Subject:Kerosene
Entries
Entry 6494
Dat would make yo' painful. Yo' scrape dat off de bottom of a person's feet an' den put it in a glass - in a drinkin' glass. Jis' put it in a drinkin' glass an' put 17 drops of kerosene on it. Put 17 drops of kerosene on it, a pinch of sulphuh - jis' lak yo' put a pinch up lak dat, of sulphuh. An' git some borax - take a level teaspoonful of borax an' put in dere. An' jis' let it set up.
(Where?)
Jis' let it set somewhere in a dark place lak up in de loft of de house or in a closet where nobody nevah visit at. An' it will dry out de marrah in 'is arms.
Entry 6912
An' yo' kin take kerosene an' bluestone an' brimstone an' salt an' rub wit it [the pains caused by conjuration] an' dat'll kill it, too.
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 9094
An' they show 'em what to do, yo' know.
(I see, I understand.)
Yo'll get yo' de judge's name an' yo'll get yo' a lamp what's never was used. Yo' put yo' some sugar in dere. Buy yo' some sugah. An' yo' take dat judge's name an' yo' put it down in de lamp an' pour de sugah on dat, on his name. Dat sweetens 'em up. Aftah yo' put dat sugah down on dere, pour de kerosene in dere, an' yo' light this light. An' as yo're lightnin' it, say, "In de Name of de Father, an' de Son, an' de Holy Ghost, ' askin' fo' help. Hold yore hand up to God say, yo're asking fo' help. Dat's fo' good.
(What then?)
Yo' leave dis light nine days an' nights.
(You leave it burn for nine days and nights?)
Yes, sir. Dat's when yo' get yore subpoena.
(And then that will help you out with the judge?)
Yes, sir, it'll sweeten his mouth an' yo' come - when yo' go before 'im, in- stead of frowning, this is de truth, he instead of frowning, he'll smile.
Entry 9159
Take a white pocket han'ke'ch'ef an' dampen it wit peroxide an' kero- sene an' turpentine, an' jis' - see, yo' be's in de co'thouse, yo' see, where dey is, an' as he talkin', yo' jis' carry dat pocket han'ke'ch'ef an' dey make it [sentence] light. (Where do you carry it?) Do it jes' lak [demon- strates by shaking or waving handkerchief]. See, dat will make de scent of it
[reach the judge and jury].
Entry 10721
Ah got in a fight with a boy, an' mah grandmother - yo' know, ole fo folks dey are very active - she say, "Come here, boy, yo' got in a fight?" Say, "Yes mam." She say, "Whut chew do?" Ah say, "Ah bit dat boy plenty a place." She say, "Looky heah, come heah an'( Grandmah fix yo' up." She got a little sulphur an' a little kerosene, yo' know, an' she fixed a little bag, yo' know, an' she put it down dere undah mah bed; yo' know, up in de mattress - whut chew call a moss mat- tress [Spanish moss mattress]. Ah say, "Whut chew do dat fo'?" She say, "Don't chew know if yo' bit somebody an' yo' don't take care of yo'- self; don't chew know, dat dey will take bird manure [usually chicken manure] or some kinda manure lak dat, an' 'noint dis place lak yo' would [use] some grease on mah [your] bare face; yo' know, keep dat place [bite] 'nointed dere well, ' she say, "an' yore teeth will drop out." She tole me dat several time. Dey [person bitten] keep dat place 'nointed wit dat manure some kind. She say, every tooth in yore [biter's] head will drop out. (But she would prevent that by doing this.... [sulphur-kerosene hand in the mattress].) Put dis stuff undah mah bed an' dat will keep de othah stuff from coming back at me. [For the treatment of human bite with chicken manure, see Nos.
Entry 11732
They kin hant [= hoodoo here] choo to death by throwin' a ole grass around yuh do'; yo' know, dried-up grass. An' you git you some kerosene oil [kerosene] an' some ashes [from fireplace or stove] an' all like that, an' throw it right around your do' an' dat'll make you move out. [Informant here has combined two separate rites: first one, anything dead left or thrown at your door will hant (haunt) or hoodoo you; second one, fireplace ashes (originally) or kerosene (another substance connected with fire) will conquer the dead grass.]
