Subject:Gun
Entries
Entry 4074
Dey could do dat. De way ah know dey do dat, dey take a ole gun. Yo've seen dese ole-time guns, de ole muskets we call 'em, shot wit a cap on 'em. Yo take yore chamber lye an' den po' it in dat gun an' stop it up an' put de gun up de chimley. Let de barrel be pointed out. An' dat will hol' yo' watah - yo' can't make watah. [Freud would have had a field day, had a patient seen this rite in a dream!]
Entry 5486
Ah heard 'em say, jis' lak if dey wanta run a person away, git a li'le of de dirt out dey right feet track an' put it in a gunpowder shell - put a li'le bit in de shell. Take de li'le shots out an' put a li'le bit of dat in dere an' put de li'le shots back in, an' shoot it in de way yo' want 'em tuh go. Say dat will jis' keep 'em goin'.
Entry 5487
Take a shell. Yo' kin take dat shell an' yo' kin empty de shell, an' yo' kin git a spoon or eithah jis' a little bit, jis' about as much as dat dere [demonstrates], of dirt outa man's track an' put it in dat shell. An' when yo' put it in dat shell, if yo' don't want 'em roun' heah, yo' git right tuhwards sundown an' yo' fire dat gun. An' he'll nevah come nowhere roun' yo', nevah be roun' yo' no mo'. Won't have no mo' trouble wit 'em.
Entry 5488
Well, dey say yo' could take three dips of earth outa dey right track, an' take a gunshot an' take some of de shots out of it, an' put dat dirt in dere an' covah it back up, an'.shoot it anywhere, object dat chew want 'em tuh go, an' cuss 'em. Tell 'em tuh go.
(You put that into a gun. That's to make them move out?)
Yes.
Entry 5489
[Yo'] kin take a gun shell an' yo' kin take yore tracks an' anothah woman's tracks, an' yo' kin put 'em in a shell, yo' know - undahstan', but leave de powdah. Take out de shots - see, de beebee, an' put 'em [tracks] in dat shell, an' pack 'em back down in dere jis' lak in de shell, an' yo' kin shoot it. An' dat'll settle wit 'em, dey'll nevah live tuhgethah.
Entry 5490
In othah words, ag'in, yo' heah tell about a man - ah'm havin' trouble wit a man about mah wife, yo' know. Well, AH'M JES' GOIN' USE YO' AN' AH FO' A PARABLE. Well ah done tell yo' 'bout mah wife an' yo' wouldn't quit, an' ah done git attah huh [after her] 'bout chew. An' yo'all - yet yo' don't quit. Look lak yo' jes' ready tuh die if yo' could. Well, fo' a instan' [for instance] now. Ah don't wanta ary [either] one a-yo' [of you], see. Well, tuh collah [put a collar on] it, ah gotta take de weak man's strength, see. Ah'm gotta make yo' stop in a way tuh keep mahself free. See, ef ah go ahaid an' kill yo', ah gotta be punished, yo' undahstan'; but if ah work fo' me, ah kin do it an' de law can't git at me, yo' see. Well, ef ah don' wanta kill yuh, ah'll jes' break yo' up. Ah'll take yore dirt dataway [demonstrates] - take up yore track, push it off from me.
(You take it from the heel to the toe or from the toe to the heel?)
Well, ah ketch dis centah of de track an' shove it from me - grab it an' grab it from me. Git up a li'le bit of it fo' three steps.
(From three different steps.)
Dat's right. Ah git it jes' lak dis heah [demonstrates].
(I understand: one - two - three.)
Three tracks - dat's de right feet. All right. Ah'll take dat an' put it right tuhgethah. Den ah'll turn roun' den an' ah'll git mah wife's track, see.
(How many do you get from her?)
De same thing. Den ah'll put dis in - ah'll take de shot out of a shell an' put dat [tracks] in dere, in de shot place, an' wheresomevah ah layway dem [keep mah gun an' shell] an' wheresomevah ah ketch 'em talkin' ah'll run in on 'em an' de time dey [before they have time to run away], see, ah'm goin' shoot right ovah dey haids yo' see. Dat's goin' blow 'em apart, yo' see. Yo' undahstan'? One go one way an' one go de othah, an' ah ain't goin' have no mo' trouble out chew an' 'er. AN' IF SHE BE WIT ANYBODY, IT BE WIT DE NEX' MAN, 'CUZ AH DONE BLOW YO' AWAY IN DE AIR.
(But you have to go in on them, touch them and shoot right over their heads?)
