Subject:Leave
Entries
Entry 4474
If yuh have a person da' chew dislikes an' dey do anythin' tuh yuh wrongfully an' yuh felt like gittin' 'em outa de way, or say yuh fin' out where dey has tuh out tuh demself, git some of dere action whut dey have while it's warm. Take it an' stop it up in a bottle, take it tuh a pine, gen'ly [generally] on de north side of a pine. Have a hole bo'd in de tree an' put dat bottle in dere an' take an' git chew a piece of fat-lightah an' make a peg of it. Drive it in dere as tight an' fast as yo' kin git it an' saw it even - level wit de tree. An' aftah gittin hit in dere, hit nine licks on it, turn yore back an' go on back home. Dat will lock dere bowels. Dey can't do anythin', not lessen dat stoppah or dat peg is pulled outa dat tree.
(You are from South Carolina, aren't you?)
Beaufort.
Entry 4767
Dey turns dat fo' luck.
(Their clothing Inside out?)
Yes. If dey puts dere clothes on in de mawnin' on de wrong side, dey keeps it on till twelve. Keep it on till twelve. An' when twelve comes, den dey'll take 'em off an' change 'em back on de right, wish fo' whut yuh want, an' durin' dat week yuh'll git it.
informant-stated luck from reversed clothing, timing and a wish, with clothing referent confirmed in dialogue. No guaranteed outcome changing wrong-side clothing back to its right side at twelve. Keep morning wrong-side wear until twelve, then changing back; no all-day or nine-day import from neighbors. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 5099
Well, lak yo' livin' in dis house 'sides [beside] yo' neighbah an' he's mad wit chew or somepin othah lak dat. Well, dey want chew tuh move out. Well, prob'ly yo' take an', if yo' kin git some of 'is shoes, an' take an' burn dem shoes, an' sprin- kle sulphuh on dem shoes as yo' burn 'em. An' if yo' take dis ashes aftah yo' burn de shoes - take de ashes an' prob'ly ketch dem goin' 'way from de house someplace or 'nothah lak dat. An' take dis ashes an' sprinkle it roun' both do'steps, de back do'step an' de front do'step. An' when dey goes in an' come out - when dey goes in de house an' come out, den yo' take dem ashes an' take an' bring 'em back, an' yo' burn 'em ag'in wit some sulphuh. Jis' burn 'em in dis sulphuh dis time, an' take an' sprinkle a li'le whiskey on it. Den dey leave ag'in, an' aftah dey leave ag'in, yo' take an' do de same thing, an' let it stay dere dis time. An' den when dey leave out dat time, den de nex' thing dey'll wanta do is move, becuz dat stuff whut she did will begin tuh start tuh work.
Entry 5375
Dey take de dirt out of a right-foot track, an' yo' take it an' throw it in runnin' watah, an' cuss de person an' tell 'em tuh leave out of town. (Get the dirt from the right foot track?) Yes.
Entry 5396
Dey say yo' kin take dat track - jes' lak dey wanta run yo' away - dey'll pull de track from de heel tuh de toe. An' take dat track an' take a aig, an' bo' a li'le hole in de aig an' dreen de contents of de aig out. An' put dat track in dat shell an' put a li'le bit of papah ovah it. An' go tuh a rivah, a stream or somepin dat's runnin', an' turn dat back an' throw it ovah de shouldah an' use three words dey say. Dey says, "In de Name of de Father, Son an' Holy Ghost, let dis evil one leave." But de 'Father, Son an' HolyGhost' is de word de' speak. An' throw it ovah de shouldah an' walk away an' not look back. An' dey say long as dat aig float, yo'll continue tuh go.
(Do they take either foot track?)
Eithah one or both.
(If they want to bring you to them?)
Dey git in fron' of yore track, yo' see. Let see, yes, an' pull it from de toe tuh de heel. Well, den dey don' throw dat in no rivah. Dey take dat an' fill it full of de track, de aig, an' put sompin aroun' tuh keep it from break- in' - real tight. An' dey bury dat egg undah yore steps or put it in de middle of a loose mattress where yo' sleep. An' yo' can't leave dere. Yo'll go but yo'll come right back.
Entry 6000
The following expression was surely devised by someone tired of hearing the well-known expression: You give me a headache! Yo' wuz speakin' of hair. A person kin do yo' a great deal of trouble wit yore hair. Prob'ly git yuh 'sleep or git some of yore hair unbeknown to yo' - git dis hair unbeknown to yo'. Yo' take dis hair an' git yo' a little Hearts Cologne an' put it into a bottle an' yo' git choo a small piece of flannen an' cross yore needles between dat flannen an' put it in dere.
(What do you mean cross your needles?)
Make a kind of a X [a cross] out of it [the 2 needles].
(Two needles?)
Two needles, an' make yo' kind of a X out of it. An' twist dis hair aroun' dese needles an' place it in dat cologne, but don't stop yore bottle stoppah tight - prob'ly fo' nine mawnin's. Yo'll leave dat stoppah in dere fo' nine mawn- in's, if yo' should git a chance to git co mah bed or to mah do'step, an' let dat bottle [stand] straight up so I got to valk ovah it, it will keep me suffahin' wid a headache. I'll lingah aftah yo'. I still suffah wid dat headache, but when I gits where yo' is, look lak it kinda Vanishes away-lak. I'll jis' lust aftah yo'. A man do a woman dat way or awoman dat way or a woman kin do a man dat way.
(You only have the headache when you are away from them?)
When yo' are away from 'em yo' have a dull headache an' yore mind, look lak yo' is worried. An' yo' arn't [are not] - it jes' stays on dem.
(You never put that cork in tight. You never put that in tight?)
Don't put it in tight, jes' leave it so yo' kin go dere an' touch it fo' nine Mvnin's, becuz de ninth mawnin' yo'll push it in tight.
Entry 6613
Git a snake an' put a snake in yo'. Dey kin go ketch a snake an' kill it, cut 'is head off an' hang 'im on de limb [of a tree] by de tail. Tie a string aroun' 'is tail an' hang 'im up an' put a tin cup or tin plate undah 'im an' ketch 'is blood. Let 'im bleed in dat tin plate or tin cup, whutevah it is. Now dey take dat blood an' dey kin put dat blood intuh yore food or somepin tuh drink; or dey kin let dat blood dry until it comes jis' tuh a hard powdah. Dey kin sprinkle it in yore shoes. An' de perspiration from yore feet will such up de strength of dat blood an' cuz yore body tuh attract dat, an' it will go all through de body an' kill de body. An' it will be crawlin' jis' undah de skin, all about, mostly from de point where dey entered. Depends upon how long it is when it gits in de stomic an' come on up. An' he'll choke yo' tryin' tuh come on up.
Entry 7309
Ah say if a person kill a person - jes' lak de detectives is now - yo' could kill a person an' go to de graveyard an' git some of dat graveyard dirt. Go to a fresh grave, as fresh a grave as yo' could find, an' git some of dat graveyard dirt and put it in yore shoe. An' den git some an' put in yore left-hand hip pocket an' aftah yo' - don't go out of de gate, git ovah de fence. An' don't nevah look back, jes' keep a-goin' an' yo' kin git plumb away. Ah've heard dat.
Entry 7682
Tuh put evil spirits behin' yo', yo' goes tuh a graveyard an' yo' gits de dirt off of a grave but chew do not git it offa a person grave dat died - dat wuz a Christian an' vent tuh heaven. Yo' gits it off a sinner's grave, a person dey know God won' pardon dere sins. See. An' when yo' goes tuh git dat dirt chew leaves a dime, an' yo' takes dat dirt an' sprinkle it anywhere where anybody's dead [alive] an' call dat person name whut's daid an' tell 'em yo' want 'em tuh to'ment 'em. An' dey will tō'ment dat person an' dey won' be able tuh stay no- where roun' where yo' puts dat dirt.
Entry 7688
Well, dis graveyard dirt, dey say dat'll drive anyone from yer home. Yuh take dat an' mix it wit salt an' some red peppah. An' dey say yo' take dat an' sprinkle it all aroun dese people home as neah tuh de home as yuh kin. An' dey say yuh have tuh talk to all dis stuff dat chew doin' an' say: In de Name of de Fathah, Son an' Holy Ghost, an' tell it whu' chew wan' it tuh do. An' dey say dat dey be Wantin' tuh leave dere.
Entry 7805
Now, yo' see yo' take a house dat is unlucky dataway. Yo' say now, de house is unlucky, ain't good luck tuh yo'. Well, yo' go tuh, say a graveyard, an' yo' git some of dat graveyard dirt. Yo' gits right ovah.a grave an' stretches out on it, an' reach as fer down wit yore right ahm [arm] as yo' kin. Yo' take a dime in yore han', go dere an' reach down in dere, an' yo' turn dat dime loose an' yo' takes dat dirt up, an' carries it back home an' sprinkle it all aroun', allroun' yore do' - all aroun' yore house, yo' see. Well, when yo' sprinkle it roun' dere, well evahthin' den will come yore way. Dere's no hahm [harm] tuh be done. Yo'll come lucky. (That is if somebody has crossed up my house and I'm leaving, moving out, that is to uncross it.) Dat's right, dat'll uncross it.
Entry 8171
Yo' kin take dere picture, take de pichure an' bury dis pichure. Now if someone jis' don' lak 'em roun' heah or wants tuh git rid of 'em, jis' take dis pichure fo' nine mawnin's an' jis' take it tuh de graveyard, tuh de offside of de grave, see. De graveyard got fo' cornahs tuh it; any place, see. Take it tuh de offside, it's on de right side. Evah grave got all cornahs. See whut ah mean? Take it tuh de offside as yo' come up on dat side. It's got a offside on de right side of it on de fo' cornahs evahwhere yo' go. Take it tuh de offside an' bury it on its face. An' fo' nine mawnin's go dere an' dump a li'le dirt down in on it, fo' nine mawnin' an' make a wish evah mawnin', say[ing] dat yo' wan'a send 'em away. An' turn roun', don' look back. Walk off an' don' look back when yo' go 'way. An' in nine mo' mawnin's dis fellah be's somewhere, he cain't he'p hisself.
(What will happen to him?)
Sompin will happen. He jis' runned away. Yes, he jis' gone 'way fo'evah.
Entry 8266
Yo' go tuh de fo'ks of de road, if someone done sompin tuh yo' an' yo' doesn't lak 'em, an' yo' wanta git rid of 'em fo' good, git 'em clean out de worl', yo' go dere fo' eight mawnin's wit dere pichure. An' den de ninth mawnin' yo' could take it an' shoot it on de lef' side, an' dey certainly are daid. Den yo' know yo' got rid of dem.
(You take that picture out each morning and bring it back?)
Yessuh.
(What do you do with the picture then?)
Yo' shoot it on de left side.
(Where do you put the picture when you shoot it?)
Carry it back home or eithah leave it down dere, but mos' de people says yo' leave it fo' nine mawnin's an' shoot it on de lef' side.
Entry 8546
(Give me that parable again now. Tell me the whole thing.)
Just like I come to see you to your house and your fire hearth got a end of brick loosened somewhere. Well, I take a piece of paper and write your name down on it unknowst to yo', an' I slip your name up under that brick, and they say, your wife would leave you. (My wife would leave me and go with you?) Yes, go away. [We must remember here, that name is not enough; there is also the mental intention for woman to leave and come to you.]
(Well, is there any way, you can check that? Cross that up?)
Yes, yo' kin check that, cross it up.
(How would you do that?)
Well, the way yo' do that, yo' get yo' some parsley, and yo' tell her put: 'er underclothing wrongside out, after yo' get de parsley. Yo' put that parsley in de bottom part of her shoe an' put some garlic in de bottom part of her [other] shoe an' make her wear that. That'll check it up. [Wrongside out, parsley and garlic are well-known witchcraft deterrents.]
Entry 8549
A rock, not a brick, but a rock - yo' kin take a brick too, either one of 'em, so it's hard, sompin won't bust to pieces when one of 'em is throwed in de fire or in de stove, an' let it stay in dere. An' yo'll leave my house, yo' won't be there many days. Leave my house, love de town, an' yo' keep goin'. (That's all you do, just throw that rock or brick in the fire?) Just put it in de fire an' name it yo'. (Oh! Name it you.) Like your name is - name it yo' an' put it in de fire, an' let it stay in dere. An' yo'll leave an' yo' won't come back dere.
Entry 8658
Ah know yo' take a weepin' willow an' yo' put as many notches on it as lettahs in yore name, an' den tie it across an' throw it in de yard where yo' Work at, an' de woman dat yo' think's got yore job, say, "Yo' shall leave dere." An' yo' kin git chure job de next mawnin'. (That is to get the other per- son's job?) She take [took] mah job. Ah Want mah job back. (To get your job back, you take a willow switch and you tie as many notches in it, cut notches in it as many letters as she has in her name.) Yes, an' den tie it dataway an' tro' [throw] it in de yard an' she'll leave dere.
(You tie it like this? What - you cut it in two then?)
Yes. Nawsuh [no sir], we don' cut it in two. Jes' take de two willows an' tie a string aroun' 'em an' throw it in de yard an' dey'll leave dere.
(And you cut the notches in these willows?)
Yessuh, as many [notches as] lettahs in her name yo' see. If she got five lettahs in her name or six or seven lettahs, maybe, cut dem many. (Here are two willow switches. Now she has five letters in her name. You cut five on each stick then?) Yessuh, an' den tie it togethah an' tro' it in de yard where she take de job 'way from yo', an' she'll leave dere.
(You just make an "x"?)
[After restudying this rite I am afraid my questioning may have complicated it. Surely one switch instead of two was used, this stick being bent and tied in a circle so that the two ends formed a cross. To regain her job my informant vas crossing her successor out of the job. Two separate willow switches could have been crossed and tied for the same purpose.]