Entry 12047
You take a piece of red flannen [flannel] and you dampen that with kerosene and turpentine. Then you take a piece of John de Conkah and Jockey Club [perfume] and a piece of saltpeter. (Jockey Club perfume?) Yes, Jockey Club, and then you take all that and you put it into a little new piece of paper, but I mean brown paper. Put it onto the brown paper first and then put it in - put the devil's - annimum [an- vil] dust. Put annimum dust in there with it. And then wrap it up in that brown paper [brown paper for black person, white paper for white person is the rule]. Wrap it to you. Wrap it right to you. And then put it in a brand-new piece of 'lastic [elastic]. And then you get a new spool of No.8 thread, and then you wrap that good. You wrap it to you. See, you wrap it to you. See, that's bringing you luck. Just wrap it to you. And then you get you a new needle that you've never used - out of a new case [package]. And then you use that brand-new thread and you sew it to you, you know, and make your wishes. You sew it to you. And then you takes that
[package] and tacks it onto your [elastic] belt. You know, that piece of [red]
flannen, you know, and you put that kerosene and turpentine on there, and then you put it round your waist, just wear right round your waist right next to your meat. That's to keep anybody from harming you.
(I see.)
Annimum - an-n- (Wait a minute - annirmum dust.) [I am making a final effort to record this vord correctly. Anim and various things until later in New Orleans I knew it was anvil dust.]
Entry 12287
Jes' lak yo' wants tuh choke a person. Yo' wanta jes' choke 'em an' he don't know whut might cause him tuh choke. Yo' take a string an' yo' measure it jes' about two feet long, an' yo'll tie three knots in it. After tyin' three knots in it, yo'll take kerosene an' wet dem knots jes' - jes' take yore two fingers an' wet dem three knots dataway. After yo' wet all three of 'em, yo' take it den an' yo' go tie it on a limb or sompin an' let it hang dere. Well, long as dem three knots is hanged why a person always - jes' lak dey hate chew - yo'll always have trouble in yore throat. (That string doesn't come in contact with the person I want to choke does it?) Dat's right, yes. Jes' lak a person always wanta choke an' dere be's jes' lak flem.
Entry 12496
Write name, put an "o" [or circle?] under each letter of name, take oil of bergamine [bergamot], oil of anise and put in lamp with the kerosene, keep burning very low for 9 mornings and 9 nights, light before 6 o'clock in morning, to bring person to you. [Presumably lamp is extinguished at bedtime. This is my original resume attached to original manuscript. Informant was outstanding. Letter "o" surely needs no comment.]
Entry 13368
If yo' wanta con ah a man, when he use de slop jar at night, says if yo' git dat an' take it wit yo'. Git chew some, about three drops of kerosene - about three or four drops of kerosene in it. An' puts chew quite a bit of sulphur in dere, in dis water [urine]. An' say yo' take dat an' throw it in a stream of water, turn yore back, dey say, an' walk away, or throw it over yore shoulder dis way [demonstrates] an' walk away. An' say if yo' home an' dey don't want chew dere, why yo' constantly will go away.
Entry 2434
Ah'm running a business, understand. Ah would write the name of five diff'rent persons or nine diff'rent persons [uneven number], an' put it in a kerosene lamp an' light de lamp an' let it burn for nine days - straight 'long all day long. An' ah would never sweep de sto' or de business place out in front - ah would jest sweep it in de back an' let it remain there fo' those nine days in trash an' stuff. Never sweep it out. Ah run business heah - began in '26 an' that's whut ah did an' had de sto' fulla customers.
