Subject:Hag
Entries
Entry 10415
She caught it [hag in a bottle. She put the bottle under her bed, turned the mouth of it toward the bed - under bed - it was a black bug [in the bottle next morning]. The first person coming to the house next morn- ing and asking for a match or salt or anything, if she give to her, won't get rid of the hag. [For loans to witches, see NEVER LEND TO WITCHES, No.16338, P.875, in Folklore from Adams County Illinois, 2nd ed., and elsewhere in witch- craft section.] If you don't let the bug out the bottle, the person will die.
(Story rather disconnected, if nothing better may transcribe for a footnote.)
[This was my note shortly after transcribing cylinder. Never got back to it.]
Entry 10417
Keep hag away - 9 needles in bot- tle. [Caught hag] looked like jellyfish. Sot much of story.
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 10428
Put fork under pillow to keep hag from riding you [for hag or witch riding you see p.136f., v.l, margin title WITCH RIDES PERSON] at Petersburg, Va.,
(447), 423:6; at Wilmington, N. Car., (208), 114:5+85.]
Entry 10439
Hag looks like a lump of jelly [Jack- sonville, Fla., (592), 765:7. For similar beliefs see No.10421, p.3996 and elsewhere].
Entry 10452
New needles stick under [hag's] steps - couldn't leave - took sick - sent over to borrow salt - story diffuse - in lowland dialect.
Entry 10458
If a witch ridin' yuh, botherin' yo', followin' yo' aroun', yo' kin git salt, cookin' salt, an' tie it up in a little rag an' yo' kin git rid of dat witch. She can't stand salt. (What do you do with that rag then?) Yo' take dat rag an' yo' ties it an' yo' lets it stay right in yore room. An' yo' have tuh put a little lard on dat rag. Yo' know, have it kinda greasy. An' jes' hang dat rag right up in yore room an' dat witch ain't goin' tuh bother yo' no more. So, dat's de onliest time - look, lak de witch will bother when yo' in, yo' know, in yo' room tryin' tuh rest, be try- in' tuh ride yuh.
Entry 10468
Well, dey tell me how tuh ketch 'em [hags] is [tol git a sifter yo see, an' dey'll come in dere roun' 'fore day, yo' see, an' dey count de holes dere an' right dere's where it be yo' ketch [her] countin' dem holes in de sifter. So dey caught a ole lady lak dat once. (What did she look like when they caught her?) Well, she looked lak sompin didn't have no skin on, jes' kinda like butter - not butter, jelly yo' know. So dey caught her an' dey beat her. De ole lady was staying dere herself [living in same house].
Entry 12576
De pillah yo' sleep on - jes' lak ah sleep on a pillah, ah have a penny in dat pillah, see, in dat cloth right in dat pillah, an' all ah have to do is jes' put mah haid on dat pillah an' sleep. (Sleep all night.) [This un- doubtedly is a rite to prevent a hag from riding you. In hag rites a penny is not generally used, though we have copper in No.527, p.156, v.1.]
Entry 435
I know a woman once who was a famiZar hag. She got mad with me because I was going to see another woman and wouldn't look after her. So she told me one day, "I am going to get even with you." So I told 'er it was all right, that if she was to monk [monkey] with me I would shoot 'er. She told me that I couldn't shoot 'er. So I said, "All right, you just try it." So after I had been over to my girl's house, you know, I went over to my batch. And after going home I had a chain on my door. Just as I undressed and went to bed I heard de chain rattle on my door and I wasn't a bit sleepy at that minute. After I got my clothes off I sat on the bed, I lit my pipe and began to smoke. As I smoked I began to get drowsy. Den I saw the door open and I saw de form of dis woman walking in. She came to me and used the expression by saying, "Shish, shish." And when she got close to me I fell asleep. When I fell asleep she jumped right on top of me and she rode me perilous and it was all I could do to catch her by the thumb, but hold her I could not. And when she got away from me I woke up immediately and she was gone. [Hampton, Va., (27), Ed.; near Hampton,1918.]
