Subject:Drowning
Entries
Entry 11836
If a man git drownded or sompin like dat, why yo' kin take an' go to de rivah an' if dey draggin' fo' him an' can't find him, why yo' shoot de gun an' he'll rise tuh de top, which in dat's true. Ah see dat mahself. [This is ordinary folklore.]
Entry 5654
Dey take yore foot track up in a spoon an' put it in a sack an' den throw it ovahbo'd. Dat will hahm [harm] yo'.
(What will that do to me?)
Dat will drown yo'.
(Which track do they take up?)
Take up de lef' feet.
Entry 2763
Well, now, I tell you about the hair. A person takes some of your hair and cut it out of your head. I know a man did me that - that's the reason I tell you so good about it. My husband was laying and I was laying down in the bed and I was asleep - laying down on my back. He couldn't find my scissors, he got up and got the case knife. I heard something going - saw - saw - saw - you know, and I woke up like that. He was setting up in the bed - had my hair sawing a piece of it, got it out. So I went to the hair-dresser and she said, "What is your hair doing cut out." I said, "My hair ain't cut out my head." She missed it, and she say, "Yes, it is." I say, "Oh, Lord, I don't remember cutting my hair out for nobody." I say, "Gee, I'm going to watch my husband tonight when he come." He was working in the swamp and when he take a bath that night, I goes in his clothes and I look and he had a plat of my hair in his pocket. I said, "What you going to do with that hair?" He say, "I cut this here, Daisy, ' he call me Daisy, "to keep you with me 'cause I love you" - to keep me from going away from him. A Egyptian woman told me - I went to her - she say, "You suffering with your head." I say, "Yes." She say, "Some man cut your hair out your head and he dead." [See margin-title If Evildoer Dies Spell Incurable, p.396.] I say, "Yes, what did he do with it?" She say, "He take it to a tree in the woods and he bore a hole in that tree," and she say, "while he may - he put that hair in the tree," she say, "and then he closed it." That what the Egyptian woman told me. I say, "Well, what you think he want to do that for?" She told me, she say, "He didn't Want to kill you, but he wanted you to be crazy about him - cause that would make you crazy, make you follow him everywhere." Because he wanted me to go to that [camp something?] and he working there - and he wanted me to go and I didn't go. She say, "Well, you go on with him." So, well, my husband he got - he put my hair in the tree. He bore towards the sunrise. He got on the side of the sunrise and he dug the hole and she told me how to go there to get that hair. I went there right away and just like she told me, it was true - my hair absolutely Was there. I went and I take a knife and I dug the plug out. And my hair had done growed long and I taken it out and it cold-like. And I say [to myself], "Well, I declare." I say, "I never did dream about any hoodoo or nothing like that. I said [to myself], "Why she told me." I went to the hoodoo woman 'over the river" - she's dead now. She say, "Don't let no hoodoo and no fortuneteller or none 'em son-of-bitch tell you that you are fixed. You're not fixed," she say, "it's your blood cause you suffer with your head."
(Who told you that?)
Miss Helen - that was a hoodoo woman told me that. She say, "I could fool you out of money just like the rest of 'em fool you out of it," she say, "but there ain't anything ailin' you but your head." Well, that's just what the Egyptian woman had done tole me [that I was fixed]. Well, I was on two opinions. I didn't know 'aht to do. The Egyptian Woman had told me about my hair and Miss Helen done told me it was the blood. Well, I got operated on. That didn't do no good and I said it must be true what the Egyptian woman say. And I go - what the Egyptian woman told me - and I goes and that's where I found my hair was in the tree. And I say to my husband, "Well, what you want do with my hair?" He say, "Oh, I love you so much," he say, "and I don't want you to have nobody else but me and that's the only thing I'se wantin'." I say, "Well, listen."
(Did your husband die after that, then?)
Ohyeah, he got drownded.
(I see.)
