Subject:Horse
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Entry 2009
Take dat 'nure [manure] an' put lodestone with it an' people sell dat fo' lucky han's. Dey gits hoss manure an' cow manure an' mix all dat together an' lodestone an' salt an' that makes him be lucky. An' 'noint it down wit whiskey. See, dat'll make yo' have a lucky han'. An' yo' kin carry dat an' rub it - jis' lak yo' want a job or somepin, yo' carry it an' rub dat an' yo' mo' den apt to git chew a job.
carrying the described lucky hand while seeking work. Keep mo’ den apt as a qualified claim, not actual employment or a guarantee. combining horse/cow manure, lodestone and salt before whiskey anointing. Do not turn whiskey anointing into an unspecified extra ingredient proportion or combine neighboring recipes. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 3688
Take a snail an' mark a cross, make a horse's pitchure on a woman's stomick, an' she cain't deal wit no othah man but jes' dat one. (Make what kind of a picture?) A horse's picture - a horse whut chew rides. (You have to draw a picture of a horse on a woman's stomach, but you have to use a snail - this thick stuff from the snail - and then she won't be able to have another man?) No, no man but jes' 'im. [An old note of mine reads: "I do not understand the picture, unless the per- son who draws the picture is the rider!"]
Entry 3775
She git a dishrag an' she'll tie three knots in it: ONE ON DE END AN' ONE IN DE MIDDLES AN' ONE ON DE OTHAH END - make three knots. She'll have dat rag damp. When yo' make a connec- tion wit 'er dat night, she won't come herself. Yo' understan' whut ah talkin' about. She'll make yo' do it. When she do's dat she'll tie it up an' she'll put it undahneat' her mat- tress right undah yore haid, where yo' won't know nuthin about it. An' prob'ly yo' go dere to anothah woman to try to make a connection wit 'er. It'll be hard when yo' git up dere, but aftah yo' git up an' start it'll jes' fall right down.
[Here follows the cure for the preceding rite.]
Dere's a weed grows in de woods, dey call it a horse nettle. It's a little weed dat has a little button on it - little berry, yo' see - an' de root is about dat long. An' dat root got little lumps in it. Evah two or three inches dat root got a little knot in it. Well yo' take dat an' yo' drink dat fo' about nine mawnin's.
(What do you do with that root?)
Well, if anybody know it, dey kin go out in a country place an' git it. Yo' takes it an' yo' cuts it up, an' puts it in a bottle, an' yo' PO' SOME OF DIS GOOD WHISKEY ON IT, an' drink it fo' nine mawnin's, an' dat'll bring it back to yo'.
(Bring his nature back.)
Entry 5594
Dey would pick up evah othah one of yore tracks for nine tracks, but dey take de right feet fer nine tracks. An' dey would take it off an' place dat into a bottle. Aftah placin' into a bottle dey would take - yo've seen dese pickanettle roots. People call 'em [par?] nettles.
(No, I don't know them [pickanettle] but I know what you are talking about.)
[This is probably the horse nettle, which appears several times in Hoodoo.]
It grows wit a white blossom into de top. Take dis blossom an' put it into a pot an' boil it. An' put a little linament, Sloan Linament into dat one, an' put watah onto de linament an' some kinda flesh meat. An' take it out an' yo' got a linament of yo' own creatin'. An' put on top of dat - stop it up tight [in a bottle] - write chure name onto de linament [bottle] be- fo' yo' put it [lina- ment] in dere. Write chure name an' turn it into de bottle, an' turn de bottle down to de groun' dis way.
(Turn that bottle down like that. All right. Then what do you do?)
Yes, sir, turn de bottle down dis way. Turn it down an' put chure name on it. Write chure name on it an' use a verse in de Bible.
(Do you know what verse in the Bible?)
Yes, sir, an' use de Second Kings but read it backwards, see. Read it back- wards an' write chure name. Writes chure verse three times an' write chure name three times. It must be backwards. Put on de linament in de bottle an' turn de bottle downward, down dis way [demonstrates].
(Cork down.)
An' dat'll take 'fect on 'em.
(Well, where are these foot tracks now? Where are the foot tracks?)
De dirt ah got from de foot tracks ah got it in de bottle.
(How much dirt did you take up?)
Jis' a small little.
