de mole of dere haid, an' put it in a little bot- tle [originally a tiny bottle of perfume sold at Five and Ten Cents Stores] an' stop it up, an' place it direck [directly] between dat square of dose needles. An' den git chew a red piece of rag or flannin an' sew it up in dere, an' walk tuh de rivah an' chunk it ovah yore lef' shouldah an' dey will leave. Dey jis' gotta go an' dey cain't stop. Dey cain't res' contented nowhere dey go.
(What holds these [needles] in place?)
Yo' wrap 'em wit some thread, wit a piece of red cord.
(Like you were making a picture frame?)
Dat's right. An' aftah yo' fix [tie] dat up lak dat, den yo' place dis bot- tle in de centah.
(Then you wrap the whole thing up?)
Wit a red piece of rag [red flannel]. An' den yo' chunk it direck ovah yore lef' shouldah in runnin' watah.
Entry 6197
An' anothah thing wit yore hair, dey kin take yore hair an' vrap it Mom' three coffin nails an' go to a tree, cut a gash in dat tree an' lay it in dere. Jes' lay it dere an' nail it down in dere wit a staple-lak, yo' know, where it will stay. Let it stay dere on de east side of dat tree, an' let it be a young tree. As dat tree grow an' heal up, as dat tree covah it [hole] up, when it completely covahs dat, yo' die. Yo'll be sickly all de time atil it covahs up an' yo' will die.
Entry 7398
Take de dead man's shoe an' bury an' he'll come back. (You mean the fellow that killed him will come back. You bury both his shoes, you say, or one? Which one?) De left foot, yes.
(Where do they bury that shoe?)
Wit'in 'is grave, in 'is box [coffin], right in 'is box wit 'im. [Surely the murderer's old shoe is buried in the coffin, not the dead man's shoe.l [Jackson- ville, Fla., (553) 691:4+85.]
Entry 7408
Jis' lak ef a puson wus tuh kill anothah one an' dey can't nevah ketch 'im. Well, dey go on an' dey gits - dat coffin have tuh be dressed whut dat in- divid'l is in tuh cuz dese othah parties tuh come back. An' tuh dress dat coffin dey'll git some dragon's blood an' whut chew call - well it's a oil whut chew call de come back oil, an' dat dragon's blood an' dat Sang-Sang Powdah. [This is probably the same thing as Sen-Sen or Sen-Sen Powder mentioned elsewhere.l An' take it an' put it in a half a pint-a watah, an' put two tablespoonsful of saltpetah in it, an' shake it up good an' sprinkle dat individ'l good in dat coffin. Sprinkle de corpse real good an' dat individ'l, whosomevah it is. An' in about three day's time dem parties will be back.
Entry 7409
Yes, sir, de firs' thing ah would do, git tuh de undahtakah. Dat's all ah want, git in touch wit de undahtakah - gotta git in touch wit 'em [him] or ah cain't handle de body. Ah'd trim dat man toenail an' fingahnails, an' take some of de hair out de haid [demon- strates], an' take some heah, an' take some heah, an' take some from down heah. An' ah'd put dose things tuhgethah.
[I now describe his preceding actions.]
(Take some from the top of his head, some from just at the bottom of each ear, and some down below.) Dat's it. An' trim 'is toenails an' hands [fingernails], put 'em tuhgethah an' mix some more stuff wit it. An' take it an' put it back in dat casket [cof- fin] wit a bran'-new red han'kachef, an' let 'em [these things] go in de grave wit it [the corpse]. An' if dat guy [murderer] don't be dere befo' dey bury 'em [him, the corpse], de people he work wit cain't git nobody tuh bury 'em. An' if he don't git dere, if he have tuh walk, he'll go in de graveyard an' stay dere until somebody go dere an' git 'em [him]. He gotta go dere, he cain't live.
Entry 7411
All right, dey kin take dat - dat man kill a man out dere an' he git away. An' dey wan' 'im to come back an' de law cain't bring 'im back. Dey take dat coffin, dat corpse, an' dey turns it a diff'ren' way in de house an' dey turn it in de direction dat he [murderer] went. An' de direction he went, dat de direction he comin' back. Dat body is turned dat direction. An' dey take some - write his name on some papah an' put it in dere, an' dey write it in de Name of de Lawd [Lord], but dey write it in vain [see later], an' say on dere, 'Lord, sen' dis man back. Turn 'im back, him what have killed mah brothah or mah husban', an' let de law git 'im." Well, he'll come back. Write his name on a piece of papah an' put it in dat casket, an' do it in de Name of de Lawd an' yo' do it in Vain.
(What do you mean in vain?)
Yo' gotta use a curse word, yo' see, an' den he'll be back in nine days. He'll return.
(I see.)
Entry 7415
Yo' take de watah. Jes' lak if dey got an idea what ah did ovah yondah to a person, an' dey wash de [dead] person. Take a half-a-pint of [this] watah an' place it to de casket [coffin] an' nine days aftah, well, if ah did de damage, ah'll follow de person. (If you killed that person?) Yes, if ah poisoned dat person, take de watah, firs' to de head. (What kind of water?) De watah dat yo' wash 'em in, git a half-a-pint of it. But jes' only wash one han' or dey feet. Git a half-a pint of it an' place it in de casket an' bury it along wit dere body. Nine days aftah dat ah'll go wit de [dead] body, too.
(You get the water from washing just one part of them?)
Jes' wash one hand or feet or anythin' - jes' git de watah.
Entry 7474
Jes' lak yo' kill some of mah fren's. Ah dunno [don't know] who done it, but ah got-a idea dat sech-an'-sech-a-one done it. Ah'll take de dead per- son an' turn 'im on 'is face an' de man who done it [I interrupt]. (Where are you going to turn him on his face? Where?) Turn 'im on 'is face in de coffin. Co'se yo' don't want it tuh be public. Yo' kin git de undahtakah to turn dis person on 'is face when he go tuh bury 'im. Covah 'im on up, an' aftah dat de fellah who done it will go tuh lingahin'. He'll go to lingahin' an' he'll nevah stop till he die an' follah shortly aftah. An' if dere fo' or five in de crowd dat kill.dis man - fo' or five in de crowd dat kill 'im - all who in dat crowd will certainly follah [because they did not help victim or report the crime, etc.].
Entry 7486
Ah've heard of dem takin' de man's tracks, de one dat done de killin', taken 'is tracks an' puttin' dat dirt into de casket, jes' sew it up in a bag, an' put it right into de casket, an' dey claim dat man, if he leaves, he will come back. (The man that did the killing, he will come back if his foot tracks are buried in the casket.) In de casket wit de dead man dat he killed.
Entry 7635
They say they take this graveyard dirt, choo understand, take it an' put it in a box. Take a piece of yuh underweah whut choo weah nex' tuh yuh skin [and put it in the box], an' jis' put it in a trunk an' let it stay there. An' as this dirt turns this piece of yuh underweah yel- lah, dat's jis' de way yuh'll turn. Yuh'll jis' fade right away. NO DOCTOR
[M.D.] KIN CURE YUH!
Entry 7932
It was a woman that had a son in New York [City] and she lived in Ports- mouth [Va.]. And this body had killed someone. This woman heard of this boy being in trouble, and she goes to work hanging clothes out that morning. She draws a mark on the ground like a coffin. She draws that with a clothespin, no particular place. She was talking with another neighbor. She says, "My son will be to me in a few minutes." She just put her hands like this. [Informant evidently demonstrated with his hand, but I repeating his every word, or small group of them into the Ediphone, was too busy to comment. Comments would come later wdth the Ediphone.] And in two days times the sheriff or the consta- ble where he was, brought her son back to Portsmouth. He Was condemned to be hung. [This in 1928, interview in 1936.]
Entry 7933
I have heard of them drawing a ring in the ground, and they make the shape of a coffin in the ring. Then you make a mark like this [a straight line lengthwise] through the center of the coffin, and take seven grains of pepper seed and put all up and down that mark and cover it over. Then you draw a mark through the coffin like this [a straight line crosswise]. And they can't get by there. They're going to drindle [dwindle] and drindle. Nothing will do you no good. You're going away from there. That doesn't aim to put you to death at once, that just puts a spell on you and you never get over it. They put that on the path or at the gate where you can't miss it. [Despite my comment in the preceding rite, in the present one I actually managed to squeeze in two comments to show that one straight line bisected the length, the other the width of the coffin.] [The informant's father was a well-known cunjure man, but the son has not been very successful in carrying on the work.]
Entry 7934
Take four sticks or clothespins, lay them out diamond shaped to resemble an old-fashioned coffin. Take a fifth stick or clothespin and on this write the person's name, and put the whole thing under his bed, or somewhere near him. This is called fixin' yore coffin fo' yuh.
Entry 7935
Yo' kin take a person's track. Jes' lak, fo' instance ah'd walk out de do' dere an' yo' could take a shovel - yo' know, a square part of de shovel. Yo' kin take a square part of de shovel an' pick up a fellah's track. Take it tuh a red ant baid. Yo've seen dese big ole red ants. Take it tuh a red ant baid an' jes' slide it down dere as neah as yo' kin wit'out tearin' it up - on top'a [top of] dat red ant baid. Take yo' nine bran'-new needles, goldeye needles, an' put it [them] in de shape of a coffin. In nine days time dat fellah'll eithah be daid or nobody won't know where he is - in nine days time.
Entry 7937
Dey make a coffin an' den dey [take] some of yuh somepin about chew an' put in dat coffin an' bury it, an' yo' jes' withah away until yo' die.
Entry 7940
Yo' take a person's hair an' if a person dies.... If ah wanta take a plait of yore hair an' ah take de plait of yore hair an' ah plait it, an' if ah knows of a person dies, ah take de plait of dat hair yo see, an' ah puts it undahneath dat daid person's haid. See. An' when dat daid person begin tuh rot, yore hair will begin tuh rot, yo' see. Jis' lak a person, yo' know, almos' aftah a person dies, well yo' know dere hair rots offa dere haid. Well, dat's de very yay ah take dat plait of hair an' ah put it in dat coffin, yo' see, an' when dat person begin tuh rot, mah [that] hair begin tuh rot.