Entry 941
Now, de woman that ah'm [was] living with, she'd taken advantage of me that way. An' ah had a gypsy Woman [usually a colored woman wearing large ear- rings and pretending to be a gypsy] to tell me all about it, an' de gypsy Woman tole me jes' where to find the nail on de east side of de tree, an' on de north side ah'd find a peg, an' on de west side ah'd find a snuff-can top drove in de tree. I wrote home to mah mother an' tole her about it. She had that tree cut down an' found those items in dat tree - dere was a big nail, a small bottle with a piece of mah shirt, an' in that bottle there were some safety pins - hairpins, an' that shirt, an' two worms about that long an' they were jes' white. An' the fellah [doctor] that did it - mah mother kept it an' she preserved those things fo' certain days - ah don't know whut cause her to do it - an' the fellah that did it was standin' at de windah - an' she pored those things in the stove an' put kerosene to them an' de wind blowing jes' dat way - he was standin' dere an' it blew all in his face [see Smoke in Index]. He was den makin' preparations to go out on de water [as sailor or fisherman] but he never did go - he went crazy. An' dey figured dat returned back on him an' he couldn't stand his own work.
(Well, it didn't affect you in any way?)
Well, ah couldn't stay in no place, no place.
(How did it happen that this gypsy woman told you about this?)
Ah were down heah in Egypt [colored community] - right 'cross in de same town heah. [There was a Little Egypt near somewhere I worked on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.] But it wasn't did here - it was did in the city Key [West?] Florida. An' she came by havin' a big bundle on her shoulder an' she were hungry. So she ast me fo' somethin' to eat. Ah was making mah breakfast-dinner [brunch] then. Ah tole 'er to wait. So when ah tole her dat, de woman she - I let 'er in, an' when ah let 'er in, shé ast me to let 'er read mah hand. So ah did so, an' she tole me jes' how ah got chere an' when ah came an' how ah came. Ah.came de first Sunday in de month, de first day in de week, de first of de month an' de first day of de year. An' she said, "Dis woman yo' marry 'er but," she says, "she's not chure wife." An' she tole me jes' lak ah tole yo' whut was done, an' she [the wife] had did it [through a doctor]. Dat wus put on me fo' nine months, an' ah went ailin' fo' those months, an' a fortune-teller man tole me after dat, if I had gone jes one more month, ah never would have [been] able to regain [myself]. (Well, did you go back home or did you go back to your mother's to get rid of that stuff?) I did. [My question is not tricky; his answer is not a lie - writing home was going home (see Introduction for questions and communication problems).]
Entry 2827
Well, if dey wanta git chew down - if yo' doing all right and ain't bothering nobody and a person begrudge yo's gettin' along, dey'll burn black can'les. Dey'll take dose black can'les and dey'll git chure full name and dey write yore full name nine times around dat can'le - write it straight like dis Idemonstrates], and turn it around and den write it like dis, and turn it around an' write it like dat. Write it nine times around de can'le. (Just a moment now. Here's the candle up and down. I write the name across like that. Then I turn the candle upside down and then write it across like that.) Up and down de candle. It's gen'lly like dis [demonstrates] - write it down like dis and den turn it up and write it like dat all de way around. Nine times. (Like a barber's pole. Only, you write it down and then you turn the candle upside down and write it the other way - [each time] around like a barber pole.) Yes sir. [The names are written up the candle and then down the candle, four names one Way and five the other. The candle is slowly twisted as the names are scratched and turned upside down only once.] And den yo' put dat can'le in some olive oil and kerosene and put dis olive oil and kerosene in some kind of deep can where it be jest about half full. And jest burn dat can le out until hit down to dat oil in dat can, and dat will make de person - whosomever dat chew hate or anything lak dat - make 'em jes' git down in hard luck and no way dey do dey can't git no kind of break atall - on de beg- ging list you might say, jest be down. See, dat's what chew call putting a per- son on [off] dey feet - chew know, dragging 'em, making 'em drag.
(Now, you only burn one candle for that - one black candle?)
One.
(Do you burn that at any special time or just any old time?)
Burn it at nine 'clock at night.
(And how long do you let it burn?)
Lets it burn five minutes at a time. Until it burns clean on out - like you burn it five minutes tonight, de next night chew burn it five minutes, and every night for five minutes, until it gits eaten down wit dat oil.
