Subject:Knees
Entries
Entry 7214
Dat whut chew call tyin' down. Dey'll wait until de man come in an' go tuh sleep, an' dey git a bran'-new ball of cot- ton yarn an' puts it on de inside of de baid, where de man gotta sleep. Why dey measure from de tip of 'is haid tuh de sole of 'is feet. Tie a knot tuh de neck, an' tie a knot tuh de waist, an' tie a knot tuh de knees, an' tie a knot tuh de ankles, an' tie one tuh de sole of yuh feet [5 knots]. An' den dey take dat an' dey care [carry] it undah de baid tuh de side dat he sleeps on an' tie it, yo' know, undah de springs wit de two ends tuhgethah double. Tie it right undah where [demonstrates]. Dis part of de body.
(Near the backside?)
Yes. Dat keeps 'im down, dat keep 'em from runnin' aroun'. [Charleston, S. Car., (514), 599:5.] [For more material by Doctor Glover, see Pp.2258-2259; No.112, P.41; No.272, P.79; and No.335, p.99.]
Entry 555
(What did you say your name was?)
William Scott.
(William Scott. All right. No. 535.)
[On my first trip down the Eastern Coat from Virginia into Florida, I occasionally still asked a person his name and casually gave him a number. Both practices I have previously stopped, recording only a name volunteered and the number before entrance or after departure.] Well, dis woman dat I was goin' wit, see - me and her quit and she had wanted to come back to me, and ah wouldn't take her back because ah ketched her doin' wrong. She try to do me harm. She git another man to set some stuff on me to - some stuff for me to step in. She know ah was de first one to cross over it in de mawning to go to work. Ah come on out and go on to work and it started about eleven-thirty that I felt my back giving and mah laigs they cracked - ah couldn't hardly walk with it and ah asked to git off. At dinnertime, at noon, ah git off and come on home. By de time ah kin git home mah laigs and toes was all swollen up. So I went to a doctor - he's jest here on Commings Street, root doctor.
(What was his name?)
Williams - he named Williams, too. [Informant's first name William - doctor's last name Williams - hence the too!] He lived here right now. He stayed dere on Commings Street and now he moved. So I went to him and explained mysel' dat Satiday. So he said, "Well, ah tell yuh what chew do - you come back here Sunday mawning round five 'clock or six 'clock [or] Sunday noon," he said, "so I kin see what I kin [do] wit cha." [This is an act of magic - the magic delay.] So ah went down dere. So he tells fortunes in coffee. So he went round dere and he tells me to sit down and he git de coffee and he tell me, he say, "Well, boy, ah kin cure you" - it would take seven dollars. Ah say, "Yes sir." He say, "Now, whut ah want chew to do - ah'm goin' give you dis dime." He say, "You take dis dime ah give to you and you take dis dime and you cut it up real fine." He said, "An' you git chew a piece of red flannel and you take dis red flannel and rub dis dime round and round in dis red flannel." He said, "An' git a little bit of sulphur an' put wit dis silver whut you cut off de dime and work it round in dere good, and after you rub it round dere good, you take some assafitadee [asafetida] and put wit it and sew it up in a bag and put it round yore neck." [This is a hand or mojo or toby - see Index.] He said, "An' you drop back to me Monday and ah'll let chew know whut I kin do for you." [Again, the magic delay.] So dat Monday ah went back to him and when I went back to him, he said, "Well, you come on into de house." I went back to de house wit 'em. He said, "Now to- night at twelve o'clock," he said, "you come here to me," he said, "an' ah'll fix you up good to [at] the Morris Brown Cemetery.
(Morris Brown Cemetery.) [Negro cemetery.]
So ah went out dere wit 'em dat night an' he said, "Now ah want chew to do dis." He said, "Ah want chew to walk wit me to dis grave," he said, "and ah want chew to pick up a handful of dis sand," he said, "an' you walk backwards six feet [steps] and t'row it over you and wheel to yo' right."
(Throw it over - how do you throw it?)
