Subject:Ghost
Other forms: Ghosts
Entries
Entry 5396
Dey say yo' kin take dat track - jes' lak dey wanta run yo' away - dey'll pull de track from de heel tuh de toe. An' take dat track an' take a aig, an' bo' a li'le hole in de aig an' dreen de contents of de aig out. An' put dat track in dat shell an' put a li'le bit of papah ovah it. An' go tuh a rivah, a stream or somepin dat's runnin', an' turn dat back an' throw it ovah de shouldah an' use three words dey say. Dey says, "In de Name of de Father, Son an' Holy Ghost, let dis evil one leave." But de 'Father, Son an' HolyGhost' is de word de' speak. An' throw it ovah de shouldah an' walk away an' not look back. An' dey say long as dat aig float, yo'll continue tuh go.
(Do they take either foot track?)
Eithah one or both.
(If they want to bring you to them?)
Dey git in fron' of yore track, yo' see. Let see, yes, an' pull it from de toe tuh de heel. Well, den dey don' throw dat in no rivah. Dey take dat an' fill it full of de track, de aig, an' put sompin aroun' tuh keep it from break- in' - real tight. An' dey bury dat egg undah yore steps or put it in de middle of a loose mattress where yo' sleep. An' yo' can't leave dere. Yo'll go but yo'll come right back.
Entry 7314
If yo' take an' do somepin to a person - kill 'im, an' dey say such a thing as ha'nt comin' back. If yo' see anything, yo' know dis person, yo' go to dey grave on de left-hand side, an' git some dirt an' wear it on yo', an' yo' won't be worried wit such a thing. (That is you get this dirt from the per- son whose spirit is around you, right from his grave.) Yes, on de left-hand side. An' wear it.
Entry 7688
Well, dis graveyard dirt, dey say dat'll drive anyone from yer home. Yuh take dat an' mix it wit salt an' some red peppah. An' dey say yo' take dat an' sprinkle it all aroun dese people home as neah tuh de home as yuh kin. An' dey say yuh have tuh talk to all dis stuff dat chew doin' an' say: In de Name of de Fathah, Son an' Holy Ghost, an' tell it whu' chew wan' it tuh do. An' dey say dat dey be Wantin' tuh leave dere.
Entry 8757
Write chure name in it, in dat tin pan - brand-new tin plate - an whirl [or spin] it tuh yo'. Every mawnin' write chure name - have to write it fo' nine mawnin's - if yo' 'way an' dey wanta see yuh. Yo' take dat brand-new tin pan an' write chure name an' turn [spin] it to yo'.[ Whirl [or spin] it ovah three times to yo', say[ing], "Ah do dis In de Name of de Father, Son an' Holy Ghost, fo' yo' to come an' nevah return [to where you were]." An' ah don't care if yo's in Europe, yo'll come.
Entry 8921
Now, if anyone has stole anythin' from yo', yo' go tuh some runnin' watah an' yo' write his name on dat piece of papah an' put slime or mud, whatso- evah it 'tis, an' call de Three Great Names - dat's de Father, Son an' de Holy Ghost, "may he bring dis back to me, ' an' throw it ovahbo'd. An' dat runnin' watah hit'll run back to yore house, bring it back to yore house. He pick some chance tuh bring it back, 'thout [without] chew seein' 'im. [The preceding expression Three Great Names is rare compared to the more usual ones of Three Highest Names and Three Holy Names. (If you think that's the person that stole the article, you write his name on a piece of paper, and you put this mud on the piece of paper.) Right on top of his name.
Entry 9200
Yo' take de black hen aig an' put a cross mark on it an' write de person name on it an' name, yo' say: De Son an' de Fathah an' de Holy Ghost, an' den if yo' in trouble, yo' turn yore back an' bust dat aig up by de tree, an' it break an' yore trouble break.
Entry 9539
As person leaves, make one throw of salt behind him: In the Name of the Father, second In the Name of the Son, and third In the Name of the Holy Ghost. Won't come back. This same thing in another person's house will make him move out.
Entry 9856
Dey tell me yo' git - yo' go tuh de sto' an' yo' git chew a five-cent box of tacks, bran'-new tacks. An' yo' take one-a dese tacks outa dis box an' yo' put it on de woodwork - anywhere on de woodwork of de house, an' yo' drive dem. An' yo' say, "Ah'm drivin' mahself tuh stay heah jes' as long as ah wanta stay." An' de las' three drives yo' drive, say, "Ah drive it in In de Name of de Fathah de Son an' de Holy Ghost." Yo' kin stay right dere until yo' git ready tuh leave.
(No one can move you out of that house until you are ready.)
Yo' stay right dere long as yo' wanta.
Entry 9861
Yo' kin trim a fat-lightah splintah, lak a peg outa it, an' yo' ketch dat toadfrog befo' de sun rise. Anyway, kill 'im befo' de sun rise. Yo' push dat peg through 'im an' yo hold 'im dere until he dies. Den yo' take de peg outa dere an' tie a cord roun' 'is feet, an' yo' kin hang 'im up any- where on a bush. Or jis' take a stake an' put 'im on it an' make yore wish, In de Name of de Fathah, de Son an'Holy Ghost. If yo' wan'a person tuh move, yo' kin stick it up an' make dem move; if yo' want luck, yo' kin stick it up an' make yore wish fo' luck.