Entry 8594
Yo' take a brand-neW lamp - EVERYBODY DON'T SAY DE SAME THING. Every- body don't take no lamp; dey burn de candles, yo' see. Get a brand-new lamp. Yo' take a piece of white paper whut ain't go no lines on it, pure white paper without any lines. Yo' writes it with ink. Yo' write de persons name - initials - what yo' wanta come back to yo' nine times. See, yo' cross it though. Write yore name three times, see. (Do you cross that?) Yo' cross on dere name. Don't write yore name but three time, but write dere name nine. Clean dat lamp of de oil yo' know. Be sure yo' never burned any of dat kerosene - get it, yo' know, for whatevah amount yo' wanta burn. An' yo' put dat in dere. Before yo' put de oil in dere, take de papah an' roll it tuh yo' - see.
(You roll this paper to you.)
Yes, an' den make a wish dat in so many days yo' want 'im to show up, in nine days. De tenth day he ain't comin'. He come on dat ninth day. Well, yo' kin put in dere, a woman's name, depending on de way yo' want dem to come. Yo' put dat down in dere an' turn yore bottom upwards - turn de name down bottoms.
(Turn the names down inside of this lamp.)
All right, den yo' fill it up, but don't let it get without oil in nine days.
(You must burn it right along for nine straight days.)
When he come on dat ninth day, yo' go in dere - don't blow yore lamp out, yo' pinch it out, when he done come.
(You pinch it out with saliva.)
An' dat de way yo' kin get 'im back an' say: In de Name of de Fathah, de Son an' de Holy Ghost. Dem person ain't going to stay from yo' to save dere life. Don't care who dey are.
(Are you Roman Catholic?)
Ah's Roman Catholic an' ah believe it an' ah work by faith. Mobile, Ala.,
(651) 849:1.]
Entry 11290
Doctor King's account of himself begins: from Columbia, S. Car. When 8 years old to Beaufort, S. Car. Not much in this for an extract. Of course he Worked or studied with Doctor Buzzard (341:9). Next comes the stationary root previously mentioned (342:1). Put black cat bone scrapings on a photograph, if you are looking for a man [a criminal, etc]. The picture turns light or dark, etc. [according to your question]. A year later I would have learned more from Doctor King about this. Later I added, "Be careful in using this unless a par(allel) secured!" Nonsense: This was the doctor's own method (344:1). A rite about snake eggs used to kill person (344:3). To take out frogs caused by frog eggs. Black seeds from a watermelon, horse hoof dust, a tea made from. I comment doubtful. Nonsense! (345:1). "Yo' kin take a woman or yourself, either one, an' if yo' git some hair from down there an' stop it up in a bottle with kerosene on that. Take away all your courage - away from you (347:1). Rub kerosene on woman's privates, takes her courage (347:2). Doctor King also appears in No.830, p.288, v.1. If I failed, remember that Doctor King was in a hurry, on his way to see a patient, but would meet me again the following day. He took a disappearing root!
Entry 12131
(Well, where do they put this bow then? Where do they put this bow?)
Well, sometime a person take dat bows an' tote it in dey pocket fer a length of time. See, den dey go neah dis hickory bone[?l root.... (What kind?) Hickory bone [bush]. Dey go along with dat and graveyard dust. Dat's to lingah yo', to run you crazy. And now you wanta meet anothah man [hoodoo doctor] who kin do dat job to keep you. from run- nin' crazy. Dey gotta use ca'line [cayenne] peppah, and chamber lye and salt and kerosene. Let it steep three days and den go back ovah de head ag'in. Den use [bush?] to burn it and den dat fellah will turn yo' loose. He'll come to yo' house and de first thing he goin' ask - "I match chew fer salt." Dat's [what he want, to match yo' [for] salt [or he asks you for a match or salt] because he know he could git chew right back again [in his power] if yo' give 'em de salt. He got chew. And if yo' give him de match, he got cha right back. [This is a well-known witchcraft theme: see NEVER LEND TO WITCH, No.16338 p.875 in FACI. If you lend to her you are back in her power.] (Well, now why were you telling me about that "louse" in the head? What was that about? The louse in this woman or something? How was that done? I don't umderstand that.) Well, if dey git de bow out de back of yo' head, it has de sweat. Well, dat louse run from de mole [mold of the head] right frum heah [demonstrates], come right back down. She [louse] keep atravelin' right straight back. (This louse keeps traveling back and forth right on top [of your head] from the forehead right to the back where the mole [mold of head] is?) Dat's right. And if she kill dat louse, it kill you. (Well, that [hat] bow is connected with that louse. If they take that bow, they are taking that louse then, aren't they?) Well, de acick [acid] from dat - yo' see, de acick from dat; all dat louse powah fall back to dat bow. You cut dat bow. All dis powah fall back to de band of [bow of] yo' hat. Now de only way you don't have dat - like I got dis hat right chere now [is he talking about his own hat or mine on interviewing table?]. All right, dis hat chere now ain't got anything in it [his hat]. Now, I wanta weah dis hat and throw it down anywhere I wanta throw it down. I goes back home and take a dirty dishrag wit de dirty water and rug [rub] it over dat [bow]. I kin throw it [hat or bow] anywheres. You go and pick up dat bow and do anything wit dat bow, dat's a dead bow, dat bow is done cured. See dat cured dat bow. [No one can take the hat bow and hoodoo you.] But now, if I don't do dat, I haven't cured dat bow. I done cured dat bow in case I be's careless. You kin take it out [of the hat] but nothing kin be done.
