Subject:Gum
Entries
Entry 3780
If a man have a bad disease, yo' kin git de bark from de no'th side, outside, of a gum tree, an' de bark from de east side of red oak tree, an' mix 'em togethah an' make a tonic, an' dat will cure him of de bad dis- ease. Yo' put a few drops of turpentine in it.
Entry 4457
Yuh kin go an' git dere pass, dere action, an' go tuh a gum tree on d sundown side, an' bo' a hole in dere an' put it in dere, an' put a peg in it an' dey can't have any mo' action.
Entry 5721
(Have you ever heard of a person getting hold of your foot track and doing something with that to harm you?) Well, dey kin.
(What could they do with that?)
Well, dey kin take dat, take dat wit gunpowdah, an' while yo' are sleepin', call yo' an' yo' answah. Dat's yo'. Dey got yore spirit den. See, dey got chure spirit. See dat's all dey want. An' den dey kin take it tuh a tree, say a gum tree, an' dey kin split dat gum tree an' tack it up in dere.
(What do they tack up in there?)
Dey kin tack or eithah kin splice [split] it [tree]. Put dat right in.
(What do they put in?)
Put de track - put de track in dere. See, de tree will burn.
(What do they do with that gunpowder?)
Dat gunpowdah will keep it hot. Keep yo' hot. Yo' can't stay no one place. Yo' nevah be contented. [In the present rite a part of the victim's spirit, his foot track, has already been caught and mixed with gunpowder in a bottle - see PART OF SPIRIT EQUALS WHOLE SPIRIT, p.2lf. For good measure informant now catches spirit re- maining in victim's body by calling his name and closing bottle when he answers (see TO CATCH A SPIRIT, p.24f.). Whether these two wholes or two parts of the spirit unite in the bottle, or the gunpowder keeps them dancing apart, I do not know. Evildoer pours contents of bottle into a split made in gum tree and re- moves wedge. The word gum adds to the confusion.]
Entry 5732
Yo' kin take dat foot track, if she's if's [if it's] a woman an' yo' in love wit 'er an' she's tryin' tuh 'bandon [abandon] 'erself from yo', yo' git 'er foot track as same she's goin'. Firs' place, yo' saw 'er foot track where she's comin' tuh yore resident [resi- dencel. Yo' take dat foot track an' yo' scoop it up dis way, from de heel goin' tuhward de toe, yo' see, in de sand. Yo'll put dat in a bottle an' yo'll let dat bottle - yo'll take some of yore chamber lye an' puts [it in] de bottle wit dat sand. An' yo' let dat sand stay dere nine days. An' de tenth day yo' take a nail, one dese heah No.6 nails, a pusson [person] might Say, or a No.8 nail. Yo'll drive [that] in de no'th side of a sweet gum tree, Jo'see, an' yo'll strike dat nail evah mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's. De tenth avnin' yo'll drive it plumb up, see. Now, dat's a woman dat chew in love wit an' she's tryin' tuh 'bandon 'erself from yo'. When yo' drive it up de tenth mormin', drive dat nail up, it ain't gwine be den ovah two-three days 'fo' [be- fore] she'll come back. Don't care where she at. See, she'll come back tuh yo'. Dat's yore love yo' see.
(What do you do with that bottle all this time?)
Yo' got dat bottle jis' anywheres roun' de house. Yo' keep dat bottle. Yo' got it in a preserved place yo' see.
Entry 6160
Ah wuz goin' wit a girl oncest an' ah quit dis girl, an' dis girl didn't Want me tuh quit 'er at de time. But den, yuh see, ah stayin' [with] anothah girl dat ah feel tuh mo' den ah did 'er. An' evah time ah'd go wit dis othah girl, well ah'd have trouble wit dis girl dat ah'd guitted. So ah went tuh a doctor, a 'erb doctor, an' inquirewhut could ah do tuh git rid of 'er. He tole me tuh go back [to quitted girl] an' bring 'im jis' as much of 'er hair as ah could git. So ah, ah do dat. Ah went back an' played wit 'er until ah got a chance - ah had me a ole Jem City razor blade - until ah got a chance tuh clip dat hair off. Jis' cut it off so she wouldn't miss it, cut it off jis' here [demonstrates].
(Above the ear.)