Dat's right. Jes' lak if yo's got 'er cornahed talkin' somewhere, ah ain't comin' up tuh shoot yo'. Ah's be lookin' roun' an' ah say, "Dere he be's now." [Yo'] know it customary tuh ketch yo' off [by yoreself] an' have a li'le talk. Well, it might be tuhday, see, when yo' go tuh work, when yo' [I] see 'em [you two]. Well, ah ain't gwine tuh see yo' [talk to you again], but jes' where ah meet chew [you two], ah'm goin' turn an' shoot ovah yore haid [heads]. An' when ah turn loose [the gun], one gwine dataway an' de othah one gwine dataway. An' den ah won't have any mo' trouble wit chew an' 'er.
Entry 5918
Ah've heard dat yo' could take a person's hair, whatevah it a woman or man or chile - jes' fo' instance it wuz a lady an' yo' wanted 'er tuh follah yo'. Yo' would take a shell an' po' dat shots out an' put dat hair back in dere, an' yo' put some mo' shots back in dere tuh fill it up. Put in de shot an' run an' shoot it 'cross de rivah, an' dat lady will follah de man any place.
(You have to shoot this across some river?)
Yes, jes' across some rivah an' she will follah 'im.
Entry 7790
Well, they say that chew can go to a graveyard and take the dirt be- tween the top and the bottom down in the grave, and mix that with a right foot of a rabbit; but the rab- bit must be shot down while he's running. And you take that and then git somebody's finger- nails and toenails and mix in with that, if you're against them, and then put that in a gun and shoot that away; and the direction that you shoots, the indi- vidual will leave, go off that same direction and become a wanderer.
Entry 7791
If yo' wanta break up anybody, if yo' kin git de black cat hair an' black dog hair an' gunpowdah, an' graveyard dirt, an' wasp nest an' dirt daubah nest, put it tuhgethah an' mix it, an' shoot it an' dat'll break 'em up. (Where do they shoot this stuff?) Jes' put it on a li'le shovel an' throw it up out- do' at night. [The preceding word shoot has been retained by present informant in the baseball sense: he shot the ball to second base, meaning he threw it as hard or as fast as he could. Shoot can mean to send swiftly along as to shoot guestions at someone. Here we have an example of how original rites can be changed: A person may not own a gun, es- pecially the old-fashioned muzzle-loader implied here. Besides, shooting a gun at any time could attract attention. By using a shovel we return to rites of letting the wind blow things away.]
(Where do you do this?)
At chure home or anywheres.
(If I were trying to break up somebody, I would do that at my home?)
No, at dere house.
Entry 7792
Now, if a person wanta run yo' out of a house, why dey goes tuh a ceme- tery where dere's someone deposit dead dere dat is well known, dat dey knows de disposition of de person [ill- tempered]. Dey carry along 7 pennies an' two lightvood AND HOW [fatwood or fatlighter pine] splinters [stakes]. Dey stick one on dis side jis' across de ways [waist] an' de othah cross de othah side di- rectly opposite an' dey stretch dat string zactly across dere.
(Across the breast from one stake to the other.)
Yes sir, lightly - must be caught lightly. An' den dey take anothah string an' stretch it directly from de foot tuh de haid [demonstrates].
(IN OTHER WORDS, YOU ARE FORMING A CROSS RIGHT ON TOP OF THAT GRAVE.)
Yes, sir. Den yo' go tuh work an' yo' go right intuh 'is hips, de right hip, an' yo' deposit dem 7 cents dere, an' yo' bring up from dere a handful of dat earth. Put it intuh a li'le box of some kin' dat yo' kin close it down tuh- gethah with. An' den tell 'em jis' zactly whut yo' wants done an' how yo' want it done. Den make dem undahstan' dat yo' have paid 'em, absolutely have paid 'em de price an' yo' mean fer 'em tuh do it. Yo' come on back tuh de house an yo' buy one gunshot shell an' cut de shot off, an' yo' takes de powdah an' yo' will po' it out an' measure jis' exactly how much powdah yo' want tuh put in dere. Measure de powdah an' put it intuh a clean piece of cloth an' measure de earth, jis' dat much earth, an' put it intuh dat cloth too. An' den yo'.git yo' dat much ground red peppah. Put it in dere an' fold it up tight an' yo' puts it right intuh de gun an' yo' turn directly an' face westward an' call dere name an' pull de triggah. An' if dey don't move, dey'll drop daid on de spot.
(Where did you learn that?)
Ah learned dat right chere, Charleston.
(Is that a special remedy of anyone? Of any special person?)
Yes, sir, fellah in de neighborhood name of Robert Chaplin. [Charleston, S. Car., (514, Doctor Glover), 595:2.] [For Glover see also references at end of 7214, p.3209 and elsewhere.]