Entry 6571
Well, all right, in case if yo' wanta learn how tuh raise snakes - raise 'em. An' naow [now] ah mean raise 'em. Well, yo' go tuh a stud horse. Undahstan' good now. Well, yo' go dere an' yo' cut a stran' of hair outa his tail. Well, den when yo' do dat, yo' go tuh a li'le stream of watah an' drive yer stick down in dat watah an' tie dat mane - dat horse's tail roun' dat stick. An' yo' watch dat. In fo' day's time jis' same as de big moccasin, it commence tuh wiggle. Yo' see now, dese wiggle-tail in de bay [of Mobile], well dey make snakes.
(But you have to tie that into a stream of water.)
Entry 6878
Take a horse mane - dat's from back of de horse - yo' know dat long mane, an' yo' put nine knots in it. Lak if she gotta come out of 'er gate - an' bury it right at dat gate. An' if she walk ovah it, she can't birth 'er child. (You take the mane off the horse?) Yeah, yo' gotta take it off.
(You don't take the whole mane, just some of his hair?)
Yo' know, not de whole mane, jis' some of de hair, by 'is haid.
Entry 6879
(How can that be done?)
Well, yo' see, de way dat dey do it, dey git a rope. Yo' know a woman's iml pregnant. Dey goes tuh de step an' dey come ovah de step.
(Wait a minute. What do they do with that rope now?)
Dey take de rope offa de mule.
(Oh, this rope is around the mule?)
De rope is aroun' de mule. Dey git tuh de step an' dey come over dat rope nine times backwards. See, dey jump ovah de rope once an' dey walk aroun' it an' dey jump ovah it ag'in. An' when dey git ovah dat rope, den dey jump up lak a mule. Now, when dis lady comes out, dat's crossin' 'er as a mule [woman's period will be as long as a mule's]. Now tuh git dis cross off 'er before dis child is born, yo' git chew a Bull Durham [tobacco] sack. Yo' take dat Bull Durham sack an' yo' wash it clean, clean, clean. Yo' go tuh one a dese big sand places such as Jenkins, Watts-Cornell [or] J. J. Cox, sand dat's nevah been used, jis' come in. Yo' fill dat bag about three-qurtah full of dat sand. It's purtty white sand. Yo' git chew nine silvah dimes an' yo' put in dat sand an' yo' git chew, git chew a half a cupa vinegah. Yo' take dat an' yo' put it intuh a pot an' yo' boil. An' aftah yo' boil, yo' boil yo' an' yo' boil it down an' yo' see dis sack done boiled enough, tuh where yo' want it tuh boil at, den yo' take dis sack an' yo' go an' throw it undah 'er steps. Dat's de woman impregnant. Yo' throws it right undah 'er step wit dese dimes an' dis sand intuh it. Now, de liquid dat's lef' from dis, from dat vinegah, yo' got dat dere. Now, she mus' take a sip of dis evah mawnin' fer nine mawnin's. An' ah'll guarantee yuh it'll knock dat off. (That checks that cross that's on that woman, checks it right away. You can't do any harm at all.)
Entry 10431
Loops they put feet through in horse's mane. [Those loops made in mane of horse by witch, when she or he rides it at night, are her or his stir- rups. For this horse riding See WITCH RIDES HORSE, PP.141- 143, v.1]. [Somewhere near Princess Anne or Snow Hill, Md., by hand, from informant 102.]
Entry 10656
Yo' take dat an' pound it up an' put it in his ratchet [rations]. Take dat big ants, ketch three of 'em, an' pound it up an' give him [hunting dog] a little bit every three time a day to each meal, an' he'll hunt an' search every place jes' lak dat ants will do. Go in every little hole an' corner. He don't stay long at one place.
(What kind of ants do they use? Did you say?)
Dey call 'em de horse ants, great big ole horse ants. Dey's red an' black. [A large red ant or a large black ant is called a horse ant.]
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 12179
Dey could burn sulphur an' salt. Salt an' sulphur is good fo' any- thing, good fo' killin' poison an' it's good luck. [Having turned off machine because material did not sound promising, I now restart machine by repeating what had been lost.]
(Is it good for, if they want to rent the room or rent the house?)
Yes. Well, ah tell yo' sulphur an' cayenne peppah an' salt - yo' burn dat an' yo' kin git de hoofs off a shoe, yo' know de hosses hoof, an' burn it every night befo' yo' go tuh bed an' yo' stay dere an' inhale dat. Well, den whatevah kind of luck yo' want or whatevah yo' ask it tuh do, why it mo' den apt tuh come out all round...