Entry 10497
Those forks of the road? If a man wants to join in with the order world work, he want to go to the forks of the road at between twelve and one o'clock at night. He'd want to take his guitar and he'd want to play it at twelve or one o'clock at night; see, at the forks of the road. And cuss The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and he'd get them. His sight would come through his eyes [sight would be only guide] where he could be a underworld man and anything don't bother him - the worry. And he'd just say he joined the devil and anything that he'd take, that Wasn't right, well he'd be successful at it.
Entry 10548
If dey wanta sell deyself tuh de devil, in lotta cases tuh de fo'ks of de road, dey makes a trip down dere nine successful [successive] mawnin's an' de ninth [morning] de devil 'sposed tuh meet chew dere. An' so he an' de devil come tuh a 'greement on dat, an' de devil give him a cer- tain length of days an' yeahs - see, he gi's 'im [gives him] all dat power. Den he turn himself loose tuh him. Dat's death. Now, yo' go dere [to the forks of the road] fo' mo' den one purpose. Ah may be lak ah wuz dancin'. Ah goes tuh de fo'ks of de road fo' nine mawnin's, tuh see if dere anything dat would be in de way; see, tuh pacify yo'. Yo' go fo' nine mawnin's. Yo' go fo' nuthin [but] good, yo' goes in de Name of God, de Father, God de Son an' God de Holy Ghost. Now, when yo' goes fo' de bad, yo' takes de devil, an' all his temptin' ways tuh do de evil things. Well, yo' go dere. Ah'm comin' tuh do good an' yo' comin' tuh do de harm. [Informant demonstrates all this!] Now, ah'll come down In de Name of de Father, Son an' de Holy Ghost, down heah, see, tuh do de good; an' yo' come up heah in de way of de devil an' all his imps tuh do de harm. Well, when ah git up heah, ah beat chew an' we have a fight right heah. All right, if ah whup yo' heah, see, ah call yore name heah an' turn yo' back. Now, dose all sech things yo' do's at de hour in de mawnin' jes' befo' sun- rise. Dat whut chew do at de fo'ks of de road. [Between informant's treatment of me and my being on the devil's side, author appears to have had a hard time!]
Entry 10704
Well, if de house is ha'nted an' yo' can't git rid of de ha'nts, if yo've got a Bible, jest sleep wit it under yore haid. Dat'll stop de ha'nts.
Entry 10705
Well, if you wanted tuh be protected from de spirits, ghostes or things - wanta rest - lak if dey worrying yo' at night, yo' take a Bible an' lay it right under yore pillah wide open. An' yo' kin go to sleep an' rest all night long, and it won't no ghost an' no evil spirit or nuthin lak dat bother yo'.
Entry 10762
Keep out witches and ha'nts [ghosts], put bluestone at four cor- ners of house and at steps. [This is a five point rite, a modificatioo of the quincunx.]
Entry 10836
I'll tell you another story I have heard; I heard a fellow say. This fellow had killed a fellow and he couldn't rest that night, and a man told him to take a bullet and to take the steel part out of the bullet, and let that powder stay in there. And take some silver paper [tinfoil] and pack in it and whenever he seen this spirit [of the man he had killed] shoot it with his pistol and he would never see it again. [I vaguely remember this man, a mature bellboy at the hotel in Peters- burg, Virginia, where my wife and I stopped from the night after leaving Old Point Comfort. This Was in 1936. Previously, in the margin title at the bottom of p. XIX, v.1 of HOODOO, I thought we had spent that night at the old Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. Actually we did not stop at Richmond on this trip but from Petersburg continued on to Fredericksburg where we had luncheon next day and I met my future contact man Carter for the first time. It was then I arranged with him for my return to collect at Fredericksburg. That afternoon we continued on to Warrenton, where that night I interviewed a waiter. By the way, the bell- boy at Petersburg Was No.33, and the bullet story was recorded on Ediphone cyl- inder No.26. My original transcription is attached to this sheet on which I am now writing.]
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 11203
Take nine dirt dauber nest an' pound 'em up together. Put some salt - jes' de least salt, into de nine, which id about a teaspoonful into de nine dirt dauber nests. Then yo' put three teaspoons fulla sugah into dat. Pound it up good together. Then yo' take - after pounding that all up together - then yo' take an' anywhere that a person gotta visit, if it in a home or anywhere that they got dealin's at in dat place, yo' sprinkle it In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost an' make yore wish the way that yo' want it to work. It will work.
(What will you wish for on that?)
Well, if yo' want 'em tuh quit workin' dere or tuh leave dere, why yo' kin wish that way. An' if a person wants tuh continue working to a place, why yo' make that wish there. [Nine dirt dauber nests surely means 9 cells from one dirt dauber nest, not 9 separate nests which would be quite a large amount of dirt.]
Entry 11625
Just like if [you wants to make drift].
(Make them drift, you said?)
Yes, anybody you wants to make drift. Well, you catches a live fish, or any kind of fresh fish, and you take that fish and you split that fish half in two. Then you take a ink [pen], pin but let it be red ink. You write that name down in that fish and you take that fish.... (Wait! What do you write it on? On a piece of paper or on the flesh?) On the flesh of the fish. (All right.) Then you take that fish and throw that fish back. You use the three words: Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, and throw it in any running water. They'll be driftin, couldn't stay nowhere. Everywhere they go they're not satisfied.
Entry 12174
It is said that if two people are riding horses and one person sees a ghost and the other person can't see it, if he
[second person] lies down on the horse's back and looks between his [horse's]
ears, he can see the ghost the other person seen. [Fredericksburg, No.35 by Ediphone.]