T'row it ovah yore left shoulder an' wheel to yer right. An' I done that. I walk six feet and wheeled to mah right, wheeled to mah right. And he said, "Well, come on back home now." Ah went on back wit him - ketched a [street] car and went on back to his house. And after I went back to his house, he said, "Now, what chew Want me to do - do you want me to dress dis woman or fix dis woman?" Ah said, "No." He say, "Well, all you want's me to do is unloose you?" I say, "Yes sir." He says, "All right. Now, look whut I'm gon'a do. I want cha in de morning to git up early," he said, "you git up early and go right to the step, and take you a big spoon - cooking spoon and dig down underneat' dat step," he say, "an' you see all yo' troubles right to the step." So dat morning I git up and I dig down at de foot of de step and when I git dere [it] was a little package rolled up jest like a little - about de size of a egg - in de package looked like it Was gunpowdah and some other - ah don't [know] whut to tell yuh - some other stuff in dere real fine like little grounds and dust and things like that. An' I dig it up and after digging this up - he say, "You bring it on to me" - and I dig it up and I bring it on to him. He said, "Now, this was the beginning of you' trouble." An' so after dat, mah feet begin to goin' down - de swelling stuff begin to leave mah feet. Den he say, "Well, ah'll boil some root medicine now, to get that thing out chure system." An' which like he did. He went and boiled dis medicine and ah drinked dis medicine ever' twice a day until it went and went until it went down to my feet - down to mah feet. Now, ever' summer dat same thing come out jest like some 'neral [veneral] disease, jes' broken out in yore feet, ever' summer. It goes back in de wintertime, but in de summertime, spring- time, it like that.
(In summer you still have it?)
Yes, sir - got it now.
(It looks like a veneral disease?)
It jes' broke out in a fine bump and then it turn out sore. Then it swell - it start in de knee and den it go right on to de feet - all the ankles and ever'thing swole up - jes' like it swole up now.
Entry 2761
Madam Helen learned me that. I worked for her in Algiers. Well, she was a two-headed lady, see. Well, so many peoples coming to her backwards and forwards, I used to go in and peek and look and see what she be doing: Well, that's how I'd get to learn - to knows all of these things. See. Course, poor soul, she'd dead, but she was a crack shot. I guess you have heard talk of her.
(How long has she been dead?)
She been dead now going on three years. Yes. But she had a place - great many colored go there, you know, they'd dance and carry on and everything. Well, she had a big house. She had snakes [see later]. She had any kind of animal you wanted to see around her house. If you was hurt or anything by any kind of ani- mal and went to her to cure you, she would have that animal dust or grease or something to give you to cure you.
(What was your work over there?)
My work was housework.
(Just housework?)
Yes.
(You didn't have anything to do with the customers then?)
No, I didn't have anything to do with the customers. But if they - if the customers would come, and rang the doorbell, I would answer the doorbell and let 'em in. But they'd have their room to sit down in. All I'd do, just go round and ring her bell and have another girl - for a white girl to come and receive 'em girls, if it was a lady, if it was a gentleman - whoever would come to see her.
(Was Madam Helen a white woman?)
Yes, sir, she was a white woman - white lady.
(I see, I see.)
She was a crackerjack.
(She received both the colored and white people?)
Both the colored and white people, but she had her days picked for the white. She had, I think on Thursday, Wednesday, something like, for the white. Now, on a Friday, that would be especially for the colored and Mondays - that would be their days. She would work four days and that was all. And iffen you was badly hurt, well, you could come and she would keep you there with her. Now, if you'd be colored, well, I'd 'tend to you like in a patient. I'd 'tend to you in the bed 'cause she had to keep you there to doctor on you anything herself. Well, I'd 'tend to you myself and I'd bring your dinner and your breakfast or empty your slop and keep your room clean, you see.
(I see, if you were what?)