[Again I turn off machine too soon and must restart it.]
(If you are selling anything or anything of that sort? Would that help bring in trade?) Yes. Keep de police off yo' if yo' sellin' whiskey.
Entry 12180
Well, if yo' want good luck an' success, yo' know, yo' go to de black- smith shop an' git hoof from de horse hoof, an' yo' take it an' lay it down. Yo kin take three pieces. Have 'em all three de same length. An' yo' take an' lay 'em [demonstrates]: One fo' de Father, one fo' de Son an' one fo' de Holy Ghost. (You cross them when you are doing it.) Yes. An' then yo' put sulphur an' salt on top of that, an' while it's burnin' - burn it - an' while it's burnin', yo' jis' talk to it an' tell it anything that yo' want to have - if yo' want any good luck or anything yo' want done. [For this same design in other rites see those listed at end of rite 11879.]
Entry 12181
Yo' take it an' stir it up in yore coffee, de manure from a horse, an' yo' stir it up in yore coffee. Jes' like a horse if she carrying a - birth a young colt - jes' goin' have a young colt, well yo' take that an' yo' stir it up in yore [vic- tim's] coffee, the manure. An' it's brown yo' know jes' like a coffee color. An' if yo' [victim] drink it, yo' see, if yo' drink it, that runs a person wild jes' like a horse [colt]. It will keep yo' so yo' can't stay home, yo' can't stay nowhere - be always goin'.
Entry 12182
Right at de front do' of de family dat chew wish tuh make a disturbance yo' know, jis' so dey kin have a family feud, yo' know.
(Just put this horses manure. Where now?)
Right at de front do'.
Entry 12183
Take animal manure and dry it. See, you got a good animal and dey want it. See, dey take de animal manure and dry it right dry. Take an' dey pound it up, see. And dey will take alcohol, see, and put in dat manure and bury it. See, and den bury it under dere doorstep. And you'll often be to their house to sell 'em dat horse. See, you'll want to sell him dat horse better dan anybody else. And he [horse trader] kin git de horse from you cheaper dan you bought de horse fo'.
Entry 12189
Ah heard dat chew could take a horseshoe off a grey horse an' turn it up, de p'int up ovah yore do', an' yo'll be lucky an' de home will be lucky.
Entry 12337
Ah tell yo' what ah used tuh use. Git de horseshoe - yo' know when dey are shoein' de horse, yo' take de hoof [cut off] an' yo' take a stuff dey call limestone, an' red onion peels, an' red pep- per an' burn it together. Why dat brings luck. See dat bring yo' luck.
Entry 13088
I remember one day I was cut in the pasture. I missed the horses. And I had a favorite horse by the name of Snap and he could run. And I went in the pasture to get him out, and whilst being there, be- fore I could take the bars down to turn the horses out, I heard this horse coming. It was coming so dog- zerously [dangerously] I got out of his way. He jumped over the fence. This snake had him by the leg by his [the snake's] head. His tail was whipping the horse on his side and over his belly. And this snake was a snake by the name of horse racer. It's a terrible snake. He would run any horse he would catch. It's their business, riding horses. He wraps his head around the horse's back leg and uses his tail as a whip and slashes this horse up and down the side.
[Old Point Comfort, Va., No.27, by Ediphone.]
Entry 66
I have heard mv great-aunt say that she was driving along a dark road once with her daughter. While driving along she struck a match to light her pipe. When she drove a little farther a man stepped out of the woods Wearing a full dress suit, a high silk hat, and grabbed the horse by the bridle. And rear as the horse would, he would not let him go. After holding the horse for about three or four minutes he let the horse go. My great-aunt explained this fact by saying that it must have been her father who Was dead and he wanted to warn her that she must not strike a match on a dark road because some danger might take place because of her doing so.
Entry 133
I've had jack-a-ma-lanterns after me right at twelve o'clock noon day. I had my horse and wagon in the woods - filled my wagon with wood. Starting out of the woods I seen a limb, a large limb. I got off the wagon, trimmed the limb up, cut it in two and three pieces, started back to the wagon. And I walked about five minutes looking for my wagon. I continued to walk. I lost my horse, wagon and all and didn't know where they were, and they wasn't as much as twenty-five yards from me. I couldn't get myself together. I walked until I got out to the old field and I looked at houses I really knowed and I couldn't even recognize what houses they were. My horse nickered in the woods and when he nickered I came back to myself just the same as I had changed clothes. I went right to him, got on the Wagon, and I couldn't find the limb. I was walking so long that I had thrown this limb down. So my mother told me that it was a jack-a-ma-lantern.