Entry 8698
Then you can git a bottle of vinegar an' write de name upon a piece of Venrick parchment.
(What kind of parchment?)
Venrick [a trade name?] parchment. An' they put this in this bottle of vine- gar with cayenne peppah, see. An' they roll this bottle aroun'. Go to de back door an' roll it all de Way tuh de front. (Just a moment. Do they roll it with their hands or feet?) De feet. Dey kick it wit de feet an' as dey kickin' it, dey use de words, "As dis bottle rō' [rolls] ah wan' choo to do de same." (I see.) An' they take it an' dey bury it on de science [signs of the Zodiac]. Dey will do this work by science, by de twelve science [signs].
(Well, what sign would they use on that?)
On de Balance.
(Oh, the sign of the Balance.)
Yes, on de Balance; yes, sir. See, dat's when de earth has power. An' dey buries dis bottle bottom upwards. An' de next mawnin' they get up before de sun rise an' dey pour dat hot water on dat an' de bottle busts [bursts]. Den dey move.
(I see, it will make them move.
Entry 8699
[To] make them move out of that house, tell you, yo' go an' get some of that olive oil.
(Wait a minute! Olive oil?)
Olive oil, and get some of dis here steel dust. Get a fresh bottle of vinegar.
(Get a fresh bottle of vinegar.)
Yes, sir. Yo' get the neighbor's name, either one in de family name [the man's or woman's]. Take a piece of papah an' cut it off just how many letters in that name. [The name is writ- ten and then each letter of the name is clipped off as a separate slip of paper.] An' take it an' put it down in that bottle. An' after puttin' it [these slips of papers] down in the bottle, take it an' roll it on de floor. After rollin' it on de floor, yo' take dat bottle an' set it up. If yo' ever could get anywhere close to de house, yo' set. it at sunrise. An' when yo' set it there, in three days dem people goin' from there.
(They will move away?)
Done gone away without any confusion at all. Yo' [they] wouldn't know how it was did. [New Orleans. La., (829).1221:1.]
Entry 8707
(Will you tell me that again?) Ah said, that if yo' wanted to run somebody away from a town, ah've heard dat yo' could write dere name on a shingle an' throw it in runnin' watah - a new shingle an' throw it in runnin' watah, an' dey would leave de city.
(I see, leave town.)
Yes.
Entry 8715
Jes' lak if a person want 'em [to] leave, wanta run a person outa town, yo' take a brand-new bar [of] Octagon [trade name] soap an' write in de fo' cor- ners of it. Yo' take it an' go to de rivah. (You do what on the four cor- ners?) Write de person name whut chew Wanta leave, want 'em leave outa town. Write dere name on de fo' corners of de soap, an' throw it ovahbo'd when de tide be goin' out. An' dat will make dem leave town. (How do you write that name on the corner? Here's the soap [I demonstrate]. Do you write it like this, or like that?) De fo' corners [demonstrates].
(Like that, catercornered in the four corners.)
Yes.
Entry 8840
Yo' have tuh go tuh de grave tuh do dis. Go tuh de graveyard an' go down in a man's grave an' yo' have a penny in yore hand. Run yore han' down in de grave - it make no diff'- rent which han' - run yore han' down in de grave an' leave dis penny an' come up wit de dirt. An' take dis writin' an' sprinkle it [dirt] right 'cross dat writin', an' fold it up, an' lay it undah de lid [cover] of de Bible. An' ah don't care whut she done or nuthin, yo' kin 'tract [attract] her anywhere he want tuh by dis dirt. (You take her writing? Her handwriting, a letter she wrote to you, and you can make any kind of a wish and she'll do anything you want her to do?) Yes.
Entry 9199
If yo' Wanta go an' make 'way wit anybody or eithah make 'em leave home or such as dat, yo' could take a chick- en aig an' put cross marks on it. (One cross mark?) One cross mark dis way an' one dat way [demonstrates]. (Make one 'X on it?) Dat's right, an' take it an' bury it right down at dere do', an' dey gonna walk ovah it fo' nine days. Dat suppose tuh - if dey will continue tuh walk ovah dat fo' nine days, well it doesn't make way wit dem [kill them] but dey will leave.
(Any kind of a chicken egg?)
Any kind. Don't care whut kind it is, cuz hit will go bad in nine days, an' whenevah it go bad an' bust, well dat's de end.
Entry 9201
Ah've seen 'em take a aig an' ma'k [mark] it roun' an' roun' dataway an' jis' dataway [demonstrates].
(Wait! Take the egg and mark it around. Which way do they mark it around?)
Each way [demonstrates]. (That's the egg. That's lengthwise. Mark it around that way. That's [the second marking is] the fat part of the egg.) Right roun' it lak dat. (Then you go around it lengthwise. You are making a cross on the egg. All right.) Take it tuh de bend of de road. Carry it tuh de bend of de road, de aig, an' dey dig a hole an' bury it - not so deep. De fus' [first] thing run ovah it an' smash it up, dey gone. Dey shō' gone.
(You mean you take that out where four roads come together?)
[Bend and curve of road are different.]
Yessuh, jes' lak dis is a road go disaway an' one go dataway. Well, yo' jes' put dat aig right in de fo'k lak dat, right in de fo'k of de road. Den de fus' thing come 'long an' mash it, dey gone, whosomevah yo' put it dere fo'. Yo' got a idea who yo' wanta run. Well, jes' put it dere fo' dem. Jes' do dat ma'k roun' an' roun' [the egg] an' put it right dere [at the fork of the road]. (In other words you would see these people coming and run out there and put that egg down, so that they would cross over it, if you want to get rid of a certain person. If some other person crossed over it, they would get it. To get the right person you would have to go out there and wait for them to come by.)
[I doubt my reasoning here. Almost always the intended person suffers.]
Don' let noboby see yo' when yo' go out dere.
The informant describes marking and burying an egg, first at a road bend and then at a road fork after clarification, for claimed departure when it is crushed. The interviewer proposes that another passerby could receive the effect, then Hyatt doubts that reasoning. Preserve the changing place words and the target-versus-passerby distinction rather than substituting one explanation.
Entry 9207
Ah've heard 'em say put dis person name on a aig. An' go tuh dis person house twelve a'clock at night an' curse dis person, an' bust dis aig an' tell 'em, say, "Ah want chew tuh leave." Dey'll leave - move.
(Where do you bust that egg?)
[Notice that I frequently repeat informant's word. Frequently informant repeats mine.] Anywhere on de house, eithah on topa de house twelve a'clock at night. Dey always tell me dat. Sometime dey say a black hen aig is good. Sometime dey use a dauber nest. Dey sprinkle hit. Dey use dat sometime to bust on de house.
Entry 9231
If he [first man] had a woman livin' in 'is house an' he [second man] want 'er [her] to leave 'im [first man] an' want [her] to live heah [with] him [second man], put de aig undah de step [of first man] covah it up an' dat [first] man walk ovah it fo' nine mawnin's she'll leave her husband [first man], an' come where he at, if he want 'er tuh do it.
(What kind of egg did you say it was?)
Black hen aig, it have tuh be black.
Entry 9250
Yo' can take yore fingahnails an' cut nine pieces - cut off nine fin- gahnails - an' get nine pieces of yore toenails, an' put it into a little bag put some asafetida in there with it. Then you bust a hen egg an' get de thread [the skin in the end] of it an' put in there, an' that'll be all right fo' de purpose. Yo' take an' carry it an' put it at or undah de house. Dat'll make dem leave, put dem to walkin'. [Out in country from Suffolk, Nansemond Co., Va., (Doctor Frank Hall) by hand.1
Entry 9286
Well, ah'm goin' tell yo' whut ah kin do wit a chicken aig. Well, ah kin take a fresh chicken aig an' ah'll bet any man money if anybody livin' nex' do' tuh me, see, an' ah can't git along wit dem, see, an' durin' de time ah jes' make up mah mind tuh make dem move from dere. Ah'll take dat fresh chicken aig an' ah'll go tuh de house an' ah'll call dem, see. Dey will give me no anxiety. Ah take dat chicken aig an' throw it cross dey house. An' dey wouldn't be dere ovah three days, ah bet chew money.
(You call him first?)
Yes.
(Well, what if he comes out?)
Yes sir, if dey answah, yo' know dey owin' de house. If dey answah, ah take dat aig an' chunk it right cross dey house, an' dey wouldn't be dere ovah three days.
(He has to answer though? He has to answer else you can't do that?)
Yes sir, he has tuh answah.
(Well, if he doesn't answer, then you come back some other time?)
Yeah, some othah time. [Brunswick, Ga., (1249), 2120:1.2
Entry 9399
If a lady wanted yo' tuh leave from yuh home, an' yo' had some chicken dat wus black, coal-black, an' yo' take three of dose aigs. De lady dat wan' shoo tuh leave home - lak if yo' wus married an' yore wlfe wanted yuh tuh leave, she would take dose aigs. An' jis' lak if yo' wus a man dat liked tuh drink an' she Would make yuh a aignog, an' take one or two teaspoons of salt an' stir it in dere, an' a li'le black peppah. Jes' enough where yo' maybe taste it an' maybe not, jis' enough tuh make yuh drink it. An' she would take some of dat same peppah outa de same hand [holding the pepper] dat she put in dose aigs. An' put 'em in a papah an' put 'em in a jah [jar] or somepin, an' stop it up fo' five days. She'll let it stay stopped up. An' den she go back an' open dis an' burn dat peppah an' stuff, jes' tuh where it git hot, an' stop it up an' bury it where dat yo' cross ovah. An' if she wants yuh tuh leave, some way or 'nothah somepin goin' happen dat chew'll have tuh leave. (She puts it in this bottle, some of the eggnog that has this stuff in it, after he has drunk some of it.) Yes.
Entry 9610
Dey'll go 'head an' come heah an' put some salt an' peppah. An' dey'll come to yore house - an' at night yo' know, or any time yo' know at chure ab- sence - an' dey'll sprinkle it all up dere. An' den dey'll put chure name in dat. Write it as dey goin' off fo' vacation. An' when dey do dat, dey kin leave it an' within nine days yo'll have tuh go. (They write your name on a piece of paper and say that you are going on a vacation?) Taking a vacation. An' den put salt an' peppah. When yo' leave an' when yo' walkin' dat way, an' yo'll move within nine days.
(Where will you put this paper?)
Put it in de shoes.
(Who wears it? Would you wear that if you were trying to harm me?)
Dey put it in yore shoes, see, 'cuz jis' lak dis, [if] dey couldn't git to yo'. An' dey put yore name in dey shoe, an' den dey put a little dat salt an' Peppah. An' when dey go dere dey'll sprinkle [salt and pepper], an' within nine days yore gone. [I turn off machine and then turn it on again for missed por- tion.] (When they sprinkle it, they just say "vacate." But you have my name on thi's Paper in your shoe, and you sprinkle this salt and pepper around my house?) In yore name.
Entry 9612
If you want a person to move, you have to take a stormy night when it is raining real hard. But you gotta take a couple of pods of red pepper and nine pinches of salt and you gotta burn it. Parch it in the oven to look like dirt you know and just cook it right together. Brown it till it looks like dirt. And take a plain paper, if you know de person's name- - you don't, you find it out. Write his name nine times forwards and nine times backwards. [To write for- eards and backwards means to write the name normally turn the paper upside down, repeating the name on top of the first one. This is called crossing names.] Then parch the paper, salt and pepper all together and make a powder. Den a stormy night like we done having storms and all, don't care if it raining hard, you go up to their hall. Don't look back [going or returning] and throw this stuff and come on out. And they'll move in less time from three to nine days. They won't stay there. They kin own the property, they'll rent it out, but they gon't stay.
Entry 9734
If yo' want 'em tuh go, yo' git chew fo' nails. [Informant must have demonstrated size.]
(Long nails.)
Yeah. Put one dere an' one heah an' one heah. [Do this] in de yard. Fourth nail must have been shown in demonstration.] (You put three in one line and one behind it, making a triangle.) [How my 4 nails make a triangle I do not know!] No, yo' fix it lak dis. Cross it [demonstrates]: one tuh de foot [be- low] one tuh de haid [above], an' one on each side.
(A cross. [Actually 4 crosses!]
You put those in the yard?) Right in de yard. An' dey sho' can't stay dere. (And you use those large nails, you say?) Yessuh, dem spike nails.
Entry 9785
She kin take two needles an' break it half in two - make foah pieces - an' stick it anywheres in his coat w'ure he cain't see 'em, an' dat'll make him stay wit her. He can't leave huh.
Entry 9822
Yo' jes' take nine pins, dat if yo' got anybody an' don't want 'em around yo'. Yo' jes' take nine pins an' stick 'em up in a roll or sompin yo' got in de house, so nobody couldn't see 'em. An' evah mawnin' yo' git up fo' nine mawnin's an' yo' pull one dose pins outs an' jes' throw it right ovah yore shouldah. Walk on outside an' throw it ovah yore shouldah jes lak nobody see where yo' throw it. Nobody know whut chew doin'. Jes' evah mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's an' de las' day he's gone. He'll leave dat town. (You put these pins in his house and you throw them. Show me how you throw them over your shoulder.) Jes' 'sposed tuh throw 'em dat ways.
(Over the left shoulder.)
Yes.
Entry 10186
An' then here's another thing. There's - some things are over others zhoo know. You see? Well the nex' thing to do, if you wanted to make 'em leave town or anything like that, you Write their name down 9 times. Understand? An' stop it up in a bottle an' go to the running water, to the river and throw it in. Throw it ovah the left shoulder an' don't look back, an' says, "I wan' zhoo to go." An' then you take a red candle. You get a red candle, you understand now, an you stick you three pins in it. You burn that at 12 a'clock at night, see, an' you make a wish. You says, "I wish my enemies would leave me alone In the Name Of the Lord."