Entry 8011
Make doll baby, put in box like a coffin, with person's hair and quick- silver balls at stomic [stomach]. Person who cured victim shot the evil-doer with a spiritual gun. [Long story, not much detail, recheck.] [Doctor Bayhan (Bayhand), a white doctor on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, used a spirit- ual gun to harm persons as far away as Baltimore - see No.62, p.28; and another comment about him from Deal Island, Md., No.3069, p.891.] [Washington, D. C.,
(between 629-638), 816:2.]
[In this subsubsection we have an animal buried as a substitute for the burial of a person. Our first example will be a substitute for the substitute, an egg for the chicken.]
Entry 8278
Yo've heard of de oldtime gun waddin'? Dey put dis pichure [torn up] in dis gun waddin' an' dey care [carry] it tuh a tree in some lone isolated place. An' dey shoot de gun off. Dey shoot de tree. Instead of powder, yo' know, lak dey shooting someone. [Gunman pretends that this mixture of gun wad- ding and torn-up picture is a shell and the tree is the person being shot.] An' dey say dat'll cuz dat person tuh have bad luck.
Entry 8279
Take dat photograph, an' if yo' wants dem, woman or man, yo' wants dem out de way. DEY AIN'T GOT HEART ENOUGH FO' YO' AN' YO' WANTS EM TUH GIT KILLED IN A ACCIDENT, OR SOMEONE GIT IN A FIGHT WIT 'EM AN' KILL DEM. Take dat phot0- graph an' git chew one dese heah li'le beebee rifles, if yo' kin [git] holt of it, an' take it in de woods, an' jes' lak yo' tack it 'ginst de wall [of interviewing room, you tack it against a tree], an' take a good bead [on the target] wit de [beebee] shotgun - ain't evah'body kin do it but some kin - an' shoot dat pichure. Be sure dat yo' shoot it on de heart side. Be sure dat chew hit it wit dat beebee ball [shot], it's a li'le ball dat jis' [makes] a li'le bit of hole dere, dat chew hit it on de heart side. Well, WHEN YO' PLUG IT ON DE HEART SIDE LAK DAT, HE'LL GO AN' HE'LL GIT IN A FUSS; AN' WHERE DAT BULLET HITS 'IM ON DE HEART SIDE, DEY PLUG 'IM DERE DE SAME WAY.
(They will hit him right there.)
Don't care where yo' go, dat de end of yo' - right dere.
Entry 8572
Well, if it's so that yo' kin rightly do so, 'tween 'leven-thirty an' twelve a'clock at night, if it ain't no mo' den he...git dere names on a little piece of papah, git chure Luger. (Get their names on this piece of paper, the people you want to make move out of that house?) Yessuh, an' shoot ovah dat house. Don' shoot at de house, jes' shoot ovah de house at sundown. Dey'll leave dere. Dey gotta go. [The word Luger, a German revolver, shows this rite does not concern a name being shot from a gun, but a name held on a stick in front of a Luger pointed over the house. A blank shell is surely used. A similar rite, a simulated shooting, will also be found elsewhere in Hoodoo.]
Entry 8773
If yo' want a man tuh leave town an' travel all his days an' don't stay no place long, yo' take yo' cord string whut chew git yo' round dese groceries. Yo' seen dat. An' when he git dat cord string, he put nine knots in it, but don't have none loose [have knots loosely tied]. An' den when yo' go to his do' an' call him three times, an' aftah callin' him three times, dodge [away from door] an' don't let him see yo' tightenin' dem knots. [The voice is caught in the tightened knots.] Git chew a gun an' anywhere de d'rection dat yo' want 'im tuh go, yo' put hit in dat gun.
(Put the string in the gun.)
Put de string in de gun an' stick a piece of papah in dere tuh wad it down - lak de ole muzzle-loadin' gun lak we used tuh have yeahs back - fifty yeahs ago [50 years before 1939, date of interview] an' shoot it in dat d'rection. He'll nevah stop travelin'.
Entry 8847
Dat's tuh git chure mind. All right, dey write chew, if dey kin write. Git in tetch wit chew through anyone, writin' yo' lettahs, see. Dey kin dress dem lettahs. An' say, if dey write chew a lettah dey'll make - maybe start off wit blue ink, maybe change wit red ink. Well, dat'll take yore 'tenshun [attention]. An' dey'll dress dat lettah an' dey'll keep awritin' yo'. An' evah time dey write maybe dey'll fold it diff'ren' tuh git chure 'tention.
Entry 10664
I heard a old person say one time you take a crab apple and rub the tube or the barrel of anyone's gun, it will not shoot directly as it has been [= it will not shoot straight].
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.]