Ah give it tuh 'im. He got a peg six inches long. It wuz jis' a lil ole ash peg. He give me de peg an' tole me tuh go down by a creek, down dere aside of a sweet gum tree, an' stick dis peg in de groun', an' take two stran's of 'er hair an' throw in de watah. An' evah mawnin' - he tole me tuh keep enough of de hair- so evah mawnin' ah go dere fo' nine mawnin's tuh throw two stran's of hair in dis watah, an' drive dis peg jis' a lil evah mawnin'. An' evah mawnin' - ah went down fo' nine mawnin's - ah throwed two stran's of de hair in de watah an' driv de peg, an' jis' driv it fer enough so on de ninth mawnin' yuh kin driv it down [completely]. I did dat fo' de nine mawnin's. On de ninth mawnin' - an' ah smack de peg [all the way in]. From den on ah didn't have no mo' trouble wit 'er. He say dat would divide us. He say dat watah wuz runnin', he say dat would divide us. [Wilmington, N. Car., (283), 198: l; this happening at Whiteville, N. Car., in 1929, the doctor's fee being $15.]
Entry 6251
Dey take de hair an' go tuh de sundown side of a sweet gum tree. Go ovah dere an' dey'll put [that] hair wit some graveyard dirt on tuh it. An' den dey'd have a augah an' bo' a hole in dat tree, an' have a peg de same size de augah, yuh know, an' drive it in dere. Tap it - got'a hit a lick evah day nine days, de ninth day yuh goin' drive it all de way down - way down, way down. Dat's when dey lose dere mind.
Entry 6831
If yo' gotten any poison - yo' see, anythin' dat wuz poisoned - dey could go tuh a gumwood tree an' git de innahba'k, yo' undahstan', from de sun- rise side, an' boil it in sweet milk. An' give tuh dat person three times a day, a tablespoonful, an' dat would offset some trouble, dat poison.
(You mean if somebody has tricked them?)
[I am asking, is this ordinary or hoodoo poison.]
Yeah, somebody's tricked 'em.
(Cunjured them or something?)
Dat's right. Dere wuz a ole man dat usta [use tol come tuh mah gran'mothah's house an' he would tell 'er a certain person wuz jis' down an' out, chew know, jis' couldn't har'ly [hardly] live, an' dis same remedy dat ah'm tellin' yo' 'bout now, of de sap ba'k from de sun- rise of a gum tree. Boil dat in sweet milk an' give dat person. An' dere's somepin 'bout a blacksnake hide dat yo' git fo' 中商 dat person tuh weah it roun' 'is vaist or anythin'. Give him dat sweet milk an' gum ba'k boiled, yo' undahstan', fo' a medicine. Dat would be de remedy.
Entry 7228
[I met a galaxy of doctors in Charleston, S. Car., before I had suffi- cient experience to handle them. Two years later I would have been better pre- pared. Moreover the weather was excessively hot and the hotel rooms noisy at night. There was little rest. The fol- lowing doctor, Maguin or San Mongain was rather strange. At that time I thought all of them were! This man has already appeared in: No.1221, p.434; No.1417, p.464; No.1638, p.507; and No.2209, p.629.] (Well, now, how would a person harm me if they got a hold of my foot track? How would they hurt me with that?) How would he hurt chew wit dat? He'd take yore foot track an' carry it tuh de graveyard. An' tuh take it back from de graveyard, yo' gotta throw dis dirty watah undah yore house. An' tuh kill de spell from dere an' [to] drive de evil spirit, den begin burnin' dragon blood at twelve o'clock at night in dat ole shoe [this rite partially given in No.1221, p.434, v.1.]. (What would he do with this track if he took it to the graveyard? What would he do with it out there?) When he take de track to de graveyard, he put it tuh de haid of de graveyard [grave] an' pay dem one cent, calls yore name an' tole 'em tuh mind 'im. An' durin' de time dat he done take it tuh de graveyard, yore foot track, yo' come back home an' throw it ovah [under]neath yore house. An' go an' git dis gum-bush an' let it stay in yore house fer three days an' burn it. An' de pusson will come back an' go back tuh de graveyard an' git dis track an' turn yo' loose.
Entry 8295
(Now what are you going to do with the photograph?) Yo' puts it on a black gum tree an' dat's purely tuh harm yo'. An' den yo'll tell it [tree] whut chew want. [You talk to the tree spirit.] Yo' kin nail it on dat tree an' den yo' shoot it. Dat fer as ah know of dat. It's a black gum an' [or] a short-leaf pine, jes' dem two, either one, but let it be in de swamp.
Entry 8330
Well, in a gum tree. Well ah think befo' de sun rise - yes, yo' stick it [photo- graph] in de tree an' shut it up, wit dat person's name in it, but where dey cain't git it among othah trees.
(What will that do?)
