Subject:Frankincense
Entries
Entry 13306
Then you can fix what you call a scaft [scapular] to wear upon you to protect yourself.
(A what?)
A scafle.
(What kind? How do they fix that?)
You get frankincense, frankincense.
(What kind? Frankincense. All right.)
Yes. And myris [myrrh].
(And what? Muritch. All right.)
Muritch. And you puts it in white linen. See, you make a scaple [scapular] out of it to wear around your neck. And you feeds it with a oil of labena [verbena]. (Lavena?) Yes, you pours that upon it. That's to protect yourself. See that's what I knows about that.
(Now, what do you call this vanovitch?)
Muritch.
(What does it look like?)
It's a rock.
(A rock?)
Yes, it look just like that, but you can beat it up and make a powder out of it. (I see, muritch Yes, muritch and frankincense, they both look the same, but the frankincense is light looking and myrrh is brown. But they both is rocks, just come in pieces like that and larger pieces.
(Muritch or myrrh?)
Muritch 'er - ah myrrh.
(Is it myrrh?)
Yes, sir. That's it, myrrhs.
(I see. I got it.)
Entry 1241
Well, she wus a woman, she sold whiskey an' she had a little tree whut be in her yard an' she would say a verse from de Bible to that tree an' den she would burn dragon's blood an' frankincense up undah de tree an' she'd grab de tree an' whip it an' den she jes' turn it back up. An' she'd burn that stuff right at the tree - right at the root of the tree she would burn it. Well, that wus supposed tuh keep away evil spirits an' de law or anything tuh bother her. [See margin-titles Whipping, p.388; Hitting Remedy, p.399.]
Entry 3101
You know I wus bootleggin' an' de law come furce. Dis bad luck had been planted aroun' de house to ketch some bad luck fer me, you see, and I jis' had bad luck all de time. De law constan'ly come, constan'ly come. So I fixed salt an' t'ings down dey would tell me to, but dat didn't do no good. So den I goes to S'uth Car'lina - Doctor Small in S'uth Car'lina.
(What town does he live in?)
Florence, S'uth Car'lina. Doctor Small - I[J?]. H. Small.
[For Small, also see 3079-3080, p.897.]
He gits his cane an' he shake his cane up an' tells me all dese men's names. He tells me about Kid-eyed Reeves[?].
(Kid-eyed Reeves[?].) [The liquor man who supplied her?]
He tells me who sent 'em in dere. An' he gave me dis piece of luck - jis' somepin he [had].
(Did someone tell you about him being down there?)
Someone told me - someone sent me to him.
(How did he shake his cane?)
He had dis cane. He put somepin in dis cane. It was loaded - a loaded cane - and he shake zit up: An' he went on to tell me where dis cousin Ivry [Ivy] is, an' why mah husband an' I didn't agree [because] he liked dis cousin. Whut to do with his cousin. If he got a chance he'd kill 'er [wife] - dat he wus so jealous dat he wanted 'er so bad, he'd do anything to harm 'er [wife]. Den he went on to tell me dat he [husband] sent de law. An' he named all de officers names one by one - ev'ry one of 'em name, an' ev'ry time he shake de cane he give me another one name. An' he told me, he said. "You take dis [piece of luck = hand] an' t'row it over - he told me between North Car'lina, I mean S'uth Car'lina, an' Richmond [Va.] - to t'row it over in runnin' water. But I was afraid dat it might go up against de bank [of river] or somepin by not knowin' dat [where?] was travelin'. So I waited till I came home.
(You were traveling in an automobile?)
No, I was on a train. He told me to throw it in de runnin' water when de train pass but I didn't take a chance on it. I was afraid it might lodge some- where on a bank. So I brought it back here.
(Did you look at it? Did you know what it was that he gave you?)
I tell you. It was somepin on de order of - frankincense is one thing. You know he put four or five differen' little things. An' he'd shake up his bottles an' things an' mix dose things together. An' when I came back - an' he give me some lucky stars [see LUCKY STAR, p.607; 2541-2544.p.702f.1] So I came back an' he told me de next mornin' [after returning home], I get in mah car an' I goes to a bridge an' I named all dose men name an' threw it [the piece of luck] off. An' den, jes' after I threw it, I went to court. It was all through in de court [case was dismissed].
(You say there was something buried for you in the front yard?)
Yeah, it was buried.
(Who took this up?)
A spiritual taken it up. She dig it up: You're not suppose to handle 'em. He [Doctor Small] sent some spirit-man an' he found it. An' then, you don't suppose to handle [it] yourself. He didn't let me handle it - I couldn't put my hand on it.
(Who worked this for you?)
[Doctor Small may have sent a spirit-man to locate the buried article, but who dug it up?] It was a spiritual of Lakeside, whut lady went to see at Lakeside.
[Was she the person who had sent client to Small?]
(A spiritual?)
But she's a fortuneteller of Lakeside. She found it. She told me where it wus an' she come over dere an' found it.
(It was like a ball?)
[This shows I had turned off my machine somewhere, or informant had told part of the story before recording began.] Yeah, like a ball. I paid her to take care of it.
(Names of these officers, when did you call them?)
I called all four name, an' de last name I called, I t'rew it over mah left shoulder into de runnin' water on de bridge. An' dat case wus absolutely dis- missed.