If you was colored, you know, well, I had to do that 'cause I was colored, see. But the whites she'd - well, the white people - well, she had a white lady 'tending to that, see. But the white lady was over me. See. See, I was under. Madam Helen, she was my boss, but she never did pay me - 'twas the white girl paid me all the time. See. (Did Madam Helen dress in any particular way, or have an altar in her house or anything of that sort?) Madam Helen, yes sir, she had an altar. She had a great big altar in her house. See. (When a person came there, what sort of ceremony did they go through? Suppose I went over there, what would she do? What would happen? Just what would be the procedure?) When you go there, you ring the doorbell and they ask you who you want to see. You say you want to see the Doctor Lady. When you get inside, this white girl will come to you and ask you if you want to see Madam Helen. You say, "Yes." She say, "All right - No. 2." And she'll ring that number. Well, that's just like there be two of you, she'll ring that number - No. 2. Well, Madam Helen, she'll tell the girl to bring you in. See, you'll never see her till you come in where she at. See.
(And she'll be in this room where the altar is?)
She'll be in the room where the altar and all this mess be all round her - just all round the floor.
(Loose or in bottles or what?)
All around there - just like - just like you walk on the floor or something - there's nothing but them old snakes all around there and they won't harm you or nothing, and they'd be all around there. [For the use of snakes by professional workers, see margin-title Snake, Pp.66-73.] And she'd be setting down right in front of the altar - just there waiting for you to come in.
(She sat in front of the altar?)
Yes.
(Was she dressed in any special way?)
She was dressed just like - not in - just like there something in danger, she'd have a black gown on with a white - you know them crucifix and thing that be hanging around - you know what them priests have around them. Well, she'd have it like that, hanging around there, and wore a white cap. She didn't never did keep her hair no longer than right around here like that.
(That was for danger, you say?)
Yes, that was for danger - like if a person come in there hurt bad, well, she'd be dressed [in the appropriate color] before you get there. She'd know you were coming. (Well, now, what was a love affair? If you wanted to bring your husband back, how would she dress for that?) Well, she'd be all in blue. Just like a person - just like [the author], if you'd know you were coming there, she'd know you were coming - just like you'd say, "Well, tomorrow morning I'm going to get up and I'm going to see Madam Helen." Well, the next morning, she going to get up and she going to be fixed for when you come there. She going to tell you, she say, "Well, I know you was coming. Cause I have went right there and listen at her talk and I hear her myself. She say, "I know you was coming. You see, I got ready for you." you." say, "Yes, ma'm." [For doctor's foreknowledge of patient, see Consultation Tech- nique, pp.307-318.] (She dressed for each person. Well, how did she know that person was coming there to see her?) That's what I couldn't understand - how she know. She she really would know. And if she was living right now, I could tell you right now, you could ring her up and tell her you coming - you want to know her name or something, you know - just tell her you was a doctor or something and she'll tell - say, "Yes, well, you come over." [See Index for Doctor, author called a.] And you say, "Well, I'll be over day after tomorrow." And you say, now you say to yourself, 'I'm going there tomorrow." And she'll tell you, she say, "No, you coming here to- morrow - I know when you coming, I'll be ready for you." Now, how she knowed, I don't know.
(Did she wear any other color gowns?)
She didn't have nothing but purple gowns - purple gowns and black gowns - purple cap, black cap - and a blue gown with a blue cap. That's all I ever pressed for her.
(Did she ever have black ones?)
Black, I'm done told you - black and purple.
(Did she ever wear white?)
No, she never did wore white, I never did seen wear no white - always just be them three different colors.
(Now, this altar. Well, did she have candles burning on that altar or what?)
She had lights - all kinds of lights - red light, green light.
(All right on this altar?)
Yes, sir. (Well, if a person came in, did a person ever burn any of those lights or any- thing? What did they do when they first came in? Into this room now? I'm going in there now. I come in and she's sitting there in front of the altar. In a chair?) Yes, sir, got a big old chair - one of them round chairs.
(What would be the first thing that would happen to me then?)