Entry 12227
(When you go to get the job?) You get High John [de Conkah] and hartshorn [this name for an old- fashioned chemical some- times given to Hearts Cologne! Not a confu- sion, but a mispronun- ciation], honey suckle, crabapple [3 perfumes] and you put these in there with a teaspoonful of honey and a teaspoonful of allspice, these ground spices, cloves [other unnamed].
(cloves?)
Yes. (Well, how do they use that? I mean - you put it in this bottle. What do you do with that then, that bottle?) They puts it up on a shelf in the Name of the Lord.... (You put - grind it up and put a spoonful of High John the Conquer in this too. Put it in the bottle and then - what did you say you use the name of, when you [they] put it on themselves and when they go right down and they get the job?) Put it on yourself and you go right down [to see boss]. Course you got the odor on you too. (I see. That odor is on you while you are talking to the boss, so he's likely to give you the job. I see. And you say, In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.) After they do that, they anoint their feet, and then they turn their sock on the wrong side and use that same stuff. And turn the sock from the wrongside out, when they are going down there.
(Both socks or just one of them?)
Both of them.
(Put both of them wrongside out?)
Yes.
(They put the stuff on them that they use to get the job?)
Yes. (When they are going down, just turn their socks wrongside out on them. I see.)
Entry 13239
You go to a job, you have never been dere an' yo' look, yo' don't know de man when yo' walk in dere. Yo' have a little sugah in your pocket. Let it be brown sugah [if you are a black man]. An' ast 'em, if somebody [standing about], whoevah recommend to you [tell you], who is he [the boss] - de one dis [dat] de boss. An' sprinkle dat sugah [on the ground near the boss], say, De Name of de Father, de Son an' Holy Ghost, I guar'tee you git job.
Entry 18
I know of a man one time, he was not scared of spirits, and he said one night that he was going through the woods and he saw a ghost and he stopped. And after stopping he went around and sit on a [fallen] tree. And he made believe that he was asleep. And in the meantime this ghost came and sit on the same tree with him, and the ghost re'lly went to sleep according to his belief because he was snoring. And this man said that he got up and walked to this ghost - he did not put his hand on him though - he jumped at him and yelled hard and s'aid, 'What are you doing sleeping here!" And that ghost jumped up then and outrun the Word of God.
Entry 47
I worked at College Park, Maryland, and when I would leave the quarters and pass by the hothouse, every time that I passed by this hothouse I would have a peculiar feeling, and when I got by this hothouse this peculiar feeling would leave. It impressed my mind that it surely was ghosts or something creeping around.
Entry 72
A man told me that you will see a spirit or a ghost as long as you look at it or seem interested in its presence. As soon as you look away or become indifferent, the spectre will vanish.
Entry 90
My mother died and I didn't like to stay with strangers and I went to this lady's house to work. And while I was getting supper one night, this noise, something fell very hard upstairs and jarred the house so, that Mrs. J. and her mother, her sister-in-law and a fellow by the name of Ed and myself, all armed and went up, thinking because there were valuable things ir the house, that someone had broke in, but there wasn't a thing could be seen on the floor anywhere. Lots of times when I used to go up tc make this young man's bed I had to pass a room they called the Red Room. Every- thing in there was red, partly red. Every time I got against this door, thie dooı would open. But I didn't see no one come out. And I was afraid to go down\be- cause I would have to call some of them down there to see me down the steps. Anc many many times they used to see soldiers marching across the garden. And that house Was supposed to be han'ted. They used it for a hospital in the time of the [Civil] War. That's about five miles from Brandy Station [Culpeper Co., Va.].
Entry 119
I saw a ghost one night. I was going up the Riprap Road. A big mul- berry tree was on the ditch bank. When I got right opposite tree a man came out from under this tree. I didn't see no man when I was going up to the tree but when I got there he walked right out on this side, my left side. He said to me 'Where are you going?' I said, "I'm going?" home." He said, "It's a fine evening isn't it?" I said, "Yes." So then - he had on a brand-new pair of shoes, a brand-new broadcloth suit, a hard-bosom white shirt, a black high-top hat. I and him walked on. When I got up to Spring, I said to him, 'I'm going to turn into Spring Street." So then he said, "I'm going this way." And then he tipped his hat to me and said, "Good evening." So the house where I was going at, not being far from the corner, I went to the fence and called the woman to give her her lodge card. She came to the door and said, "Who were you talking to?" I said, "I was talking to a man." She said, "Where is he at now?" I said, "He's gone up the road." In the meantime he turns around and comes back and when he gets in sight for her to see him, I said to her, "There's the man now." She said, "I don't see nobody." I said, "You don't see nobody?" She said, "No." She said, "Where's he going?" I said, "He's going right back to the tree." And so when he got to the tree that's where he disappeared. Then I said, "oh, I've been talking with a ghost." And I commenced to running and I run until I got home and fell in the door. Mama said, "What in de world is de matter with you?" I said, "Mama, I've been talking to a ghost." And she said, "You're always out seeing ghoses."
Entry 144
Say it wus ha'nts, an' if yo' wanta see who wus in dere, jes' go to a sow dat's got little peegs an' suck her tits an' jump in dat whirlwind an' yo' see ever'thing that's in dere.