Entry 7941
Well, it's got tuh have yuh initial on it, though. Yo: see, dey take dat tie clamp wit de initial an' dey put dat in an envelope. Aftah dey put it in de envelope, well dey will bring it somewhere [where] dere is, a wake is at, where someone is dead at. An' dey will pertend [pretend] lookin' at de daid person an' dey will take an' drop dat envelope wit dat tie clamp, wit yuh initial on it, an' drop it in dat coffin. When dey bury dat body, well dey bary dat. Well, aftah dat tie clamp is buried wit dat daid body, well dis person which de tie clamp belongs tuh, become bad feelin' all ovah dere body, aches an' pains in de jaws.
Entry 7945
If you can get any part of the coffin or the garments in which a per- son is buried and fix it to a person, in their pockets or inside somewhere where it will not be seen or noticed, this person to whom this thing is attached will himself die in eighteen months.
Entry 7951
Take a piece of de coffin.
(What kind of a coffin?)
Aftah a person is buried an' it done rotted.
(Well, what do they do with that?)
Dey take dat an' dey bury somebody else wit it - in de family. Takes a piece of it. See, aftah yo' done buried somebody in a coffin. Well, yo' know, quite natchally a cof- fin rots lak nuthin an' when it rots it comes tuh a powdah; but if dey kin git a piece of it, or if dey don't git a piece of it, dey kin git de powdah from dat coffin [or you could probably buy coffin dust at some hoodoo drug store!]. Jis' de dust off dat coffin. Dey take dat an' dey git 'em a silk han'ke'ch'ef - git a silk han'ke-ch-ef. Yo' put dat intuh dat han'ke'ch'ef. Now, when yo' put dat in dat han'ke'ch'ef, dey got nine needles an' dey got nine pins, but dey git 'em right outa de store. Dey ain't nevah been used. Now, if dey wus goin' tuh bury, say if dey wus goin' tuh bury me, or mah sistah, or somebody in mah family, dey'd git dat an' dey'd git 'er name. An' if dey kin git de - see, de tongue, yo' see, de tongue of yuh shoe.
(Yes, the tongue of the shoe.)
If dey kin git dat, dey git dat an' dey puts dat wit dat. Now, when dey git dat all tuhgethah....
(What do they put the name on? On some paper?)
No, on - I take de seat of dere undahweah, de back part, any of dere undah- weahs - see, any part of it, de back of yuh shirttail, yo' see. I take dat an' I am goin' tuh pin it down, tight as I kin git it, an' I am goin' tuh write yuh name on tuh dat. Now, when I write yuh name on tuh dat, I wrap dese things up in dere. When I wrap it up in dere, I tie. When I tie it, I tie it up wit nine knots. I tie wit nine knots. I bury it, if I want.tuh; an' if I don' wan' tuh bury it, I kin throw it in de rivah, yo' see. Kin throw it in de rivah or bury it. When I bury dat, why den I got choo where I wan' choo. Yo' got tuh go. Dat I done harmed yo' in an' somethin' will happen tuh yo'.
Entry 7952
I've heard though of taking nails from a coffir and wrapping it in red flan- nel, and give it to a person either for luck or ill luck, whichever you Wanted them to have. They sell them from twenty-five cents to a dollar.
Entry 7953
Yo' take de nail outa de coffin, or de handle, an' yo' carry it tuh dis house, an' yo' bury it down by de cornah on de left-han' side. Tell it whut yo' want it tuh do. An' it won't be long befo' dey be terrified an' dey can't stay dere. Finely [finally] dey will leave off, go mindless.
Entry 7955
Like if someone stole sompin from yo', why yo' kin go tuh dat fig tree. Yo' have tuh git nails outa a casket an' drive three nails in de fig tree. An' while yo' drivin' 'em in dere, co'se yo' gotta be trimmin' de fig tree limb an' callin' de person's name; see, de one dat done dat. An' in dem nine days dat person who done stole sompin from yo', dey'll done try tuh git it back tuh yo' 'fore den.
Entry 7958
It was a man made a little bita coffin...he was mad with this other man...he put it in front of his door an' tole him he would be moved in a little while, an' if he didn't, if he stayed there, he would die. But he didn't die; but he did move.
Entry 7960
An' dey make a li'le coffin dataway, git a piece of de woman's stock- ings. Dey git a piece of de woman's undahweah, if it's possible. Dey will take nine needles. Dey will take nine pins. Dey will put red peppah an' dey will put Epsom salts. Dey put oil of verbena an' bury dat undah de party's step. See. An' dey will nevah put de end tuhgethah, dey an' dey husband...
(They do what?)
Nevah git de end tuhgethah, nevah make de ends meet. Don't care if dey both be workin', dey always will be somepin: lak if dey have shoes, dey hayen't got any hat; if dey got a hat, dey haven't got any skirt; if dey got a skirt, dey owe de landlord. Dey'll nevah will be successful.
Entry 7961
Prackly [practically] on de same thing, dey jes' take an' make a arti- ficial, yo' know, a li'le casket. An' den dey kin go an' git chure, pick [up] yuh track an' put it in dis casket. An' dey'll commit dat tuh de ground, jes' lak dey wus buryin' a body jes' so. An' jes' say - dey say, when dey commit chew tuh de ground, "Ashes tuh ashes, dust to dust." But dey gotta call yuh name an' den dey bury dat.
(What will happen then?)
Well, de person who dey bury, why he won' live long.
Entry 7962
Yuh toenails or fingernails. Dey kin git holt of yuh fingernail clip- pings an' de dirt from undah yuh foot. See. An' dey mix it tuhgethah an' git 'em some graveyard dirt an' shape 'em a box. Make a li'le shape of a box, see jis' lak a coffin, an' take hit an' bury it undah yuh steps. See. An' git some hair from yuh belly an' put in dere Wit it. An' DERE AIN'T NO DOCTOR IN DE WORLD KIN CURE YO'.
(What will it do to you?)
It will kill yo'.
(I see.)
(Now that dirt from your foot. Well where from your foot?)
Yassuh, dat daid skin whut's scraped off yuh foot.
(Oh, I see. Where do you get that?)
De way I git dat, dat skin from yuh foot.
Entry 7964
Take dat left shoe, yo' cut it, yo' jis' cut it all de way cross from dat heel. Yo' take dat shoe... [I interrupt.]
(From the heel to what?)
From de heel tuh de end of de toes.
(HoW would you cut it? How do you mean they cut it?)
[Just make a cut mark? Cut all the Way through? Etc?]
Yo' jis' take a knife an' cut it...
(Just make a cut?)
Yes, sir, jis' take a knife an' cut dat shoe all de way through, yo' see, de sole of it. Cut it all de way through tuh de heel.
(I see.)
An' den yo' take dat shoe an' git two cross-sticks, two cross-sticks [2 sticks to cross] an' yo' cross 'em lak dat [demonstrates].
(Like an X. All right.)
Yo' cross 'em lak dat, an' yo' goes right undahneat' of de house, of [belou] dere baid. Yo' see, yo' make somepin jis' lak a li'le coffin. An' yo' goes undahneat' of de house right undah de baid, jis' where de baid sets. An' yo' tacks de bottom of dat, dat inside of dat sole of dat shoe, [and] yo' tack it undahneat' of de house right undah de baid. An' dat person will jis' lingah, lingah, lingah - lingah until dey die. But yo' tacks it - see yo' tack it right undahneat' de bed. [Nail it to the fllor under the house:] Dat's really de truth ah'm tellin' yo' now. Dat's really de truth.
(Well, what would they do with that box?)
Evahthing ah'm tellin' yo' is really de truth. (Well, what would they do with that box that you made like a coffin? What do you do with that?) That? It all be's tuhgethah.
(Oh! you tack that box, everything. I see.)
But choo see, it all be's tuhgethah. Turn it bottom upwards.
(I see.)
An' yo' tack it right undahneat' of de baid undah de house; but choo see, yo' cross dem sticks.
(Where do you put those sticks?)
Yo' cross dem sticks right undahneat' of it, right undahneat' of de sole. An' yo' tack it an' yo' turn it all bottom ups, an' yo' tacks it right undahneat' of de baid.
(Well, now, you put these sticks in there across?)
Yes. (Then you put this piece of leather in there, from the shoe, and you turn it upside down, and tack it up under the bed, under the house? [I speak slowly and deliberately.] That leather is in there to hold those sticks, that are crossed, from falling down?) Yes, sir, keep dem sticks crossed. Don' put 'em straight, put crossed.
(I see.)
Entry 7967
Ah heard folks say if yo' complain if it wus rheumatism, dey could go in a road - look lak a road leads, a neighborhood road, an' a pine tree is on dat road. Wheresomevah a wagon would cuz it tuh bruise, dey say yo' could take dat root out of dat road where some castic [casket = coffin] or sompin othah had passed, an' make a rub, an' dat would kill rheumatism lak dat.
(Where a funeral would go on by over that tree? With the casket?)
Yessuh, where some fun'ral 'cession had passed, yo' go tuh dat road where de wagon, yo' know, of people have bruised de root, an' yo' dig roun' dere an' git dat bahk [bark] an' make a rub fo' 'em. Dey say dat would cure it. [Sumter, S. Car., (1381), 2452:5.] [We must remember that every photograph, whether oblong or square in shape, is a coffin symbol. In later section PHOTOGRAPH many of them are buried or in- volved with death. This present subsection will be confined to photography in- volving real or mock coffins.1
Entry 7968
They can take your photograph an' can make you pine away...they'll take a box and make it like in the shape of a coffin, an' they'll put that photo- graph in that face down an'... bury it.
Entry 7976
Well, yo' kin take anybody's pitchure an' draw de shape of a coffin on a green tree, an' nail it up an' shoot it. Dey'll die. (You put this picture on the 'shape of that coffin on the tree?) Yes sir an' shoot it.
Entry 7979
Take yur photograph. Now, if it's made on tin but not on papah - its gotta be made on tin [a tintype]. An' yo' take dat photograph an' yo' take yo' fō' pins, an' yo' cut de haid's off dose pins, if yo's aftah kill- in' a person. An' yo' take dose pins an' yo' take an' put 'em roun' fo' cornahs lak yo' would a coffin, yo' undahstan'. An' den yo' bury dis picture on its face, but its gotta be a tin pitchure. An' as dis pitchure fade away, dey'll fade away.
(You pin those four pins around the four corners of the picture?)
Yes, ( dat's right. Dat's whut chew do. An' bury it on de face, but chew cuts de haid of 'em off, de haids of de pins off.