Entry 806
Sellin' likker yo' mean? If yo's a man makin' moonshine or unstamped whiskey, see. All right. Now, ah'm goin' tell yo' dis heah one 'cause ah done dis mahself an' yo's a doctor an' yo' wanta know all dat. Yo' gits a little piece of red flannel - yo' have seen dis heah red flannel, an' dis brierberry root wit stickers in it.
(It has stickers on it.)
Dat's right. Well, all right, yo' git chew a piece of dat an' git chew six copper pennies, an' have a lamp. Now, yo' don't want nobody see dis lamp - yo have all dis down in de lamp where yo' po' yore oil in it, an' yo' set it ovah dere in dis corner. Well, yo' goin' burn dis oil, see. Well, now if ah come in ah ain't got no business ovah dere in dat corner - see whut yo' doin' ovah dere - have I?
(That's right.)
Well, now, git chew nine pods of red peppah an' put in there, in dat lamp, wit dem six copper pennies. But befo' yo' put dem six copper pennies in dere - to keep anybody from knowing whut yo' doin'; dat is, if yo' kin - stamp ovah 'em, put 'em into a vise, get 'em pressed out. Well, now yo' got chure little shade, yore little secret place heah in dis corner. Well, yo' set dat lamp dere an' yo burn it night an' day, 'cause yore gon'a have customers comin' in all times of de night. Well, yo' burn dat night an' day right dere, but chew kin have a little curtain up dere. Well, dey ain't nobody got no business back dere but chew - dey don't know whut chew doin'.
(That is all you have to do?)
Dat's all yo' got'a do. Ah've seen dat tried.
(And you take the lamp and you put this brier grass in there.)
Now wait. Yo' goin' pull up the sod with it. Yo' pull it up an' take yo' a hatchet 'cause it's hard, an' yo' cut off nine little blue pods.
(Pods or parts?)
Pods, dat's right. Cut it off jes' lak dese round - jes' cut one, two, three, fo', till yo' git de nine. Yo' have yore lamp right 'long wit yo' an' yo' put it in dere. Well, dat kerosene now dat chew use in dis lamp, don't nevah po' none of it out no mo' than go in dat lamp, an' don't let nobody use an' handle dat but chew. Well, yo' handle dat a different way. Yo' ain't goin' trust anybody else with it. Well, all right, dat's all yo' do. (You put the nine pods of that brier grass from the corn field in this lamp. Then you pour the oil on it. Then you take these - how many pennies?) Nine pennies. (Nine pennies and you flatten them out - put them in a vise - hold them in a vise so many days and then you put those in - and anything else you put in that lamp?) Nine pods of peppah - little cayenne red peppah, dese little pods, yo' know 'bout dat long. "An' yo' have yore little shade made right dere an' put 'em in dere an' go out 'bout chure business.
(Nothing else you put in that lamp?)
Nope - jes' dat all. An' yo' burn it night an' day till it burn down. At certain hours when yo' have no customers, git behin' yore curtain, an' feed dat lamp. Yo' ain't got'a burn it high - jes' dat-a-way, re'l dim light. An' if he come right out dere, he ain't comin' in dat place.