Entry 164
I went to visit my aunt at Suffolk, Virginia, on Memorial Day [May 30] and they didn't know where the graveyard was. Nobody had lived on this land for about forty-five years and it was somewhat grown up. And the place they told me to go now stands a giant tree. The only way she could describe the direction of the cemetery - she told me I would find two giant walnut trees in the middle of the field and if I would go to the largest tree and take about twenty-five steps to the south, that is where the kitchen door was; and if I would turn to the north and go about two hundred yards I would see just about where the cemetery Was. So I took a girl friend and another boy friend and started to take a wreath to put on my grandmother's grave, or what I thought was the grave. So I went to the place - tried to get the right direction - and as I started towards what I thought would be the cemetery, there arose a great whirlwind. I didn't see any- thing: but there was just a whirlwind. It hurled itself across what had been a field, so I decided it must of been a spirit of relatives. I had an aunt and an uncle and a host of cousins buried there and grandmother. If that was a ghost, I think it was trying to direct me where the cemetery was. I went to about where the whirlwind stopped and placed the wreath.
Entry 488
Well, if you wan'a keep out witches and ha'nts away from your house, you can take bluestone [= blue vitriol], put it in the four corners of the house and right at the steps where you go over, and you won't be bothered with 'em no more. You puts nine grains [crystals] at each corner of the house and nine at the front door.
Entry 926
Once upon a time there was a party going on and the boys of course was drinking as usual and a fight arose among them, and in the meantime they were fighting this woman's brother. So of course she went in to take her brother's part and she hit one of the men with her fist. So of course that roused the curiosity [animosity] of the man's mother, so nuthin she thought on but to cunjure this woman. So they met at an all day meeting [at church]. So just at the time of dinner [noon meal] this young man's mother fixed the special dinner for the woman who hit her son in time past. And of course she fixed a plate for this woman and asked her to eat at once before the crowd came. And she insisted several times, so many times that the woman suspected. And I looked in the plate which she was 'about to eat and the food it looked very peculiar - looked like corn bread and butter mashed together on the same plate with other food, cabbage and so forth. So she looked at it so hard until the woman said, "There's nuthin to hurt you." This woman didn't eat it. And the woman who fixed [cunjured] the plate was taken sick the next Sunday and died shortly afterwards. She might of gotten the same plate by mistake. The cunjure from King George [County, Virginia] who was doing the work [cunjuration] for her [the mother], he also died shortly after the woman died. The day he was buried, the same night, he came to the woman's house for whom he had fixed the dose, and he appeared in his own form and look. He stood on the steps and leaned over the bannister and looked at this woman, and the dog howled and run under the house, there was a whirlwind, and frighten the Woman out of her wits. And the woman didn't even know he was dead until the next day: He come because he didn't get the dose on the woman and he wanted to get in there and complete the job. [It was quite evident even before the narrator began, from the hilarity and repartee of her family, that she would be the chief actor in the story, which happened about 1911 in Stafford County. Her attempt at anonymity broke down when she became excited and revealed her identity by saying, "I looked in the plate."]
Entry 1297
Get a billy goat an' keep aroun' yore house an' the ghosts wouldn't worry you.
Entry 1341
[An old horseshoe is almost invariably used in folklore, but it takes an opposite to prove this rule:] If the house is haunted, put a new horseshoe over the door.
Entry 1556
Sometimes in shooting a ghost or striking at it they shoot or hit themselves. The ghost may do something to them.
Entry 11150
I have heard of people meeting ghosts and they didn't want to meet them and they would say curse words and they would leave. [Ocean City, Md., informant 20 by Ediphone.]
Entry 383
A house set on the hill and a spring was in the bottom and a tree was nearby the spring. And everybody who lived in that house, the ghost would meet them on the way to the spring and would talk to them. This ghost would follow them to the spring and tell them about the money but they were afraid to talk to him. This was supposed to be the ghost of the person who put the money in the tree and died before he got it out. A fellow followed this ghost to the spring and the ghost told him to cut in the tree with an axe. He cut in the tree but found nothing. The ghost told him again to cut the tree down. And he did. He found a pot of money in the tree and became to be a wealthy man.