(But you have to bury it under the individual's door?)
Undah 'is own do'.
Entry 7980
I've heard whut it'll do, dat little coffin. But jis' like I tellin' yo' a few minutes ago, dat stuff about makin' a little coffin. Put 'em undah de step, yo' see, wit de people's photo in dat coffin, de party. Dat why plenty people won't take dere photos yo' see. Put it in dat coffin wit some pins, some needles, yo' see, an' some steel dust and lodestone. See. An' dat draw dose people outa dat house, yo' undahstan', an' fix 'em so dey will nevah wan' tuh see one anothah no mo'.
Entry 7984
Jes' lak if yo' wan' tuh do 'way wit a person, lak if yo' wan' tuh draw a person, well yo' jes' make it out chure mind, but choo draw dat person's pitchure. Well yo' draw 'is pitchure an' yo' put a coffin [put it in a coffin]. (You draw the figure in the coffin?) Yes sir, dat's right. An' den yo' take hit an' bury it at dere steps, see. Den draw it also....
[Here is the information given while machine was stopped:]
(You draw this person's picture on a piece of paper, and then you drav a coffin around it?) Dat's right. An' den yo' draw anothah one an' put it at de do' where dey kin see dat, an' tell 'em whut will become of 'em, see. Well, aftah yo' draw dis - yo' done buried de one, de firs' one - let me see, well, now dey begin tuh read dat lettah an' dey see dat. Well, dat gits dere spirit tuhgethah an' it begin tuh grieve dem den, an' dey worry ovah it an' finely [finally] dey come tuh perish away.
(You do that to let them know you are doing the work against them?)
Dat's right.
Entry 7989
Take dat pitchure an' cut it off in fo' cornahs, each cornahs. Cut dat off an' care [carry] it tuh a graveyard or jis' wherevah's a part where dey got mud where dey kin bury it at. An' git chew two bricks an' turn dat picture upside [face] down an' let it stay dere. An when dat pitchure rotten, dey'll rotten away from de earth.
(What do you do with those two bricks?)
Dose two bricks yo' bury 'em. Wit dose two bricks - yo' lays it [picture] on one [brick] an' take de othah one [second brick] an' set it on top dat [first brick] an' bury it, wherevah dey got mud, if yo' don' wanta bring it tuh a grave- yard, if yo' wanta keep it aroun' de house.
(You can bury it in the mud or take it to the graveyard?)
But if yo' take it tuh de graveyard, yo' cain't easy find it lak yo' kin at de house. (But you must bury those two bricks under the ground with the picture in be- tween them?) Yassuh, turn dat pitchure upside down. See, de pitchure part [down].
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 8000
Well, yo' takes de box an' make it jes' in de shape of a coffin. Well, he takes 'is knife an' he cuts in a man jes' de shape of a man. See, or jes' de shape of a woman, jes' whichevah one he wanted it tuh favor. Well, he takes dat an' puts it in dat little coffin. Takes 'im a pin an' takes 'im a pair of pliers, wire pliers an' cut de pin [head] off tes' deep enough tuh jes' suppose it wuz a little tack. Put dat man in dere, an' on dat man's back write whoevah name he want it tuh be on dere. Well, he takes dat, take an' carry it tuh dis man's house, if he kin git tuh 'is house at night, tuh whatevah dat yo' kin find, sech as flowahs an' hedges or anything lak dat. Dig yo' a hole as though it is a grave an' put it in dere an' covah it up. Well, in a few days he'll be daid.
(What do you cut that little figure from? What do you cut it out of?)
Well, yo' kin take a piece of elm wood. Fo' him tuh lingah a long time, yo' kin take a piece of elm wood or eithah a piece of ash wood, jes' whichevah is soft enough fo' yore knife tuh cut. An' cut it out of wood an' make it out of wood. An' make it outa wood an' take de pins an' evahthing an' jes' nail 'em in dere. It has tuh be exactly like a casket [coffin]. An' yo' don't have tuh fo'- git tuh put de man's name, whoevah it is dat chew's mad wit. Jes' put dat name on 'is back an' lay it right in dere.
Entry 8003
Dey make li'le coffins an' dey make de image of de per- son involved, an' dey put 'im in dat coffin. An' dey have his name engraved in de image. An' dey take dat li'le coffin an' bury it in a graveyard an' dat's supposed tuh make dat person die.
Entry 8006
[I have two versions of the story about Bowizer and his two wives, a tale concerning his mistreatment of first wife and his enslavement by second wife. Whether this is the remnant of a folktale or the beginning of a new one, or something actually factual, I do not know.] FIRST VERSION OF BOWIZER TOLD BY COUSIN Mah Cousin's brothah's wife [not speaker's cousin but cousin by marriage who had a brother who had two wives, this one the second], she taken down sick an she had doctors an' doctors an' doctors of all kind, an' none of 'em seemed tuh not tuh do 'er any good. An' he wus settin' down one day an' - dat wus 'is sec- ond wife. He wusn't good tuh 'is firs' wife, but 'is second wife, he wus so good tuh 'er. He'd wash an' scrub fo' her an' evah- thing. Jis' cook an' evahthin'. So somepin come tuh 'im an' tole 'im, say, "Yo"go an' look in de bottom of yuh trunk. Go look in de bottom of yuh trunk." Well, he'd set down dere an' nod, an' nod, an' nod. Be settin' up wit 'er an' nod, an' nod, an' he'd drowse, an' sompin would tell im ag'in. "Go an' look in de bottom of yuh trunk." So fine'ly sompin tole 'im, "Go look in de bottom of yuh trunk, " fo' about two weeks. An' so de nex' time sompin tole him, "Go look in de bottom of yuh trunk, " he got up an' went on an' looked in de bottom of 'is trunk. All kinds of fine things, jis' fine dresses, de finest kind of step-ins, bloomahs an' a big ole automatic, he didn't even know it wus in de house, wus in de bottom of dat trunk. An'.den dere wus a li'le coffin down in dere - a li'le coffin. Dere wus de seat of 'is undahweah, de centah of undah each ahm [arm] in dere, an' some of dis here, whut dey call cayenne peppah sprinkled down on dere. An' it wus de image of a person made from a stick.
(From a stick?)
Right on a piece of a board, yo' know, jis' in a image. Yo' know, jis' lak yo' take a board an' cut a image of a person, yo' know. An' den dey had dat private an' evahthing cut down dere. Yo' know, had it crossed. An' so dey had jis' down in dere jis' lak a coffin, made in de shape of a coffin. An' it wus closed up an' dere wus 'is name wrote in dere nine times. His name wrote down in dat, right down in dat coffin nine times. Some kind of a powdah wus in dere. A li'le bottle about dat high of urinate wus in dere an' de cork, li'le cork stoppah wus in it, yo' see, well it wus cut on each side, see cut on each side fo' de air tuh git in dere, an' it kin come out, yo' see. An' it wus settin' right straight up right by dat li'le image of 'is private, yo' know, settin' right by it. An' it wus closed up right in de bottom of de trunk. An' so dat's whut had 'im, kept 'im down. He couldn't git away from 'er. She would do anything dat she Wanted tuh do an' he'd be pleased at it, he jis' stayed at home, but wit 'is firs' wife he didn't do it.
(What did he finally do? Did he get the spell off of him or anything?)
Yes, he took dat li'le box out of dere an' took it tuh two-three fortune- tellahs. An' dey tole him, ast 'im who fixed 'im, an' he tole 'em, said, "It wus mah wife." Dey say, "Well, do yo' want 'er?" So he tole 'em, 'Yeah, ah loves 'er." Dey say, "Well, if yo' love her, yo' take dat box right back, set it right back where yo' got it from; but if yo' don't want 'er no mo', yo' take a jar an' put dat box in dere dat jar big enough jar tuh slip dat box in dere" - dat box no biggah'n jis' lak dat - "an' den yo' close it up an' go tuh a runnin' stream an' throw it in dere an' say, "She'll leave yuh wandahin'.
(Leave you what?)
Leave yo' wandahin', she'll wandah away. An' he did dat an' dat woman got up dere one mawnin', she got well an' evahthin'. She wusn't all dat sick. She wus jis', yo' know, actin' lak dat, playin' sick fo' him tuh do de work. She got up from dere an' left, tole 'im dat she wus goin' tuh town. An' she left from dere, didn't eat or nuthin. She didn't even take time tuh git 'er clothes. She jis' got worried an' jis' half crazy, an' she left from dere an' he don't even know where she's at.
(I thought he wanted to keep her?)
You say, if he wanted to keep her?
(I thought he told the fortunetellers he wanted to keep her?)
Said he loved 'er. He [fortuneteller] ast 'im did he love 'er.
(Yes?)
An' he tole 'em, said, yeah, he loved 'er. "So, well, yo' take dat box den an' put it right back where yo' - where it wus.
(Well, why didn't he do that?)
Well, he wanted tuh git out of de fix he wus in. but he didn't.know it wus goin' tuh run 'er away.
(I see.)
[If the reader missed it, do turn back to the first sentence of this first version: "she had doctors an' doctors an' doctors of all kind." These are unique words because the usual expression is, with variations, 'she had every doctor in town. "[Mobile, Ala., (679), 975:3.] So mah brothah, Bowizah, had a wife, firs' wife. He didn't do nuthin jis' run roun' all de time. But ah'm tellin' yo' dis here whut ah know from experience. Ah ain't tellin' somepin whut somebody say dey know. So he ma'ied anothah woman an' she had 'im so she'd go out, she run roun' an' she do whut she please. He couldn't he'p 'imself. He wash an' he scrub an' sweep - do evahthin' in de worl' he could an' he couldn't quit 'er. So one day he wus 'tendin' our garden an' somepin tole him look in 'is trunk. So he went tuh de trunk an' looked in it an' seen all kin' raimints - clothes, shoes - evah- thin' wus in dere. An' he didn't know it wus in de house. So dis [same inner voice] says somepin tuh 'im, "Look in [the bottom of] dis trunk." An' so he looked in de bottom an' dere wus a small casten [or castit = casket] 'bout dat long [demonstrates].
(What?)
Casten - coffin. An' it had de seat of 'is undahweah cut out an' right up undah his sleeve [demonstrates].
(Under his arm, the left arm.)