(The law won't come in there at all.)
An' yo' kin tell about a man whut has did it - go to 452 Montgomery Street, right round de corner.
Entry 891
There was once a lady and I used to be good friends. And so her husband wrote me a lettah and sent it through de mail, and he didn't sign the name to it. And so I was asking diff'rent one of my frien's did they know who it came from and they said no. So I ast de lady one day - I thought maybe she jis' playin' a joke on me - and I ast her did she write it. And she said no. But she said she would look at it and tell who handwriting it was. And the minute she looked at it, she said it was her husband's. And so she snatched it and ran out of mah house jis' like she had found some money. And [later] she came on and she tried to raise a fuss with me in de street befo' a crowd of people, but I wouldn't pay any attention to her. So later, two weeks, she came to mah house. And I jis' thought maybe she jis' come in there on a little visit, and I reckon she did. So when she left I said O.K. I went to de door with her and I half-shut de doah [after her departure]. And so I went to work dat mornin' - that was on a Satiday. And dat evenin' I commence feelin' - mah fingah got stiff, I couldn't use that hand that night. I tole my mothah about it. She bathed me in some kerosene, becuz she thought maybe it was - jis' was come from cold and so she bathed me in this kerosene. And de next mornin' I didn't seem to feel any bettah. And I couldn't use this hand, you know, dis whole arm. And it went on down in the feet. Becuz my mothah is a Holiness woman - and she thought maybe if she got some of her Saints [fellow worshippers] to pray wit me, I would get all right. And so she got 'em to pray wit me. But it didn't seem to do any good. So Tuesday - I didn't ache any at all dat Monday night - so that Tuesday night she called Dr. Somebody. Well, he came. He said he thought it was a rheumatism. And it was down in mah feet - it had left mah body and fell in mah foot. And he said - he gave me a pe'scription. But when I taken this medicine it seem like dat jis' made me ache dat much more. And so she called him again and he said he didn't know nuthin but de rheumatism. And I jis' suffered like dat hurtin' an' hurtin' for about two months. And so she had jis' told several people about it an' they said they didn't know anything unless it was the rheumatism." And so they said dey knowed a man named George or somepin ["a well-known root worker of Wilmington" - Note included in my pencil transcription made soon after interview]. But anyway, they said dis man could work roots. And when she went to dis man - and he said he could tell it and give me a treatment for fifteen dollahs down. And she said that she didn't have it all right then, but she paid him some down and he gave her some kind of medicine. And she say it was made out of some kind of St. Joseph's roots [either the doctor's own name or a commercial product like several others bearing a saint's name]. And she gave me it. And I taken about two treatments or two or three from him and I saw where it was doin' me a little good. And it continued to about two months and I got all right a little bit. And then he said that he could secure de thing dat was really de mattah. And so he found some roots buried under de doorstep in a bottle - looked like it was little verms [worms] on dis root. He showed it to mah mothah; he wouldn't let me see nuthin. He say if I didn't look at em, say he could make this spell leave me - make this so it would leave me. And it left. But he say I wouldn't feel all that sore-iness, but it would leave me enough that I could be able to walk. And so I started to walkin' on crutches and gradj'ly it left me.
Entry 2483
Ah wanta tell yo' now, ah run a bo'din' house once fo' a ole lady dat stayed dere, an' she went to de fo'ks of de road an' got de dirt outa de middle of de road - don't chew understand me. Den she took some bluestone an' saltpeter an' brimstone - git it all at de drug sto' an' then she takes them an' beats it up fine an' puts it into that pot an' some splinters ovah it.
(What pot?)
To a small pot whut'll hold 'bout two or three quarts.
(Of water?)