Well, when you walk in there, you bow to her - you bow to her and you fall on your knees. And just like if you - you know, you come to see her - you fall on your knees. [See the Rev. Mr. Young's evidence for falling on knees before Prof. Frank, p.129.] And you turn and you light - you'll pick - you'll choose a candle that you wanta light. And you'll light it and she'll turn around and she'll look and see what color you be lighting and see if you are right; and if you wrong, she say, "Oh, no, don't light this one; light this one." And when you light that one, she'll turn around and set you down there. Well, the white girl will have to get out too; you see, there just be her and you in there then. See. Well, she'll work on you till eleven o'clock - whatever time she gotta work on you - till time for your time up. Well, round nine-thirty she be working - from nine- thirty till eleven in the day. Well, after eleven, she stop till two, cause she have her lunch and she take her nap. After two o'clock, well, you can [go] over there about three o'clock until seven at night, and then she'll stop until the next day. That's the way she would work. (Well, did you ever see what was going on after a person knelt? And what happened? Did she ask them what was wrong with them?) Well, one time I have went there and peeked and after that I was scared to stay, cause she had a snake wrapped around the lady's neck [see Snake in Index], you know, she had a snake wrapped around. The snake went around there and he come round thisaway and things and it just looked like to me that he was going to kill me cause I went and peeped and things. Well, she fussed at me cause she knowed it - I got scared and I run through the hall, that why she know I was through there. And that snake would just crawl all over that woman. And where the misery was at, that snake stopped right there and he just coiled up there. That's why she talked to it, she say, "All right, now, get down." To the snake, and the snake, well, it just wabble on over. Then she turn around and she got some kind of stuff and she do with her hand thisaway and thataway, all kind-of- Way and she started rubbing that lady. After that lady come out - that lady couldn't use her arm when she first went in. When she come out she could turn her arm thataway and hollering, "Thank God." thank God." But I know she did thank her for she sure did fuss, cause I was there peeking and I was scared of the snake. (Afraid. I understand. What did she usually charge? Have you any idea about what she charged?) Yes, sir. I had knew what she charged a couple of ladies. She have charged one lady I know of $25. She paid her debts for to cure her. Well, this lady was 'flicted all in her feets and things, she couldn't walk. She made her walk and she charged her $25, cash down, but I don't know how much altogether - how much it cost her. You know, for down, to start a'working on her. And another lady she say that she paid her $30 right down. Well, the lady that comes, her came from Lafayette, La. Never forget that lady. She done came from Lafayette, La., and paid her $30 just for to give her her speech back, and she made her get her talking back. She could talk but, you know, but she talk like this [imitates] - like that when she going to talk. Well, she fixed her up and got her tongue together and she gave her $30 cash down.
Entry 5134
Naow [now], dey kin take dem shoes - either one or two, but always seem lak tuh me dat lef'-foot shoe. Take dat lef'-foot shoe an' put some cay- enne peppah an' some saltpetah. An' if dey tryin' tuh hurtcha, gitcha down some way, tuh gitcha past walkin' or swell yuh up, yo' see, put some salt- petah in dem shoes, an' some cayenne peppah, an' some dragon blood. An' put it in dat shoe an' po' some kerosene on it, an' burn dat shoe grajly [gradually] about ten minutes evah mawnin'. An' aftah de shoe burn up, well dat individual will begin tuh suffah wit, 'is knees an' laigs, an' continue lak dat.
Entry 246
When I was five years old, my mother got hurt in her knee and she called the hoodoo, and my grandfather - was living at that time. And her knee came to be swelled larger than my head, and my grandfather had taken this mackerel fish brine and he'd taken a nickel's worth of Brown Mule tobacco - puts it in a quart of water and boiled it down to a pint, and he'd taken red peppah and put in there and vinegar, and he continued to rub and rub her knee with that until she got rid of it.
(Can you tell me how she got hurt down there?)
Well, she told me that she - it was a mark across the road, you know, and she stepped cross this mark and when she stepped cross this mark, not thinkin', the pain struck her in her knee.
(What kind of a mark was it, do you know?)