Entry 225
They said they were going down a woods road one night and they said this dog ran up and ran through the legs of the horse and right on between the buggy wheels and ran on off into the woods. They thought it was someone trying to put bad luck on them. They thought it was a spirit, they didn't think it was a dog. They thought it was some spirit someone had sent out for you know, to kin'a cunjure them. [The reader can see at once that this dog was not an ordinary prowling animal meeting by chance a horse and buggy. A natural dog would never have met a horse head on, running between the four legs and then the four wheels, two legs and two wheels each side of him - quite a feat at night! This dog Was going in the opposite direction to cross the occupants of the buggy.]
Entry 230
My mother told me that once when she was a child her father and another gentlemen had been to the city [Mt. Olive, North Carolina] on Saturday night to get food for the week, and on their way back - they had waited real late to come back, and they had to come through a stretch of woods. They got along at a certain distance where people had said a man Was killed. The horses stopped that was carrying them in the buggy and they couldn't get them to start. The team made an attempt that they were looking at something but they did not see it at all. After about a half a hour they got the team to go. But in the meantime something jumped on the back of the buggy and didn't get off until about a quarter of a mile from their home, and when it got off it fell like a tree had fallen. Yet they didn't see anything.
Entry 232
Well, now dat's done fo' hosses [horses] an' fo' humans, too. Fo' ninstance, say if yo' wanta buy a hoss - a nice fine hoss, fat an' all an' yo' Wanta buy 'im an' de man wants too much fo' him or he don't wanta sell him to yo'. Well, yo' take - git chew a brand new piece of homespun an' start from his hip-bone an' make one knot, an' go up. Ev'ry time yo' come up to ev'ry joint, yo' make a knot, an' yo' take an' bury it in dat hoss's track an' he'll become tuh be lame - crippled an' he lay down an' he can't git up. Well, de man maybe Wanted de hoss, but he take most any kinda price - well, he take it den.
Entry 376
When I was a child we played a game as we touched seven telegraph posts then looked in seven alleyways you'd see the devil riding a white horse.
(What was the name of the game?) It was just a ghost game. We played it in Carlisle [Penn.].
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 458
My father had a grey horse at home. He bought him from a very old man and this was his [the old man's] riding horse. Ev'ry morning he would find two little stirrups tied in his mane. The horse wouldn't get fat. Ev'ry morning my father would comb that all out nicely, each night when we get through feeding, and the next morning those two little knots would be tied in there. You would hear the horse groaning and groaning at nighttime. Someone told us that the old man was riding the horse and to turn the horse around the other way in the stall. After that the horse got all right. It was that old man. It was sold in his estate and he didn't want anyone to have it.
Entry 462
They claim that a witch-hag would go to a stable and get a horse and get on his back backwards and come to your house and go through the keyhole while you were sleeping and ride you to death. That is [now] called stagnation of the blood.
Entry 815
(What do you mean - a two-headed person?)
Well, if de people - jis' lak yo' go to a person called a fortune-teller an' dey tell yore fortune; see, jis' lak if yo' lost yore horse or somepin an' yo' go to dem an' dey tell yo', say, "Well, yes, yo' lost yore horse an' yore nex' do' neighbor got chure horse an' he'll bring it back in so-many an' so-many days. Well, dey eventual will bring it back. An' den a lotta dese peoples, dey read cards - an' some of 'em are spiritualist peoples.
Entry 1336
A woman's in de family way an' if it be from mah husband an' ah didn't care, an' ah knowed it be from mah husban', an' she give me a lot of trouble, den ah git a mare's rope an' put it right where she walks, an' put dat mare's rope an' if she cross it, she cain't have that baby - that baby's goin' be crossed in dere. Git a mare's rope.
(It just has to be the rope they tie around a mare's neck?)
Dat's right - whut dey been usin' on a ole mare horse. Try tuh git the rope from her an' put it in where she passes all de time an' if she cross it she can't have that baby.
Entry 3019
(What do they say about St. Michael?)
Ef ah'm in a confusion with mah neighbors an' ah wants mah neighbors tuh be - yo' know, ah wants tuh be a bettah woman, ah prays tuh St. Michael. Ah prays tuh all of 'em. Ah axe St. Michael tuh please come tuh mah aid. He rides a white horse. An' ah sets him a red light fo' peace an' ah raps fo' him. An' ah fixes de red light at six, twelve an' three.