He was working, he got drownded - he fell overboard, he got drowned. After I'd taken [found] that [first] piece, he cut another piece and he got drownded with the piece - that piece in his pocket. Because when they caught him [his body with a grappling hook] he was just so bad, they had to bury him with every- thing on 'em, you know, and that's why my hair is in the graveyard.
(He was so bad what?)
It did up - the fishes and things had did him so bad, you know.
(Oh, I see.)
Yeah, they had did him up so bad, so that's why they had to bury him with his pockets - with all his clothes what he had on, his working clothes. So that's.
(And he still had some of your hair? He didn't put it in a tree?)
Yeah, he still had it. And I went to hoodoos and all. I went to all. I have been to a lot of them and they tell me - some would say I was sick and [some would say]. [Egyptian woman is a fortuneteller wearing large earrings and sometimes a head covering; usually a Negro, occasionally a white woman, rarely a gypsy. Along the Mississippi River a drowned body is ''dragged for with grappling hook. For folk- lore methods to recover the body, see FACI,2ed., Nos. 15127-15136, pp.696-697.]
Entry 3070
[Fortunately I am able to introduce to you the fabulous Doctor Buzzard of Beaufort (Bu'fert) in the words of another gifted doctor - a man I call CoURT- ROOM SPECIALIST in INTERVIEWS section. Beaufort, yo' know. See, Doctor Buzzard at Beaufort. OF Dat's a fairy tale. Yo' know, once dey had a story down at Beaufort dere an' dey [story] has de fishermen go down to de sea. All right, de boat'll capsize wit de mens an' some of de men goin' drown. Dey had de boats [one boat] full of fishes. Well, about three or fo' days whut de [they] find - de boat, when dey see de boat, de boat come drifting up to de dock wit fish in dat boat, an' dey [the story says a buzzard] come steering it on up an' de buzzard eatin' de fish when de boat comin' up to de dock. When de boat come up.to de dock, de buzzard done eatin' de fish. Ever since dat, dey say [a] buzzard done rowed de boat - he rowed de boat to Beaufort.
(Well, about that man, the root doctor down there?)
He done - listen, de mens was drown-ded, de fishermens. Dey had a boat fulla fish, and right down - when de fishermen out to sea dere, an' dey rotten on de boat, de buzzard settin' on de boat eatin' de fish, an' de blood drippin' on de watah. Dey see buzzard, an' de buzzard rowin' de boat.
(So the buzzard rows the boat?)
No, de buzzard wasn't rowin' de boat, but dat is a tale, yo' know. (What was that tale about old man Buzzard rowing the boat though, didn't they tell something to you about that?) That's the same tale.
(Tell me that story, so that I can get it straight.)
Anyone go to his house.
(This old man Buzzard?)
Yeah, to his house. He stay on one side of de water and yo' be on de nex' side. Well, yo' come down to de boat to go cross to him, he'll send a buzzard ovah to row yo' in de boat. An' aftah yo' git in de boat, de buzzard row 'cross to de othah side. Now, if yo' come down an' git in de boat and de buzzard start rowin' yo' off an' come back, dey say yo' bettah git off, 'cause yo' de wrong man - de buzzard gotta tuh drown yo'. He row off a piece an' come back, yo' bettah git off. But aftah, yo' see - aftah yo' git on de boat, de buzzard he row yo' on 'cross to de ole man. Yo' git to de house an' git to de do', de buzzard he'll invite chew in de house. Den he'll go fust to give yo' a seat. Den Doctor Buzzard he goin' talk with yo' den.
(The old man Buzzard, did you see him - the old man?)
Yessuh, ah done see him. Ah saw him heah.
(How long has be been dead?)
He been daid 'bout 'leven yeahs.
(There really was a man named Doctor Buzzard?)
Name Buzzard. Dere wus a man name Buzzard. Stayed in a hut-house cross heah to Lady's Islan' - in a hut-house to Lady's Islan'.