Yes, sir, his left ahm. An' he got it out an' ca'd [carried] it tuh one of de men's [a doctor] an' de man put it in one dese fruit jahs [jars] an' screwed it tight an' put it in a runnin' stream. So he say one mawnin' she woke up an he run 'er out dat house an' he ain't saw 'er since.
Entry 8009
Well, take a doll baby an' make a li'le coffin an' yo' take thirteen needles [later changed to pins] an' yo' bores seventeen holes in it. (Into what?) Intuh de small li'le coffin. Bore seven- teen holes intuh dis small li'le coffin an' aftah borin' dese seventeen holes in dere, yo' place dat baby down in dere wit dose thirteen pins [needles?] stuck in 'er.
(The thirteen pins.)
De thirteen pins stuck in 'er, an' yo' po' van-van, wahoo powdah.
(War whoooo?)
Wahoo, yeah wahoo. It's a kind of grayish lookin' powdah. Dey call it wahoo. Well, last you go to work and place this powder right in dere an' yo' go off from a cemetery - not in de cemetery, off from a cemetery - an' when yo' git neah de cemetery, about 25 feet from it, yo' bury it. An' it has a tendency tuh kill yo' in 18 months.
(I see.)
Entry 8011
Make doll baby, put in box like a coffin, with person's hair and quick- silver balls at stomic [stomach]. Person who cured victim shot the evil-doer with a spiritual gun. [Long story, not much detail, recheck.] [Doctor Bayhan (Bayhand), a white doctor on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, used a spirit- ual gun to harm persons as far away as Baltimore - see No.62, p.28; and another comment about him from Deal Island, Md., No.3069, p.891.] [Washington, D. C.,
(between 629-638), 816:2.]
[In this subsubsection we have an animal buried as a substitute for the burial of a person. Our first example will be a substitute for the substitute, an egg for the chicken.]
Entry 8786
If you want to make a person jis' drift an' jis' become a vagabond going here and there an' nevah content in one place, yo' write dere name wit evil wishes on a teeny piece of board, wood joo know, thin board, an' yo' git choo a lots of nails an' put anothah piece on. Dere name is tacked on dat first piece of board. An' den yo' put a thin piece of board on top of dat an' nail it down fine, jis' put plenty nails in rotation. An' at 12 o'clock at night yo' throw dat in de rivah, an' as dat board floats an' drifts down de stream, why dat person will drift. Dere mind will become unsettled an' dey'll jis' go to an' fro.
Entry 9305
Yo' take a black hen aig if a person has murdered somebody, take two. Lak if de person wuz murdered, yo' put a aig in each one of dere han's, a black hen aig. An' be shuh [sure] it's a black hen aig, an' put it in each one of dere han's. Git a piece of grass rope. (What's that?) Dese heah ropes whut people ties bundles an' things with. An' yo' git a piece of dat an' yo' make nine knots in it, an' yo' tie it on dere wrist. An' when yo' git ready tuh bury dat person, yo' turn dere face bottom upwards [back of head upwards]. An' de one whosomevah murdered 'em gotta come back where dey did dat murdah. Wit dat black hen aig.
(Do you tie that rope on just one wrist?)
On both of 'em, both wristses, put a aig in each han' an' shut dat han' up. An' when yo' git ready tuh bury 'em, yo' turn dere face down. Yo' see, dey gen'ly [generally] bury people wit dere face up, in place of puttin' de face down tuh de bottom of de coffin.
Entry 10044
All right, if yo' wan's tuh be a man dat chew kin do anythin' dat chew want, yo' git chew a black cat an' yo' boil 'im. Go down tuh a crossroad at twelve a'clock at night an' yo' boils 'em. An' when yo' boil dis cat yo' see evahthin' all aroun' dere, maybe yuh coffin, or yo' may see all kinda spooks. Go down tuh a runnin' stream of watah an' throw dese bones in it. Well, all dose bones dat no good, dey go downstream, but de bone, dat lucky bone, it comes up- stream. Yo' take dat bone an' put it in yuh pocket, an' yo' kin do anythin' wit dat bone dat chew want.
Entry 11119
You kin take an' draw a coffin, you understand, see, an' make you a wish on it, an' cross it up so many times - put about 3 crosses on it, an' make you a wish. An' bare [bury] it under their doorsteps or either you kin put it in front of their door. See, you kin jis' throw it in there. Wrap it up, fold it up, write it [name of person on]. An' throw it in the front of their door. An' put the [word] devil on top of it, write the devil on top of it, see right up on top. Either [instead of writing devil] you kin draw one you know, you understand, see like that. They'll die.
Entry 11120
[Make the coffin] first, and they they get a piece of wood and of course they cut out what you call a little statue. And that's in imitation of the person they made the cof- fin for. When they make this little coffin - of course, I'm supposed to be your friend and you did me something [wronged speaker] and I want to get even with you. I could git it in your home better than anybody else. [After you] make this coffin, make a little statue. That statue supposed to be you. And when I get it made I bring it and put it any- where around in that house. But I put some graveyard dirt in that coffin with that little statue, you understand, and I get it - if I ever get in your bopse, [I] put in some secret place. Or if not, I put it under the steps and you aalk on it. It's just the same. It'll cause you to go crazy.
Entry 11122
Draw a coffin, draw the person image in the cof- fin they want to die, then call [victim], then write their name, burn under incense smoke.
Entry 11123
If someone dies, a person whom you have mistreated, put a piece of money in the coffin and he or she cannot come back to hant you. Must stay and guard the money.
Entry 11124
Dey take de rule, de pocket rule.
(What do they do then?)
And say dey take dis to de crossroads and dey fix it. Dey fix it so and when you come along dey'll make you fall. Yes, sir. [I] hear: 'em tell dat, at de crossroads where you go down, and de roads comes across like dat [demonstrates] and dey fixes it. (I see. What would they fix there? I mean what would they put there?) Dey say dey'll get - dey'll get a scorpion, a red-headed scorpion. (A red-headed scorpion?) Yes, sir. Fix him and dey put him - make sompin like a coffin and dey'll put him down in de middle of dat fo'k, yes, sir. Yes, sir, in middle of de fo'k.
(In the middle of the fork?)
[The center of two roads crossing is the center of a square or a quincunx rite.] Yes, sir, in de middle of de fo'k and you git dere and you won't know it, but you commence having swimming 'bout de head. Head commence swimming, feeling bad; yes sir, and make you fall. I hear say dey tell dat.
(They put this scorpion in sort of a little coffin-like?)
It is a coffin. What I mean, sompin dey makes like a coffin. Dat what dey tole me. And dey'll put him in dere alive and when dey fixes him, it make you tremble, you know. And he'll die. Dey'll fix him dataway.
(I see.)
The informant reports a pocket rule and then a red-headed scorpion in a constructed coffin at the middle of crossing roads, with claimed dizziness and falling. Questions clarify these objects and the middle location; Hyatt supplies a square or quincunx interpretation. No unstated relation between the pocket rule and scorpion is invented.
Entry 11236
[Since we are now in the letter "D" of CHANNEL DE WORLD material - a division arranged alphabetically instead of sectionally to avoid typing compli- cations - the following 30 pages or more will be concerned with doctors, something by them or about them. Doctors of course will appear among later letters of the alphabet, but here was a convenient place to concentrate some of them. I begin with a folding rite that contains a close relative, a wrapping rite. The verb to fold does not appear in the index of Folklore from Adams County Illinois, 1st ed., 1935, and I doubt its appearance in the indexless 2nd ed. There is an index only in the files of the Center for the Study of Comparative Folklore and Mythology, University of California, Los Angeles, California. De- spite rarity, HOODOO has a number of folding rites, some of them quite compli- cated: Nos.3126, 3182-3190, etc., v.3 and elsewhere. To fold to you or away from you is a usual theme, but our present rite is an accordian fold. Especially interesting to me is the doctor, place of hearing, and time. My record concern- ing him reads: "Thurs. Feb. 15, 1940, informant No.1565, man 45, Crackerjack Store, paid, ng." (From note books E Series, 2nd New Orleans trip, numbers of informants 1558 to 1605). More about that ng in a moment. Informant was brought to me by the black man preceding him, a man who worked at the Crackerjack Store - sometimes called drug store - a famous hoodoo emporiun of that date. During the following interview I was utterly unaware that this would be my last dat at Pat- terson Hotel, 759 S. Rampart St., corner of Julia, New Orleans, La. Years later I would pay my respects to the old building by printing her picture at the end of HOODOO volume 2! The folding rite follows:] Say fo' instance yo' wanta git rid of a man. All right yo'd git his photo- graph, not a tintype. Git a cardboard [photograph] an' de medium size. Git it an' fold it in half an' find, say lak a dead chicken or a dead dog or somepin aroun' [or lying about] wit maggots. Ah mean large-size maggots as dey walkin'.... Well, yo' crease de photograph in nine folds an' as yo fold it in de nine folds, yo' drop a maggot in each one of 'em; in every fold until yo' git de nine mag- gots. Den yo' git chew a piece of separate black cord an' tie it [folded photo] nine times; den yo' git chew a piece of red [cord] an' yo' make six knots [about folded photo]. An' put in dem nine knots an' six knots.... Dat [package] is representin' dey cof- fin. Aftah yo' git through wit dat, den yo' wrap it up in a piece of cloth, which would be about fully de same size, an' git chew de nine of spades, an' wrap dat up nine times, an' jes' take an' fold it wit [3 ingredients]: one flake [flick = pinch] of salt, an' one flake of black peppah, an' one flake of red pep- pah - cayenne peppah. An' wrap 'em all up. An' yo' close it up an' regardless of whut de individual's name may be, yo' put it down nine times in a piece of silk tissue papah, fold it every time nine times. Take a match an' burn it, an' as yo' burn it, leave dem ashes go right on top.... Den yo' take all dat cloth [the several packages together] tuhgethah an' reenfold it [in one cloth] an' git chew some rivah sand, an' jes' put it in dere an' dry [tie] it up [into one pack- age]. Den yo' goes on tuh de neahest runnin' watah dat yo' kin git tuh an' dig yo' a small pit, jes' a small hole.... Dig it out six inches, jes' as dere grave. Aftah yo' do it, den yo' says - be mastah of de ceremony which is his funeral. As yo' be blessin' de body as it goin' down, every word yo' say yo' curse in between it, which is his name in between. An' as yo' doin' dat, den yo' throws a little bit of sherry wine, or if he drinks, regardless of whatevah it is, jes' throw it right on in dere....an' covah it up - an' drop it as it [coffin] goin' doup: [After this mock funeral ceremony] nine words yo' says, every day nine words, an' in de 18th day whoevah de individual will be, dey comin' unnormal deathly sick. De doctor [M.D.] or no othah one will undahstan' his case no kinda way. He'll die an' swell up [he'll swell up and die] in de next, say six or seven months, or maybe in de comin' future yeahs, from dat date.... (And you say you say nine words to that thing each day. Have you any special words you say?) Lak if de individual wuz a gamblah or a thief or a murderah, he may come home an' he'll be worried or somepin. Well yo' jes' curse him in dat name, "Yo' son of bitch. Yo' bastard. Yore mothah's no good. Yore fathah's no good. An aftah yo' hit me, whut ah won't do tuh yo'." An' aftah whut chew do to him, yo' say a prayah, "Name de Fathah, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, Amen. "... Every day [the unrecorded things done I pick up in my following comment].