Entry 1113
This is a fellah one time dat he wus in love wit a gurl but his parents didn't want him to marry this gurl, you see, an' so they got it in his min' to go away. An' a he wus in love with de gurl an' also de gurl was in love with him. So they tole him, says, "Now, we don't wan' choo to marry dat gurl, we wan' choo to go 'way." He says, "Well." This fellah he gits ready an' goes away. Well this worried this girl so, aftah he goes away dat she take sick, you see. So he goes away. An' he writes a couple'a lettahs home, an' aftah dat he don't write no more at all, you understand. So it's about fo' yeahs befo' he comes back, you understand, an' within this time - within about six months aftah he's gone, you understand, this gurl dies. Well, when they used to court, you understand, dey wus a church, you understand - a graveyard right backa de church, you understand. They set down on de steps there an' court, you know, an' plan for de weddin'. So aftah he'd gone, you understand, this gurl pined away an' died. So, he'd been absent from home about fo' yeahs an' he returned home. An' he don't write dat he's comin' home, you understand - he wants to come home an' surprise his people. So he gits off at de station, you understand, an' walks up about three miles, walking along, till he comes pass this graveyard an' - but befo' he gits to de church he looks up in de graveyard an' he sees a woman comin' out de grave- yard, but he don't pay much attention to it, walkin' along whistlin' to hisself. When she comes down an' comes through an' comes out de gate to de road, he starts to see dat it's de gurl dat he wus in love wid. So he steps in her path. This gurl's dead but he don't know anything about it, you see. So he stopped, you understand. She walked up to him - don't say anything. He speaks to her. He says, "Why, hello," he says, 'how do you feel, Carrie?'" She didn't say anything. He said, "Why Carrie," he says, "you ought to be glad to see me," he says, "I'm glad to see you," He says, "it seems to me that I've been gone long enough." He says, "You know I wus in love wid you and you wus in love wid me. It's funny you won't talk." She wouldn't even hold her head up. So she reaches in her bosom an' she takes out somethin' dat - dat looks like a bokay of flowers, an' she handed it to him. So then she turned back an' goes on back to de graveyard. So he goes on home. Aftah he gits home, you understan' de people's all glad to see him, you know, an' they set down an' talk. An' so he says to his mothah, he says, "Mothah," he says, "don' choo know," he Says, "tonight I wus comin' along," he says, "an' I meets Carrie." He says, "She wus comin' out de graveyard. I don't know whut she do by [there] dis time of night." Well, his mothah she turned aroun' an' looks at her husband. He says, "You didn't see Carrie." "Don't tell me I didn't see Carrie," he says, "I've jis' been talkin' to her," he says, "leavin' de fact [excepting] I wus talkin' to her but she wusn't talkin' to me. She wouldn't say anything, you know. So I ask her why didn't she speak. She wouldn't say anything, ' ' he says. His mothah spoke up an' says, "You didn't see Carrie." He says, "I know bettah. I did see Carrie." His fathah spoke up an' say, "No, you didn't see Carrie. ". He says, "Don't you know one thing, son, he says, "we may nevah wrote to you an' tole you anything about it," he says, "but Carrie died about six months aftah you left." "Why", he says, "it makes no diff'rence when she died," he says, "I saw her tonight." He did. Well he sets down awhile an' he thinks about dis bokay which she give him, an' when he takes the bokay down it's a human bone insteada bokay of flowers. So he looked at it. Now, ever'body's skeared now, you understand. Well they calls in an ole lady there name of Ole Aunt Tracey: She wus suppose to be a witch. So things gotten in such a bad shape, you know, they had to call Ole Aunt Tracey to see how things wus goin' to work. Dey called Ole Aunt Tracey about dis bone you understand. Ole Aunt Tracey says, ["informant proceeds to imitate her voice" - my penciled comment when transcribing original cylinder], "Well er I tell now, '' she says, "it's bes' thing I know er do 'bout de thing," she says, "dis bone you'd better carry it back whare you got it." [This is the magic rite of returning dangerous object to the place found - see No. 903, p.330.] Ohl De boy wants to know how he's gon'a git it back. She says, "Well, about de very same time dat choo met her last night," she says, "you carry it back dere tonight," she says, "an' another thing," she says, "when you carry dis bone back," she says, '"you take a little infant baby wit you, cuz if you don't, you gon'a have trouble. Well, now dis fellah he's skeared an' his parents is all skeared, joo see. So they goes roun' through de country, you understand, an' barers [borrows] a little infant baby, you understan'. He's supposed to carry it. So he sets aroun' home till aftah about time dat he thinks is ever'thing in fairly good shape. He takes dis baby in his arms an' goes on wid dis bone an' he goes on down you understan'. So when he gits near de church he sees her come out de graveyard. But she's walkin' fast dat time - walkin' fast comin' out [as if] she don't wan'a stop. [Then] she stands and looks. So he walks on down, you understan', an' a when he gits purtty close to her, she's lookin' at him den real venimous. So he presents her dis bone. Aftah presentin' her dis bone, she takes it away from him - flaps it out his hand. She says, "Yes, an' if you didn't have dat little infant baby wit joo tonight, I'd tear you up."
Entry 49
" If you are walking along de road an' you leave [pass by] a hot steam, they say that ghosts is travelin' by yo'.
Entry 51
They say you can feel a peculiar feeling. Sometimes a flash comes over you. Your hair seems to stand on your head. I felt it myself. People say then you are passing a ghost. They are near you. That's why these hot breezes meet you. I have been driving, my husband has been driving, when we passed those hot breezes. The horses stand almost up in the harnesses, they get so frightened, and dash to one side of the road. I have witnessed that. And the olden people told us that, that it was a ghost.
Entry 16
My uncle, he was awful scared of ghos'es, and he stayed that-a-way for about three year'. After them three year' was up he sent and got some man, who never tried religion, to see if he couldn't do somepin. So he went and got this fellah - de fellah come from down de South. He got him to see if he couldn't break him from being so scared. So we went and got some graveyard dust, sand, got a rabbit's foot or somepin - this fellah told him a graveyard rabbit, and took and fix it up [dressed it] for him. He took the rabbit foot and put it in a little bag and put de sand in there with it. He was to take it and wear on a belt. About two year' he got he'd see 'em right on but he wasn't scared of 'em.
Entry 70
I heard of a ghost coming in once - there was an old house - my mother tole me this. They was a family that owned the home and they couldn't rent it to anyone because people had gone there to live and wasn't able to stay on account of ghosts. The last family that had any trouble, when they went to stay there, the first night, a dog came in and walked around the room. They tried to chase him out and struck at him and he turned into a cat. And they struck at it again and it turned into a hand, a human hand. The next time they took a knife and cut at it and actually cut it then [drew blood] and then it disappeared and they never seen the ghost in the house evermore.