Entry 437
(When a person wakes up in the morning?)
Yeah - it's jes' kinda lak a mucus in de corners of de mouth.
(And it comes from the mouth?)
Uh-hum.
(And they say that's the effect of what?)
It is de after effect of de hag ridin' yo' through dat night. [The informant had just made this brief statement while my Telediphone was switched off. This is a laborious attempt to obtain a repetition.] [Sumter, S. Car. (1344a), 2327:14.]
Entry 457
I remember at one time the hags used to ride our horses. A young man and I - it was in the summertime in the month of July - we had been out visiting and in coming home, its being so hot, we decided to go up in the barn loft to sleep. That was right over de horses stable: So we opened both doors [of the loft] and there is where we laid. So each of us went to sleep. And at one time he was asleep and I was awake, and I heard the horses scrumbling in the stable. What was the matter I did not know. So finally, I got up and went downstairs in the stable, and when I got down there, the doors was open and the horses were out in the yard running to and fro. But what was on the horses I know not. I did see that there was a little knot upon their manes up around the shoulders. They tie this knot in his mane and use it as stirrups [witches' stirrups] and ride it until it drops dead. When we got the horses in the stable the horses were all wringing wet. [old Point Comfort, Va., (27), Ed.; Norfolk Co., Va.,1929.]
Entry 10446
"Take you some mustard seed an' throw dem on de flo'...de hag dey gotta count ev'y one dohz seed" [Jacksonville, (597), 770:10].
Entry 436
Way people go [travel], call a hag - ya' evah hear dat?
(Yes, yes. What do they do about that?)
And [a hag] goes out fishing - [she] open de light [old-time dark lantern] - jest like a torch [when lantern opened] and a man said one day he coming in de night - it was dark - an' he saw de light opening and he take out a knife - new steel knife and he hold 'em on it.
(He pointed this knife toward this light.) [See No. 517.]
An' de woman came direct up to him out de pond [where she had been fishing] - out de wood. He say, "Who dat? You?" It say, "Yes." He say, "Whatchu doin' heah?" It say, "Ah." It's a woman - ole woman - she said, "Don't tell nobody [see 'Shish, shish" in No. 435]." An' soon dat mornin' he come and tell my mother. Say he seed a hag last night - so it was so.
(What was she supposed to be?)
She a hag.
(And when she goes around she looks like a light?)
Yeah.
(Like a Jack-o'-lantern?)
Yah - dat's it. (Oh, a hag is a jack-o'-lantern?) [Travels like a jack-o'-lantern - see my comment at beginning of this subsection.l Yeah.
(Then that's true?) [I repeat his so it was so.]
Yeah, dat's a fac' and if it came to yo' house today and yo' want prove it, yo'd take yo' broom and put it to dat door, cross de door - he'll nevah go out de door today, he'll take up dat broom before he go out dere. I've seed dat.
Entry 454
Once upon a time dey said there was an old woman and there was a certain family that was always pestered with what they called nightmares or hags. They called it hags in those days. Some people would get 'em. It seems it would bear on 'em so hard until they would just holler in their sleep. It was called a hag. And so, once upon a time, an old woman came and she said to the other woman, "You know what you do? You sprinkle salt all around your bed and later on you'll find out what that is that's bothering you." So that night the woman sprinkled salt all around her bed. She got in her bed. At the usual hour this thing came and she got all overpowered with it. She jumped up in her sleep and when she jumped up there was a man standing there. And he said, "Skin! skin! You don't know me! Skinl Skin! You don't know me!" So the woman caught him. And it was some man that she knew that was a witch. And he pulled his skin off and laid it down, then torment her. When he got ready to put it back on that night, it had salt on it and he could not put it back on. They said they caught him and tortured him and really destroyed him, because this other witch instructed them how to catch him.