Entry 10208
If there's something that you don't want taken regardless of what it is, if you don't want it taken - for an instance if you take, if you lock your house they going to break in, and you don't know how to do for to keep 'em from taking your things. Well, then, first I would go and I would get me some sassafras [roots or pieces of bark]. I'd get some sassafras and I'd get me a knife and I'd trim this sassafras, see. I'd trim it and every little piece that I'd whittle off it [demonstrates].
(Every piece that comes off, what do you do with that?)
Every piece I trim off - I'm going to trim it off until I get to nine pieces, and every time I get the nine pieces, I'd count the nine pieces. I'd get them nine pieces and I'm going to put nine pieces here [demonstrates]. I cut off until I get nine more pieces and I'm going to put that there until I get four times nine. See? Well, all right. Now, I'm going to set it on the outside of my door. That's the corner of my house and that's the corner of my house. I'm going to set nine pieces there and nine pieces there, and at the back end of my house. I'm going to set nine pieces.
(You have nine pieces in each corner of the house.)
In each corner of the house, but on the outside. Under my house, if I can get under there and get to where the fire part is - the fire-hearth part is; under the house, you know.
(You what?)
Get under the house, underneath the house and get to the fire-hearth, see.
(Oh, the chimney - the fire-hearth.)
Yes, the chimney. I take and I put me a Bible there. I put that Bible there. I puts the Bible up under that house and I puts a candle there, and I leave that candle burning, see, and I leave the Bible open. But I put a piece of something in front where nobody can't learn that candle's burning there, you see, and leave it burning there. And then I come out from under that house and I locks my door, and as I'm coming out I'm sprinkling a little sugar, you see. I sprin- kle sugar as I come out, you see, until I get at least fifty feet from my house, you see. Then I won't sprinkle no more sugar and I can go and stay from three or four days and come back. Nobody will go in that house, nobody never go in there.
(What sort of a candle do you burn on that chimney?)
I'm got a ordinary white candle. (A white candle, I see.) [Here we have a quincunx, 4 corners and a double central point - Bible and candle.] [New Orleans, La., (832), 1249:2.] [If the reader is approaching this multi-volumed HOODOO archive for the first time, he or she must be told that the present beliefs and rites about sex are perely a continuation of 167 pages of similar material published in volume 3, Nos.3ll0-3830, Pp.2341-2509; material listed in logical sequence according to the Table of Contents for volumes 5, 4 and 3. The material now following could not be so conveniently arranged, though it does have a certain amount of alpha- betical order and other continuity. I am dividing this section into two parts: (1) COMPLETE RITES and (2) CONDENSED RITES, these latter sometimes a reference oaly.]
Entry 10230
(To get your wife back?)
Yes sir.
(How do you do that?)
You just go out there to them front steps and you kin take a piece of her toe of her stocking or the heel, and she [not] going to pass over that. She - all you gotta do is to git it down in de ground under them steps, de toe of her stocking or de heel, or a piece out of her bloomers, out of de seat of them. Put it down in there under them steps and bury it, and if a man comes there, he won't come up them steps. He come there and - and call her and they'll stand there and talk. And if she want anything at de store, she send him. She ain't going to go out of there.
Entry 10477
For people come to your house all the time and come and set too long, and see, you want them to go home. Say, you just take a sifter and put it up under their chair. And [if] they'll just sit, sit, and can't go, they is a witch; but after [if] they get up and go home, there [they] ain't witch. But they got to be real old, old people. You see, you do that with a sifter. [Usually a steel instrument is stuck into the bottom of the chair where it won't be seen by visitor. She can leave only after you remove the steel.]
Entry 10651
Jes' take it ovah heah. Yo' know where dey [ants] make a bed, yo know. An' yo' go dere an' git dat bed. Gotta sift de ants, not let 'em be in dere. An' git some watah an' make 'bout enough lak yo' make corn bread, yo' know, an' lay it out somewhere in de sun an' let it bake, git hard. An' den yo' take it up an' break off a piece of dat dirt, an' lak yo' wrap it up in a papah heah, an' yo' takes dis man, whoevah 'tis, not let him see it, an' tro' it where he live at. Why he couldn't rest, yo' know, jes' lak de antses, he couldn't rest nowhere he'd be, aftah dat place. (You simply take this ant's [nest dirt] after you dry it up and scatter it around his house, to make him all upset like the ants. And he has to leave?) Yes.
Entry 10693
And what will she have to do [to bring the man back?]. All right. She'll have to get her some benzoin. Benedict. You know, they call that ben- zoin; some persons call it benedict. See? It's a little weed. It grows some- thing like cor you understand. Call it benedict. [Here I turn off machine un- til informant says something about the French, which starts machine again.] (The French all it what?) Benzoin. (You mean the French [speak- ing people] here in New Or- leans call it benzoin?) But it's benedict. [For the identity of this plant, see my comment at end of rite.l You take that benedict and popcorn - see, this small popcorn - and grind that up fine, fine, and make a powder out of it. You understand. And she make a powder out of that. Take and put it in her mattress, right where he going to sleep; where he have been sleeping at [before he left]. You understand what I mean. And just leaves it there, you see. And get her a dog, any kind of dog, see. And let him [dog] lay on that. Tie him on there if he won't stay there. Tie him on there nine days and he [man] will come back again.
(Well, what has that dog got to do with it?)
That dog puts a heat to it somehow or other. I don't know, that what they [person who sold this substance to him] told me. The dog puts a heat to it, you understand.
(And what happens to it then, when it's heated?)
When it's heated, it foams, see. It makes a foam, swell. See, that bed is there and that corm, whatsomever, it swells up.
(And what will it do if it swells?)
After it swells, he [man] coming back there. Oh yeah, he coming. He going to leave this other woman. That breaks them up. [Informant says: They call that benzoin; some person call it benedict...a lit- tle weed. It grows something like corn [[surely maize = Zea Mays]]. Benedict must be a popular or a trade name. Benzoin means one of two things: (l) It is or was a balsamic resin from Styrax benzoin and other species of Styrax in Jaca, Sumatra, Siam, etc. It is used as a stimulant; incense, perfume, etc. (2) Ben- zoin is also the name of a small genus of aromatic shrubs of the laurel family [lmracese] having two North American species with popular names: (a) spicebush or spicewood and (b) benjamin bush. Informant's benzoin or benedict was probably anything his hoodoo drug store or mail-order house sold him.]
Entry 10714
Yo' take de bird nest an' yo' git cayenne peppah an' salt, an' yo' put it down where a person has tuh walk.
(What are you going to do with that salt and pepper?)
Yo' mix it with de bird nest. Destroy de bird nest an' yo' sprinkle dat salt an' peppah with it, an' sprinkle it where a person has tuh walk, dat yore enemy, an' he wouldn't harm yo' in any way. (What will that make them do?) Dat will make dem leave.
Entry 10797
Dey say, dat if a person sweep yore feet with a broom, that yo would leave home. [For sweeping feet also see JAIL later.]
Entry 10905
Yo' take them fingernails an' toenails an' mix 'em, yo' know, wit de same thing - cat's an' dog's bristles an' things, an' bury 'em undah de do'step an' dey'll leave town. If anybody want yo' [them] tuh leave, dey'll leave - jest break up an' jest leave, run away. (Whose fingernails and toe- nails do you take?) Take a man's, either [a woman's]. Yo' know, if yo' want de man tuh leave, git his toenails [and finger- nails]. If yo' want de woman tuh leave, git hers. An' mix them together lak dat an' bury 'em undah a do'step. Bury them where dey gotta walk in an' out ovah them.
Entry 11031
Yo' kin take black chicken feathers an' take nine of 'em an', yo' know, tie de ends of 'em together an' hang 'em up ovah anybody's haid. An' every time dey walk in dere, dey'll feel funny an' dey won't even stay dere no mo'. (You take these nine feathers from a black chicken and tie them together like a necklace?) Yes sir, tie 'em together an' hang 'em up ovah anybody's haid where dey gotta pass at.
Entry 11172
Git a devil's-shoestring 'bout dat long an' tie it [demonstrates]. Jis' take it, it's jis' about dat long, an' bring a knot in it lak dat. Well, yo' kin keep it or yo' bury it. Jis' put it in a secret place. (Is that all she has to do to bring the man back?) He'll stay right dere [he will not leave].
Entry 11672
Take de dirt out de fork of de road, if you don't want 'em to leave. Take de dirt out of de fork of de road and put it in a bag and hold it there. Keep it, that will keep them from going away. (You just go out to the forks of the road and pick up that dirt.) Yes, an' put cayenne pepper with that, and hold it. That's what ah heard.
Entry 11689
Dey go to de fo'ks of de road an' dey turn three times, but ah heard dey go to de graveyard befo' an' dey gits some dirt. An' dey take dat dirt an some sugah an' some sugah of lead an' some sulphur, an' take it an' take dat dirt an' bury it undah de steps, undah de front steps, either de back - if dey's out an' yo' want 'em tuh come in...yo' take it an' yo' mix dat all up togethah. Yo' take it an' bury it undah yore steps, where dey gotta come ovah. An' dat'll make dem come back.... Either yo' take it an' bury it out from de steps. Dat'll make 'em go away.
(What about the forks of the road?)
Ah say, ah've heard of 'em goin' to de fo'ks of de road but it be at de grave- yard at de fo'ks of de road, an' git dat graveyard dirt.
(You have to go to a graveyard that's near a forks of the road?)
Yassuh, tuh git dat dirt, but now if yo' say go to de graveyard an' git dat dirt off a grave fo' dat somebody dat's went away.... An' yo' wanta git 'em back.... Dat's whut ah'm tryin' tuh tell yo' 'bout dat graveyard dirt. Yo' go dere an' git dat an' yo' bury dat dirt.
Entry 11740
Say like if any of yo's people is in jail an' yo' don't have money to git 'em out, yo' go to a graveyard an' yo' takes two pennies. And dey say yo digs a hole, yo' know, 'way down in de middle of de grave, an' yo' pays de dead spirits fer dat dirt. And yo' tell dat dirt, tell dat spirit dat, "Ah wants chew to go direct to de jailhouse and ah wanta git so-and-so out." And dey say yo' jest leave dem two pennies there and you'll go on to de co'thouse when dey be's having co't, and you come [out] without [paying] money. (What will you do with that dirt?) Yo' jest picks up dat dirt and carries it to de jail- house wit yo', an' yo' jest holds it tight on yo', and when de' havin' yo' trial, dey more den apt to turn yo' loose and yo' won't have to pay nuthin - jest dem two pennies what chew left at de graveyard.
Entry 12202
Yo' kin take a horseshoe an' two horseshoe nails [these 2 nails are changed to one later]. An' if yo' kin git a chance to, take dat horseshoe an' bury it under de person's do'steps or any place - or any place. An' dat will drive 'em away too. An' jes' drive dat horse- shoe right down at dere do'. If it's in de ground it don't make any difference. (Just one nail from the horseshoe?) Jes' one nail from de horseshoe. (You don't have to put the horseshoe under the ground, just the nail?) Take dat nail from outa de horseshoe, drew de nail from de horseshoe, an' take de horseshoe an' carry it to yore [victim's] house an' take de nail at dey house an' drive dat nail into de wall. Dey will absolutely leave.
Entry 12296
Like if they would like for you to move out of that house, they'd keep you in confusion all the time, if they couldn't git chew to move other w'are [other where]. They would use salt, lemon and rice. (They would use salt, lemon and rice?) Lemon and rice. (Well, how would they use that?) They'd take the salt and the rice and lemon, where- ever you got to walk over. If it's coming to a step, over a step, they would plant it under the step. Dig a hole and plant it under there. And ever time you walk over that and go back and forth, it'll always keep you in some kind of confusion in that house, and you won't never feel so very well right in that house.
(I see.)
As long as that salt and lemon sours this rice. See. And as it sours, things is getting sourer and sourer towards you in that house.
(I see. Well, do they bury the whole lemon or just the juice?)
They take a lemon. They take this lemon and stuff this lemon with that rice and salt.
(Oh! I see, I understand.)
Stuff it.
(Oh! I see, stuff it. I see, now. All right.)
Entry 12545
Git red onion and put nine needles and nine pins in it and go to the river and throw it over the left shoulder and walk back [home]. Don't look wack. And just as fer as that onion will travel on the water, they will travel.
(Do they do anything else with that onion?)
That's all I know. (Hell, how do you know whether the spell will work? How can you tell whether dhat person that you intend to go away - don't you do anything with the onion to...) [Intention is sufficient.]
Entry 12563
Under your foot track - just like people come along and say that they could hurt you by your foot track. But they couldn't hurt you by a foot track, but I tell you what they could do. They could take some dirt coming from your shoes: just like if you had a hole in your shoe like that [dirt would get into shoe through hole in shoe]. And your foot track they Would probably pick up [in that way]. And after [hole in shoe] picking it up, they could take that dust, what come from your shoes. And they could shake it, put it in a box with some of these here pigeon eggs, and beat it up like that. Anywhere you bury that, you have to leave town [be- cause pigeon flies!]. And anytime you couldn't stay nowhere, couldn't never come back into the place where you was. (You mean the dirt from your shoe, any of the dirt that sticks to the bottom of your shoes? What about that hole in your shoes?) Just like - you see, where I Was, this feet chere, how it was. How this feet chere of mine was [he evidently demonstrates foot or feet]. Well, then, gettin' a remedy for that? [Here is how it happened.] I walked out one morning and it had some kind of yellowish-looking stuff on the steps. But I didn't paid attention and I walked on out of there, going to my work. Well, it was in the summertime and it was right warm. Well, I had some shoes that cut, you know, like this [demonstrates].
(Had holes in the bottoms of them?)
Yes, sir. Well, then, what made me heed them then was my heel started to hurt. I comes on back. Well, that heel of mine was about that big [demon- strates]. So they carried me and they got some of this sugar, this white granulated sugar, and got some of this Palm of Christiandom.