(Six, twelve and three in the afternoon?)
Yes.
(How long do you burn it each time?)
Ah burn it 'bout ten minutes.
Entry 6882
(What do they say about that?)
Well, tuh make a woman tuh carry a baby twelve months, dey take a woman - dey take a mare's rope an' dey'll put it across, close - tie a horse, a mare close aroun' where she live. In some way or another, she have tuh pass dat rope, and if she cross ovah dat rope, she'll go twelve months lak a mare an' she cain't have dat baby.
Entry 6883
Dey git a mare's rope.
(A mare's rope?)
Yeah, an' jis' lak yo' goin' tuh pass dere, well yo' don' pay no 'tention tuh dat rope. An' dat rope be dere an' yo' cross dat mare's rope. Dat cross dat child in yo'.
Entry 355
He wanted to become a dice-shooter, an' he was to go to dis holly [tree] nine mornings an' play, you know, [with] whatever come. An' I think prob'ly de firs' mornin' come was - prob'ly - I think it was a rooster, a big dark rooster. Well he played craps with him. An' then the nex' [second] Sunday come - why a -
(He had to go nine Sunday mornings?)
Nine Sunday mornings.
(Any particular time?)
I think it was nine o'clock. An' de nex' [third] Sunday mornin' he played with a drake. See, wouldn't be no females; always be males there they played with - would come to him. An' the nex' Sunday mornin' 'twas - it went up a little from a fowl and went to - a dog come. An' at de fo'th Sunday mornin' he says a - it went a little futher - he said a bull come. An' he said he played with him an' he was gittin' along good; said he won all - they played craps. An' the nex' Sunday mornin' he said a white horse come with no head, an' eyes at de shoulders. He said he hadn't got scared yet. An' he said he played craps with him. An' de nex' [sixth] Sunday mornin' he says a - I don't know - he says de image of a man came but he jes' couldn't zackly figure out. But anyhow, he jes' took a chance an' played right on' an' he said he beat him. An' he said he played on an' on till de ninth Sunday mornin' an' when de devil came hisself, he didn't git scared. He said he heerd a great - act like de win', you know, comin' in a whurl [whirlwind]. He says, "I know," he says, "that mus be de Ole Man hisself." Well, then [he] shuck his dice an' throwed eleven - that was a winnin' pint [point]. An' when he got there, he said, played craps with de devil; said he was a lucky man gamblin' ever since. [For devil in whirlwind, see Nos. 167-183, and No.361.]
Entry 2503
Then agin, I git de graveyard dirt from somebody relative who is dead, [died] good -, ou know, make peace. Any person who dead, git dat dust you know. Den you git de white-horse manure, mix that with salt and sulphur, and sprinkle around yore place. An': hey'll [officers will] call round yore place but they'll go away - wouldn't stir about chuh.
(Keeps the law away.)
Keep away because yo' have a white horse in de pasture and dey'll tell de party, "Oh! Looks like a white horse." (That white horse keeps them away? This is supposed to be the white horse in the pasture?) Yes. See, if you have a white horse in de pasture, dat horse will fight all other horses, but dey never fight dat white horse. (Those other horses won't bother a white horse. That is why the white-horse manure is good.) Yes.
Entry 2522
If you are bootleggin', to keep de officers away from your house, you get nine pieces of hoof of a horse - go to de blacksmith shop git nine pieces of de hoof of a horse, see, and git nine nails. (What kind of nails?) Horseshoe nails out of de shop - see, nine pieces of de hoof and nine horseshoe nails. An' git chew two piece of ginger and ten pieces of black pepper, see, an' grind it up together and boil dose horsehoofs and nails all to- gether. Den sprinkle dat from yore gate to yore house, see, and when de officers come dey can't - dey turn down de other street and can't come by your house.
Entry 4
There was an old woman who went for a cunjure. She lived in King George and she must have been a good cunjure because she made her living in that way, putting on spells and taking them off. A neighbor lived not far from her house Was hunting squirrels in the squirrel season and he passed near her home in the Woods, and he saw she had a snake tied by the tail hanging up the tree, and she had cut its throat and catching the blood in a small bucket. She wasn't: there. And he said to himself, "Damn you! I always heard you was a cunjure and now I know it." That was about forty years ago. She was a real cunjure. Everybody. Was afraid of that woman, both white and colored. If she came to your house and asked you for anything, it paid you to give it to her. She said, "You're going to lose ten times more than that." [This is called "putting a bad mouth on you."] She went to a neighbor one day and asked for a watermelon and he did not believe in cunjuring. So he didn't give her the watermelon and lost his horse that night. And then on he took off his hat to this woman. I knew both of them.