(You say just nine prayers like that. Nine things you say.)
Cussin' him all de time.... [Informant had seen his best days as a doctor, that is why I preserved the remainder of his interview under the last alphabetical division XYZ. Those 4....indicate repetition of what had been said.]
Entry 11680
Well, yo' kin go to de fo'ks of de road for de man dat chew love or yore husband - to see who yore husband was [is to be]. Yo' kin go dere an' set until twelve a'clock at night jes' wit chure whole heart an' mind on a husband an' he'll appear befo' yo'. Or, well, if yo' wanta go dere, if yore husband don't come dere an' yo' not goin' live long, why de shape of yore coffin will come.
Entry 655
[Poison, then, is any substance charged with evil intent, often assisted by the Word of God or magic rite. Some substances are unnaturally though not toxicologically poisonous - the most deadly of all being graveyard dirt:] I heard a church member said dere's a ole man in de church where he were a member - he ain't got much confidence in 'em now 'cause dey did dat - ole man da'd [that would] git mad at anybody at church; you know, he'd fall out with 'em. Well, he'd go to de graveyard an' reach his han' as far in dere as he could, an'.he'd git some dirt jis' off, jis' as near de coffin as he could, an' wrap it up, [and] bring it on back. Well, he'd put it in somepin thin, cheesecloth or somepin or othah, an' put it in each pocket, in his coat pocket. An' so he'd go to church, you know, until de preacher git to preachin', you know, an' dat de people git to shoutin', why he jis' git to shoutin' an' go right aroun' near dis person [he's 'mad with], you know, an' fis' let dis dus' - it would jus' fly so it'll, a 'hole lot of people would inhale it, an' dey'd git so sometimes dey'd git to coughin'. Well, dey say, if you git enough of it, it'd kill 'em. [Wilmington, N. Car., (215), 208:1; Darien. Ga..1896.1
Hyatt's opening definition of poison is editorial framing. The informant introduces a church member's report and later says 'dey say'; the toxicity and death claims remain source-reported. The final printed citation is incomplete.
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 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 220
A girl was always crazy for fixing her hair. Her mother was going to a party. Her mother was hurrying her." And she told her mother she'd rather go to hell than to go to this party without time for fixing her hair. And she died and they laid her out in the coffin. They couldn't move the coffin. They open it and a black cat jumped out. The hair was fixed as good as anybody ever could fix it. They said the cat must of fixed it. [For girl 'fixing her hair, '' cat, and heavy coffin, see FACI,2ed., Pp.710-711, Nos.15372-15373.]
Entry 221
I heard one time that a woman died and the day - they got ready to bury her and the pallbearers had taken her out of the house and put her in the hearse. And they had four horses and they couldn't pull it. So they got two more and they couldn't pull it. And they said they got two more horses and they couldn't pull it. So then they decided to open it and see what was in it. And when they opened it there was a cat in there combing her hair. So they got the cat out and the two horses could pull it.
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 223
That's the reason I don't plat my hair to this day. If a woman dies and her hair be platted, they said, "She's gone to torment [hell]." The horses could not pull the coffin it would be so heavy. A black cat would be in that coffin unplatting the hair. You open the coffin and run that cat out and go on to the grave. They say never plat your hair. I never platted my hair in my life. They Say it's a bad sign. [Informant a large girl near Woodville, Miss., when Civil War began.]
Entry 224
I heard of another story one time, I don't know how true it is, about a man dying. He wasn't a church member. So when he died they had the casket and they carried it to the grave. And it seemed as heavy, well, as double as what it belonged to be. So when they opened it, out fly a turkey buzzard. That buzzard was supposed to be the devil. Then the casket became light and they could carry it to the grave.
Entry 367
The piece he wanted to play was called The Fisherman's Hornpipe - seeming that he couldn't git right on his wyolin. So an' ole feller' tole him one time, he said, he says, "You go to a crossroad at twelve o'clock at night" - it's a road goin' that way and one goin' that way direction - and he said, "Take your wyolin wid jeh." And he says, "It will be a man will come. You set there and play till twelve o'clock. It will be a man will come," he said, "but don't chew mind," he said, "that." He was supposed to go nine nights. The ninth night the devil would come and start to play. He could play anything he wanted after the ninth night. Of course, he said he went. He set there and played this wyolin till twelve. He said he thought a man, but it was a bull come. No, it was a lamb. The first thing come was a lamb, the first night. He said, he passing along wery carefully, this lamb. The next night, the second night, he goes back again, sets and plays till twelve o'clock at this crossroad. The second night, he said, there was a breeze, and wind come as though the whole woods was falling, every tree was falling. And he goes back the third night and plays. The third night, he said there was a bull come through a-slinging fire, wid eyes just as red as could be. And he still set there and played. The fourth night he go back again. He said it was a band of six men come up with a coffun, set this coffun down, begin to take the leads off. Well, he couldn't stand that. He said he had to leave.
Entry 837
Now, I've heard old people down in my home [near Chattanooga, Tennessee] say dat, but I don' believe it. Dey say dat you could take a piece of a coffin - you understand, after de coffin had begin to decay, you know - take a piece of dat coffin and wear it anywhere in your clothes and you could walk right past a man huntin' fer you and he couldn't see you.
Entry 1778
Somebody wus livin' in yore neighborhood an' yo' didn't like 'em or somepin lak dat an' yo' wanted 'em tuh move, yo' know, yo'd write somepin an' put inside of it - make a little coffin an' set it at his do'. An' he'll git uneasy yo' know, upset - he'll move.
Entry 1785
They can cross you. They can take matches and take a match and make a coffin out of it. They take and the way they set down, they shape them - they can make a coffin right up under your step, if there is any way for them to get up under the step - just like they do under the table. And then they take the other part of them matches and they make it just like they make me or you, with them matches and bury you there.
(Make the shape of a coffin with these matches.)
With these matches. (And then they put some other matches in there and make them in the form of a person.) Just make a shape just like a person.
(And they bury them.)
And they bury you there under the steps.
Entry 1786
They take your underpiece. Take a little piece of board and cut out a Strip like a coffin and take that piece. And if they got a pitchure, they take that, too. And place all them in that little coffin and carry it to a cemetery, and git right on top of a grave where somebody was buried, and then call your name and bury that in the top of that grave. And when that piece of board rot away, the persons who they named it after, they'll commence dryin' up and gettin' littler and smaller until that board rot; and when that board rot they'll die.
Entry 1787
I knew a woman once, she'd taken her landlord - she stayed in his house and she didn't want to pay rent. And she got his picture cut out of a paper. She taken a cigar box and she made a little coffin. She cut a hole in the corner behind her piano and she had - she cut a hole in the floor and put a [?] plant on there to hold this little box and had him buried there. And she stayed in that house until she finished paying for her house uptown. Stayed in there and didn't pay no rent. Every time they come there, it was something, and the house was $16 a month. She didn't pay no rent, she stayed there over a year. She got rid of - she paid 'bout - well, she didn't pay $20 in that time.
(Well, now what do you mean by cutting his picture out of a paper?)
She'd taken his photograph, you know. He was in the picture - he Was a big landlord.
(Oh, I see.)
And she'd taken his picture out of the newspaper.
(I see, out of the newspaper.)
Yes, the Picayune. She made that little coffin and put it down in the bottom - plastered it down in there in that little coffin and just buried it - put it behind the piano.
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 1789
You take it and git holt of a person's photograph and jes' like if some one dies, you put in that casket on de face - de picture on de face, and dis person will jest pine away of dat picture.
Entry 1795
Now, yo' take a person - I've heard talk of 'em taking a piece of wood, making de shape of a coffin. Well now, yo' take dat wood, see, an' make de shape of a coffin. When dey do dat, now yo' take a piece of paper an' cut it jest like de shape of a person. Well now, when dey cut dat paper de shape of a person an' put in dere, yo'll tack it down. Well, whosomevah it be, if dey's got anything in appearance [any hoodoo started against the operator], 'twon't be but three or fo' days 'fore dey are daid.
[This is a conditional death hand.]
(What do you do with that little box?)
Yo' take de box, yo' see, an' dey cut a piece of paper.
(What do you do with the box after the paper is in it?)
After yo' put de paper in it, yo' take dat box an' yo'll carry it an' bury it jes' lak yo' buryin' a person in a grave.
Entry 7957
If somebody steal sompin from yo' an' yo' wanta find out who did it, well yo' kin make 'em bring it back; an' yo' know by a person bringin' a thing back, why yo' know jes' who it is den. Well, yo take three screws - whut ah heard - from a coffin of a very wicked person dat died. Well, yo' take dose three screws an' yo' take three nails an' yo' go tuh 1...
(What kind of nails?)
Well, hit don' make a diffunce [difference].
(The nails are not from the coffin?)
Oh yes, indeed! Ah thought chew meant, yo' know dey say ten-penny nails, five- penny nails.
(No, you said the screws are from the coffin.)
Yes sir, de screws from de coffin, three screws.
(Where are the nails from?)