Well, dat will set 'em crazy an' dey cain't git tuhgethah, yo' know.
Entry 8903
Jes' lak dey's steal somepin from yo' an' yo' wants tuh find out who is de one dat done it. Why yo' take an' git chew a piece of black gum [wood] an' burn dat wood till it come tuh a ashes. An' den yo' take dat ashes an' put it intuh a vial an' put some Hearts Cologne in dat vial where'bouts chew got dat ashes. An' yo' let dat sit dere fo' 'bout five days an' if dat cologne turns de color of dem ashes, why whosomevah stole dat stuff, dey bring it back. Now ah ain't nevah tried it but ah heah dat. [What would my informant in the State of Georgia call a black gum tree? Normally I would say the tree (Nyssa sylva- tica), which has closed-grained wood, entire leaves and small blue-black drupa- ceous fruits. This tree, growing east of the Mississippi River, is also called sour gum, tupelo, and pepperidge. Closely related is a tree (N. biflora) con- fined to the southern United States. The preceding tupelo, a word from the Creek Indian language meaning Swamp tree, could also mean any other tree of the genus Nyssa, especially N. aquatica of the southeastern United States. After this rite Was transcribed years ago I marked it doubtful because I could not understand how black-gum ashes were able to divine theft and make the thief return the stolen property. Later a possible answer came. In the Southern states years ago a bee- hive Was made from a section of a hollow gum tree. Surely the original ashes came from a piece of beehive supplying stinging power. Join this with intention.
Entry 9064
If de law don' git 'im, why he goes in de cemetery. He goes tuh de drug sto' firs', sends somebody tuh de drug sto' an' buy 'im some gum-ō-wackiom [the store's name for it!] a li'le ball lak dat [demon- strates]. It look lak wax, brown [perhaps beeswax]. An' when yo' buy dat, why yo' go tuh de cemetery an' git some uh dat graveyard dirt from nine diff'ren' grave. An' git yuh [demonstrates] some offa [off of] dis an' some of dis'n [this one]. An' yo' mix dat tuhgethah. An' yo' call dat judge name or whatsomevah or whomsoevah it may be. An' yo' care [carry] it tuh de co'thouse. Yo' put some roun' de place where de p'lice is, all gen'ly [generally] be, an' yo' put some in yer pocket. An' wherevah yo' go, yo'll nevah git trapped. [Gum-o-wackum is gum to whack them. Whack (Colloq. = to strike with a smart, resounding blow). This gum knocks out the judge! Could the gum have been asa- fetida? What a sense of perverted humor some of these sellers had!]
Entry 10421
Well, it supposed to be nuthin but a hag ride chew. Jes' lak yo' can't sleep at night, yo' know. See, de hag jump on yo' an' will ride yo' an can't rest. If yo' gits up in de night an' put de broom, a straw broom, across de path right wheresomevah dey supposed tuh come in an' in de mawnin' when yo' go by dere, yo' be done caught de witch. It'll be nuthin but a ball of jelly dat look lak de watah [gummy sap] out of a peach tree.
(You said you put the cap what?)
Put a cap ovah de do' [the knob of door with man's cap over the keyhole]. [Straw broom for sweeping floor, has long wooden handle; hand broom is made of small twigs or long grass doubled together and tied at bend for a handle.]
Entry 10635
If yo' have a house to rent an' can't have no luck in keeping people i it, probably somecne had tricked yo' with de house, ah could tell yo' bog to Straighten it [out, the problem of renting house]. All right, yo' coald go to de drug store an' buy yo'self a cake of alum, buy yo'self a cake of cpbor gu O dat cake of camphor gum in fo' parts. Put one of those parts under yo' front do'step. Put one of dose parts in de right-hand corner of de house as yo' walk in, an' one of dose parts in de left-hand corner, den put one in dis last corner up heah - dat still is in de left-hand corner [the back-of-the-house left cor- ner as you walk in]. All right, after yo' do dat, yo' take dat alum an' pound it up, with a tablespoonful of alum to each one of dose [parts]. An' if dere any kinda junk [conjure] in dat house dat gives yo' hard luck, dat alum an' stull [camphor gum] will eat it up. [The more usual form of this rite is the four-corners-of-the-house one, it representing the four corners of the world (Revelation of St. John the Divine, 7:1). In the present rite the front doorstep appears as a substitute for the fourth corner. To balance this change the two left-corners are used and the symbolism of the 3 corners (the Three Holy Names) usurps the 4 angels, 4 corners and 4 winds of St. John. The four-corner rite often becomes a quincunx by adding a fifth point in the center.]