(Palm of what?)
Palm of Christiandom. (Palm of Christian?) [I am not correcting informant but commenting for the future. Besides, the words are Palma Christi "hand of Christ, " the castor-oil plant.] Palm of Christian, yes. You get that anywhere through the country. And they takes that and they put that on, in hot water, just as hot as I could bear it. Then after that they take some cayenne pepper and put it there and they soak it. Then they take, after that - don't never wipe it off - you just take it and let your feet hangs over the water like that, and drain until it dries. Then you take some of the "Pp" oil.
(PP. Two "P's.")
Yeah, PP oil. Get it in the drug store. You take that PP Oil and you just take it like that, with a piece of cotton, you know, and 'noint it. But always 'noint it going down.
(Why?)
Well, that's to draw out all the swelling and all the pain leaves - whatever. You have to rub it like that. [Informant either did not know or did not under- stand my question. You rub downwards to drive pain or any crunjure out through the feet. Many examples of this occur in HOODOO, see No.981, p.377, vol.1.] Well, the swelling before I ever knowed, well they had all the - I'll just lift it up here. They had all this here and all down here. [Informant demonstrates all this.] And they told me how to use it. Well, I got relief of that.
(What did it do to make your ankle swollen that way?)
Well, I walked in some yellowish-looking powder.
(Oh, I see.)
That's where it came from. And it was somepin that makes your ankle itch, you see; and you scratches it, you know.
Entry 12601
Ah said when a person is not...de blood's not right and dey [sexual disease] 'tack [attack] yore man an' yo' don' want him with yo' an' yo' have been gittin' money outa him, why yo' could burn peppah, red peppah in yore home, an' that'll make him flee 'way from there an' he won't come back heah no mo'.
(If he's doing what you said?)
If he been 'tackin' [attacking] yo', wanta go with chew [sexually] an' his blood is not right. He's fulla disease.
(That's the way to get rid of him?)
Yessuh.
(He's attacking you, you say?)
Yeah, he tryin' tuh see, yo' understan'. Yo' been gittin' [getting] money outa him but den his blood is not fitten fo' yo' tuh have him. Yo' burn red peppah an' he will go 'way from yore home an' yo' won't be havin' no trouble 'bout him no mo'.
Entry 12759
Yo' see lak yo' wanta break up a man an' his wife, why yo' kin git some of dis red shank root. Ah don't [use] it but ah'd know de bush, but ah know what root it is. See. Yo' git dat red shank an' dey tell me, if yo' cut it up fine... Yo' git up every morning befo' day an' jes' go up an' slip [stealthily leave] some of it on de porch. Long as yo' do dat, dey never git 'long and so finally jest have to [leave each other]. [Red shank root appears in several other rites but I am unable to identify the plant. It may be several different plants in different parts of the country.]
Entry 12866
I know an old woman that said if a man kept on living on the place and got disagreeable, she said she used to go out in the morning before day and walk backwards and throw that saltpeter in his path in [the form of] a cross and wish him bad luck and he would leave that farm. They say saltpeter is a great hand to destory any- thing you don't like. [Fredericksburg, Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 13347
Well, they can take that chamber lye, that [is] the urine, get some cinnamon and some sugar, and mix that lye [urine] up with it [3 ingredients] but you got to be sure that you didn't spit in it because the spit would cause it not to work. And put in a bottle. And they throw the bot- tle most anywhere, anywhere you couldn't find it. And after awhile that chamber lye will dry up, it will come to be just the empty bottle - it evaporates. And if you want to leave me, you couldn't do it. That's to hold a man.
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 13426
I've hearn it like this: if you had a neighbor and you couldn't get along, see. You would take and get you - if you wanted them to move, you under- stand, why you could make a quarrel between the people in the house an' that would cause the landlord to put them out, see. Well, you would use an egg. You could use salt or war water, see. (Just how Would you use these, now?) Well, now, you'd take - you'd get - use the war water which the war water would be the best. See, there's two things you use, you use either the powder or the water.
(Well, explain the war water.)
Well, you take the war water and you would sprinkle that war water. You would use salt - salt makes fuss anywhere.
(How would you use that salt there?)
You would take and you would sprinkle that salt at the four corners of the house and then you'd take this war water and as you - if you can enter into the place, jes' in the alley. You don't have to go in the house. Like if - like I enter this door here. I would walk to the back door which would be the kitchen. If I could get to the kitchen, I would start to sprinkle there.
(You say you begin at the back door?)
At the back door, yes, sir.
(I see. Then what do you do?)
I'm going to sprinkle this water, see. As I come out, I sprinkle the water, letting the water run out of my hand, as I'm coming out the door, jes' as I'm walking [demonstrates] and the water's coming out. And, when I gets to the door, I takes salt and I cross it [make a cross with it] right at the gate. And at the steps, I cross [make another cross at] the steps with salt. And under the steps I jes' take and I sprinkle war water, and I take salt and jes' throw it thataway, see. That's all you have to do, salt and that war water. It'll sort of confuse 'em. You can take salt and make a confusion any kind of way. Now, that would start a confusion in the house with the husband and wife. If it's the people you don't like, see, regardless of who they are, if it be the mother and the daughter, the mother and the son, then the people that you would want to get out, why that would start a confusion. Somebody would have to go. See.
Entry 1946
Well, yo' kin go dere an' git a tree - to graveyard, git a little ole bush an' den carry it to anyone's home an' set it out an' let it stay right where yo' set it out. It won't be long 'fore dey'll go where yo' git dis bush from. (If you want to get rid of someone, you would go out to the graveyard and get up a bush and then come into that house and set it out where they wouldn't notice it. And that would send them to that graveyard where that bush came from.) Dat's right, jes' make dem move in somepin jes' lak a grave. Jes' make up a little something jes' lak a grave an' jes' stick it [the bush] right tuh de head of dat, an' a stick tuh de foot an' name it. It won't be lon g'fore dey be gone.
Entry 2141
You go to the drug store an' you git the powder called movin' powder. An' when you git the brown powder [moving powder], an' then you git the movin' lickrish [moving liquid] - it's green. You mix that lickrish an' that powder together into a bottle an' shake it well; an' ev'ry time you shake it, well, you pass 'em a curse over it. An' then you go to work an' sprinkle that at their do' an' they're bound to leave home.
Entry 2378
You take the length of the finger, the lonest finger [demonstrates], measuring the foot track, drawing it slightly that way with the right hand - longest finger and little finger and join it [them]. And [but first] you put one [finger] tip to cover one of the toes and you bring your fingers together, and take a bit of dirt like that. (You put one toward the foot and one at the toe and you bring your fingers together.) [I hand-draw.] Yes, sir.
(And take a pinch of dirt.) [Hand-draw.]
Yes, sir.
(Like that.) [Hand-draw.]
Yes, sir. Put it [dirt] in a bottle with war water and throw it in the Mississippi River where it floats. You see, that will give you a roving [roaming?] mind. You won't be stationary there regardless of what kind of position you have. You'd rather leave. Look like your mind was referring you to go where you'd do better, you see, and it will keep you leaving from one town to the other one.
(You use either one of those tracks or both of them or what?)
The right foot with the right hand.
Entry 2432
[If you have] urwelcome people in the house you don't want dere, you take de broom an' you turn it head up [straw up] behin' the door an' dey get right up an' leave.
Entry 2851
If a person's away from home, you can take that shoe and burn a candle over it nine days. Take that left-foot shoe and burn a candle over it nine days. And if a person's away from home, 'en [then] you bury that shoe under your step where that person has lived, or his step where he or she has lived. But if you want them to come back home, you got to bury the shoe with the heel pointing east and the toe west; and if you want to drive them from home, you can bury it with the heel pointing west and the toes east, and you'll drive them from home. But if you want to bring them back home, you have the power of bringing them back home; you bury it with the heel east and the toes west, and you'll have the power to bring them back home.
(What kind of a candle would you burn on that?)
You take a white candle and [or] a blue candle.
(Either one.)
Either one - a white candle and a blue.
[And is frequently used for or.]
Burn it with their name under it, under the candle.
Entry 3134
Yo' could take dis man's - when yo' have somepin tuh do wit 'im, yo' kin take 'is come [semen]. Yo' ketch it on dat rag, on a homespun piece of cloth [unbleached cotton], an' put it in de milk bottle, a bottle of buttahmilk, an' half stop it up, if dis boy's in yore way. But don't use it fer nuthin else but dat. An' take it an' yo' know, put it in a ditch or somepin where it'll half drain out. An' den, whenevah it all drains out, why dat boy'll go away or sompin
Entry 5245
Take yore shoes an' put one dis way an' dat way, say it won't be long befo' yo' be leavin' dat place. De way dey tell me, dey say de heel one way an de toe [the other wayl. Dat makes yore mind be wavahed tuh 'em. Ain't got no sense in anythin'. Dis is de heel an' dis is de toe [demonstrates]. Yo' put one heel heah an' one [heel] heah, yo' see.
(You put the toe of one shoe against the other heel.)
Entry 5255
Take de lef'-foot shoe an' carry it an' nail it on a carbox, on a train yo' know, an' dat will make dat fellah leave, leave from roun' dat pahtic'lah place.
Entry 5363
Take dat foot track up on a spade...bury it...dat'll cause yuh tuh leave.
Entry 5610
Dey could sprinkle cayenne peppah in de foot track.
(What would that do?)
Dat would have 'em a tendency to roam - a tendency to roam away from de place where dey were.
(I see. If someone sprinkled cayenne pepper in my foot track, I would roam.) Yes, sir.
Entry 5620
Jis' lak yo' has a enemy an' yo' an' 'im, yo' might say, call it to be a frien'ship. Well, now, jis' lak if dis wuz mah home. Yo' live so-an'-so. Well, yo' visit me. Well, if ah'm ti'ed [tired] of yo', yo' undahstan', yo' [I] kin take sech a thing as cookin' salt an' drop it inside 'is [your] heel track an' covah it. Yo' [I] won' have no more trouble wit 'im [you].
(Just part of any of his foot track?)
Yeah, eithah one his foot track. Jis' lak he step, jis' a little salt an' put it inside his heels or yore foot track. Keep 'im 'way from dere altogethah.
Entry 5649
Git dere foot track an' put it into a snuffbox an' put it ovah de do' an' drive dem.
(What do you mean driving?)
Dat drivin' yo' 'way from home.
Entry 5710
Dey take de track an' put it in runnin' watah an' cuz yo' tuh go away. Den dey kin take it an' put it in a li'le box an' nail de side of a boxcar. An' fur as dis train will go, yo'll keep goin' - yo'll nevah turn back.
(They take either track?)
Eithah track.
Entry 5714
Yo' git a right track jis' lak dis. [Informant then demonstrated this rite at a distance from the microphone while I comment.] (You get the person's right foot track, just the upper part of it, and face the sun. You pull this crack away from the setting sun, and put this in a bag and hang it over the limb of a tree.) An' dey walk undah it lak dat. Dat run 'em away from town.
Entry 5724
Well, a man tole me, dat if anybody did yo' anything, dat chew wanta git rid of 'em, de man, fo' yo' tuh go an' take up 'is footstep, his track, be- hin' 'im. Take it an' bo' a hole intuh a tree an' put dat track intuh de tree, an' cork it up an' dat will run dis man away from yo' - run dis man away from bone.
(Either track, do you take?)
De right track.
Entry 5774
Den when yo' walk out de yard, take de foot of it when yo' walkin' take dat track, dat lef' one, an' throw dat ovahbo'd. Dat'll run yo' away.
(Which foot did you say?)
Dat left foot [demonstrates].
(And you are bringing it back from the toe to the heel?)
Yes.
Entry 12627
Git some cayenne peppah an' throw it up undah de do', an' dey goin' be gone by Sat'day night or ah ain't heah. [New Orleans 282:9.]
Entry 9504
Yo' kin jes' take a new box of pot salt an' carry it an' string it all de way round de house at night an' talk tuh it an' tell 'em ah want chew tuh make sech-an'-sech-a one move or leave heah. An' when nine days are up why dey'll have tuh go.
Entry 9871
A lady told me that if I want my next door neighbor to be moved, to get a frog. And you whip him underneath her step and make him stay there until he dies. And when the frog dies, that the neighbor would move. You beat him an' make him go under the step and if he comes out, make him go back again and leave him stay under there until he dies. And when he dies and dries up why that will make the people move away.
Entry 11808
If someone puts graveyard dirt in your left shoe you must leave town.
[Wilmington 238:1+85.]
Entry 12633
Throw red pepper into fire and persons living there will move or guest will soon depart. [Norfolk 525:12.]
Entry 2147
Just like in this precinct where there Capt. Barrett[?]. You gotta get the captain's name, you gotta get the lieutenant's name and you gotta get the Sergeant's name. You gotta get three names. You gotta write them names down, you see. And in your place of business if they come there, you put it right under your counter, you see. And you gotta add a little sugar to that three times a week. You see, that'll keep peace and keep 'em under control. But you gotta have their names. If you don't have their names, you can't do nothing. But you gotta have the head official names, not the police on the beat because he don't do nothing unless he's instructed to. But the head officials s they gotta have. I had that place there and everybody's there and everybody is paying $10 a week, but I was running the place myself and I say, "Well, I'm not running this for no dago [Italian], I can't afford to pay." They tell me, "Well, we know you's all right - go ahead and do the best you can." Well, I run that three years and they tore the place down. Got trapped all right, but got trapped by the Prohibition people not by the police. Not me. People worked there. I did excellent business down there, but I was good with the precinct.
(When you pass up, you handed this money over to the police?)