De nails from de coffin also. An' yo' take dese nails an' yo' go an' jes' lak yo' know of anothah wicked person, well yo' git in contact wit 'em, undahstand, git dey - not dey urine but de othah where dey have action. An' yo' dip de end of dese nails in dat. An' yo' go tuh a peah tree on de sundown side - of a pear tree - an' yo' call dis article, whatevah it might be, de thing dat dey stole yo' understan'. Yo' call it by name three times, an' say, "o thief, bring back mah stolen goods." An' yo' take de firs' one of de screws from de coffin an' yo' stick it in de tree an' yo' nail it an' yo' say, "Ah bind dis in yore haid." An' den yo' take de othah nail, er [or] yo' take de othah screw an' yo' put hit in de tree right, yo' know, right 'side de othah, an' yo' say, "Ah nail dis into yore soul." An' den de next one, which is de third one, yo' nail hit in dere - de screw - yo' know whut ah mean - jes' screw it an' hammer it in. Yo' gotta hammer it in dere. Say, "Ah nail dis into yore feet tuh bring back mah stolen goods, O thief." An' den yo' take dose nails an' yo' say, "Ah surround yo' by de Name of de Fathah, one fo' de Father, de Name of de Son, de second nail fo' de Son, an' de third fo' [de Name of] de Holy Ghost. (Wait a minute before you go on! You are using three screws in the coffin, aren't you? Are you also using three nails?) Three nails.
(But you put the screws into the tree?)
First.
(All right. Now you have three nails left. Now, what do you do with them?)
Yo' take dem an' yo' know, surround dese three screws, an' dey say dat dey'll really bring back the stolen goods an' tell yo', "Admit dat ah stole sech-an'- sech-a-thing from yo' an' ah'm sorry."
Entry 8004
Well, yo' git a box an' yo' make it lak a coffin an' yo' git one of these heah li'le baby dolls. Yo' put it in dat coffin an' yo' buries it undah de do'step where dey passes at, an' dat's. supposed tuh carry 'em tuh de grave. If dey don' nevah find it, dat sho' [sure] will carry 'em tuh de grave. (You don't put anything else in that coffin?) Nuthin in dat box atall but dat baby doll in dat coffin. An' inside of dat box yo' write dere name, on de in- side of de box; but yo' put nuthin but de baby doll in de box an' dey name.
(How do you write that name?)
Well, yo' write de entire firs' an' de given name las'. Yo' writes it down once. Jes' write dey real name an' put dat doll in dere an' stick it undah de do'step wheresomevah dey passes at. (If this name was Sam Jones, you would write the name down?) Jones, Sam.
Entry 12481
Put in coffin some of clothes person was murdered in and bury him crossway8 of de world, de murderer will die.
Entry 105
I heard a church member said dere's a ole man in de church where he were a member - he ain't got much confidence in 'em now 'cause dey did dat - ole man da'd [that would] git mad at anybody at church; you know, he'd fall out with 'em. Well, he'd go to de graveyard an' reach his han' as far in dere as he could, an' he'd git some dirt jis' off, jis' as near de coffin as he could, an' wrap it up, [and] bring it back. Well, he'd put it in somepin thin, cheesecloth or somepin or othah, an' put it in each pocket, in his coat pocket. An' he'd go to church you know, until de preacher git to preachin', you know, an' dat de people git to shoutin', why he jis' git to shoutin' an' go right aroun' near dis person [he's mad at], you know, an' jis' let dis dus' - it woula jis' fly so it'll, a 'hole lot of people would inhale it, an' dey'd git so sometime dey'd git to coughin' Well, dey say, if you git enough of it, it'd kill 'em. [Wilmington, N. Car.,
(215), 208:1; Darien, Ga.,1896.]
Entry 3067
[This remarkable man we have already met, along with his friend who was equally adept at sudden disappearance. Perhaps you remember him by his more familiar name, Daddy Snakelegs, "cause he could run so fast and he could disappear." A precious pair! Sorry, I should also include the third member of the group, Ole Sal, the disappearing mule. See 845, p.293.] I've done hear [what you want]. I kin tell you most everything you ask me.
[I turn off machine and we talk until something of possible interest appears.]
(Burying you alive? How do they do that? Do you know?)
Burying you alive and you bound to follow the dirt.
(I see. Well, how do they say they do that?)
Well, I heard ole man Alexander tell that. He say he makes a coffin.
(Do what? Makes a coffin?)
Makes a coffin and puts this dirt in it.
(What kind of dirt?)
Graveyard dirt. Puts a needle catercorner there and puts another one cater- corner here.
(Like making an X in the coffin?)
No, just.
(Here - that's the coffin there.)
[I probably use my small oblong Nuonbers Book, used for altar, p.886.]
There's the coffin. Well, dey lay de two needles straight, right along here. And right between here they put a piece of cayenne pepper, table salt, and a piece of new salt [sulphur?] right there. Then they lay a piece of devil's root, dey call it - drive that down in there, you see, and they say that draws you up. (I see. Now, they put these needles like this [cross them], sort of making an X in the corners like that, and up here at this top part - up here at the top of the coffin.in that sort of a V there [one of the 4 angles of the crossed needles] they - what do they put up there?) They put a pinch of cayenne pepper.
(Cayenne pepper. What do they put down here in the left-hand corner?)
A pinch of sulphur.
(And what do they put in this corner - the right-hand corner of the coffin?)
New salt.
(And up here - where do they put the root?)
Up here - they put the root chere.
(Up in the.right-hand corner they put this root.)
And there's your head. (That's your head. And they put - what was the name of that stuff they put there?) Ah - ah devil's root. I suppose they want the devil to get that coffin.
(I see. And what [else] will they do for the devil to get that coffin?)
Carry it out and bury it - bury it in the dirt.
(What will that do?)
That's all - just carry that out and bury that down in the dirt. [See Coffin, PP.536-542.]
Entry 7231
[Doctor Nelson we have already met in the following: No.2226, p.632; No.2503, p.693; Pp.1599-1600; and 2260-2261.] Dey kin trick yuh wit dem, yuh [FINGAHNAILS and TOENAILS]. Dey take dem an' burn 'em, gits a powdah outa it an' make dem - mix dem wit de LOCUST an' put 'em in de individual food; yo' know, in de individual food, or put it ovah chewin' gum, anythin' yo' wanta git 'em, intuh dem yo' know, dat'll make de individual follah yuh.
(What kind of locusts do you mean, those bugs?)
Bugs dat fly around a lamp or a tree. In de forest yo'll fin' dem on de s'uth side of a pine tree. Go dere an' see 'em. An' leave de hull dere yo' know, de hull wha' chew git. (Oh, you leave that hull. What do you do with that hull then?) Yo' parches it. (Oh, you just grind that all up?) All tuhgethah. (I see. Mix it with that powder from the fingernails and toe- nails.) [607:3.] Dey take nine - dey got notches lak knots on dey fingah. Dey ake nine of dose notches in de mistletoe. Dey'll notch de devil's-shoestring.
(Nine devil's-shoestrings notches?)
Bope [no], cut 'em off lak de j'int of de fingah.
(I see, nine of these joints of the mistletoe.)
An' nine pieces of devil's-shoestring lak de j'int of yuh fingah.
(The piece of devil's-shoestring is the size of the joint of your finger?)
Each one, yeah [here] [and demonstrates] - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - until dere be nine. dey bin' dem tuhgethah, one tuh de othah. In de Name of de Fathah, de Son: de Holy Ghost. Put 'em away, an' keep away whichevah yo' lak...
[I tumed off recording machine too soon.]
(You hang it up on the door? Now, how many pieces of mistletoe do you take?)
Nine.
(And you get one joint of devil's-shoestring?)
Yes, of each fingah. Dat be nine of dem too, yo' know. (Oh, you get nine of the devil's-shoestring too. That's 18 altogether. And you bind them all together. What do you tie them up with?.) Yeah, dat's right. Cord, yo' wind 'em tuh yuh.
(I see. Where did you learn this remedy?)
Dat, mah grandfathah told me dat too, yo' know.
(Did he learn that down in the West Indies or up here?)
Right here.
(Where did he practice?)
He practice in Sumter, S. Car., all de time - all around [that part of the country].
(What was his name?)
Samuel Ozias [Isaiah?] Weathahspoon. Yes, ah named aftah him, see, but mah mothah married a Nelson. [607:7.] Well, females do dat gen'ly [generally] tuh control a man. Dey measure from de haid tuh dey shouldah, from shouldah tuh de waist, waist tuh de knees, an' knees tuh ankle, an' ankle tuh bottom of de foot. Dey take dat from de elbow down tuh de wrist. An' takes dat an' puts it wit three pieces of devil's-shoe- string from de sundown side of de bush when dey go tuh it. De devil's-shoestring grows in a patch, chew know; but go tuh sundown side of de patch, chew know. Take a piece an' dey pays up an' tell it whu' chew wanta do when yo' git it. Yo' wind it roun'. An' measure three yards of cord an' win' dat measure up, yo' know, roun' dat devil's-shoestring an' wind it tuh yuh. Yo' wind it tuh yuh an' tell it whu' chew wan' it tuh do. An' dat. make dat pusson stay wit chew. A pusson commit suicide 'fore dey quit chew, unless yo' throw it away.
(That holds him.)
Unless yo' go tuh someone [a doctor] tuh let chew loose, yo' know. [608:1.] A pusson could git dis heah weed, dey call it snail weed, yeah. [Snailclover, one of several species, has spirally coiled pods like a snail. This is the first and probably will be the last appearance of this plant in Hoodoo.] Dat grows right on de groun' an' it grows jis' as fast as a snail grows, yo' know. An' yo' tetch a snail, yo' know, an' he go back in 'is shell. Dey git dat weed yo' know an' dey git it, dey pull it tuh yuh - lak yo' pullin' 'em tuh yo', yo' know. An' boil dat an' put some a dat likkah on anythin' wha' de individual eat or chew, chewin' gum, anythin'. Den all de tooth becomin'loose, yo' know.
(That makes the teeth, all come out.)
Dat cuz [an attempt at pyorrhea] of de gums or anythin'. [608:3.] Yo' go tuh de male mulberry tree an' yo' measure nine inches from de ground an' den skin dat bahk [bark] down. An' take dat an' boil dat, chew know, an' anythin' yo' rub - [put] some on de hand an' rub it on de individual haid, when yo' git a chance, makes yo' waste. Lak dey scale de bahk down, make yuh hair fall out de same way.
(Makes the hair fall out the same way.) [608:4.]
De nex' thin', yo' kin take dat [urine] an' stop up dere watah wit it. Jis' put it up in a brass pipe.