[Fredericksburg, Va., (71), Ed.; King George Co., Va.,1896.]
Entry 195
One dark rainy night grandfather was going home on horseback. He had been to town. He lived out in the country. He had to cross a stream of water called a branch. If you were on foot, you walk across a plank; if on horseback, the horse walked through the water. When the horse got in the middle he sat down. Grandfather looked back. He saw a big black man with red eyes. Grandfather said a prayer and the thing jumped in the Water, made a terrible noise and disappeared. [New York City,
(1), by hand, Gaston, Co., N. Car.,1870 decade.]
Entry 221
I heard one time that a woman died and the day - they got ready to bury her and the pallbearers had taken her out of the house and put her in the hearse. And they had four horses and they couldn't pull it. So they got two more and they couldn't pull it. And they said they got two more horses and they couldn't pull it. So then they decided to open it and see what was in it. And when they opened it there was a cat in there combing her hair. So they got the cat out and the two horses could pull it.
Entry 222
I did hear one time that there was two girls which was partners, used to go to and fro together. So at last one day, one Sunday, they decided to go to church. And they went to Sunday school in the morning, also to eleven o'clock service, and that night one of the girls decided she Wanted to go to the night service. So when the one girl got to the other girl's house, the other girl was combing her hair. She told the other girl, "Leave us go to church." The other girl said to her in reply, "Before I go to church I'd rather go to hell with both eyes open without my hair being combed." After then they went. The next day, which was Monday, this girl was taken sick. Tuesday she died. On Thursday they were getting ready for her funeral. They had taken the corpse to the church. And after carrying it to the church they opened it so everybody could review. And after doing so, they went to pick up the coffin to put it to the hearse and they couldn't nobody move it. Then at last a gang of men put this coffin in the hearse. After the coffin got in the hearse they had four horses pulling the coffin. All four of those horses could not move it. It was an awful thing to see the great excitment. Then they decided to take this coffin out of the hearse and open it to see what was the trouble. So when they open this coffin there was a black cat in there combing this girl's hair with its paw.
Entry 231
Now I know a woman down here in Caroline, she was called on a Sunday morning to come over there to the farm. They had a horse very bad off. She discovered where they had planted a bottle under this door, the door of the stable, and they got this horse so he couldn't get up. She removed it and the horse got all right. [Fredericksburg, Va., (?), Ed.; Caroline Co., Va.,1934; a rare example in my Negro folklore of an animal itself being bewitched.]
Entry 381
I went out with some people - a white man and two colored fellows and myself. We went to a place by the name of Port Allen. That used to be a [Civil] War place. Lot of Yankees was running away from there with money - supposed to be buried there - which they had found money in different states. Well, we hadn't, didn't find that so far. We got near to it but we didn't git it. So we had a shovel and we had a money rod and also we had a radio. See. And test where the money at. So the closer we'd get to the money, the more the bell would ring - that arrow would go around just like a radio. So, we dug there and so we got down to a pot and one fellow, doing time before [in the penitentiary] Was in there. He got his for murder, and if you suppose to do any kind of murder or anything, you can't get it. So, it was twelve o'clock that night, so we could not get it. So we came back the next night and after we came back the next night we dug. We left that fellow - we found out that fellow had been in trouble, so We left him and picks up another fellow. So we had a preacher with us and so he said a prayer. So we dug again until we got down to the money but there was so many different things come in front of us we couldn't stand to see. First thing came, a horse with no head on it - a horse with a lot of fire coming out; a man with no head, and a lot of bells and noise. Well, we left it - we never did get it - a great big hole. We couldn't get the money. I could get that close and could almost reach to it down there - it was about four feet down.
