Subject:Coughing
Entries
Entry 6647
Yo' kin take dis Eve-an'-Adam an' burn it tuh a powdah. Co'se yo' got'a dry it out good an' den let it stay on de stove. Don't let it burn black. Git chew some of de powdah, de ashes of it an' sprinkle it on dis candle. Git chure candle warm dat chew kin kinda work it in dere-like. Git chew a li'le of dis rattlesnake, dust outa rattlesnake rattle an' mix it intuh dat, an' light chew a candle. An' dat will keep yo' sneezin' an' cough an' effect yore eyes, until yo' won't be able tuh do anythin'. Jis' burn yo' a candle right aroun' in de room. If I'd have a li'le animosity ag'inst yo', tuh keep from doin' anythin', insultin' yo' or somepin, I may light a candle. Got it dressed an' evahthin'. Yo' set chere an' inhale dat an' yo' don't know whut's happenin'. Don't know anythin'. [You] is partly out chure haid, worse'n [worse than] like someone doped chah. It's a long run 'fore yo'll git right ag'in, from inhalin' de poison from dem rattlesnake [buttons] an' from de Eve- an'-Adam, yo' know.
Entry 200
If you say something to someone and they don't like it, they can see a hoodoo doctor and he has some kind of an animal. And while you are asleep, the animal will just roll all over you. If you try to wake up, you'll cough or sneeze or something, and that'll make you go back to sleep again. He'll just roll on you until you break out into a sweat he'll let you alone. [Here the doctor has taken over the hag's prerogatives with a difference. Since he himself is unable to go or prefers not to, he sends an assistant - an animal. For the great master of animal assistants, see margin-title Doctor Buzzard of Beaufort; for the hag, see subsection later.]
Entry 775
This man, his name was James Brown. He lived 'tween Suffolk and Holland in Virginia. He was a farmer. He lived near his birthplace. It Was said of him that when he was a boy - he was a very mischief boy, he would run across a lady's flower garden and the lady didn't see any way to keep him off of her flowers. So she said to him, "Boy, if you cross my flower garden again, I'm going to have you barking like a dog." So he crossed her flower garden again. And that night he started a sound something like a cough, only more like the bark of a dog. That sound stayed with him until he died. He would make that sound almost every two minutes. Sometime he would use vulgarity with it. It didn't care where he went. He even made that sound in church. He raised a family of seven girls and four boys. He died when he was forty-eight and the peculiar thing was he drop where that flower garden was.
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 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 1332
Well, this cow an' hog hoof, de hog hoof - yo' take yo' a hog hoof an' boil it - jes' lak yore chile - take dat hoof an' boil it an' take and give a chile some de watah, let him drink de watah, an' take a frog, a live frog an' split him wide open an' hol' de chile, put him on his mouth lak dis, wit de whoopin' cough.
(You must use both things?)
Yessuh - boil de hoof of de hog an' let him drink de watah an' den jes' ketch yo' a frog an' split him open an' hold him right ovah de mouth - dat's fo' de whoopin' cough.
Entry 6894
Ah have know of sompin about trees fo' makin' medicine, red oak an' beechnut an' sycamore. Mix dem three barks tuhgethah an' put it in a 'luminum pot an' boil it until it come tuh a certain amount, jis' as much 'mount as yo' want. Jis' lak if yo' wanta make a half gallon, why yo' put chew a gal- lon of watah in on dose barks an' let 'em boil down tuh a half gallon, an' den take it out an' git chew some dis heah brown sugah an' put it in dere, an' den strain dat dere bark out dere. Den put dat sugah on dere an' make a syrup. An' put chew jis' a li'le pinch of alum in dere. Well, dat's good fo' coughs.
Entry 7760
Take graveyard dirt an' dragon's blood an' make [mix] it up. Yo' kin take dat an' sprinkle it aroun' in a person's home. He can't see it. Yo' begin tuh have a hackin' cough an' dat hackin' cough, yo' jes' cough, cough lak yo' got tuberculosis; an': if yo' don' git dat dirt - some people don sweep often enough. Some people know [how] tuh avoid dat. Any person kin come in yuh home an' have a pinch of it an' throw it in dere an' cuz yo' tuh have a hackin' cough. (You say they take graveyard dirt and dragon's blood. Do they put it sep- arately or what?) Naw, mix 'em tuhgethah. See, dragon's blood is a very precious thing an' de graveyard dirt yo' git it off a sinnah's grave.