(He was a colored man, wasn't he?) [Leading questionl]
Yessuh.
(What did he look like?)
Was a ole man, gray haired man wit a long beard - a ole man. (Do you know any other stories that they tell about Buzzard? Are there any other stories that you know about him? They used to tell a lot of stories about him.) Dere one story 'bout he make a snake walk in de co'thouse yo' know, where a case is goin' on an' de judge dismiss de case. [See snake sent to courthouse, 248, p.70.] An' he make a lil bird fly right in de co'thouse an' dey dismiss de case.
[See magic BIRDS, Pp.56-59.]
An' he make a buzzard fly roun' in de co'thouse an' dey dismiss de case. [For trained buzzards, see 203-204, p.57f.] Yo' wouldn't have tuh go dere [to him], yo' jes' [write] to 'im an' pay him yore money an' go on 'bout chure business an' still he'd be dere. Dat day yo' go dere an' see a snake crawlin' round de co' thouse - or a buzzard flyin' round de co'thouse - [or] a lil white bird would come an' fly roun' de judge an' sit on de judge shoulder - an' de judge would dismiss the case. (Did you ever hear of another fellow down there on the Islands named Jones? Was there another fellow named Jones - an old man?) [Leading question but with a special purpose.] Yeah, I heard about him, too. An' ah heard about Jones an' ah heard about Robinson - Robinson down dere now.
[For Robinson, also called Robertson, see later in this margin-title.]
(Is he the undertaker - is he the man that has a store down there?) [For my visit to Beaufort, see later.] No, Willie Wright got de store near de schoolhouse.
(Wright?)
Yeah, Willie Wright, near de fillin' station.
(Did you ever hear of Kid Wade?)
Kid Wade? He's daid. Yes, he died long heah in - his daughter run his place now.
(Well, he's only been dead in the last year or so hasn't he?)
He ain't dead a yeah yet. (Well, two years ago I went down there and stopped off and saw him, but he had had a stroke or something. So he's dead now?) Dat's correct.
(His daughter is carrying on his business?)
Yeah. (Could I get much of this stuff down at Beaufort - things along this line? They tell me that it is dying out down around Beaufort.) They're still gittin' the stuff down dere - dey still do dat stuff down dere.
(What was Doctor Buzzard's real name? Have you any idea?)
Dat's all ah really know - Doctor Buzzard.
[I must have asked about men elsewhere.]
Dere Doctor Harrison. [See margin-title later in this subsection.]
(Where is that?)
Dat in Florence [S. Car.]. Well see, he died about ten yeahs ago. He was ovah there. Ah know him from 1908.
[We talk while my machine was stopped, and then.]
(And he was the real Doctor Buzzard?) [I repeat him.]
De - he de real Doctor Buzzard. [Most people went to.]
(At Florence?)
Yessuh. (I talked with one of the men that worked for Harrison.) [Where this is I do not know at the moment.] Yeah, he was de real Doctor Buzzard, in Florence, yo' know.
(He was a white man?) [Again I repeat what he said while machine stopped.]
A white man - a white man lived three mile outa Florence. (Have you talked with many white people who do this kind of work - round in this part of the country - doing this sort of thing, rootworking and things of that sort?) A good many - a good many. A good many won't tell it, yo' know. [While I was in Waycross, Ga., a white doctor wanted to see me. This occured elsewhere.]
Entry 8445
Jes' lak if dey take yore photograph an' throw it ovahbo'd - if yo' mad wit de person an' throw dat photograph ovahbo'd, dat would cuz de person tuh git drowned.
Entry 23
If that spirit goes out somewhere and gets killed or drownded, it will not return and the body lays dead.
Entry 952
You can take their shoes and carry them down to the river at noontime and let the water run over them. Take them back and let them dry. On a full moon go down to this river, call, and keep calling them. And when they have them shoes on they'll walk into the river and drown themselves.