Entry 445
Now, yo' take whut dey used to call de witches - yo' take a grease an dey'll grease deyselves all ovah, jes' like dey goin' out tuh do somepin an' git clean out dere skin. Well, when dey git clean out dere skin dey'd be in de house; dey has a word dey say, "Round an' about - out de keyhole go." Right out de keyhole dey'll go. Well, dey go on out an' do whut dey's gon'a do an' come back. And when dey come back, dey'd say de same thing, "Round an' about de key- hole - out de do' we go." Well, dey'd come back in. When dey'd come back in dey'd git back into dey skin, git in - walk up to de skin, say, "skinny, don't chew know me?" An' dey'd jump an' if - now, if a person be lucky 'nuff, dey'd git dere befo' dey git in dere skin an' take dat skin, den dey couldn't git back in it.
(What did the witches do - what did the witches used to do?)
Well, dey say now, witches, dey used to ride hosses. Dey go to a cowpen an' milk cows an' go in a smokehouse an' take meat an' things. Well, dey all jes' carry dat back to dey homes - dey nevah did do nuthin' but jes' practice dat.
(Were these men or women?)
Mens an' wimmin.
(Did the witches do any conjuration at all - or not?)
Well, dey done a whole lot'a dis cunjuration. Dey claim dat dat's where de cunjuration come from - de witch crowd.
(Were you born here in Georgia?)
Yes suh, born in Georgia.
Entry 459
I had a horse that was real poor with a long mane. I combed that mane out every morning. I would get up the next morning and it was all tied up with stirrups from witches riding him. It looked like the more I fed him, the horse kept getting thinner. I told him what to do. I told him to go and get him a broom, drive a nail up behind the stable door, hang this broom up there. If this witch comes there, she has to count every straw in that broom before she can get a ride, then day will be on her and she will have to leave.
Entry 460
Now, I have seen this. I can say this. My uncle had a horse, a little black horse. He did dray work around the streets, hauling trunks and boxes and things for folks in town. And I've had him come and show us dat horse any number of mornings. She'd be soakin' wet, hardly could move de next day. And he'd show it to me for the fact and say to me, "De witches has rode dis horse last night." And then he has also showed me her mange [mane] de next day. It would be all pladed [plaited] up where they had developed over night. Now, what did that?
(Was there any way to protect the horse?)
No. De only thing, he had horseshoes stuck up over de doors.
Entry 461
In 1877 I lived wit a man by de name of Mr. Charlie B. My father hired me there for carrying Water for de women folks and bringing in kindling and stuff for the women. I was eleven years old and a little ways into twelve. A man from Snow Hill by the name of Mr. John S. - and in that time a horse and carriage was de fastest way to get along - he had a bay horse, come to Mr. Charlie B. And this horse, one day his mane was all tangled and mingled. And he wanted to lick me over it. Mr. Charlie B. told him, "No, that boy ain't bothered that horse, because my horse is so often like that when I go to take them out. And I know he didn't bother him." And he saved that man from cracking me. If you want to keep the witches from tangling them, you nailed a horseshoe right over the barn door with the points down to keep the witches from riding the horses.
Entry 463
I remember one night I was living on a farm all alone. Whilst being there, I had been told that this place was witchy, so I minded it not. So I went there to live. And after staying there for a period of time a witch came to my home. And I was told how to capture this witch. So I captured this witch. So after capturing this witch I had her on my way to the stable and she turned into a horse, a beautiful grey nag. After I put her in the stable, I was so delighted with my new horse that I hardly could sleep. I wanted day to come so bad so I could go down to the blacksmith shop and have my nag shod all round. So finally, the next morning - I stayed all night by her in the stable - and the next morning before breakfast I take my nag to the blacksmith shop and had her shod all round. After she had been shod I carried her back to the stable and put her up in the stable. One of the neighbors round there had taken violently ill. What was the trouble, nobody knowed. So they sent for the doctor. The doctor came. I told the doctor about my new pony. So I went to the stable to get my nag to show the doctor and when I got there de nag was gone. When I heard of this neighbor being so sick, deathly ill, I went to see her. And when I went to see her she refused to let me look at her hands and also her feet. I persisted on doing that and den I got help so I should examine her. After I examined her I found she had horse- shoes on each feet and on each hand. She was deathly tormented with those nails. She had den turned to a natural human form. (About 1886, near Hampton, Virginia. This is an example of a folktale told as a personal experience.) [This is my comment in 1936, after informant left room.]