Well, you supposed to give the police ten dollars a week. Everybody else was doing it. But I was giving them $20 a month. See, I wasn't giving them no $10 a week, because I was running it myself - couldn't afford it. I was making money all right but you don't have to let them know that. They used to come by there and get quarts of whiskey, you know, for nothing and I used to treat them some kind of way. Well, they give me a break. Got raided there once. That was by the Prohibition department. Well, I couldn't do nothing with them.
(They wouldn't take anything?)
Well, if I'd a been there - you see, I know the under cover agent, you see, but the guy who was working [for me] supposed to know him and didn't know him, and he come in and he sold him liquor. See. Well, after they got the counts on him they raided place, but they didn't take me - they'd taken him. Well, I had another boy in the place. I was renting him and letting him stay there and he took sick and they took care of him in the hospital, and after he had them Prohi- bition spotters come around the place, and I told him, I say, "I don't want these fellows coming around my place." Cause he had dogs and as a matter of fact they wanted him training the dogs, see. Well, I made him move. He goes on to the post office and told Mr. Lazell[?] that the place wasn't [what it was supposed to be]. See. Well, I used to work over at the office for Mr. Lazell.
(Who were you working for when you did this?)
Wm. J. Burns - Judge Barnes' Detective Agency.
Entry 5511
He kin take it [her foot track] an' take his han' an' rake it up light an' rake it tuh 'im. An' take de dirt an' carry it home an' put it in 'is right sock, an' she'll come back if she gone off. An' if he wan's 'er tuh leave him, tuh don' nevah come back no mo', he kin take her track - take his han' an' dip it from 'im. Start from de foot on tuh de toe. Carry it home an' put it in 'is right sock an' throw it away, an' she won' nevah come back. [She will] stay dere, nevah come back no mo'.
Entry 7581
Git graveyard dirt, yuh know, an' dig tuh yore elbow on de left side - not on de right. On de left side dig tuh yore elbow an' aftah yuh git tuh yore elbow, den yuh git whut chew want outa dere. An' git a bran'-new box of peppah, red ground peppah whut peoples puts in somepin, yuh know, tuh put on de barbecue. An' git a bran'-new box of salt an' mix all dat tuhgethah. If yuh wan'a person tuh move, yuh could throw dat on dere house, or up on de house, or carry it in de house, jis' one time. An' den yuh kin take an' git chew NINE ROCKS OFF A LIL' BABY'S GRAVE jis' so's it not no ten or 'leven yeahs ole chile - a lil' small baby. Git chew nine rocks offa dat dere grave - an' dis is true 'cuz ah have tried dis mahself - an' take it, take dem nine rocks, an' if ah want some- body [to] move, ah kin throw it ovah dere windah [window] up ovah de po'ch, jis' anywhere, jis' since ah hits dat house ovah dere windah. Ah don't care 'bout de othah family, dey'll be dere [in the house]. Jis' whoevah ah want moved from dere [will be moved]. An' take dem baby rock an' throw 'em dere. Go lak tuh- night, an' tuhmorrah night ah go again, till de nine nights run out, an' ah call 'em by dere name, an' dey'll leave.
(You throw one rock each night?)
Each night. Dat's true 'cuz ah've done dat. An' dis graveyard dirt is true too.
Entry 11490
Well, tuh make dem quarrel and git apart, if yo' kin git a woman track - de least bit out of her track, eithah one - an' go an' buy dis ground up peppah. Go in de henhouse and git de dried-hard-up [dried up hard] hen turd [dung]. Pound it all up tuhgethah. Git some of yore friends, if yo' can't do it yo'self, tuh go dere an' sprinkle some of dat in dey stove, an' if yo' go dere dey be quarrellin' - send 'em tuh jail tuh settle it. She git so outright mad until she hardly will fix dat dinnah or breakfas'. She's ready tuh leave yo'.
(That is to cause confusion in the home?)
Yes.
Entry 11972
A woman goes to the forks of a road, makes a crossmark on the ground, picks up some of the dirt, puts these with a man's hair, and buries at her home to hold him. To put him to going she stops these ingredients up into a black bottle and throws it into running water. [Memphis 1550:8.]
Entry 12952
To bring or send away - sole of left shoe - dig a hole - bury with the feet going away from the house - 3 to 9 days person will leave. If to bring back - bury shoe with feet coming to house - and [or] you can tack it over facing of door where it's covered [hidden] and the person will come. [Memphis (973, professional and excellent), 1575:10.]
Entry 4153
Yuh kin take a woman now, an' yuh kin git de hair outa her haid an' put it in a glass wit de pee in it. (A glass of your urine?) Yeah, an' yuh kin put it in a box [bottle] an' put it in undah de do'step where she walks ovah all de time, an' covah it wit somepin undah de bottom step, an' she can't leave, yuh got 'er tied.
Entry 5079
Tuh make 'em leave town ah've heard people tell how yuh do dat. Yuh take de lef' sock, an' take some of yore [foot] track an' put in one of yore lef' socks, an' carry it tuh watah dat's runnin' west an' throw it ovah- bo'd. An' dey say in nine mawnin's dey'll be gone.
Entry 5367
Yo' takes a person an' yo' wanta drive 'em or any- thin' lak dat, yo' gits de hollah outa his left foot - a pinch of sand. Yo' takes dat an' yo' dress it. Yo' takes it an' gits chew a BUZZARD feathah. Clips it dis way. Takes dat sand. [I want a better demonstration.] (How do you clip that buzzard feather?) Yo' cut it dat way [demonstrates]. (Oh, you cut it sort of a diagonal way. You don't have the bone sticking out? Cut off that bone sticking out there.) An' put dat sand in dere an' den yo' slips it back on dere an' go tuh runnin' watah. In seven days he's gone. (In other words, you clip that buzzard feather right in half and then you put that sand inside the quill. And then he's gone, when you throw that in running water.) Yes, in seven days he'll leave town.
Entry 5507
If yo' wan' anybody leave home an' wan'a send 'em away fo' good, jis' git de dirt undah de lef' foot an' mix it wit cayenne peppah an' carry it tuh a stream of watah. An' git some of de hair, if yo' kin; but if yo' cain't, jis' git de track. An' yo' take dat an' cayenne peppah an' go tuh a stream of watah, a runnin' sorean of watah, an' throw it in de stream of watah. An' dey'll go jis' de way d atah will go.
Entry 5701
Yo' gits a person's foot track. Yo' drag it back three times - gits it from de top of de right track, an' drag it back tuh yo' three times. Gits some from each time, an' carry it tuh run- nin' watah an' throw it in dere. An' yo' kin run dat person away from town an' he'll be gone fo'evah.
Entry 5871
If dey kin git yore hair or anything an' put it in a fish mouth an' dg'im ovahbo'd - an' wheresomevah he go, why yo' gon'a 'way from heah. If r fish stay in dis vicenty [vicinity], why yo' won't leave heah; but if he evah Lve heah an' go tuh de Atlantic or anywhere, why yo' goin' too.
Entry 5894
Well, dey take a toadfrog an' cut dat toadfrog open an' put chure hair fn dere an' sew it up an' put dat toadfrog into de watah. Dey say yo' would leave, yo' wouldn't stay dere. Ah've seed dat done. (You would take a live toadfrog and put this person's hair in there, and put the toad in the water, and that person whose hair was put in there would leave.) Would leave.
Entry 5901
When dey bury it [your hair] in de graveyard, that run you away from home. You jis' go crazy, you know. They either got to put you in a 'sylum or you're gone all the time.
Entry 5933
Den if yo' wan'a woman tuh leave yo' or if yo' wan'a git rid of 'er - lf yo' goin' wit a woman an' yo' ti'ed [tired] of 'er - take a stran' of 'er hair eff de lef' side of 'er hair, two stran's ah say, an' go to some runnin' watahan throw it in dis watah, an' it'll go upstream. [Informant probably means hair will float upstream rather than throw it into incoming tide.] An' if she don' leave, she'll eithah die. Yo'll git rid of 'er some way. She goin' do one 'tothah [one or the other].
Entry 6065
(Tell me that whole story.)
She took some hair off a person an' she lift up 'is hat an' she put dis undah de sveatband, an' all dat sweat, dat would sort of run in 'is face. Well, dat moald make 'im - he nevah would leave her, yo' know, as long as dat wuz dere, yo' oc. He would be always crazy about 'er.
(I see. She put some of her private hair in there?)
[The hair was identified before recording began.]
Uh huh.
Entry 6083
Ef ah didn't want mah old lady to leave, ah'd take whilst she sleep - ah'd git a little of de hair out de mole of 'er haid an' a little out of each temple an' a little ovah heah. (Down below?) Yes, suh. An' ah'd take it an' ah'd git me a 'simmon [persimmon] switch an' ah'd split it an' ah'd stick dat hair right in dat switch. Undahstan' me good. An' when ah'd put it in dat switch, ah'd git me a little piece of flannel about dat long - about Iak, about dat wide. An' ah'd take an' wrop dat [small split stick] in dere, an' ah'd put a hole in de bindin' of mah shirt, an' ah'd take dat an' ah'd stick it up indere an' - wrop it tight an' slip it right up in dere. She wouldn't go nowhere. AH COULD BEAT 'ER ALL AH WANT, SHE WOULDN'T GO ON OFF.
(Where do you keep that now? In your shirt, you say?)
Yes sir, right in de bindin'. (Right in the lining - around your waist.)
Entry 6296
Git some of dat person's hair an' take it an' throw it in a stream of watah, an' dat will run de person away, dey can't stay dere.
Entry 8108
Take a photograph an' dig a hole undah a bottom of a steps, an' turn it down undah dat step right on de face, an' dat will make yo' leave a place where yo' be at.
(How do you mean make you leave?)
Jis' lak if yo' stayin' tuh a house lak dis [where we were sitting] an' dey Want chew tuh go, say dey will bury it undah yo' step, undah yo' bottom do'steps. An' dig a hole an' turn it down, say dat will make yo' go.
Entry 8111
I heard of 'em gittin' hold of it [a photograph] an' buryin' it under the doorsteps so it with de face down, an' makin' yo' leave.
Entry 8316
Take a man's pichure an' go tuh dis open toilet. Take dat pichure an' push it down in dere, dat'll make him leave dat place. He won't stay roun' dere no mo'. (Do you push it down any special way?) No, jis' push it down in dere, in de open toi- let.
(Out in the back yard.)
Entry 8430
If a man gotta wife an' she leaves home an' it makes no diff'rent how fer she may go, if he kin git 'er pichure. She may be cross de watahs but if he kin bring 'er back.... Now he take dat pichure an' he turns it. He takes a cleah glass of watah. He takes dat glass of watah an' he looks tuh all fo' cornahs of de house. An' he take dat glass of watah an' he sets it behin' de haid of de bed. An' he turns dat pichure down, an' evah evenin' jes' at sundown, he goes tuh de haid of dat bed an' he'll call 'er jes' as loud as yo' can, jes' as though he wus angry wit 'er - fo' nine days. An' if she ain't dere in nine days den she been carried out tuh de cemetery. (You say you look in the four directions? Then you put that water down. How do you put that photograph over it?) Yo' lay it flat down ovah de top of it, de face of it down right ovah de watah.
Entry 11493
(That's to keep him. Now, if you want to run him away, what do you do?) Well, if you wanta run him away, you get his left track and take dat and bury it underneath de doorstep, and go dere every morning for nine mornings and say somepin to it, and he will never come back any more.
(What do you say to it?) Yo' jes' say, "I hope he'll never come back any more." (That is if you run him away.)
Entry 1843
Dey could go tuh dat house an' git some dirt from de do'steps an' carry it an' put it in runnin' watah, an' dat will cause 'em - dey have tuh leave de house, dey couldn't stay dere. (What do you mean by the dirt from the doorstep?) Right from where yo' have tuh walk out. (You pick that dirt up and throw that in running water.) [See Doorstep Dust in subsection Business and Customers.]
Entry 1955
Well now, a lady got my hair one time and she stopped it up in a bottle and she buried it. So it almost run me crazy but I went to a man. He made her bring de hair back. She'd brought it face to face and give it to me and told me why she did it, because she thought I had nothing to do but sit on de porch and read papers and I was in better circumstances den her. So dis man asked me what did I want done with her. I say, "Well, tain't worth while to kill her, but jest send her away from Portsmouth." I was living in Portsmouth. Well, he sent her away and he wasn't nine days sending 'er either. He just got three pinches - jest like that - pinches of dirt and sewed it up.
(Was this out of her left track? Tell me just what he did in this case.)
He got three pinches of dirt out of her left track, right in the hollow of her foot and put it - made a little cloth bag and put that in there and sewed it up and had taken it to running water and made three wishes and threw it overboard. She went away from dere. [Norfolk, Va., (486), 514:8.] [To show that my comment did not suggest a left-track rite to informant, I will now quote the left-track rite given by informant two rites preceding present one.] Get the dirt out of the left foot, three pinches, and put that in a cloth rag you know and sew it up. And take it to running water and throw it overboard and make three wishes before you do it. And when you make them three wishes - they gone from here. An' I know that to be true.
(You make the wishes just for them to leave?)
Yeah.
(You mean just to leave town or to die?)
To leave, to die - either one. You make de wishes - if you want 'em just leave town, make it dat way; and if you want 'em to die, you make it dat way. [Norfolk, Va., (486), 514:6.] [Both these original transcriptions - 514:6 & 514:8 - are part of the final manuscript.]
Entry 2051
A stockin' - yo' kin take a stockin' an' yo' kin tie a knot in that stockin'. Say, now, if yo' got business out there an' ah won't want yo' to run that business an' ah wanta put chew outa there, ah kin tie that knot in that stockin' an' draw it right tight an' ah kin take that stockin' and conceal that stockin' into the dark - in a dark place. An' every time - well, say, every three hours ah kin go to that stockin' an' draw that knot a little tighter, see. An' as ah draw that knot yo'll begin tuh draw outa that place. Yo'll git so worried an' everything will go wrong with yo', yo' can't be no success. Yo'll leave outa there.