Entry 93
On the Old Dominion Lines a boy, a room steward, stopped a passenger and told him to go forward, for what reason I don't know and the captain met him on the starboard side and asked him what did he want. And the man that [was] told to go forward said he was looking for a room. The captain sent the boy back with the passenger and he went down to the second deck and opened the room, left the passenger outside, put the baggage in, locked the door and left the key in. The passenger stopped and was talking to someone right near there. When he went to the door the door was locked and the key gone. They never did find that key. They accused the boy of taking it. They sent for the chief engineer to open the door. When they opened the door the baggage was scattered all over the room and the beds unmade and everything upside down. And everything Was all right when the boy left the room. Here's what the boys thought about it. That was the Jamestown under Captain Tapley. She got into a big storm and around Boston Light, before they got to Boston, this Was several trips before this [the present story} happened, and they lost two passengers and they were in this room. And they thought the ghost of those people done it.
Entry 129
What they tell me about a jack-o'-lantern, it's like a ghost, just as ragged as they could be. They carry a light, and they would lead you in the Worsest briers and brambles they could find, and all through water to terrify you. They say they would laugh at you.
Entry 147
When it start tuh runnin', take some salt an' throw into it while it's a-runnin', ah hear dem say, an' it won't whirl where yo' live no mo'. (Why wouldn't you want it to whirl where you live - why do you make it go away from there?) It's yore enemies. Dey say it's jes' yore enemies - dese ha'nts an' things, yore enemies. Want chure enemies go 'way from dere, throw de salt into it.
Entry 397
He and two men - there were three men together and they of course had located this money [informant did not know what method was used.] This man was telling my father. And when he went out and started to dig, they dug about an hour, and when they got a hole big enough for the three men to be down there, they heard these little heifers, these little calves; and they said they Was just jumping over the hole [in which the three men were] and making all kinds of noise. They Were not real - they was some kind of ghosts. Two of the men ran away and one stayed and dug until he got this little pot. He got it. And when he got up out of the hole, a woman appear in rags and tags. She was so ragged, and had no teeth, and her grey hair was standing all over her head. And she looked at the man and said, "Damn it to hell. You got it." And he said he walked on and he stumbled over a bag. one of those burlap [bagsl, and he said he picked it up and put [it] in the pot, and the woman disappeared. When he went home he opened the pot and there was five-hundred dollars in silver and gold. He gave the other men seventy-five dollars each. [New York City, (1), Ed., second interview, March 19, 1936; near Wilmington, N. Car.,1905.]
Entry 400
Yo' kin go out an' git a young hickory tree, git de fo'k of a young hickory tree an' split it in de fo'k an' put a fifty cents [coin] in dere, an' carry it any place dat chew spicion there is a treasure, an' gettin' to dis place, if there is a treasure, yo' kin hardly hold the stick. [This is the original treasure finder or a locator before commercial firms entered the field with many gadgets. It is the dowser's forked stick used in dowsing or witching for water; a piece of silver being added for buried treasure. The dowser's Y-shaped (or wishbone-shaped) stick should be about three feet long with the ends of the V about two feet apart so that they can be conveniently held in both hands. The short stem of the Y or the hypocleidium of the wishbone - holding the silver - points away from the operator. As the dowser or treasure hunter walks over the water or money, the end of the forked stick dips down ''yo kin hardly hold the stick." I have described a childhood experience in which a dowser fought his dipping fork (I should say fought himself) until it flew out of his hands with great force - see FACI, 2ed., p.526, No.11779.] Well, yo' don' have tuh talk - yo' shouldn't talk an' yo' should first have sulphur an' also a piece of silver money in yore pocket, an' in digging this treasure yo' shouldn't say anything to anybody. Of co'se there'll be winds an' ghosts an' diff'rent things comin' up, but jes' dig right on an' don' say any- thing because if yo' say anything it will go away.
(What do you do with that sulphur?)
Dat sulphur is tuh keep de ghosts from worryin' yo' tuh death.
Entry 1138
I have heard that sometimes, if they die dissatisfied about something and they will keep coming back until they tell somebody, if the ghost comes in the door annoying you about midnight, that is the time they usually come, put nine broomstraws across the door so they join together, and they can't cross it. A broom sweeps out. That will sweep the spirit out.
Entry 1176
If yo' have a lotta ghosts an' things, or yore house is hanted, well, at night yo' take a pan of chicken feathers an' sulphur an' put it in a pan an burn it. Dat'll [also] keep all de insex [insects] from round yore house.
(All these ghosts and things?)
Yessuh - dat'll shore keep dem away.
Entry 1324
Take de gun an' take de shots out, an' shoot de powder off roun' de house in de mawnin'. Say dat would keep de things away - keep de hants away.
Entry 1339
You kin take a horseshoe if you see ghostes and - you goin' in a dark place and you kin look and see ghostes, you kin have yore horseshoe and spit on it and throw it over your shoulder and the ghostes won't harm you all de way home. Like if you stayed in de country and you have a long journey to go late at night, and you used to seeing yore grandmother and you don't wanta see her - you know, it frightens you to see her coming and dere is nobody. Well, you throw that over yore shoulder and yo' all right.
Entry 1485
Now dis salt an' brimstone an' graveyard dirt is used fo' many things - see, that salt an' brimstone. Take table salt an' sulphur an' brimstone an' burn it together - see, burn it together, an' den make a sack of that. See, that is called a bodyguard, body protection - make a sack of that. [This is a hand.] An' every nine days saturate [feed] dat good an' well wit camphor. That will keep - not sin, but will keep de evil spirits off yuh - using a little graveyard dust in dat.