Entry 489
[The following eight beliefs are variations on the bottle rite for catching a person's spirit - see Nos. 38-44.] I heard about my uncle catching a witch. They hung a bottle up the chimney and crossed a knife and fork. It was bothering and bothering him every night. Somebody told him to do this and he did it. And the next morning he taken this bottle down and something was in it. He left it stopped up. Somebody told him this woman who was bothering him was sick. He didn't go to see her. Finally, she says for him to come and see her. She said, "For the Lord's sake, please let me out, I'll never bother you again." He turned her out and the woman got well.
Entry 491
Take nine new nails an' put 'em in a bottle or nine new needles, either one, to ketch a thing dey call a witch at night when dey ride yo'.
Entry 494
I have heard that if a witch rides you at night take a small vial, put hairpins and plain pins and vinegar and a loose stopper in the bottle, and put it under your pillow, and they say it will catch the witch. The witch will get in the bottle, can't get out. The pins will catch the witch and keep him in, and the vinegar will dissolve him and change the color of the contents and you will know that you have the witch. You'll never have trouble with witches as long as you live.
Entry 495
I did hear the old people say at one time that a witch came in the house and got in a wine bottle and drank too much and couldn't get out. Ev'ry once in awhile she would holler about the keyhole, trying to go through it to escape, and fall back on the floor. There where the witch was caught. The olden people use to make the wine and set it under the bed or table and the witch got in one of these bottles.
Entry 496
They tell me that they take a bottle and pee in it and put that bottle up the chimley and when the witch comes in and comes down the chimley she'll go right in that bottle. Then cork it right up and that holds her until you find out who she is. [Wilmington, N. Car., (181),?]
Entry 499
Use de straw from a broom for a hag. Take de straws from de broom an' take de broom an' lie it down side de bed, an' de nex' mawnin' dere will be somepin down dere side de bed. People say it be's de hag, but say dat de firs' pusson dat came to your house to borrah somepin from yo', don' loan it to 'em, say dat'll be de same pusson dat rode joo.
Entry 500
Jes' lak if a hag be ridin' yo' ev'ry night - ev'ry night yo' go to bed an' a hag ride yo', jes' take de broom an' sleep wit de broom 'cross yore foot ev'ry night an' dat'll keep de hag away.
Entry 503
Take nine straws, broomstraws, an' yo' put 'em down - yo' kinda pound 'em an' yo' put 'em down. Put nine to de haid an' nine middleways an' nine to de foot on de flo'. Then yo' put nine on de middleways an' den put de whole straw on de back an' a bottle right down by dem nine straws. When de hag git on yo' he got'a start tuh countin' dem straws, he count dem straws - he count right dere an' yo' ketch him, ketch him in dat bottle.
(What does he look like, then?)
Says he look lak a jelly of blood - jes' lak a lump of jelly.
(Now, about those straws - how many straws do you put on the bed?)
Put nine each ways - nine on de flo', nine up de next de post an' tuh de back.
(Well, where do you put the three nines now?)
From de straw broom jes' git de straw an' put nine up dere; jes' lak yo' plantin' - nine dere, nine heah an' nine dere.
(Where do you put the first nine?)
On de flo'.
(Where do you put the second nine?)
On de bed.
(Where do you put the third nine?)
On de back - dat's de broom, de whole broom - right undah de bed right 'bout chure haid. (You have to do that with the broomstraws, too.) [Have I suddenly become incoherent - too?] An' de bottle 'long wit it.
Entry 507
Git yo' three fat-lighter splinters; yo' take a horsehair and tie it with three crosses in it [demonstrates] - yo' cross one dis way and den lay one in that angle. [Yo' cross One (splinter) dis way (over another splinter, making letter X or cross) and den lay one (the third splinter) in that angle (of the X - like this six-pointed star the latter making three crosses).] Take that horsehair and tie it and whoever yo' think that witch is, set a chair by de side of de bed and lay it [three fat-lighter splinters tied by horsehair into three crosses] right in there overnight. If dat witch comes up dere, he will throw that out of the chair on de floor and yo' won't be worried with him any more.