Entry 1302
In case if a person is poisoned, swelled up bad, look like dey 'bout tuh bust and dey poisoned, sickly, swelled as large as a barrel, a hogshead barrel, yo' wants to go git chew a piece of saltpeter and put dat saltpeter in a half glass of water and yo' go an' git yo' some gourds, some green gourds, an' take de entrails out 'em an' boil 'em, and let 'em take a cupful of dat, an' all de worms and things in dere, will throw 'em up. Den yo' wanta release dose parties den - dose parties who did dat. When dey throw de worms up, dey take 'em an' put 'em in a bottle an' stop 'em up airtight and go to de river and throw it ovah yore shoulder. Well, den dem parties go an' jump in de rivah an' drown - kill demselves.
Entry 4510
Dey git hold of yuh [bath] watah. Dey take dat watah, see. Well, if dey wanta drown yuh, if dey wanta make yuh drown, yuh see, dey take dat watah an' carry it tuh a well, sompin like dat, an' dey'll throw dat dirty watah into de good watah. Well, yuh know when yuh don' bath yuh dirt an' all will come up in dat watah, yuh see. Well, when yuh bath yuh mind is on nuthin else but dat bath, see. Yuh realize dat when yuh bath, ain't it? All right, yuh look all ovah yuhself. Yuh take a nice bath an', why yuh figah [figure] how ah'm nice an' clean. Well, yuh look at de watah an' say, "Well, dat watah mighty dirty. Well, dat sure is dirty." Like dat or sompin like dat. Well, if de watah was not soil much, yuh say, "Well, ah sure wasn't dirty, but ah take a bath anyhow an' now ah feel bettah." Dey'll [an enemy] take dat dirty watah an' dey will carry it tuh de well an' dey will throw it in de well, see. Dey will throw it in de well an' perhaps somebody might go dere an' fin' yuh dere in dat well drownded. [Charleston, S. Car., (511), 575:5.] [If hat as a whole does not appeal to the hoodoo believer, sweatband and especially sweatband bow do; the former as a place to hide cunjure, the latter as a small pliable object full of symbolism, easily concealed, and usually worn or kept for a love hand. The preceding title I have separated into three head- ingS: HAT AS A WHOLE, SWEATBAND OF HAT EXCLUDING BOW, and BOW FROM SWEATBAND OF HAT.]
Entry 5289
Dey take dat left shoe of yores an' burn it, an' git de ashes an' stop it up, an' put it in runnin' watah. Yo' drown.
(What do you stop it up in?)
Stop it up in a bottle.
Entry 5474
If dey wan' chew tuh leave town - if yo' givin' dem trouble an' dey Wan' chew tuh leave town, why dey'd ketch it [your track]. If yo' goin' dis way, dey'd ketch it disaway. Den dey would take dis dirt - take it an' put it in a new piece of home- spun. When yo' go tuh a graveyard, git chew two bran'- new teaspoons. Go tuh a graveyard wit two bran'-new tea- spoons. Git chew two teaspoonsfulla dirt offa two sinnahs graves. Well, yo' takes two pennies an' pay each one of dese sinnahs fo' de dirt. Well, yo' takes dat gunpowdah an' thundah-strucken wood, red peppah, an' mix it all tuhgethah. What ah mean thundah-strucken iw where lightning struck a tree. Well yo' take it an' divide it intuh two parts. Yo' put one in a red chunk bottle [bottle with long neck] an' bury it in de east, an' yo' put de othah one in a red chunk bottle an' yo' go tuh runnin' watah, an' yo' pitch it 'cross yore shouldah - turn yore back, pitch it 'cross yore shouldah. Befo' yo' pitch it 'cross yore shouldah, yo' say, yo' do dis, In de Name of de Father, an' de Son an' de Holy Ghost - fo' yo' tuh go an' nevah return. An' in three days time yo'll be left town, yo' can't stay. Yo'll tread dat watah until yo' drown.