Entry 11264
[As I said in No.7228, p.3216, v.4, "I met a galaxy of doctors in Charleston, S. Car., before I had sufficient experience to handle them. Two years later I would have been better prepared." This man has also appeared in the preceding text as follows: No.1221, P.434; No.1417, P.464; No.1638, p.507; and No.2209, p.629. Here follow other parts of the interview:] Dey take de watah yo' take a bath in, tuh do anythin' tuh harm yuh. Dat's only de occasion of if a man wanta woman, don't want nobody else tuh be wid'er. (How would you do that?) Well, dey take de [bath] water and put it in a bottle, nine needles, and de sill of yo' doorway - cut a piece of [a splinter from] de sill of yo' doorway, [dat] piece of stick dere [points to the saddle], de sill of yo' door - and dey put dat in de bottle. And you call her names and [informant shakes imaginary bottle].
(While you shake it up.)
While you shake it up. And den maybe she wanta go. Yo' turn 'em [bottle] back [to you] and she come dere - towards yo' place [demonstrates].
(You turn the head of the bottle back to you and she will come back?)
Dat's right. If he know de person and he steal it - if de person [from whom it was stolen] know him, know his [thief'sl name - if he haven't git rid of it, you kin make dis person, dis other person, and he will give it up, because he figured on it and he'd be in trouble. And in doing dat you'd have to have de root chew call Indian Conker [Conquerer].
(Indian Conquerer? What do you do with that root then?)
You take dat root, de Indian Conker and Devil's shoestring and put it toget- her [in a bag with string?] and tote it in yore pocket, and she [bag] spin around jest like a top and tell yo' who in dis section, who got it.
(You spin this around?)
You spins it around and until you asks it any question you wanta, according to how you feel it. [Here we have ubiquitus Jack - an individual, companion, fetish - who answers questions by swinging out the answers. Our great example of this device I have mentioned several times, the Jack-ball (ball hanging from a string) of informant No.1534, the doctor I interviewed in Memphis, who gave us that great page 1254 in volume 2.1
(Then after you have found out who has it, then what do you do?)
You go to the person and he'll give it up. [Yes, at the time of this interview, the average thief would restore the article if a doctor was working on the case.]
(That's when you found out who stole it?)
Yes.
(Where did you learn? Who taught you how to cure? From whom did you learn?)
My grandma Was a West Indies.
(Oh, your grandmother was a West Indian. I see. What part did she come from?)
Kingston, Jamaica.
(Where did she live when she came to this country?)
Why she came down here in slavery time....she died 1909 - see - in dis part of de country - to Meggetts [Meggett], South Carolina, Posting Line [postal ad- dress].
(Where did she live during her life in South Carolina?)
Over to....[?] South Carolina.
(What was her name?)
Flora Linton, Milton....
[I must have turned off machine accidentally.]
(Flora Milton. And she could heal people. She knew all this work. And you learned from your grandmother?)
(And she came over here in slavery time.)
Slavery time.
(Did you ever hear of Doctor Buzzard?)
I have known Doctor Buzzard.
(Was he good?)
Aw, his method all right. Some things was all right and some was not. Any man is good to kilt. Any man kin take a shotgun and write a man name and blow his brains out twelve clock at any time.
(How did he do that?)
With powder!
(And he boosted that kind of work?)
That's his daily occupation.
(I see. How long has he been dead?)
It's round about seven - eight years. A root doctor meet a root doctor dey kin tell one anothah. Why? Because de' use a stick dey calls de gum-bush sticks.
(What?)
Sweet gum.
(They call it gum?)
Gum-bush stick and that come to crossing their mind. You don't tote dat stick, but you cut dat off when yo' first start out and bury it in de ground. Hell, dey may have it buried in New York and may not go dere no more through life, and if I'd meet chew and you do mine [my line], well I kin tell if you outen my line [of work]. I kin tell.
(Well, how can you tell, then?)
By de spirit, using different points.
(You wouldn't question me or anything? You just let the spirit tell?)
That's right. See, I'd git mad wit chew; jest like two dog would meet one another an' git mad. Know then you was out of my line. You ain't not in my line. But I'm better 'em you but you ain't got to won yo' point. Yo' can't hurt me, but I kin hurt chew, but then I don't want you to be long wit me be- cause the other fella think I'm doing the same work you doing. That's how we tell one another. (You bury this stick when you first begin your work before you take your first case up?) That's right. (And always leave it buried the rest of your life, you never go back there again.) No mo'.
(Who cuts this stick?)
You cut it yo'self.
(And you bury it yourself?)