(Whose stocking will you use?)
Well, any ole stockin' at all - jest so it's an ole stockin'. (And you conceal it in your own house.) [I am repeating what he said after I had turned off the machine.]
Entry 2837
If you wants to run a person 'way from yo', yo' go ahead and git chew a black candle. Write dere name on dat black candle, yo' see. Yo' cut dere name on dat black candle - see, let be seven or nine times on dat black candle. An' roll dat black candle in salt and burn it fifteen minutes, and dat will run em away from yo' - dat runs 'em, dey can't stay it atall.
(Just burn one candle. Any special time did you say?)
Set it at six 'clock in de morning an' burn it fifteen minutes - see, burn dat candle fifteen minutes. Well, den at twelve 'clock yo' burn it fifteen minutes again. Six 'clock fifteen minutes to go on. Well, all right, ah'm goin' tell yo' dis 'gin now. Yo' set it in de mornin' fifteen minutes six 'clock and let it burn and quarter past six fifteen minutes an' twelve 'clock yo' wanta burn it fifteen minutes 'gin - see. Dat's uh half a hour an' den six 'clock in de evenin' yo' burn it fifteen minutes agin, yo' see. Dat's three-quarters of a hour gone, see. Well, an' de third day dey gone in de air - dey can't stay.
Entry 3832
Take an' go to a dogwood tree, if a person dislikes 'im. An' if yo' jes' take a piece - jes' git one drop of blood anyways [anyway] dat is if yo' kin git holt of it anyways. An' yo' take an' cuts yo' a plug outa de tree, jes' 'longside dat tree. Yo' know, pull de plug out an' drop de blood in dere, an' drive dat plug back on dere. Drive dat plug right back on dere an' nevah look back to see which way yo' goin'. Jes' leave an' go right on off from dere. An' jes' 'bout roun' thirty days - it take 'bout thirty days den - an' dat man dere, if he's anywhere aroun' yore place or anythin', why he'll move away. He'll leave off an' yo' nevah heah sight or tell of 'im no mo'.
(What tree do you use for that?)
De dogwood tree... [I stopped recording too quickly here, missing north side, which I had to in- clude by restarting machine and adding parenthetical question or comment. I am not asking a leading question.]
(On the north side?)
Yes.
Entry 3900
If a man got a woman an' he wanta keep her down, ah heard dat he'd take a piece of 'er ministration rag, an' de hair from underneat' 'er ahm [arm], an' a dirty sock, an' a piece outa huh haid, an' sew it up in a bag an' nail it 'cross de do', an' she could nevah go 'way.
(Could never leave.)
Entry 4075
In a old-fashioned house, yo' know, dey go roun' in de cornah of de chimley. Well yo' go roun' in de cornah of de chimley an' git a pinch of dat dirt roun' in dere, scrape it up from de earth. An' den yo take some of dat dirt an' go anywhere dat a person is livin' at an' make 'em leave. [For other ex- amples of this outside chimney watercloset, see 203, p.57, lines 3-11; 3092, p.913, lines 5-9.]
Entry 4087
DAT [URINE] ONE DE GREATES' THIN'S IN DE WORLD.
(Tell me one thing you can do with it and why you do it.)
Yo' kin put a little bit in de cookin' an' control 'im - put it in de cookin'. An' yo' kin put some in yore bathwatah. Dat makes 'im stay home.
(Some of that urine - chamber lye?)
Yes. Make him stick tuh yo' an' he won't leave yo'. Mix it up yo' know.
Entry 4358
I've seen this experimented to get rid of a man. I mean to make him leave town. Get a little of his urine, be sure it's all his, put it in a bottle, get a cigar box, put it in that, and one of his socks, just one of his socks, in the box, let it be dirty, wrap that box up, wrap it just the same as a piece of paper, throw it in running water so it'll go down the stream, it will not sink, and he'll leave town. Both the bottle and sock in there.
Entry 4361
Well, if dey wan' 'im tuh go away, dey will take a lock of de right head - hair on de right side, two or three locks of it - right side of de head, an' put it in a bot- tle an' put some urine in it, an' throw it away in a stream dat goes - tuh a stream dat goes up [river], carry it up, so dey [he] will go. Well, it's jis' de opposite if dey wan' 'im tuh come back, dey take it [hair] off de left side an' throw it in a stream comin' in tuh 'em - vice aversy. [This is a tide- water stream, coming in and going out.]
Entry 4610
Heard dat wimmins - de way dat dey would kinda trick mens yuh know. Jes' lak dat ah'd go tuh some gurl's house an' wuz a married man an' she wuz likin' me an' ah wouldn't take up very much time wit 'er on account mah wife. Why ah hang mah hat up an' perhaps ah may git up an' per- haps ah may git up an' go git a drink of watah, sompin, an' she'd pull de bow outa mah hat an' tie it on a string an' tie nine knots in it an' wear it roun' 'er waist, in ordah tuh make me leave 'way from mah ole lady an' come tuh 'er.
Entry 4622
Take dat little bow out de hat an' cut it out dere. An' take an' put it in de bottom of dey shoe an' wear it, an' write his: name nine times. An' make him leave, leave his home. He'll jes' walk an' walk.
Entry 4740
Git hold of yore shirt or somepin lak dat an' make yuh leave dis part, section of de country where yuh live, an' yuh'll nevah come back. Well dey said, yuh take it an' wrap it up wit dog manure. Jis' take de dog manure an' heat it or somepin an wrap dis piece of cloth up in it, see. An' put it in a tin can, bur' [bury] it at de foot of a oak tree good. An' fer five night an' five day yuh walk dat dog - dat same dog where yuh got de stuff from - walk 'im ovah dat place fer five days an' five nights. An' yuh'll nevah come back home no mo'. Yuh're runnin' away. Den aftah yuh git through wit dat dog, run 'im away, run de dog away den. [This running away a dog, not responsible for running away the person, looks like the Old Testament scape-goat rite, transferring your own sin to some living creature (see Leviticus 16:8, 10, 26).]
Entry 4791
If yuh wanted 'em tuh stay away - a woman or man, eithah one, yuh git a piece out de seat of 'is drawers an' den call 'im by 'is name. Take it tuh de rivah - don't take it tuh dese little ole branches, tuh a rivah, an' throw it in dere. An' long as it run down de stream, he gon'a go an' leave yuh alone.
Entry 4801
Ah have heard men say dat dey kin take a woman's bloomah's an' cut a piece outa a woman's bloomah's an' wear it in dere lef' hip pocket. An' said a woman won't leave 'em an' will be undah 'em, an' dey kin do anything dey wan' tuh do. An' de woman won' know about it. He'll have her undah 'is feet an' jis' do anythin' he wan'a do, an' she not say anythin' tuh 'im about it.
Entry 4896
Ah heard dat chew could take a pair of - jis' lak yuh come tuh dis man's house heah an' he pull off 'is socks, yuh kin take an' carry 'em tuh yore house an' put 'em undahneat' chure do'steps an' put a cross on 'em. Put a cross on de socks an' bury 'em undah yore do'steps. An' dat will run 'im a long, long way from 'is home.
(You bury them under your doorstep?)
Undah mah do'. Take 'em from yore house an' carry 'em tuh mah do'step an' bury 'em undah dere, an' dat'll run 'em way from home. He won't nevah come back.
(What kind of a cross do you mean?)
Jis' lak yuh goin' - yuh kin take a stick an' cross 'em [demonstrates]. Put one lak dat an' den put one lak dat. Sets 'em cross.
(Make a cross with two sticks on top of the stockings [socks].)
On top of de socks, dat's right.
Entry 4917
Take a woman's stockin' while it's dirty - not a clean one, while it's dirty. Yuh take it an' yuh ball it up an' yuh puts it right up ovah de do'. Dat [is] if she leave yuh, yuh puts it ovah de do' an' she'll come back home. Or eithah dey could cut de seat of 'er undahclothes out an' put it ovah de do' an' she'll nevah leave. An' [or] yo' could take de mole of 'er hair [head], cut de hair out an' plait it. Put it intuh a vial an' put Hearts Cologne on it - feed it. [To put Hearts Cologne on is to feed it.] Tote it in yore pocket an' she'll nevah leave yuh - she'll stay wit yuh.
Entry 4957
Ah heard dat dey take a man's socks an' tie it in three knots an' bury it undah de steps. If de foot of de sock's turned toward de house, den he cain't leave home.
(Just one of the socks, either one?) Eithah one.
Entry 4985
Yes, dere some work dat people do wit 'em, an' jis' say fo' instan' if maybe yo' wan'a man jis' de same as yo' say jis' awhile ago. If a woman wan'a man tuh leave 'er, she take 'is socks an' carry 'em tuh a stream of watah. In othah words, wit de same thing, de rattlesnake mastah. Ain't de rattlesnake mastah, but dey calls it de rattlesnake mastah - but it supposed tuh be a mastah of all roots an' herbs in de woods. An' if yo' place his name on dat in 'is sock, he compel- led tuh go. But de reason ah spoke of de same jis' awhile ago, if yo' want me tuh move from nex' do', yo' could quickah git mah track den yo' could mah sock, see.
Entry 4993
Dey take a woman's stockin', bran'-new stockin', aftah she'd wo' [wore] it one time. An' yuh git hol' dof [hold of] it an' put it in runnin' watah. Why she'd leave an' would nevah come back where yuh at. (Either stocking?) Dey take de both stockin's.
Entry 5042
Den dey take de worn stockin' - change de stockin's an' den dey take de stockin's an' put 'em in a bundle in de mattress, yuh know. An' yuh put dem stockin's an' tie it tight dataway - tie two stockin's tuhgethah an' yuh put it in de middle of yore bed, undah de sheet of de bed. De stock- in' will be up heah. An' den dey'll have ah - dey'll put some strings in dere. Dey'll have a string tied. An' dey draws a pitchure of dereself wit a pencil. Ah seed [saw] a woman do dat mahself. Ah know she done dis. She takes a pencil an' she draws. Ah don' know what pitchure she did draw, but she'll take dat sock an' she'll put it down dere. An' she'll take dat thing dat she draws an' she'll put undah dat same place. An' dat man cain't leave her.
(You don't know what she draws on there?)
No, she won't let me see dat.
Entry 5052
Take his sock an' if it's dirty, why yuh kin nail dat tuh a tree an' it will cause him tuh walk away: [Ordinarily a sock nailed to a tree keeps a man stationary, and the sundown side later means lingering or slow death, but intention here demands that he walk away. The big nail suggests urgency and determination - also painful walking.]
(All you have to do is to take a dirty sock and nail it up?)
Jis' take a dirty sock - cut de bottom out de dirty sock, fold dat dirty sock up an' carry it tuh a green pine tree, an' nail a big nail in de centah tuh de sundown. He'll leave an' won't come back.
Entry 5059
[She] takes 'is socks an' cut de toe out 'is socks an' weah it undah 'er arms fo' a pad, an' [she] pee on it evah mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's an' put it undahneath 'er arm, an' he won't leave 'er. Wear it undah each one of 'em. She gits de toe of 'is socks, de toe of each sock. If she cain't git but one sock take de heel an' toe. Don't make no diff'ren' how she change it - jis' eithah one.
Entry 5060
Gits yore sock an' dey bury it undah yore do'step. If dey wants yuh tuh stay home, wit de foot yuh know tuhwards de house. Now if dey wanted yuh tuh leave, dey bury hit undah yore do'- step wit de foot goin' away. An' evah mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's dey po' chamber lye on it.
Entry 5077
Take a man's sock an' yuh kin run 'im away wit 'is sock - his lef' sock. Carry it tuh a rivah or eithah a creek, any place like dat where it's runnin' watah; an' jis' which way dat watah runs, dat's de way he'll go - drift jis' dat way.
Entry 5078
Tuh run 'im away, throw 'is lef'-footed sock in runnin' watah an' name it, as she threw it. Throw it ovah 'er lef' shouldah an' name it. Dat'll drive him away. He'll nevah come back.
Entry 5081
Lak if yuh take a woman or man's - she take a pair of 'is socks an' dey kin take dem socks an' go tuh a drug sto' - anywhere yuh kin git it - an' git chew a bottle of toilet perfume. Yuh take dat perfume an' yuh take both of 'is socks, de right an' de left one, an' yuh damp it good on dere, an' yuh take dat an' put some whiskey on it an' wash 'em in dat whiskey. Hang 'em on de line an' let 'em dry on dere. Den aftah dey dry on dere, den yuh take an' yuh slip 'em back an' put 'em in 'is shoes befo' he know anythin' about it. Dey said, den he'll come back an' prob'bly put dis same pair of socks on, becuz dey be in his shoes, take an' put 'em on. An' aftah he put 'em on he'll start tuh wearin' 'em. an' dey says, lak if he goin' tuh leave, he'll start tuh walkin', an' jis' walk right on out an' he won' nevah come back no mo'.
Entry 5122
Take a person's shoes an' make dem leave. Take dey shoes an' put 'em up, HIGH UP OVAH DEY HAID. Or eithah take de sole off 'em where dey walk at an' dey'll walk. Dey nevah will stay dere no mo'.
(What do you do with that sole if you take it off?)
Take it an' put it up ovah de do' where dey walks at a lots, an' dey'll leave dere.
Entry 5125
Take a person - jis' lak ah tole yuh 'bout de lef'-han' shoe or sock. Wus it shoe or sock?
(You didn't tell me about either one.)
Well, anyway yuh kin take a person lef' shoe - SEE, DAT'S DE HEART ON DE LEF' SIDE - an' take it an' bury it deep as yuh kin undah de step, tuh keep 'im from any idea 'bout it. Bury it undahneat' de step, so he cain't leave home.
Entry 5126
(Tell me how that's done to make a man stay at home.)