(You say you put all that stuff in a red chunk bottle?)
In a red bottle - quart bottle [the ordinary brown beer or whiskey bottle one "chunks" or throws away.]
(Which shoulder do you throw that over?)
Ovah yore lef' shouldah.
Entry 5616
They dit up the whole left-foot track and put it in a bottle. Take it and throw it in the river. They can put a little water in or a little cayenne pepper, if you want, make a wish, throw it in the river - and throw it away. You wish them to stand still or to drown, you wish them good or wish them bad, anything you want to.
Entry 5781
Me an' 'er wuz good frien's, an' so she wanted tuh take mah husban' an' so she wanted tuh git mah track. 'Stead [instead] of 'er gittin' mah track, well she got hers. An' she took dat an' chunk it in runnin' watah. An' so she went down dere in 3 days, why she went down dere tuh drown 'erself.
Entry 6047
Yo' kin take a person's hair an' yo' kin run 'em crazy.
(How do you do that?)
Yo' kin take a person's hair ag'in, but all de time take it from de mole, see. De mole of anybody's head. Fact, dat's a tendah spot about a person in de head, is de mole. Anybody yo' kin git to, git dere hair, yo' git it from de mole. Yo' gits dere hair, if yo' wants to git rid of 'em. Yo' take dat hair an' yo' git yo' what yo' call - we call it prickly pear - wit de stickahs on it, dey're green [unripe ones are]. Yo' git yo' one of dose pieces of prickly pear an' yo' lays dat down an' yo' cuts it as thin as yo' pos- sibly kin do ft. Yo' cuts yo' nine pieces of it. An' yo' try de bes' yo' know bou, when yo' plat dat hair, to plat dat hair wit dat nine pieces of de prickly pear [demonstrates]. (YOU'RE SORT OF WEAVING THAT HAIR AROUND AS YOU ARE DEMONSTRATING WITH YOUR FINGERS.)
[Informant continues demonstration.]
(You weave that around?)
Yeah, DAT HAIR HAS GOT TO COME IN BETWEEN EACH PIECE OF DAT DERE PRICKLY PEAR. SEE.
(I SEE, AS YOU'D MAKE A SANDWICH?)
Yes, sir. Now, den when yo' git dat in dere, yo' take yo' a piece of black thread an' yo' wrap each one of 'em jis' lak dat [demonstrates]. But it's all goin' to be togithah when yo' git through. Yo' wrap each one, an' as yo' wrap it close - now, when yo' git it all close togithah, yo' take yo' white thread m' yo' come disaway wit it. See, yo' wind up on dere an' den yo pull it dis- away, an' yo' wind up on dis end, an' yo' cross it disaway an' yo' come back. Den yo' wind it up ag'in dis way, see.
[I SUMMARIZE LAST DEMONSTRATION.]
(You wind that black thread around it one way.)
One way.
(And then you take the white thread and wrap it around the other way.)
T'othah way.
(As you would tie up a package.)
Yes, yo' wrap dat white thread de othah way, yo' see. Now, when yo' git dat done, yo' take an' yo' git yo' a piece of de reddest flannel yo' kin find - which flannel don't git no reddah, I don't think. Yo' wrap dat up in dere [the flan- nel] an' dat party's name. Yo' take dat name an' yo' git yo' a indelible pen- cil an' yo' write dat name down on dere fo' nine times disaway [demonstrates].
(Nine times that way.)
An' nine times disaway [demonstrates].
(Make it in [the form of] a cross.)
Makin' it across, yo' see. Now, when yo' do dat - aftah yo' do dat, yo' dig a crench where dey goin' to pass [over] dat, an' yo' bury it right where yo' know dey goin' to pass. Yo' bury it an' bury it as deep as yo' kin. Yo' bury it an' leave it dere, an' when yo' bury it an' git ready to walk ovah dat, yo' jis' say: In de Name of de Father, Son an' Holy Ghost.