Entry 787
There was a driver that his master owned and he used to drive him about, and one night he stole the horses. The next morning he called his master up. His master got up and came to the door and asked, "What do you want?" "Master, somebody stole the driving horses." While his master told him to go and hunt for them, he went off a little ways and he stopped and turned round and said, "Master, I'm a fortune-teller. I hate to tell you I know where them horses is." His master told him, "If you can tell me where them horses is and get them, I'll make you have an easy time." He spit in his hand and said, "Master, whichever way this spit flies, the horses is that-a-way." He had put them there. He goes out there and gets the horses and he comes back and says, "Here's your horses." The master said, "I'm going to make you my boss for the rest of the slaves." He went on and was the boss of the slaves for his master's work.
Entry 1338
An' then, if you wan'a makes sores on a person - you wan'a know about that?
(Yes.)
Well now, if you wan'a make sores on a person fer jes' sass [perverseness], eat 'em up jes' like it do vitrine [vitriol], you know - eat choo up if they throw vitr'ol on you. Well now, you see these horses go up an' down the street? Well, you see them little black places on 'em? Those rough places?
(Those little knots like warts?)
Yeah. Dat's wha' choo call horse night-eyes. Now, I'll say fer a ninstance - now, if I wan'a hurt choo or harm you in any way, I cut dat out dat horse. Ain't gon'a hurt 'im, cut it out. An' then I take it an' rubs on your clothes, on your wearin' appureZ. See, rub it all on your collah [collar] - see, like this. An' then when I rub it on there, when you put them clothes on, that jes' continues to eat choo up - sores all over you.
Entry 1903
Jes' lak yo' go to de race track bettin' on de horse races, yo' ketch - yo' have two toadyfrogs - jes' have 'em wit chew, see. An' Jes' lak yo' bettin', take an' pat 'em on de horse an' de horse yo' want to win he will win every time.
(How do you carry those frogs?)
In yore pocket - either in a papah bag, both of 'em together so long as dey live. If dey's live it all right; if dey's daid dey ain't goin' be no good.
Entry 5953
Dey tell me yo' git a - say fo' instan', now ah wanta do yo' some harm, yo' know. Yo' comb yore hair yo' know wit a comb. Well, yo' know lotsa times yo' leave hair in de comb, a little bit of yore hair. Well, yo' git dat hair out de comb an' den yo' take an' git a horsehair outa de mane, yo' bre, a'yo' put it in a vial an' bury it [both types of hair]. Jes' lak yo' stayin' beah am'ah bury it undah yore do' or somepin lak dat, dhy it'll do yo' all de harm yo' [ah] want. (What kind of harm will it do then?) Well, it will, yo' know, Zingah yo' an' all de time yo' be's sick an' undah de weathah. An' it's a good way to make a woman love yo', t too. [HERE IS DOUBLE- EDGED MAGIC. WHICH EDGE DEPENDS UPON YOUR INTENTION.]
Entry 6881
A horse is tied wit a rope an' she pass ovah de rope. She's crossed. An' if anyone have any of 'er pieces dat she had befo' she got dat way, yo' see, dey kin tie nine knots in dat piece an' hang it up in a place - not tuh burn in de chimley, not tuh burn; only tuh smoke, yo' see, dataway. De child have tuh be taken from 'er by a physicianah.
(I see.)
Entry 13222
A true sign that someone is going to die in their family soon, either [that of] the bride or bridegroom: This is at a wedding. They're leaving home to get the train, going away on a honey- moon. And the horses prance and keep prancing forwards then back. I knew it to happen in my home. A young man home from New York, he married a girl at my home near Elizabeth City [N. C.], and when they were leaving the church, when the mother came on out, she was the last, something sound like a tray of glasses smashed down in the church. She looked back and didn't see anything, and came on out and said, "My, my, what a terrible crash. My, I didn't know there were any glasses in the church." She said to one of her servants, "Sarah, what's that mean?" Sarah said, "That's the sign of death, Miss Jane." And she said, "Now you watch it. Someone is going out of the family soon." It proved to be true. So when they drove off, they had a hard time to get the horses to go. They kept tramping and backing to and fro, to and fro. They just kept that going for about ten or fifteen minutes. When they did go they went all in a rush. In three weeks time this young woman was called to come back home and visit her mother. Her mother was sick for one month and then passed away. She stayed a week and went on back home. In no time there was a telegram the daugh- ter was gone. She only lived to be a married woman about one year. That was about forty years ago [1896] in a family I knew well. [This belief of course is not hoodoo but it happens to be spirit lore upon which hoodoo is built.] [Informant No.6 in New York City by Ediphone, she coming from near Elizabeth City, N. Car.]