Just like you would - she said, just like a snake would cross the road, she say, that's the way the mark look to be. [Either her enemy drew a zigzag mark across the road - intended for the victim only - or her hoodoo man sent a dressed snake to do the work. Had she crossed a normal snake track, she would not have had the pain. The zigzag track of a snake across path or road - zigzag being a lightning symbol - is a sign of rain; see FACI,2ed., p.20, Nos. 535-537. No wonder, "when she stepped cross this mark... the pain struck her in her knee."]
(I see, I see. How many years ago did that happen?)
That happened when I was five years old and now I'm forty-three - will be forty-four on my next birthday.
(About forty years ago. I see. Where did this happen, around here?)
Out chere about eighteen miles from here.
(About eighteen miles from Vicksburg?)
Yes sir.
Entry 350
If dey go out dere, dey call dat prayin' to de devil or do somebody a dirty trick, yo' know. Well, ah heard dat yo' go out dere nine mawnin's an' bo' a hole an' git some graveyard dust an' put in it, an' dey say yo' git down on yore knees ovah dat graveyard dust fo' nine mawnin's an' pray whatevah yo' want to be done, say dey'll do it. Bo' a hole right at de fo'k of de road.
Entry 562
Ah heard of people usin' shoes in runnin' watah, yo' know, bury it in de creek, whare de watah runnin'. Bury it an' let de watah run ovah it. Well, ah knowed a woman outen mah home, she come pinin' away tuh nuthin' an' she wus larger den yo' an' she jes' pine away an' died. An' aftah she died, well, her people went tuh some doctah, a two-haided person, an' dey tole 'em dat her shoe wus in de creek in runnin' watah, an' dey say it wus buried jes' about a half a foot in runnin' watah, an' said that whut caused her death, caused her tuh pine away an' she wus not sick or nuthin', an' she jes' went down tuh nuthin'.
[Informant cites another case surely taken to a two-header.]
(Whom did this happen to?)
Tuh mah sister's chile - de baby, yo' know - it wus walkin', jes' a little tot walkin', an' it jes' got weak in its back. Dey taken it shoe an' throwed it in de fiah an' burned it up. Dat's all dey done. Dey didn't nevah put nuthin' in wit it, jes' taken de shoe an' stockin' an' throwed it in de fiah, an' dat made him weak in de back an' in de knees, so he couldn't stand up, stopped him from walkin'.
Entry 596
Yo' kin take a fellah whut had a peg-laig yo' know an' he die, an' when he die why yo' git dat knee-cap off an' use hearts cologne an' whiskey on it, an' tote it in yore pocket, an' yo' know, when yore luck come on hit would jump, an' then, yo' know that would give yo' more attention to bet mo'.
Entry 597
Jes' lak dey say somebody got chew down - yo' can't rise an' strive wit nuthin'. Dey got somepin roun' yore house fo' yo' an' de way yo' kin tell - dey say yo' kin nuse [use] dis bluestone an' red peppah while bathin' yore foot with it; yo' know, washin' yore feet with it. An' den yo' tote cookin' salt an' de red peppah in yore shoes - wear that an' make a pad like an' wear dat in yore shoes. An' if it's true, when yo' strike it yo'll know 'cause yo' give in to yore knee.
(You do what?)
Yo' give 'way - go down - give 'way tuh yore knees. Yo'll know when yo' run cross it.
(That is if you wear anything like this bluestone?)
Yeah, see, yo' have tuh nuse dis bluestone washin' yore feet an' it eat it up, an' ev'ry mawnin' befo' de sunrise, why yo' throw out chure night chamber lye yo know an' bluestone an' cookin' salt soaked in it, chew know - throw dat out - all round yore house - yo' know whut ah mean - put it all round yore house an' it kill it out. (Well, now what would cause you to sag in your knees - your knees get weak - what causes you to do that?) Say yo' run cross de root - de devilment ever whut it is dey got round dere fo'yo'- when yo' hit it why dat peppah an' salt weakens it but it let chew know yo' hit it 'cause yo go down. (In other words, as soon as you hit it, that pepper and salt will let you know by letting your knees get weaker.) Yassuh - go jes' lak yo' drop a curtsy.