Yes. No, no - of de sand, don't chew understand from out de middle of de road. Yeah, de sand is under de bottom of dis heah, under de bottom of dese splinters an' dis heah stuff whut she sprinkles ovah dat, an' den she po's a little kerosene ovah dat an' burns it about three a'clock in de mornin' befo' day. That is to git roomers in her house. Yeah, dat has come from de fo'ks of de road. (She would put this dirt in the pot an' then she mixes this other stuff with that dirt.) That's it - de saltpeter, bluestone an' brimstone. (So that I understand perfectly what it is about: she brings this dirt back from the forks of the road, she puts it in this little pot, then she gets these various things and puts on top of this dirt.) Beats it all up together. (And puts it on top of the dirt in the Pot; then she lights this stuff, this mixture - burns it.) Yeah - three a'clock in de morning.
Entry 7251
If yuh evah wanta cross [the spell] anybody hurt, where somebody done witchcraft 'em - yo' undahstan', yo' don' do did but three times. [In the cure Something must be done or used 3 times.] Now de spirit brought dat tuh me an' ah see de way it works, see. Yo' do dis before sundown. Yo' go out an' any sort of green grass - yo' know whut moody grass is. Yeah dat's dat flat grass, sompin lak ole flat grass dey call moody grass. Chew know whut dat is. An' yo' whut a dog fennel is. All right. Now yo' do dis befo' sundown. Yo' turn yore face to de east right in dat grass an' yo' pull up one bunch. Pull up dat bunch of moody grass, dat flat grass. Yo' pull up dat an' call anybody, jis' anybody yo think what done it. See. Now, if dey ain't did anything tuh yuh, hit goin' give dem good luck; but if dey did sompin tuh yuh, hit goin' back tuh 'em. Ah know dat by experiment. Yo' pull up a bunch of de grass an' call dere name, yo' pull up anothah bunch an' call dey name, yo' pull it up three times an' call dere name [three times] an' say, "Ah wan' chew tuh take yore trouble offa me, In de Name of de Fathah, Name of de Son, Name of de Holy Ghost." An' yo' lay it out, see. Yo' dig a li'le trench, lay dat grass in dere an' yo' call dem people name an' talk tuh 'em lak yo' talkin' tuh 'em. Yo' take some red peppah, some cooking salt, yo' put it on it. Yo' pō' jisa li'le bit of kerosene on it an' yo' take an' stick a match tuh it. Put a piece of papah where it will smoke a li'le. See. An' while dat thing burn, yo' continue callin' dere name. So yo' call it nine times an' tell 'em yo' wan' it so. Say, "Ah wan' chew tuh take yore trouble on back, In de Name of de Fathah, Name of de Son, Name of de Holy Ghost." An' yo' kivah [cover] dat up an' step ovah it backwards, an' don't look back. An' it ain't goin' be but nine days befo' - if dey did it - dey goin' go down vury sick, an if dey ain't right sharp dey goin' die. But it goin' be offa yo'. See, it will be gone from yo'.
(I see, throws it back on them.)
But chew do dat wit dem green weeds. See dem weeds goin' die an'...
(You do this with that moody grass.)
All right yo' git dat bunch of moody grass, an' den yo' kin git a dog fennel or: any kinda othah green weed.
(What do you do with that other weed?)
Well, yo' jis' call de name, but yo' gotta have dis dog fennel an' dat moody grass. See, yo' gotta work three. Yo' know anything de spirits do is three of it all de time: Fathah, Son an' Holy Ghost.
Entry 7413
Well, yo' kin take de water dey wash de individual [murdered man in].
(That they wash the dead man in.)
An' put it in a quart bottle. An' yo' know how yo' cut cork to grease a saw wit - cut a cork to grease a saw wit. Chew know how dey grease a saw, have oil in a bottle - kerosene in a bottle to grease a saw. Jah [did jah] evah see dat? (No. They use a piece of cork to do that, you say?) Yo' see people dat saw wood, don't cha? Den dey have oil dey 'put on de saw. (Yes.) Dey have a stoppah in de bottle don' dey? Have it cut aroun' dere so dat de kerosene come out dere lak dat. Jah evah seen dat? (No, I have never seen that, but I understand. They cut little ridges in the cork so that this kerosene will come out of the bottle.) [Informant is talking about cord wood which years ago (before World War I) in the cities and towns came already sawed for fireplace or wood stove. Sometimes a person did his own sawing on a sawbuck. I did very little of this type of work as a boy. If the saw was rusty, people I knew greased the saw with a fat piece of bacon (American, not English or Canadian), not with kerosene in a bottlehaving a drip cork.] Yeah, theah yo' are, cut ridges in dat cork de same way an' set it up dere somewheres where it will drip, where it will drip out. Put it underneat' de dead man left arm an' it drip. [When] all dat watah drip out dat bottle dat pusson be gone. (That person who killed him will be gone - will die.)