[I am repeating informant's statement after turning on recording machine.]
Yuh take his shoe or slippah or anythin', an' yuh bury it undah de steps, but comin' in. He won' go nowhere.
Entry 5130
Ah says like you separated from yore wife. Well, she take dat shoe, if someone done tole her about it. Yuh take yore shoe an' yuh puts it undah de step, facin' tuhward like yuh comin' in, an' turn it bottom upwards. When yore man's out, when he come back an' he walks ovah dat shoe, why when yuh walk ovah dat shoe, yuh continue stayin' dere. Yuh'll nevah leave until dat shoe is move.
Entry 5142
Yuh take dat shoe - jis' take one of 'em, de one tuh de right foot. An' burn it halfway up. Den take it an' care [carry] it an' dig yuh a hole an' bury dat shoe. Pray ovah it. Go dah evah mawnin' an' throw a handful of dirt on dat, an' he'll leave yuh. Yuh won' have no trouble wit 'im, he'll go on whah he won' bothah yuh no more.
Entry 5155
Ah know a case in Beaver Falls, Pa., dat a incident of dat kind hap- pened a year ago [1936]. Wus a woman whut lived dere, an' 'er husban' wure very cruel tuh 'er. An' he begin tuh stay out all night, an' he beat 'er an' knock 'er out. So she begin tuh study de Sixth an' de Seventh Book of Moses. An' wit- in studyin' dat, she found out jis' whut tuh do tuh send 'im away from 'er. An' she tole me dat she'd taken 'is lef' shoe, an' cut 'is 'nitial on de inside of it in de instep. An' taken 'is - one of 'is lef' dirty socks, an' put nine brass pins in it, an' nailed [pinned] it tuh de instep of 'is shoe, an' threw it ovah 'er lef' shouldah at sundown. Ah know he left dere an' he hadn't been back a month or so ago.
Entry 5201
Well, yo' kin take de shoes an' burn 'em an' dey'll come back.
(Both the shoes?)
Yes, burn shoes.
(After you burn them what do you do?)
Yo'jes' burn 'em wit salt. If yo' jes' take salt an' sprinkle it behin' a person dey will leave. Den yo' kin take de shoes an' burn 'em wit salt an' dey'll come back. [Burning the shoes with salt - both burning and salt - breaks the spell cast that send the person away.]
Entry 5205
Dey say yo' kin take a man's shoe an' git chew some peppah an' salt, an' mix it up on a piece of papah - jis' mix it up. Jis' lak yo' be's roomin [with me] an' ah'd git hold of a pair of shoes yo' weah. An' maybe ah won't stay dere [you are not rooming with me], but ah'd go in dere an' jis' sprinkle de stuff right in dat shoe. Dey says when ah sprinkle dat in dat shoe, dat peppah stuff, yo'll git outa mah sight. If yo' do dat, if it's a man a enemy 'g'inst yo', yo' kin run 'im away by puttin' dat in 'is shoe, sprinklin' in it. He'll move.
(You do that with both shoes?)
Both of 'is shoes. [St. Petersburg, Fla., (1008), 1630:2.]
(subsection SHoEs continues in volume four)
Entry 5206
Yo' kin take dere shoes an' take 'em an' put 'em undah de do'steps, an' put a li'le table salt an' sulphur an' diff'ren' thin's - mix it up tuhgethah an rub it on 'em, an' put 'em undah de do'step. Yo' steal de shoe unbeknownst tuh 'em an' put 'em undah de do'- step, an' dey'll leave town - run away from town.
(Do you get both their shoes?)
Jes' one. If yo' can git one, jes' git de left-foot shoe; if yo' can't git de left-foot, jes' git de right foot - any which one of 'em.
(And if you got my shoe, you would bury it under my door?)
Yeah, under yore own do'step.
Entry 5209
An' den ag'in yo' kin take de salt, de eatin' salt, an' sulphur an' yo kin take dat an' let it been in dat ole shoe. An' take it out dat ole shoe an' yo' kin go an' sprinkle it in mah house, or on de sill of mah house, or anywhere on de step, an' ah walk ovah it ah'll leave.
(Whose shoe do you put that salt in?)
Anyone who yo' wanta work harm wit or good.
(Well, then you would take it out of their shoe?)
Yes, when yo' take it out de shoe, den yo' put it in dat bottle. Sho'. Well yo' jis' take dat salt out as a powdah an' throw it undah mah house or eithah in mah house, if yo' kin. (Well, now, suppose you were running me away and you want to use salt to do it, you would put that salt in my shoe?) No, no suh.
(You mean your own shoe?)
No, nobody's shoe. Yo' jis' takes dat salt an' diff'ren' things whut chew wanta put tuh it, an' yo' throw it down. Yo' kin jis' throw it at de threshhold of mah do' an' ah'd move. Evah time yo' walk ovah dat, see, dat satisfies - dat settle it. Yo'll leave, yo'll git a mind tuh leave heah an' yo'll go.
Entry 5214
Git nine little seeds outa [a] red peppah, an' sulphur an' salt, an' put in yore shoes, an' whatevah dey wanta do - run yo' 'way, make it so hot yo' cain't stay where yo' are. (Put that in either shoe or both shoes?) In both shoes. Yo' know, in yore shoes yo' have a linin'. If yo' kin git up dat linin', git nine red peppah seeds an' git sulphur an' salt an' put in dere, dey not knowin' it's in dere, an' dey say yo'll be so hot yo'll jes' have tuh go. Yo' don't [know] where yo' goin' but yo' jes' got'a go.
Entry 5304
See, heah, when yo' go an' find a red ants nest, dey make a big - jes' a kinda hill of sand aroun' it yo' know, a ants nest. Well, jes' lak if anybody in dis town dat chew want dem tuh leave heah fo' good an' nevah return no mo', yo' pick up dere lef' track from de toe an' bring it back, an' put it in dat ants nest, an' dey'll go. Dey won't nevah come back heah no mo'. (They put the left-foot track from the toe to the heel into this ants nest, and that will make them move and leave town.) Well, ah nevah have tried it mahself - whut ah heah othah folks talkin' 'bout it. If a person knowed anothah one an' didn't lak 'em so gūd [good], well dey'd want 'em stay home [stay away]. Well he watch where he walk through in sand. Well, when 'is back turned he'd go an' git a little sand out dere. Well, he'd go den tuh a little ants hole an' put dat in dere, see. Well dat ants, dey jes' totin' sand all de time, see. Well he'd [ants] git holt of dat, keep totin' dat. Well, dat person he'd leave home, he jes' keep goin' all de time, from one state tuh 'nother. He can't let 'im stay home none at all.
(You take the sand from either of my tracks?)
Dat's right.
Entry 5308
She could take his track an' she'd care [carry] it - take his track an' she'd care it tuh a ants bed, see. She'd ketch it in de middle, in de mid- dle of de foot, see. Jes' one track, yo' right foot. Dey would take it an' take jes' dat much sand out frum [from] undah his feet [demonstrates]. (Just a pinch.) She would take it an' care it an' put it in an ants bed, an' put some lard wit it an' place it intuh dat ants bed an' leave it dere. An' de mo' dem ants would stir it up, de mo' he'd go. He'd leave town.
Entry 5319
Now yo' take a red ants bed. Yo' kin take sugah an' a person track an' carry it an' put it in dat ants bed an' make yore wishes. If yo' wanted 'em tuh love yo', dey'll love yo'; an' if yo' want 'em tuh go, yo' kin fix it an' make yore wishes an' dey'll go. Mix it up wit dere track, wit sugah. Dat sugah's gotta eat up [penetrate] all dat sand though whut chew take up, an' see, dem ants will tote dat sugah intuh dat hole. An' when dey eat dat sugah out from dat track, he go, too; if yo' want him tuh go. He [ant] goin' throw dat sand out an' when he throw dat sand out, he [man] gone.
Entry 5347
Dey say if yo' walk in any sand an' dey wat'cha [= watch you] an' dey take up de lef'-foot track. Take up de lef'-foot track an' de' [they] put it in a bottle, an' dey stop it down tight. An' dey say if dey throw it ovahbo'd, why yo'd be gone 'bout chure business outa dis city. Yo' go on out dis city.
Entry 5358
Yo' take dat track an' yo' ketch it from de heel tuh de toe, an' den yo' ketch it in de hollah of de foot, on de lef'-han' foot. An' yo' take dat track an' carry it an' put it in yore cookin' stove an' burn it. An' when yo' burn dat track, yo' take de ashes an' throw 'em in de rivah, an' dat'll make de person leave de place.
Entry 5360
If someone comin' tuh yore house an' yo' wanted tuh keep 'em away, well see, yo' kin git dere track an' burn peppah, sulphuh an' some ole shoes. An' go tuhwards de sunset an' say de same thing, In de Name of de Fathah, an' Son, go. Dey'll go. Yeah, yo' won' be bothahed wit dem no mo'.
Entry 5361
Dey say if a person gits yore foot track, he has de con- trol of yo', an' wherevah he bury it at, dat's where yo'll dwell. Now, lak if ah git chure foot track an' want chew con- tinue comin' heah, an' ah bury it chere, yo' can't jes' travel.
(I would come to stay here?)
Come to stay an' can't leave out.
Entry 5368
Dey tell me yo' kin [take] de hollah of de foot track, airtight it in a can an' throw it intuh runnin' watah, an' it will make yo' walk away.
(You use either track?)
De left-foot track.
Entry 5447
Ketch de right foot [track] disaway [demonstrates], de lef'-foot [track] disaway. (You bring the right foot back, toe back to heel; the left foot, you catch from the heel up to the toe.) Put it in a piece of new homespun w'a' [what] ain't nevah been washed. Go tuh de graveyard an' git some dirt an' mix wit it. Well, yo' see, dat'll make yo leave home. Take it an' put it back undah yore steps. Well, aftah dey put it undah yore steps, yo' see, yo'll leave home; yo' can't come back dere no mo'.
Entry 5456
De left foot, gits it from dere where yo' make yore track. Jis' lak yo' make yore track dere in dat sand, well ah come back down dere an' ah see yore track. Den [I] come dere an' jis' git up one teaspoonful of dat dirt out chure track. An' den yo' take dat dirt an' sulphur, graveyard dirt, salt. Mix all dat tuhgethah. An' den take dat thing an' jis' whatevah dey wanta do wit yo', dey kin do it.
(What would they do with that?)
Well, dey could take dat an' if dey want chew tuh leave from dere, don' wan' chew roun', if yo's ahindahin' 'em any, jis' send yo' on off. Dey won't nevah have no mo' tuh do wit yo'. Dey ain't goin' be any way bothahed. Dat's fo' a hinimey [an enemy] of yourn.
(What would they do with that dirt in order to send me away?)
Why dat's whut dey do wit it. Jis' take an' mix all of dat tuhgethah whut ah tole yo'.
(But what do they do with that after they mix it together?)
Well, dey will take dat den an' carry it - dey kin bury it. An' when dey bury it, why dat jis' got chew upset. Yo' jes' got'a leave dere. Yo' can't do any- thing atall.
Entry 5468
[Yo'] takes de right foot track but yo' got'a be meetin' dose people. Yo' got'a be meetin', not git behin' an' pick up de track - not behin' dem lak dat. Dey goes dis way an' yo' be comin' dis way [to- wards them]. Den yo' meet dat person an' git de dirt out de hollah of de right track. Well, den dey put dat dirt in a place an' den dey go tuh de cemetery an' dey git some of de graveyard dirt. An' dey puts dat tuhgethah. An' dey puts dat tuhgethah an' a piece of lodestone an' takes it - let it stay nine days in dey house. Takes it den aftah nine days an' put it on a shingle, an' takes it tuh de rivah or de runnin' watah, an' put it in dere an' let it go on down jis' lak dat. An' den yo' jis' turn right roun' an' put it in dere an' walk on off away from it an' not nevah look back. Well, dey tell me dat's a good way tuh git evahthing goin' jis' lak dey wan' it tuh go, if dey Wan' chew tuh go out de country or leave out. Or whutevah dey wan' chew tuh do, why dat's whut dey do tuh do dat.
Entry 5470
Yo' kin go right out in de cemetery right now - have done dat tuh me - an' git some [dirt], jis' from de head of de grave, an' go tuh de feet an' git some. An' when dey git it, jis' say, "Ah wan's tuh keep Carrie down, ah don' wan' 'er tuh strive [thrive], wan' tuh keep 'er down." If she wanted tuh drove me off from dere, or run me off from dere, she would fix itdis- away. Yo' take de graveyard dirt an' yo' goes tuh work an' take red peppah, beat 'em up an' fling 'em in yere [place?] if dey got [a place?]. Yo' leavin' out chere. Den, if dey don' wan' chew tuh enjoy yore things or yore own stuff dat chew got - ah mean de - to break yo' up, chew know, dey take de graveyard dirt an' follah [follow] yo' behind, an' git chore tracks, both feet. Put 'em in dere, carry 'em tuh de sea or de rivah, an' jis' throw 'em in dere. An' yo' will leave dat place, can't resist it. De sea or de rivah an' yo' will leave dat place. Yo' got'a go in nine days time. Break yo' off from dere. Cuz dat have happen tuh me.
Entry 5472
Jis' lak ef ah wan' chew tuh move, yo' leave heah - jis' move from de place or somepin lak dat, leave out dis town. Well, ah would go behin' joo an' git chure track offa de groun'. See, jis' lak yo' goin' dis way an' ah'm comin' behin' yo'. Well, ah grab up yore right track dat way, yo' know, de dirt, behin' yuh, yo' see [demonstrates].
(From the heel to the toe.)