(Get a brass pipe.)
Dat'll stop 'is watah. Airtight [the] brass pipe.
(That will stop his water. Well, what sort of a brass pipe do you mean?)
Any kinda [plumbing] coupling, pipe; but not coupled brass [an uncoupled brass elbow]. Ah mean, have somebody ketch it, see. [Does this mean, have someone find (pick up the elbow) or have someone ketch, get the victim's urine?] [608:7.]
(How do they make that? What do they do?)
Well, yo' git it an' make outa wax or enythin' yo' kin suit yo'self tuh make it outa, undahstan'; but dis thin' dey put chew intuh, dat wheah de povah is.
(What do they put into that?)
Dey'll git de dirt from three graves: haid, chest an' foot of three graves, of a pusson who died wicked, yo' know. Den yo' put de devil's blood wit dat.
(What's that?)
Sompin yuh git at de drug store, yo' know. Yeah, an' dey'll put de dog an' cat hair wit it. An' den dey'll put it any place wheah dat pusson goin' come by, so dat de pusson git possession of it. When dey pass by it, dey mind is dissatisfied. Put 'im in a roamin' mind. Teah [tear] up de business an' make enemies.
(This is that little doll they make.) [609:5.]
Wal, dey'll git de box - dey makes de coffin, undahstand, an' dey'll draw a pusson's face. Dey'll write de pusson name on it an' lay it at de do'. It'll bring a pusson tuh yuh; it'll make a pusson stay in one place. If yo' wanta make a pusson stay from yo' place, yo' do de same thin', but yo'd have tuh git it from de house. Draw it [head] from de house tuh keep dem from de house. If yo' wanta bring dem tuh de house, turn de haid tuh de house, yo' know.
(What do they draw this on do you say?)
Write dere name an' draw de pichure on it.
(On what?)
On de coffin. Yo' draws 'em in de shape of a coffin, de board cut de shape of a coffin, yo' undahstand.
(Oh, you put a picture of him.)
Dat's it, zactly [exactly]. [609:6.] An' den dis anothah way tuh git rid of de spell, tuh make de pusson tell yo' vho de one done it. Go an' git some gum-bush an' let it dry fer three days, an put it in a cup an' burn it. Den de person will come back an' tell yuh dat he's de one done it tuh yuh.
(I see, you use gum-bush. And you put it in a pot?)
Tomato can. An' let it dry. [Charleston, S. Car., (518, Doctor Nelson, 613:2.]
Entry 7985
Make a coffin an' put a person's picture in, bury it in someone's grave in graveyard, person will die.
Entry 7986
Well, it's jis' like this. A woman loves a man an' he loves her an' she can't live with this man again like she want him. If she kin git his photo- graph, stick a pin through the heart of the photo- graph - an' the first person that die aroun' her neighborhood or anywhere that she kin slip this photograph in the coffin with the dead, and aftah they cover it up why he won't live very long.
Entry 7993
They put a image in a coffin an' put it at your door an' put chew in bad luck, make yo' drift.
Entry 58
I wouldn't want to speak ill of the dead, for I think they know what you are saying. My reason is, they can come back and give so many Warnings. These Warnings come mostly in your sleep. I have heard something about a man that was buried. This man kept on coming back to his family and asking them in a dream to take him up out of that grave, so finally they went and took him up, and the coffin was in water. They took him up and put him in a dry place, and they never saw him again.
Entry 115
To make him follow him, they'll go to the woods and they'll get a green switch, which they call a weeping willow switch. See. They place it into the dead man's hand and they talk to this dead man and tell him whoever killed him, in nine days time he must whip this person to death. Or, they'll bust a quart of whiskey on the coffin of the person and then they will also talk to this person and tell them whoever did this trick to whip them. See. And then after they bury the person, they'll plant maybe peas on their grave. See. And when them peas come up, wherever you are, if the law doesn't get you, why you are compelled to die.
Entry 568
Well, mah husband was runnin' with a woman an' ah didn't know about it. He came - he was in this city an' he came to mah home where he married me an' he brought me ovah heah, an' he moved me not far from dis woman, an' at de time she knew of her affair between he an' her, an' ah didn't. Well, she begin tuh git friendly with me, bringing me diff'rent things to eat, an' a lady tole me that ah stood in danger, an' ah asked what did she mean. She said, "Why dat woman likes yore husband - been liking him fo' about ten-'leven years." An' so ah begin to watch around an' I find out. So pretty soon she begin to work some kind evil spirit in mah home an' ah notice on certain moons mah husband would be very cruel to me an' mah baby. An' so his treatment to me was so cruel tull [till] it arouse mah mother in Bay City, Florida - forty-nine miles below Tampa, an' she begin to have bad dreams about me. She had a dream about me that night that mah brother came to her an' said, "Mother," said, "whut kinda casket [coffin] do yo' want us tuh buy for Janey May." An' she said, "Well, ah want chew to git a brown casket." Well, he goes downtown an' couldn't find one so he comes back an' tells her that he couldn't find a brown one but that he has a gray one. She said, "Ah don't like the gray. So, in her dream she woke up and she sent mah two sisters over here to see whut was wrong with me. So they came over here an' they said, "Mama had bad dreams about chew so we came to see about cha" - to see whut was wrong with me. So they talked with me and they said, "Something's wrong between yo' an' yore husband," said, "yo' better go see someone." So ah came up de way heah on Ninth avenue to Mr. Singleton which is a palmist. He read mah palm an' he tole me that mah husband was vitchcrafted an' de woman did it because she wanted him tuh be cruel to me - he would treat me so mean so ah would leave him. So fin'lly ah left him an' went home - ah vowed ah wouldn't come back tuh him. Ah talked with him to go to Tampa, so he went to Tampa an' the lady tole him the same thing, an' tole him that the stuff was buried under the steps. She tole me to watch close and ah would ketch dis woman because all vitchcraft is usually done at twelve 'clock in de night. An' so ah asked her if ah could dig fo' it. She said if ah would dig fo' it ah wouldn't find it [i!l], but the best thing to do was to go round an' round de house with salt and sulphur. So when ah came back from Tampa that Sunday afternoon ah went round an' round de house with sulphur an' salt. An' so 'bout twelve 'clock dat night mah step-daughter was comin' from de picture show - it was 'xactly twelve an' dis woman was down on her knees in my yard digging holes. Well, mah step-daughter ran ahead and tole me, "Dis ole woman is out heah in de yard digging holes," so ah got up an' run to de do', an' she had run. Well, ah come back to Mr. Singleton, an' ah asked him, ah said, "What was de trouble - what was dat woman out dere fo'?" He say, "She's burying something to make yo' git along bad." An' ah asked him if he could dig it up an' he said, "Yes." An' ah asked him tuh please dig it up. He went out an' he dug up a little hearts cologne bottle - de bottle had a little junk in it - an' he said, "Dis stuff in heah raises lotsa cain." An' ah said, "What do yo' mean by cain?" He said, "Well, it makes yore husband be very cruel to yo' - he loves yuh but he can't treat chew nice because she's got him goin' that way so yo' kin leave him." Ah say, "Well, ah'll not leave him." I says, "If she kin spend her three an' fo' dollars to make him quit me, ah'm goin' tuh spend mine to show her that she can't git him." Ah said, "If she'd come an' ask me fo' him, maybe ah'd give him to her, but if she gon'a work some kinda dirty plan like dat to get 'im, ah'll live tuh see the grass grow on her grave." So, fin'lly, it kept on an' on tull dey tole me ah would have tuh move outa de house ah was in because it was so badly dressed, it would take at least $75 to fix it up so we'd have peace in it. So ah moved in another house an' she fin'lly tricked that one. So ah wrote a letter tuh de Unity School an they wrote me back and tole me -
(Where was this school?)
It's in Kansas City, Missouri. An' so they wrote me back and tole me that they were praying fo' me and that they were very sorry I was havin' such luck. So ah prayed on an' read the 35th Psalm, see, as ah was tole to do, an' ah read it fo' nine mornings. An' so de lady tole me, said, "Yo' continue on tuh read this, that God's will will be done to the person who did yo' this way." So fin'lly, ah kept readin' an' readin', an' readin', an' readin', an' so ah said, "Lawd, look lak yo' will ain't nevah goin' be done" - ah say that in mah mind. So on de last day in May, which is the 30th day of - Decoration Day in May, she got drownded. An' so all de people came around an' said, "Maybe yo'll have peace." Ah said, "Maybe ah'll have peace, after she's gone maybe ah'll have peace." So then, the man tole me about two weeks ago, says, "She's dead, but dat [her] stuff is still livin'." An' ah tole him, ah say, "Ah don't believe yo' kin kill it," I said, "because they usually say when a person dies an' leave that kinda stuff, well, yo' can't git it off." He said, "Well, ah kin take it off," said, "but ah'll have tuh do it dis way," said, "ah'll have to leave it at de [her] grave." He say, "Usually when a person do anything to yo' and they daid," say, "yo' have to take it off an' leave it at de grave," he said, "but if the person livin', why, yo' don't have that to do." He said, "But chure trouble, it has tuh be took off an' left at the grave," he say, "an' ah'll have to go in de grave fo' yo' round fo' 'clock in de morning." An' ah tole him, ah said, "Won't chew be 'fraid tuh go in there?" He said, "No," say, "ah went to the grave on many mornings." He said, "That's mostly how ah ketch people." He said, "Usu'lly, yo' write a letter to a daid person an' take three cents an' lay it on de letter an' when yo' go to de grave- yard, yo' jes' dig a little hole an' stick it in there," said, "when yo' go home yo'll have a dream jes' what plan to do. An' ah asked him how did he know, an' he said he had experience with that, that's how he got so much money for that. So, well, we discussed a lotta things an' he tole me, he said, he wanted me to have some hog husk an' things ready fo' him Tuesday afternoon.
(What?)
Hog husks [tusks]. So we discussed things on an' he tole me, he said, "Yo' husband has lotsa enemies 'cause he's a older man than yo' an' yo's a younger woman than him," an' said, "lotsa men envy him of yo'," an' he said, "ah'm goin' fix him an' put him on his feet but de one thing ah want him tuh do is tuh git me nine hog husks." An' say, "Ah'm gon'a take dem nine hog husks, an' ah'm gon'a git a dime worth of herts perfume an' ah'm gon'a put this dime into some kind of eskit [this is the word = essence? = greasing dime] an' ah want chew tuh swallow it." [See Dime, swallowing, in Index.] He said, "Ah want that dime to remain in yo' body 'leven days."