That's right. Cut it with your left hand? (You cut it with your left hand. And where do you bury it? How do you bury it?) At sundown.
(What do you mean by that?)
Jest like you stick a stick in de ground when de sun go down. See, it be dat tall [demonstrates] maybe dat tall, and you beat it down dere until you git it down to the ground. (And then you beat it down to the ground in the sunset - sundown - all the way into the ground, and then what do you do?) Well, then you jest throw a penny in the hole and yo' tole 'em what chew wanta do....whether you want to be de master king or such and such a thing, or you wanta be de master king of....of all roots, and don't want chures root to sour on hand - that's why yo' bury yo' stick. See, if yo' medicine sour and a person bring it back to you next Monday, "This medicine ain't no good - it sour." And you take it back and cure it again. Give dem the same medicine back and ther carry it back there. (You never go back to that stick again, and you drive down all the way into the ground.) That's right.
(Do you do anything before you leave this stick?)
No, jest pay it and then go on about chure business. [No other person men- tioned such a gum stick.]
Entry 11590
Ah hear'd of 'em pickin' up de tracks, zhoo know, way [where] people galks along. An' dey jis' take up de san' [from the heel of both tracks, right and left] in de han', zhoo know, an' take a piece of chewin' gum, jis' lak yo' git out de sto', an' chew it. An' take dat an' wrap it all up togethah, yo' know, an' go to a tree an' bo' a hole in de tree, an' put it in dere, an' close dat tree up. An' de nex' day dis person will be gone, dead and buried.
Entry 11834
Gum tree will 'rest [arrest] any kind of a earthly worm poison. If yo' kin git de gum tree buds, dat's de very cure fo' any kind of earthly worm bite, but ah nevah heard of it doin' anything fo' anyone else.
(You mean if a person has worms in their [his] body?)
Yes.
(It will get the worms out?)
It will git de worms. [This is the sweet gum, a North American tree (Liguid- ambar styraciflua) palmately lobed leaves, corky branches, hard wood, and beau- tiful autumnal foilage. Since the bark more or less resembled alligator hide, this plant was called the alligator tree in the southern states. Several exam- ples of this usage have already been given in HOODOO. The old-time root doctor used many cures of this type.]
Entry 13284
If yo' girl fren' happen to leave yo' lak dat, yo' jest follow her fo' a couple of days - follow her up, den yo' go to de drug store an' git chew some of dis heah Beechnut Gum [trade name chewing-gum]. Get some Beechnut Gum an' take it. Yo' take dat gum an' roll it up in yore hand jest lak dis heah [demonstrates]. Roll it up an' wear it to yo' - close to yore skin. Wear it dere an' jest sometime yo' be talkin' - talk- in' 'long wit her. Well yo' say, "Well, have some of dis heah." Break it off a piece an' jest give her a piece of it. An' den yo' natchly [naturally] goin' tuh co't her an' yo' git her back in a minute.
Entry 13372
Take de hickory tree bark an' beat it up right fine until it come tuh dust - beat it right fine. Beat it up right fine, jes' keep abeatin' it up right fine an' turn roun' an' pee LOVE on dat bark. See. Let dat pee dry on dat bark. See. An' den take some Heart Perfume [red hearts on label] an' put on dat bark an' give it ouh a person. Dey'll always love 'em.
(How do you give them that bark?)
Well, yo' see, yo' take de bark an' yo' beat 'em up, see. Yo' beat de bark up. Now listen an' ah show yo'. Yo' beat de bark up good intuh a dust. All right, yo' take a lil' dat dust, if yo' got some chewin' gum. See. Yo' kin take an' put it on dat chewin' gum an' seal back in de packet right good an' nice, an' say, "Have one." Well, see, she go tuh eatin' dat, see. She eatin' dat bark an' dat pee, dat yo' got mixed up dere an' she always love yo'.
Entry 13373
Ef ah wanted a fren' girl, or somepin othah lak dat - a young girl ah wanta make an' she left de candy or somepin lak dat. Well, ah kin take chamber lye, a little thing lak dat, an' ah kin give her, lessen she wise, yo' see. Well, den, when ah put chamber lye on it, ah soon kin tackle her down yo' know - put mah han's on her. Well, ah put mah han's on her den. Ah kin give her dat chamber lye yo' know, feed her on dat chamber lye - see lak chewin' gum or candy, anything lak dat. Den ah kin git up to her an' den it's customary, if a man kin git up to a woman or sompin lak dat an' put his han's on her, he believes he kin go further on, yo' know. Yo' understan'.