(What do you do - you say?)
When yo' walkin' away - when yo' bury it an' are walkin' away, yo' jis' say: Ie de Name of de Father.
(In the Name of the?)
In de Name of de Father. See, when yo' walk away, yo' say: In de Name of de Rtrer. Now, when yo' git jis' about ten feets away from dere, yo' says: de Son, 'de Holy Ghost. See. An' say: We'll depart. An' dat's dat person dat I'm dOIn' de harm tO. AN' DEY'LL GO MAYBE TO DAT RIVAH DERE, JUMP OVAHBO'D AN' DROWN; ° DEY MAYBE TAKE A GUN AN' BLOW DERE BRAINS OUT. See. Somepin goin' to be doe. Dey'll do somepin to demself to kill demself. If dey lose a dollah, dey y take an' kill dereself by losin' dat dollah.
Entry 6054
Jes' lak yo'd cut de hair out de mole of yore haid an' take de hair from de othah place, an' put both of dem hair togethah an' take dat hair an' sew it up in a bag. Dat's when yo' wanta keep yore man, yo' see, or yore wife or whoevah it is. An' seu it up in hah pillah or 'is pillah. Well, dat'll keep 'em right dere. But of co'se if yo' wan' 'im tuh leave, yo' wan'a run 'im off in de rivah, why yo' take dat hair an' yo' ketch a catfish. An' yo' take a stick an' jes' stuff it down in dat catfish's mouth right good an' den throw dat catfish, throw 'im backwards [demonstrates] out in de rivah. An' jes' as fur as dat fish goin', dat person, uboevah goin', tryin' tuh ketch up wit dat catfish, an' aftah while he'll drown.
(You throw that over your left shoulder.)
Yessuh.
Entry 6599
Well, she takes de snake an' she dries 'im up an' she takes 'is bones outa his tail, which dose de softes' bones, an' she dries dose bones up. Dey make a dust outa dem an' put dat intuh a vaseline, or hair oil, or hair grease dat he uses, an' he passes dat ovah 'is head when he combs 'is hair. An' it will penetrate tuh 'is - through 'is skull intuh 'is brain. An' he will al- Ways have a min' dat he wants tuh drown 'imself, or he will always have a min' he wants tuh kill 'imself or commit suicide. But de Way tuh keep 'imself from doin' dat, committin' sui- cide, HE WILL HAVE TUH GO TUH ONE OF DOSE PEOPLE OVAH DE RIVAH [IN ALGIERS], SOME OF DOSE TWO-HEADED PEOPLE, AN' DEY WILL TELL 'IM JIS' WHUT IS WROEG WIT 'IH AN' DERE IS NO DANGAH FO 'IM, BECUZ DEY KIN GIT IT BACK OUTA 'IS SKULL BEFO' IT
(How do they do that?)
Dey shave all de hair off, yo' see, an' dey use fresh lard an' sulphh an' hot towels, an' dey will draw dat - draw dat right out, an' he will have tuh pot eat anythin' fo' nine days. He should not have anythin' on 'is stomic, nuthin in "is bowels, nuthin. Give 'im two or three big dose of salts, an' dey contimue usin' dat fresh lard an' sulphuh on 'is head. An' in about nine or ten days, he il begin tuh come back tuh 'imself, an' den he will realize den whut dangah be sus in.
Entry 8147
Cut - dey could cut it in fo' parts. Well, dey could take it an' tro' [throw] it ovahbo'd. Dey could take it an' tro' in de fiah hole or sompin lak dat, yo' undahstand, an' make dey vishes when dey doin' dat, yo' undahstand. An' jis' whut dey vishin' - an' tro' it ovah- bo'd or in de fiah or cut it in fo' parts. Well, somebody vill cut cha tuh death. If dey tro' it ovahbo'd why yo' vill go ovahbo'd an' git drownded. If dey tro' it in de fiah, vell prob'ly maybe yuh clothes may ketch afiah from yuh cigarette chew smoke or yo'll ketch afiah somehow an' git burned up. [The word photograph is not mentioned but clearly meant.] [Charleston, S. Car.,. (511), 576:4.]