(Nobody can harm you if you have that on you?)
No sir, can't harm you.
Entry 1502
Dey tell dat if yo's livin' in a house that folks is died out of an' there's always been somethin' that's worryin' yo' round de house, that it will be their evil spirit comin' back to see whut's happened out de place since they wus gone from it, an' if yo' burn a ole shoe sole through this house, that'll drive dem 'way an' yo' won't have any mo' trouble with 'em.
Entry 1671
Yo' buy three bo'ds of new lumber an' nail two on de outside of yore house an' one in de house with new nails, an' dey say de ghosts will nevah come there.
Entry 1672
Put a horseshoe up ovah de do' an' that will keep 'em away - de spirit or ghost away. Or either yo' kin take new timber, a piece of new wood, an' jes' throw it up on top [of the house]. That will keep them away.
Entry 1675
Nail a bo'd clear around. See, dat's tuh keep 'em from comin' cross any way atall - a new piece of bo'd all de way round de house. An' dey says dere cain't no ghost cross it - new lumber. [New lumber completely round the house, often a small cabin, would mean either laths or small slabs from small lumber. This belief comes from the second of the two boy-qirls (because they wore men's slacks) I interviewed - see comment on hermaphrodites in Introduction.]
Entry 1824
When a person speak about dey write de dead, yo' know - fo' de numbers yo' know. (Just how do they do that?) Well, dey jest write 'em - jes' yo' write some yo' peoples, says, "Dear Fren', I would like tuh hear from yo'. I am writin' yo' few lines to let chew know I am well. I wants dis number. I wants chew will please send hit to me tonight while ah'm sleep. An' yo' set chew a glass of water an' fold de letter up - set de glass of water on top de letter, an' dis ghost will come an' bring yo' de number in yo' sleep. He might come in de form of a cow or a dog or a horse but he'll bring yo' de number.
Entry 6821
[All the following graveyard dirt rites, as well as others elsewhere, indicate that the spirit in graveyard dirt fights or protects you against the spirit powering the cunjure put down for you:] Pay de grave an' git dat graveyard dirt...den new needles an' huh [her] ole shoes an' sul- phur...in de room evah night tuh keep ghost aay. [Here is one of other statments showing that the spirit in graveyard dirt keeps other spirits away.]
Entry 7283
After, if a man kilt a [man], dey walk backwards nine steps, see, and den step across [the corpse]. Co'se if he can't go away [author interrupts]...
(He steps nine steps backwards and then waht do they do?)
Den dey'll step across - yeah, to de right [demonstrates].
(I see, make a cross.)
Yes, an' cross 'im an' he can git away. [Any stepping backwards across a corpse on the ground makes the sign of the cross: the stepping being one arm of the cross, the corpse the other. The step- per or killer is crossing or crossing up the ghost of his victim rather than trying to evade the police. The cross of our present rite is more complicated. Lay a broom on the floor to represent the dead body. Stand with your back to the broom and feet to- gether so that they touch the handle. Lift your right foot back to the right, diagonally, over the handle (body) so that it comes to rest solidly on the floor (ground). Then steady yourself on right foot while you move left foot to right until it, on other side of handle (body), is almost opposite right foot. Final- ly, lift up left foot, bringing it backwards to the left, diagonally, across handle (body). Your feet have made a cross as diagrammed: BROOM L-R Ｌ Ｌ
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 12199
Yo' supposed to put a horseshoe turned bottom inverted, with de legs of de horseshoe up towards de do' an' de bottom part facing down de do', as yo' oone in, an' this is supposed to keep de ghosts out of anyone's house. [St. Petersburg 1621:6.]
Entry 12200
Tuh keep ghostses outa mah home, use horseshoes ovah mah do's.
[Florence 2220:5.]
Entry 17
Mah brother had a way of goin' way out in de woods to see a girl an' mah mother had tole him 'bout goin' by de graveyard. So he said he wasn't afraid. So mah father tole him, say, "One dese nights one dem ghost is gon'a run yo'." He says, "Well, it'll jes' be two runnin'." So he went on dere by hisself an' he kep' continyin' to go out dere. So one night - it was 'bout two miles from de house - a ghost got after him. He knew it was a ghost because usually when a ghost gits in behin' yo' yore hair stand on yore haid - but it don't stand, it feel lak it standin'. An' so, jes' as he stepped out, dis ghost got behin' 'im. He said it was first large and then it was small. An' he say he looked at it - he say, "Ah knowed that was nuthin' nachur'l." He says, "Hit's no need tuh run 'cause if ah run it would run too." So he thought dat once [he] hear our grandfather say whenever anything gits after yo' lak dat, always make it tuh de fork of de road. So he turn roun' an' he let it follow him till he got tuh de fork of de road. When he got to de fork of de road, he said hit couldn't go any further 'cause he missed it. An' so ever since then always, when ah'm out anywhere an' ah see any- thing that ah knows not nachur'l, ah will always make it tuh de fork of de road an' dey can't follow me any further.
The informant narrates a reported ghost pursuit; the account does not establish a verified encounter or protective effect.