Entry 968
[Since doctor medicine or medical medicine is worthless in hoodoo
(pp.217-218), a doctor must make his own:]
About 1934 I was livin' at Mt. Olive [North Carolina] and I married a man up there and we married and stayed together around six months all right, and there was a woman, she claimed to be a friend of mine, she was likin' mah husband. And [after] about six months I went to feelin' bad - all stirred up in mah stomach - and the seventh month I remembah dey was something moving in my stomik like a baby. I suffered with that for quite awhile. I stayed sick a long time and nothin' couldn't seem to me no good. I went to a hospital. De doctor say I wasn't pregnant or nothin' - couldn't nothin' do me no good. Mah father-in-law went and got a doctor from Florence [South Carolina]. This doctor said that I had been - somebody had put a spell on me. He said if he couldn't get it out in less time than a year, that I would die. So this doctor stayed around and worked on me for quite awhile. He gave me some medicine. The numbers on that medicine was 876 [numbers backwards]. It was some black tonic.
[See Black draft, in Index.]
(Do you buy it in a drug store?)
No sir, you don't. It's a medicine he made.
(Was it in a bottle?)
Yes sir.
(Did he have a label pasted on the bottle?)
Yes sir. And so I took that medicine off and on three times a day before ev'ry meal. And in about - after I taken de medicine I was sick fer fo' months, then I began to feel better, gettin' up and walkin' around. And it seem like that feeling it went to goin' down in mah feet, to work workin' out mah body. And he rubbed me with some medicine called Do Easy, some white tonic - it wasn't licrice [liquid], but it was like a salve. [Notice the magic color change, black to white.]
(Did you buy it at the drug store or was it his own medicine?)
It was his own medicine he had.
(How did he spell that?)
D-U-E - I don't know exactly how that was spelled. But the name of it was Do Easy. And he rubbed mah knees wit dat medicine. And he say, told mah father [-in-law], he [the root doctor] say, "They's a root under the step." And he vent out there and dug under the step leg [post or stake holding up step], and there was in de bottle - about dat high, about dat long I mean [demonstrates].
(Six or seven inches long.)
Yes sir. And it was half-full of something white. I don't know what it was. And in there was something shape round like a root, and hairs on one end and clean on the other. And he say, "This is what cause zhoo to be sick." And he took that on back with him, he didn't leave it. And he said - I was sick then after he left fo' aroun' about three months, and then I got up and was walkin' all right. I came down here [to Wilmington] and lived. That was 1936 when I moved down here, last year round about May. And I took sick again. Well, I went - ev'ry time - it seem like ev'ry time in de night I go to baid I would seem like unrest- less. So it was a man stay roun' on Campbell Street, He say, "I know what's de matter wid choo." He say, "It something under your mattress. Well," he say, "it cos' aroun' fifteen dollahs to git rid of that." I said, "Well, I haven't got a penny now - will you wait on me?" He said, "I don't know." "Well, I'll send mah husband over dere and talk wit jeh." He went on in then an' got somepin from under mah mattress. It was flat - 'tween two mattress - it was flat, right on the side I laid on.] It was 'tween the two mattress wrapped up in a papah. And what dat was I don't know. I seen him when he took it out. I haven't been troubled wit mahself now since he took it from out de baid. [See George Jackson margin-title for an old-timer making, singing, his medicine.l
Entry 1361
Had a corncob dressed and put in mah flower yard an' mah sister stepped on it - right in de hollow of de foot she stepped on it. And shortly after she stepped offa dat cob, de corncob, she got where she couldn't walk. An' after that it went all over her an' hit turned her eyes - her eyeballs were sharp as de end of yore fingernails. We had fo' doctors tuh her - couldn't either one of de doctors do her any good. Well, my brother went fo' miles from there and found a hoodoo and brought tuh her, and he'd taken some John de Conker and some whiskey and put in a quart bottle and gived tuh her to drink and to bath her knee with, and that's de only thing that cured her.