Entry 8444
An' den dey kin take yuh photograph an' throw it ovahbo'd. Dat will drown yuh. But dey got'a read de 108 Psalm.
Entry 10939
Wal, ah'm goin' tell you dis now, 'gin [again]. Now, in cases a per- son was treatin' yo' dirty, ag'in, an' interferin' wit yore family, what would yo' do. Yo' wanta learn dat?
[I evidently nod yes.]
All right. Well, yo' go ahead and write dere names nine times - write it nine times.
(On what?)
On a piece of paper - on a piece of Bliss [trade name] paper.
(Bliss tablet paper?)
Dat's right. An' write it and den when yo' write dat, roll it under. See, any kinda bad words yo' wanta use on dat, yo' do dat. Wal, den yo' go tuh de river - understand me good now. Go tuh de rivah an' ketch yo' a catfish. See, dis is a catfish yo' ketchin', see. Yo' know he's gotta skin, yo' know. (You catch this catfish and you have this name written on this piece of paper.) Yo' write dis party's name on a piece of paper whut have done yo' dirty, whut chew wanta git rid of 'em at once.
(Now, what do you do with the catfish?)
See, yo' take dis fish, reach and git his skin now lak dis [demonstrates]. See, he's gotta skin. Yo' skins 'im. See, yo' lift up his skin. Yo' know, lift his skin up an' roll dat tight a little space; yo' know, jes' a little space tight as yo' kin, an' stick it [name] in dere up undah his skin an' put him back in de rivah. Well, when he [fish] gone - an' he's gone wit dat message yo' see - well, when he go, dis party jumps in de rivah. And de farther dey go, den dey's tryin' ketch dat fish an' dey jes' drown demselves - fall ov'bo'd an' drown.
(Do you cut this skin on the fish and put it under there?)
Jes' cut his skin an' lif' his skin up. Gotta stick a knife in dere - yo' know jes' a little bit - an' stick it [name] up undah dere, see, an' go to de rivah wit it.
(And turn the catfish loose again?)
He's gone.
Entry 11962
If you throw a person's hair into running water, that person will go there and drown himself. [Snow Hill, Md., 11:4.]
Entry 12069
Now if a man gits drownded, yo' take some of his near-wearin' pieces or his hat an' throw it in, an' wherevah he's at, dose clothes not goin' sink till dey git dere. [Memphis 1518:7.]
Entry 12736
Well yo' know dese little rats [mice?] be's in de house. Well, yo' git one of dose an' buy yo' some mo' whiskey, see. Jes' git half a pint or a pint, but put it in jah where yo' kin put dat rat in it, see. Put him in dere 'live an' shet it down an' set it in a cornah till dat rat drown, see. An' yo' git all his strength in dat whiskey. Yo' take dat rat out an' throw him away or eithah barn him up in de fireplace. It would be best fo' yo' tuh burn him up, see. Den yo' take dat whiskey - don't strain it or nuthin, jes' put it back in a pint bottle, see. See, jes' lak yo' ole lady come in, see, an' she wanta drink, she say, "Well, yo' know ah so wished ah had a drink." Yo' say, "Ah think d've got a little drink." Yo' still continually give her a drink out of dat. Hit'll make hah sick but when she git bettah of dat sickness, she won't nevah Ak anothah drink of whiskey.
Entry 10743
An' what they'll do, they take lak a woman has ministration...an' put it in a bottle. They take it to that fo'k of de road an' turn it down on de haid an' bury it. (The head of the bottle?) Yessuh. Sometime they'll put their hair in there with that ministration and that will cause them to go crazy. An' they kin take that an' put it in swift runnin' watah an that'll make 'em wander aroun' somewhere an' git drownded.