(You have to throw it out on the floor?)
No, he will. He will do that himself because he comes up and sits down in dat chair and he sits on dat and it gits him and he jumps; you know, jest like if you in a chair somewheres and dere's a pin sticking in dat chair - same you, yo' jump up and put chure han' behin' yo'. Well, he throws dat on de floor.
Entry 523
Dat sulphur, yo' take dat sulphur an' sprinkle it round yore house - jes' lak yo' got a room an' somepin worryin' yo' in dere, yo' know, yo' take sulphur an' sprinkle it all round in yore room. An' it won't worry yo' any mo'.
(That was a hag?)
Supposes tuh be a hag. Some folks say it a hag an' some folks say it's yore blood, because ah've been lak dat. Dey ride me in de night.
(What do they say they do to get rid of them?)
Well, some folks say yo' kin put a broom on de bed an' some folks say yo' kin sprinkle salt ovah de bed. Some folks say yo' kin take a brand new knife an' put dat - lay dat in de bed side an' dat'll keep 'em from worryin' yo' at night. But ah re'lly didn't try none of those things.
Entry 10412
Dey call yo' like when yo' sleepin'. An' dey has de bottle fixed an dey calls yo' an' soon as yo' answer, den dey put dat stopper in an' knock it down tight. Well, dat's supposed to be if a hag is ridin' dem an' dey think it's yo'. Well, dat's de way dey ketch chah. [For catching person's spirit in bottle, see Nos.38-41, P.24f., v.l; in the latter of these rites, performer substituting his own breath for victim's!]
Entry 10453
Take 12 needles in pile - put to head of bed - hag will count the needles - you catch her. Ev'ry time they count a certain distance they'll forget and must start over again.
Entry 10491
"Some people call a hag a witch. She rides you. To keep her from riding you, put a dime in the keyhole an' she can't come in."
Entry 10494
"Basin of water under bed stops hag from riding you"
[Mobile, 891:10]. [For bucket of water and flaxseed, see No.10426.]
Entry 536
This happened down here in Charlotte [County, Virginia] about fifty-one years ago [1886]. They used to say it was something they called The Old Hag. (The Old Hag.) Used to ride folks. And this old man used to come to this other man's house and ride him like a horse. It's a fact, he used to ride this old man. And it was this old lady over there tell him what to do - this old witch tell him what to do, say, "Stanely [Stanley?], you go and get you a bottle tonight and put it right by your bed and when dat ole hag jump on you - course you can't get dat bottle [while he's riding you], but the time he jump off you, you grabs de bottle and makes your water in it 'fore he get out de house."
[Like No. 531, this is another good trick, if you can do it!]
And this ole man did that. And the next morning the old man that was doing de riding, he come back there - he come back and he'd been walking round and talking round, looked kind of draggy-fied, kind of ashamed, downcast, and all that thing. But this old man, he didn't said anything - [didn't] said why did he ever come again - walking round and talking round, and the fellow said nuthin', and the third time round he said, "Goodness sakes, you got me tie up - I want you to please turn me loose."
(What do you mean by tied up - he couldn't make water?)
Couldn't make water - and he say, "No sir, I ain't got you tie up - you tie yourself up. he says, "Yes," he says, "this is the last place I stays at - please turn me loose." So he pleaded wit him and he promised him dat he wouldn't ride him no more, so the ole man turn him loose. And that was a fact because dat happened since I was a child like that.
The informant reports the designation The Old Hag; the male rider and quoted adviser remain distinct in the account.
Entry 10447
Mustard seed to catch hag, not much of story
The brief account names a hag as the intended target of mustard seed and notes that there is little story. It establishes no actual catch, identified being or effect.