(Where did this happen?)
Thomasville, Ala.
Entry 1415
Say fo' instance anybody wanted to harm me. Ah would take a penny an' place it into de middle of mah foot an' ah would wear dis penny all de time. Ah would put a dime - a silver dime up above mah knee, see - an' dere ain't nuthin yo' kin do. Ah kin walk ovah anything wit dat dime wit a hole in it round mah laig.
(Would you wear that penny, too?)
Could wear de penny - could keep de penny in de bottom of yore shoe, see. Yore left shoe.
Entry 1521
Dey says if anybody put anything down fo' yo' to walk on, why yo' take a piece of silver an' scrape it off lak that an' make a tea out of it an' drink it, an then aftah yo' make the tea, then take an' put a hole in it. Co'se it jingle fo' a time on accounta they's small. An' tie it round yore laig an' then they can't do anything to yo' - or roun' yore knee. They can't do anything to yo'.
Entry 3494
When he's layin' asleep take an' measure his privates wit a cord. Take de length of it an' take de roun' of it. An' take it an' tie a knot dere on it an' wear it aroun' 'er below 'er knee. An' dat will stop 'im from runnin' aftah othah women.
Entry 5268
Well, dey kin git yuh shoes. Dey will git a li'le piece of de innah sole out of 'em, jis' outa eithah one of 'em. An' take dat innah sole an' carry it an' use turpentine on it; may- be ten or fifteen drops, not undah ten an' not ovah fifteen. Take it an' put it in a tobacco can or snuffbox. Git dat an' bury it, jis' keep it buried dere. An' YO'LL BEGIN TUH TAKE PAINS IN YUH ANKLES AN' KNEES, JIS' AS LONG AS DAT'S BURIED, JIS' LAK YO' WUS A MAN WIT DE RHEUMATISM. YO'LL BE DOWN IN YUH ANKLES AN' YUH KNEES, AN' FINELY [FINALLY] IT WORK ON UP IN YUH HIPS. AN' WORK ON THROUGH YUH BODY. IT'LI WORK ALL OVAH YO'. IT'LL GIT YO' IN SICH A CONDITION DAT YO'LL HAVE DE STIFF- NECK AN' EVAHTHIN' ELSE.
Entry 5564
Dat a lady taken de track, yo' see, de hollah [hollow] of both of de feet - dirt - an' put intuh some fresh hog lard, stuck nine wire nails, new wire nails in this lard. Den wraps it wit raw cotton thread an' cuts de shape of a shoe sole, a pair of 'em, an' put 'em tuh- gethah an' wraps 'em an' put it in ground. Now, dose things dey say stops de ones from walkin'.
(How do you mean stops them from walking?)
Dere knees cannot bend.
(She gets that sole out of your shoe or does she cut it out of something?)
Cut it out of a pasteboard. Now dat's whut de lady tole me herself. [Mobile, Ala., (704 0r 702), 960:8.]
Entry 6830
Red peppah, hot red peppah an' chamber lye an' bathe yo' laig wit it an' that would give yo' ease. Ah have tried that mahself. (If somebody has put something down for you to walk over.) Yes sir, a fortuneteller tole me someone had put sompin down fo' me to walk ovah. [Here, either while'recording ma- chine is stopped or cylinder is changed, I ask for the whole story.] Well, mah laig kep' hurtin' me an' someone come along an' tole me, say, "Miss Carter," say, "ah knows a good man 'cross town. If yo' would go, he would tell yo' sompin tuh relieve yo' of dat pain in yore knee." It nevah would swell but it jis' hurt all de time. So ah went ovah dere an' he tole me someone had hurt me in mah knee. An' he got me some green moss an' tole me tuh boil dat an' bathe in de watah hot. Put some table salt in it. An' aftah dat, den rub it wit some of dis red peppah an' dis saltpetah mixed tuhgethah. Make a salve. Put some lard wit it or some oil or sompin an' make a salve an' rub wit dat, an' hit would relieve me. An' ah did dat an' it relieved me. An' a li'le latah it commence tuh hurtin' ag'in. Well, ah went tuh anothah lady an' she tole me - least she didn't tell me but she fixed de poultice huh- self; Brown Mule chewin' 'bacca an' earth worms whut chew dig up out de ground. An' she stewed it up tuhgethah an' give me dat tuh put some meal wit it, an' make a hot poultice an' put on mah knee. An' dat relieved me.