Entry 140
Some say it's - ah don't know how true it is, but ah heard some people say dat's de ole daid people yo' know. Say dey gits in a whirlwind. Yo' see, when dey comin' round whirlin' lak dat, dey call dat a whirlwind. It goes into different places - it goes into de woods, sometime yo' kin hear bushes rattlin'. Ah used to heah mah ole parents say dat's called to be some daid people. Ah don't know how true it is, yo' know.
The source says some daid people and explicitly questions the report; it does not name a ghost or establish Ghost/Whirlwind equivalence.
Entry 1065
Sweep yo' house out backward for nine mornings, that will keep him out.
(Keep what out?)
Keep de ghost, the dead spirit.
The informant names a ghost or dead spirit as what the sweeping practice is meant to keep out.
Entry 10457
Take new ruler [folding six-foot rule] lay it open, extend it out, drives ghosts or hags away. [Here is a problem for ghost or hag to solve! Here is another numbers or counting problem.]
The account says an extended ruler drives ghosts or hags away; the counting-problem explanation is bracketed editorial matter.
Entry 11715
Ghosts kept away in following rites: Horseshoe over the door.
The short text links 'Ghosts kept away' with a horseshoe over the door; it supplies no individual interview citation.
Entry 10444
New lumber keeps spirits or ghosts away - believed every- where [Mobile, Ala., 865:3].
The account says new lumber keeps spirits or ghosts away. The alternative wording and broad belief remark establish neither equivalence, measured prevalence nor a protective effect.
Entries from source headings
These entries are listed under the following headings in the source volume:
- GRAVEYARD DIRT FROM LEFT-HAND SIDE OF; MURDERED MAN'S GRAVE LAYS HIS GHOST — Volume 4, entries 7314. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → MURDER → HOW MURDERER CAN ESCAPE.
- HORSE - BETWEEN EARS OF - SEE GHOST — Volume 5, entries 12174. Source context: "CHANNEL DE WORLD".
Source passage
continuous interview or recording context · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
editorial speaker label; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4754
HYATT
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4754
Good. Good. Mr. Cubby is going to continue right now. All right there you are.
editorial speaker label; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4754
CUBBY
informant · Current interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4754
There's a old neighborhood rumor goin' on aroun' about a Miss Williams who lives at 1911 Melrose Avenue South. I knew Miss Williams ever since I was a kid. I grew up near her. She was a very weird person also. She kep' to her- self. She believed strongly in God. She always said that if anyone ever drink alcoholic beverages or anything of this sort they could never live in her house after she died. This house at 1911 Melrose Avenue South is still standin'. Miss Williams has been dead over 7 years. There has been numerous families who have tried to live there but none were able to live there because they were run out at night. I know for a fac' that doors are openin', lights have turned on without people turnin' the switch, because I lived right across the street at first', at 1910 Melrose. However, now my father resides there. There is one gentleman that I believe could tell you better than I can because he lived next door to her. No one out of the... I'd say 15 or 16 or 17 families maybe, have tried to live there has been able to stay in that house over a period of 3 days. All the families that have moved there have either had to leave that same night or some stayed 2 days and 3 nights, the 3rd day they were gone. I believe that possibly there is a spirit in the house because I've seen even after I've grown up that the lights will come on at night, the doors will open. You can hear voices in there. You can hear jus' as though someone was carryin' on church services in the house and there's no one in the house. The house is still standin' vacant. She has a brother who lives in the back of the house, in a little one room cottage that he has. He has never been able to stay in the house, though the house was willed to him. He continues to fix it up as though someone lives there but there is nc one that resides in the Williams house. This is the end of my story.
editorial speaker label; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4754
HYATT
interviewer · Interviewer; supporting excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4754
Have you ever heard - you've told that ghost story - have you ever heard there is something you can do to run the ghost out of the house or protect your- self against the ghost or something of that sort? You know of anything like that?
editorial speaker label; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4754
CUBBY
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4754
I've heard once that you could burn some type of incense. An' the story that goes to get rid of the spirit of Miss Williams is that if this house is re- done that her spirit would go away. But her brother has tried repeatedly to re- model the house. He's never completed one thing he's done. As much as he's got- ten to do is paint the house, put in new windows. He's never been able to tear a single board from the house.
editorial speaker label; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4754
HYATT
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4754
They've never been able to tear a board off the house?
editorial speaker label; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4754
CUBBY
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4754
Not a single one. He says that everytime he tries to tear a board away it seems as though it's the hardes' thing in the world to do. He's had on one occasion to slip from a ladder while tryin' to do something. He felt that she possible shook the ladder. This is his own belief.
editorial speaker label; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4754
HYATT
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4754
That's what he thinks. Well that's good, that's a good addition to the story.
Nested source context: attributed third party belief · Vol. 5, p. 4754
He felt that she possible shook the ladder. This is his own belief.
Nested source context: interviewer suggested retrieval frame · Vol. 5, p. 4754
HYATT Have you ever heard - you've told that ghost story - have you ever heard there is something you can do to run the ghost out of the house or protect your- self against the ghost or something of that sort? You know of anything like that?
locally coherent printed subpassage
This printed narrative and its follow-up distinguish rumor, possible spirit, claimed observations and the brother’s belief.
The alleged shaking of the ladder is explicitly attributed to the brother’s belief, not Cubby’s witnessed mechanism.
Hyatt introduces protection and removal alternatives; they are not spontaneous interviewee prescriptions.
The house details remain source wording; no current resident, property or ghost identity is asserted.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 5, p. 4752 · Vol. 5, p. 4753 · Vol. 5, p. 4754 · Vol. 5, page image