Entry 8591
~ Den if he's in Chicago, Detroit, or any place, sits down an' gits chew a clean sheet of papah, an' write his name nine times on dat piece of papah. An' aftah writin' it nine times, yo' walks tuh de do' an' yo' says de Lord's Prayer nine times. Takes an' lights yore lamp an' put it in dat lamp, an' 'bout one grain of sugah in dere. Yo' know whut ah mean, not a grain but nearly 'bout a half a teaspoonful, into dat lamp wit dat coal oil in it. Light dat lamp an' turn it down real low, an' burn dat fo' nine days, nine days an' nights, an' wherevah he may be, he come dere. He cain't stay away.
Entry 11024
Ah heard of 'em using chicken feathers tuh make 'em move. Well, dey take de chicken feathers - dere's a mice [sounds like lice] on every chicken feather, chicken mice [mice?]. (You mean lice?) Lice. Dey takes dem lices offa dat chicken an' take his haid, his bill, an' beat dat up fine an' put some kerosene an' some sulphur in it, an' dat'll make yo' move. Put it in yore mattress or under de haid of yore bed.
Entry 12284
Yo' kin git saltpetah, sage, alum, sugah an' salt - yo' know - stuff, yo' know, whut he nuse [use]. Yo' know, salt an' sugah an' stuff lak dat whut chew wanta know in dose strings. Yo' say, "In de Name of de Fathah, an' de Son, ah'm bringin' yo' back tuh me." Call his name, see, an' say, "Long as yo' eat sage, as long as yo' eat sugah, drink sugah in yore coffee" - sompin lak dat. An' call dose names, an' tie dose strings, an' tell him yo' want him tuh come back tuh yo'. Well, he'll come den. An' aftah yo' tie dose strings, put dose strings in a pile an' sprinkle dis saltpetah an' stuff ovah it, an' red peppah, an' yo' take kerosene. An' den yo' say, "In de Name of de Fathah an' de Son, ' an' burn it. An' put it out in de yard an' let it smoke.
Entry 1223
A girl in Jacksonville, Florida, heah 'bout foah yeahs ago, she wus sick. Well, she lingered an' lingered an' lingered. Well, lotta folks thought maybe she wus witchcrafted an' all lak dat, but de chile was tuberculosis like de doctor tole her. De doctor tole her mother that she had de consumption, yo' see, an' she had to be taken a good piece back in heah [inland] to some spring or 'nothah. Well, dere own mother spent a lotta money taken her to dat spring up dere. Still it didn't do any good. So ah came on back an' ah tole her mother, said, "Well, Delia, listen," ah say, "nuthin dis chile eat won't stay on its stomach." Ah say, "Peaches or nuthin like dat hold on her stomach." Ah say, "Jest a little whut chew call gruel soup." Ah say, "Listen heah, try mah remedy." Now, ah had a remedy heah yeahs ago dat a [someone told me]. "Yo' kin take a dog, jest draw a little blood out of him - yo' ain't gotta kill him to git his blood," ah said. "Tuh git his blood, jest draw a little blood like a person draw a little blood outa yo', ' ah said, "an' put 'bout three or foah drops into a aig, see, an' beat de aig up fine. After yo' beat de aig up fine," ah said, "put jest about two or three drops of kerosene, one drop of turpentine, into this aig an' whup it up. After yo' done whup it an' - po' [in] jest about a half a pint of real good whiskey, not moonshine but real good seal whiskey [unbroken revenue stamp on the bottle]." Ah said, "Let her drink it." Ah said, "Now jest give her whut chew call a dose of it - jest lak yo' give her a dose of doctor's medicine." Ah says, "See if dat do any good." Ah say, "Yo' jest try dat."