(That was the end of that?)
Yes sir, an' mah knee got bettah.
Entry 7618
Ah heard 'em say dat yuh kin go tuh de graveyard - lak dat, if ah Wants tuh change mah luck - dat ah kin go tuh de cemetery an' dig right up on de right-hand side of de grave jis' about where ah think de heart oughta lay, an' dig a hole down deep an' git me out two han'fulla dirt. Bring it out. An' when ah git dis dirt, ask fo' luck - jis' ask of de dead fo' luck, an' drop from five tuh eight pennies in dat hole an' plug it up. An' when ah rise up from off mah knees, tuh thank 'em [a rare courtesy!], an' walk away an' don't look back. Well, ah take dis dirt an' carry it tuh mah house an' sprinkle it roun' dere, an' dey say dat will give me luck.
(That is to change your luck. In anything?)
In anything.
Entry 12617
Go tuh de drugsto' an' git chew a box of new sulphur an' [new] red cayenne peppah - ground-up peppah an' yo' mix dat sulphur an' dat peppah up to- gethah, an' yo' take it an' make a little ball - jes' a little ball. An' yo' tie it in de calf of de laig - in de knee part in de sock. An' sprinkle a little bit in yore shoe an' nuthin won't go up dere - dat [crunjure] won't go up through dat dere.
(What will that do?)
Dat will keep yo' from ketchin' whut dey put down [for you to walk over].
Entry 12720
Well, dey tell me fo' luck in gamblin', dey'll go out an' dey'll git 'em a rabbit foot. An' dey cut it off jes' right above de - right above de knee up dere, de left knee. An' dey take dat dere rabbit foot an' dey dress it. Dey dress it with lodestone an' keep it dissolved [fed] in Hearts Cologne. An' dey tote dat in dey watch pocket, an' if dey go out den dey kin win. (You say they use the left hind leg?) [Left hind leg must have been given before recording began.] De left hind one. (And they keep that in this Hearts Cologne so they will win in a gambling game? Yes.
Entry 12719
(You get a rabbit foot you say?)
Git a rabbit foot an' cut de hair out de knee of de foot an' bury dat an' carry dat an' yo'll have good luck in gamblin'.
(What foot from the rabbit?)
De left.
(Which left? There are two left feet.)
So - a rabbit ain't got but one left, one right, fo' [four] feet.
(All right, which do you Want, the front left or the back left?)
De front.
(The left front.)
Entry 438
Now, I will tell you somepin that's a coincident [coincidence because I had just asked about witch-ridingl. It actually happened to me last week [August 1936, at Atlantic Hotel, Ocean City, Maryland, where my wife and I were staying while I collected hoodoo]. I was asleep one morning. I don't know whether I was dreaming or what happened, but I jumped and fell on the floor and I busted my knee. I thought a rat was riding me. After falling on the floor I tried to go out of the room and then I awoke. It must have been a nightmare or a dream or somepin. I really busted my knee. I found the rat wasn't there. I don't know whether I was doing somepin and somebody was riding me or not - that somebody was getting it back on me. I don't know anything in particular to account for it. [Ocean City, Md., (18), Ed. Informant was a young man who had graduated recently from a large high school in North Carolina.] [More examples of hag-or-witch riding will be found in the following margin- titles.]
The knee injury is claimed in the unbracketed account; bracketed interview context is editorial, and the cause is explicitly uncertain.