(How many?)
"Leven. An' he said, "When ah return on de 'leven day," he say, "ah'll remove that dime from yore body." An' he say, "Then ah'll take those hog's husks an' ah'll grind 'em an' ah'll put some mah strong stuff with it." He said, "Then ah want chew to roll it into a cigarette an' smoke it fo' nine mornings, an' each time yo' smoke that cigarette," say, "yo' say these words, say, "let chure work be done Lawd, ' say, "let this bad luck and the evil spell go away an' let me be lak ah once was.'" He said, "Say that fo' nine days," say, "ah'm quite sure that yo' will be on yore feet again." Ah said, "Well, what about dis evil spirit that's bothering me?" He say, "It will even do away with the evil spirit," an' he say, "there's one scripture in de Bible that ah want tell yo' tuh read when ah come back." Say, "Ah want chew tuh read it fo' nine mornings an' ah'm quite sure yo'll be on yore feet."
(Well, what happened then?)
Well, he hasn't come yet - he'll be in Tuesday.
(He hasn't told you what to do yet?)
He hasn't tole me yet. (Well, now, when you get to the end of the story, you come around and tell me again, will you - tell me what he does.) Yes sir.
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 1780
All right. You take and you make a real coffin, but a small one - you know, a small coffin. You can make a big one too, but it would be unnecessary if it was big. Say, for instance, they really want to harm you. They can make a Coffin, well, say, about the size of this here - the top of this thing here [my recording machine]. Make a coffin fust about that size. They could bury you in that coffin.
(How would they do that?)
Now, they take that and they'll go to the graveyard, see. They get what we call graveyard dust, you know. They get this dirt, see, off of the tomb. They come back and they spread that into this coffin that I've made - I spread it into that. If I can get anything that you sweated in - if it's your socks, the band of your hat, your underwear, anything that you sweat into - I gets that and I put that in there, now, and when I put that in this thing, I'm going to put a cross in there and I put that cross in there.
(What kind of a cross?)
A cross - a real cross.
(A wooden cross?)
I can buy one. You see, I can buy crosses to put there - if it's a brass one, I'll put it in there, I'll put it into this coffin.
(What will that do?)
I'm going to put more dirt in there, you see. Now, I'm got that hatband or your socks or underwear in there, and I'm got that laying on top of that dirt, and I'm got the cross in there. I'm going to put more dirt on top of that. Now, I'll put that dirt on top of that and I'm going to take and I'm going to get salt and I'm going to sprinkle that salt in the four corners of the coffin. Then I'm going to carry this coffin and bury this coffin. I bury this coffin and if I know your name, I'm going to bury this coffin and put your name on top of it. But I'm going to put your name down on this coffin in red letters, but I'm going to put 'em, put your name down just about that big - just about that big, so it'll take a little time for it to come off, you see. And as your name wears out and that sweat is drying up - that sweat ain't going to dry right away because - your clothes I mean that's in there, they ain't going to dry right away because that dust going to keep 'em damp. But as this name be wearing out, that piece - well, I take [took] it from you - it's drying. Now as that's drying, you drying too. And now when that dries, if you don't die that day, you'll die sure that next day, because if that paint dry today, if you don't die today, you'll be dead in the morning.
Entry 1781
Dat's easy. You kin take an' make a little box. You know you kin git dese, any kind of little box you understand and make it - you know, shape it like a coffin. But co'se you have to have it shaped like a coffin, don't you. Got'a carry it to somebody if you can't do it yourself - got'a carry it to somebody an' have dem fix it jis' like a coffin. You gits some new linen cloth and you tack it around in there with shoe tacks never been used - git chew a nickel box of shoe tacks and you tack dat cloth around in dere, see. After you tack that cloth in there, you git some black dirt and put into it; git some pot salt and sprinkle onto dat dirt. Well, after you have sprinkle de salt, you git chew some clear sand. You know dese sand and gravel whut you mix concrete wit; git some clear sand like dat and put on top of dat salt, see. All right, and you git chew some chamber lye from somebody else - you understand, not yours. You have to git it from somebody else and you pour that onto that you understand and you carry dat [coffin] and bury it into de graveyard. And that will be the end of dem.
(Well, whose end would that be? Whom would you kill that way?)
Kill de person you want, see. (Well, how would you say that? "This is the person I want?" How would you do that?) You would jest have to call dere name - see, at de time when you buryin' it.
Entry 7458
Yo' take two black hen aigs. Yo' take one an' put it at his haid on de left side in de coffin or casket or whatevah it is, an' yo' take one an' put it in his left hand. Dat's whut ah've heard, an' say when dat aig bursts, dey'll have tuh come back. Say, dey'll have tuh come back an' surrender.
Entry 7507
Shot to death. Well, now if yo' is shot to death, yo' jes' take an' go in de woods an' dey git somepin dey calls scrubby oak [second-growth oak?] switch. Well yo' git one of dose switches, an' de very person whut's dead in de coffin, yo' take an' put dat in 'is han'. Put dat switch in 'is han' in de coffin, see, an' tell 'im, say, "Whip dis person across de whole worl'" - jes' who his name wus, yo' undah- stan' - "whip him until he git enough." Jes' call de dead person name an' also dis othah man's name - see, what did de killin' - an' den yo' close 'is hand on it. See [demonstrates] jes' close his hand right up on it, an' he'll finish drawin' up [!!!]. See. An' den when yo' bury 'im, in spirit dis same scrubby- oak switch an' dis fellah in spirit will whip dis othah fellah until he die. He won't live very long. If he live six months he doin' good. [Charleston, S. Car.,
(?).639:2+85.]
Entry 7930
Cut new board in shape of coffin. Either nail it or attach with sticking plaster, up un- derneath house beneath center of bed.
Entry 7931
Cut a board in shape of coffin, cut 9 knotches in it, drive 4 small nails in it, put under person's steps, just under dirt, that will kill you.
Entry 7938
Take any yore clothes, yore dirty clothes an' put down in dat coffin an' bury it, or ei- thah bury it undah yore steps. An' when yo' cross dat, dat where yo' dies at.
Entry 7954
I've heard them say that they can take coffin nails and then take an individual's, some parts of his clothes, and go way out in the forest somewhere where the sun shines on a tree and nail that, use those nails in driving, and maybe some un- derwear or coat or something or a part of a coat, on that tree and fix it so it can't fall off. And as long as it stays there, on every change of the moon the individual will weaken down, and then finally he gits so he can't have any activity of his limbs atall.
Entry 7963
Measure a person's foot with any kind of string and tie a knot in each end of it...put it in a box the shape of a coffin...bury it; as hit grow old, as
[in like manner] you fade away.
Entry 7996
Well, dat little coffin, dat is de one like if a woman is in love wit a man. Well, she will cut out maybe a little doll or image of 'im an' dey take dat an' bury dat maybe perhaps by some canal or some place - some guttah or some of dat kind of stuff, like dat. An' dey keeps dat dere an' dis man can't leave out of de town dat he is in. Whatevah town he is in he can't leave out of it, as long as dat coffin is buried in dat town where him an' her is at.
Entry 9042
Yo' kin go tuh de cemetery. Yo' have tuh go by yo'self an' carry jes' two or three grain of cawn [corn rare as payment] or two or three cent. An' run yore han' fur enough down in dere to tech de casket, tuh git de dirt, an' put dem pen- nies down in dere. An' when yo' put dem pennies down in dere, tell 'em, jes' say, "Ah want chew tuh do sech-an'-sech a thing. Ah want chew tuh git mah husban' outa trouble, or mah brothah outa trouble, " or somepin othah lak dat, if dey in trou- ble. An' when it time fo' trial dey'll come cleah. Yo' take dat graveyard dirt an' sprinkle it all roun' de co'thouse, all aroun' de jailhouse, or jes' where- somevah he at.
Entries from source headings
These entries are listed under the following headings in the source volume:
- Coffin Knock — Volume 1, entries 89. Source context: SPIRITS → GHOSTLORE.
- (18) LEFT SHOE OF MURDERED MAN BURIED IN COFFIN — Volume 4, entries 7398. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → MURDER → HOW MURDERER CAN BE CAUGHT.
- CORPSE WATER IN COFFIN; KILLS MURDERER 9 DAYS LATER — Volume 4, entries 7415. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → MURDER → HOW MURDERER CAN BE CAUGHT.
- FACE - TURN MURDERED PERSON ON - IN COFFIN - BURY — Volume 4, entries 7474. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → MURDER → HOW MURDERER CAN BE CAUGHT.
- CLOTHING OF LIVING BURIED IN COFFIN WITH DEAD — Volume 4, entries 7937. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → DEATH AND BURIAL AND GRAVEYARD → COFFIN - DOLL BABY - BURIAL - BONES → COFFIN REAL OR MOCK.
- INITIALS OR NAME INTO COFFIN — Volume 4, entries 7941. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → DEATH AND BURIAL AND GRAVEYARD → COFFIN - DOLL BABY - BURIAL - BONES → COFFIN REAL OR MOCK.
- NAIL OR HANDLE FROM COFFIN; BURY LEFT-HAND CORNER OF VICTIM'S HOUSE; TELL IT WHAT YOU WANT DONE — Volume 4, entries 7953. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → DEATH AND BURIAL AND GRAVEYARD → COFFIN - DOLL BABY - BURIAL - BONES → COFFIN REAL OR MOCK.
- (6) WOOD - FORM OF PERSON AND COFFIN CUT FROM; VICTIM'S NAME ON BACK - BURY AT VICTIM'S HOUSE — Volume 4, entries 8000. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → DEATH AND BURIAL AND GRAVEYARD → COFFIN - DOLL BABY - BURIAL - BONES → DOLL BABY.
- IF SOMEONE YOU HAVE MISTREATED DIES; PUT COIN IN COFFIN TO LAY THE GHOST — Volume 5, entries 11123. Source context: "CHANNEL DE WORLD".
- FORK OF ROAD - MIDNIGHT - MEET FUTURE HUSBAND OR COFFIN — Volume 5, entries 11680. Source context: "CHANNEL DE WORLD".