Yes sir, dat's right. Well, ah puts it intuh a papah or somepin othah so ah kin keep all dat dirt, see. When ah git it ah git it goin' [track going away] jis' lak daE. So - well den, ah goes tuh de cemetery an' gits some graveyard dirt, jis' anywhere, yo' know, about de grave, an' puts it in dere wit dat dirt. Well, ah put me some black peppah intuh it an' salt, see. An' den ah takes an' carry it onto de rivah somewhere, anywhere de watah's runnin'. Well, ah throws it intuh dat stream of water an' say, "Go, yo' devil, yo'." An' so dat night, ah reckon yo'll - yo' know, git goin' some way. Hit'll run yo' off, make yo leave.
Entry 5474
If dey wan' chew tuh leave town - if yo' givin' dem trouble an' dey Wan' chew tuh leave town, why dey'd ketch it [your track]. If yo' goin' dis way, dey'd ketch it disaway. Den dey would take dis dirt - take it an' put it in a new piece of home- spun. When yo' go tuh a graveyard, git chew two bran'- new teaspoons. Go tuh a graveyard wit two bran'-new tea- spoons. Git chew two teaspoonsfulla dirt offa two sinnahs graves. Well, yo' takes two pennies an' pay each one of dese sinnahs fo' de dirt. Well, yo' takes dat gunpowdah an' thundah-strucken wood, red peppah, an' mix it all tuhgethah. What ah mean thundah-strucken iw where lightning struck a tree. Well yo' take it an' divide it intuh two parts. Yo' put one in a red chunk bottle [bottle with long neck] an' bury it in de east, an' yo' put de othah one in a red chunk bottle an' yo' go tuh runnin' watah, an' yo' pitch it 'cross yore shouldah - turn yore back, pitch it 'cross yore shouldah. Befo' yo' pitch it 'cross yore shouldah, yo' say, yo' do dis, In de Name of de Father, an' de Son an' de Holy Ghost - fo' yo' tuh go an' nevah return. An' in three days time yo'll be left town, yo' can't stay. Yo'll tread dat watah until yo' drown.
(You say you put all that stuff in a red chunk bottle?)
In a red bottle - quart bottle [the ordinary brown beer or whiskey bottle one "chunks" or throws away.]
(Which shoulder do you throw that over?)
Ovah yore lef' shouldah.
Entry 5516
People wan's people tuh move out of a house, why dey gits de drop on dat fellah when he's walkin' an' watch 'im, yo' see. An' prob'ly [they] take a bottle or maybe tobacco can or snuff- box or somepin an' git de dust out of 'is lef'-foot track dere. Prob'ly walk aroun' dat house an' throw it across it. An' well, dey can't live dere no more.
(Where do they throw it across?)
Throw it across de eaves.
(Right across the roof of the house?)
Yes, sir. As it go ovah, he leaves it open so dat it might scattah as it go across, yo' know. (I see, leave that bottle or can open as you throw it over the house, and scatter the dust over the roof. That will make them leave the house.) Well, dey becomes tuh be dissatisfied wit de house, won' be satisfied until dey move. An' it ain't goin' be very long befo' dey moves.
Entry 5565
Well, she'll git his track - she'll git de sand out of nine of 'is tracks an' she'll carry it undahneath 'er house an' she'll spread dat sand out. She'll take nine nails an' stick up in dat sand. An' he'll leave.
(Now which tracks does she get - one right after the other?)
No, his left tracks. (Nine left tracks.) Yeah. (Coming to the house or going?) Goin' - jis' eithah way, jis' git nine of 'is tracks. She'll git nine nails, jis' spread de sand down, an' den she jis' stick dese nails up in dat sand.
(Is all this sand in one pile or do they leave it in nine piles?)
Oh, no sir, jis' spread it out an' de nine nails in dere, an' in nine days he'll be gone.
(Are the nails pointed down or pointed up?)
Point down.
Entry 5573
Now, if yo' wan'a make someone run someone 'way from town - wanta git 'en outa town, run 'em 'way less den twenty-fo' hours - yo' go an' pick up dere track. But don' pick up de track behin' dem, pick up de track from de toe tuh de heel, both tracks. An' go tuh de lef'-han' cornah of de house an' write his name in dere. Tell 'im tuh, "Go. 1
(Write his name in his tracks? How do you write that? With what?)
Yo' write it wit yore han', yo' know wit yore fingah, see - right in de sand, see. Well, yo' pick up de track, write in de sand an' call 'is name an' say, "Henry, go." An' walk tuh de lef'-han' cornah of de house, backwards fo' steps, an' throw it ovah yore lef' shouldah. In twenty-fo' hours he'll leave town - anybody will.
(You take both tracks or just one?)
Take both tracks. (And what do you call the left-hand side of the house? Suppose I am coming in the front now. What would you call the left-hand side? Is it coming in or going out?) Dis de lef'-han' side of de house, it's a case of - yo' undahstan' now. If ah'm comin' dis way an' if ah pick up dis track disaway. Weli, ah'm goin' dis way. Well, if ah pick up dis track comin' dis way, dis is de lef side of de house.
Entry 5579
Know whut dey put down? Sometime dey could take yore track an' put it. down, bury it, an' yo' have tuh leave. Bury it undah yore do'steps an' yo'd have tuh leave. Dey kin take nine needles an' put 'em crossways an' put it in wit chure track, an' put red peppah in dere an' gun- powdah, an' yo'd have tuh leave.
(Where would you put all that stuff then?)
Put it undah yore do'step.
Entry 5580
Take now fo' [for] de foot track. Ah have had a little dealin's wit dat foot track. Now if jis' lak yo' walkin' down de streets dere an' ah ketch chure foot track. An' if ah would wanta run yo' outa town or sompin de kind yo' see, well ah'd take an' ketch dis heah foot track an' snatch it from me. So ah take it back den an' ah put it in a hans'scuff an' tie it up, put nine needles in dere, an' yo'll have tuh leave town.
(What would you do with that handkerchief then?)
Well, ah jis' keep it in mah house, jis' keep it an' de foot track.
Entry 5582
Beginning Norfolk, Va. [This is the first rite from Norfolk.] Take right foot track an' put nine needles in it. [Of] co'se I'd git 'em in a bottle, nine needles, an' yo' goes to de rivahside, see, nine mawnin's. See, you got nine nee- dles in dis here bottle wit de dirt in [from the right foot track]. An' goes down to de rivah nine mawnin's. An' when yo' gits down dere yo' walks backwards so many feet - yo' walks backwards nine times [9 steps] each mawnin'. An' de las' mawnin', yo' throw dat bottle ovahbo'd. Nine needles an' go down to de rivah nine mawnin's an' de las' mawnin' yo' throw dis bottle ovahbo'd.
(I see. Well now, what is this supposed to do to a person?)
Dat will cuz a person to leave his job, or cuz fuss 'tween man an' woman. If a woman want tuh git de man from 'er husban' [a bad influence on her husband, gambles, etc.], dat would make him leave. Dat's how a woman out here - a woman said dat 'er sistah had been did [sister had been sent away by some man's wife].
(Now, what foot track do they dig that dirt from...both feet or...)
Naw, dis one - de right foot.
(The right one.)
De right foot. Take dat dirt outen de right foot. Go on dere jis' as soon as de sun rise - see, 'fore de sun gits hot an' dat sun rise. [I stop recording here but informant continues. I try to recover missed words.]
(What carries it out, did you say?)
De tide, de water. You know, when de tide goes out, takes dat bottle out wit it.
(Yes, and after that carries it out, what does it do then?)
Dat cause dat man to leave, see.
(Carries him out.)
Carries 'im out, carries 'im from 'is work or 'is wife.
Entry 5609
Ah know dis happened in Tampa. Take dis foot track of a person dat chew disliked. An' yo' kin git it an' yo' kin put it intuh a piece of red flan- nel. An' yo' kin carry it tuh a rivah of runnin' watah, an' throw it ovah yore lef'- han' shouldah an' say, "Go," an' make a curse word. An' dat person shall leave.
(You get what track?)
De left one, always de left if dey do anything.
(Why always the left?)
Don't know why de lef' but dey says de lef'.
Entry 5612
Well, yo' take, if yo' have someone roun joo an' yo' don' wan' 'em aroun' joo, yo' kin take sulphur an' red peppah an' place it in de bottom of dere shoes, shoe track. [Informant should have put shoe track after an' following red peppah - 3 ingredients.] Jis' lak dey step on de soil down dere, jis' take some of dat soil, mix dat all up tuhgethah. Put dat in de bottom of dey shoe, dat will run 'em out.
(Whose shoe do you put that in?)
Put dat in de person dat chew wan' tuh leave.
(You mean in their shoe?)
In de one yo' wan's tuh leave.
(Put some of their own foot track in there?)
Yes, put some of deres - jis' lak if ah want chew to leave, see. Ah'd git soevhere yo'd been steppin', right 'long where yo's been goin'. Wouldn't git it where yo' comin' towards de house, git it as yo' goin' 'way from de house. Mix dat up togethah an' place it in dere shoes, see, ovahnight. De nex' mawnin' [I interrupt].
(Do you put it in both shoes or just one shoe?)
Jis' one shoe.
(And out of what foot track do you get this dirt?)
Out of the left track.
Entry 5615
Well, yo' take de red peppah an' git dis track of de woman undah de hollah of 'er foot. Den yo' wrap dis dirt up in de peppah tuhgethah wit a lit- tle - in a rag, an' yo' go tuh runnin' watah an throw it intuh de watah an' don't look back. An' when it go on away, dis woman will go away an' won' bothah yore husban', fo' ah have tried dat fo' mahself.
(You just use the foot track - either one?)
De foot track, either one.
Entry 5617
Take a fellah's track. Git right 'long behin' 'im an' take his track, if he be walkin', movin'. Yo' know right whilst he's movin', git 'is track from right behin' 'im. An' dey say dey'll take dat track den an' dey'll go git some black peppah, red peppah, turpentine, Sloan Linament - anything real hot whut'll burn yo' know. Says dey'll put it in dis track den an' dey'll take it den an' go tuh a runnin' stream of watah. Dey'll stan' wit dere lef' shouldah tuh dis stream of watah, an' dey'll throw it ovah de lef' shouldah an' den dey'll walk away. Well, dey say den dat track as it floats down de stream, say dat'll take, carry yo' on off - will run yo' away from home, jis' make yo' go on where- evah dat goes. Yo' jis' go on off till yo' die.
(How many tracks of mine do they take - or just one?)
Jis' takes one track - eithah one.
Entry 5633
If someone gone away an' dey wuz persuaded away by some person dat's tryin' to do yo' harm in de family or somepin of de kin', an' dey git dis person out an' tell 'em to leave home, ah wouldn't stay dere; an' den, yo' 'see, dey're tryin' to do yo' harm. Dey would git dis person off, an' den dey would give 'em somepin to keep 'em away from yo'. Ah've heard dat.
(What do they give them?)
Dey say dey would fix up somepin in dere food, some kin', lak women have, an' put it in dere food. An' den to bring 'em back, a lady tol' me dis, she wuz a ole lady, she's daid now, she tol' me dis to bring 'em back. She said if yo' wan' 'em, desire dem back home an' couldn't git 'em back, said if dey did come to see yo', if dey happen to come to see yo', yo' git some salt an' red peppah an' some sulphur, an' sprinkle it in dere tracks when dey leave ag'in, so dey come back ag'in dey wouldn't go back any mo'. If dey leavin', dat'll bring 'em back.
Entry 5635
About de track, ah know about de track. De' [dey = they] takes nine pods of red peppah an' de' take nine pinches of sulphur. De' take nine pinches of salt an' git dat track, de right-foot track, when dey're leavin' home. An' mix all dat togethah. Ah seen 'em do it, mix all dat togethah yo' know. An' dey take it an' box it up, an' dey chunk it in de rivah. Den dey'll go. In nine days dey'll leave town an' nevah come back.
Entry 5652
Like dat yo' git mad wid a fellah like dat, yo' ketch 'im goin'. Ah think he mus' be goin' east, yeah. An' yo' gits nine pinches outa his right track, dey tells me, an' yo' takes it an' yo' puts it in a bottle or anything an' stop it up. An' yo' spit in it nine mawnin's. An' de en' de nine mawnin's so' carry it down to de rivah, see, an' throw it ovahbo'd. An' tell me dey'll go away from home an' won't nevah come back no mo'.
Entry 5678
Well, yo' kin take dat dust from de feet, if yo' wanted a person in yore neighborhood ~ an' yo' had a fuss wit 'em - an' yo' wanted tuh run 'em away. Yo' goes at de ninth hour, yo' see, tuh runnin' watah an' yo'll take dis here dast, whut yo' have swept up at de ninth hour, an' yo' throws it ovah yore lef' shouldah wit yore lef' han', not tuh look back, wit a curse word. An' yo' are forced tuh leave unbeknown tuh yore ownself. Yo'll pack up. Yo'll jis' leave. Yo' have tuh walk away.
Entry 5758
KIN DO DAT THREE DIFF'REN' WAYS. (Well, how would they do that?) Well, de way ah undah- stan', dey measures yo' feet [lengthwise], den crosswise, an' den make a triangle outa it. An' den tie dat up in bags an' bury it. Say dat will make yo' leave eithah de country or state where yo' are.
(I see. What foot tracks do you measure?)
Ah think it's de lef', fah [far] as ah undahstan'. (You measure them lengthwise. [I demonstrate.] Here's your foot track. You measure it lengthwise and then across?) Across, an' den make a angle out of it.
(Oh! Then you sort of...)
Sort of angle from de toes...
(You mean you come across this way?)
[I demonstrate.]
Yes, dat's right.
(You measure it this way and then that way, then you measure it this way?)
Jis' a angle - don't bring it all de way down dat time. Dat's de way ah andahstan'it.
(Bring it down like this?)
Dat's right.
(Sort of a...)
[I am still demonstrating.]
Jis' an' angle - a "v", see.
(A "v", I see.)
Supposed tuh be...
(You make a "v" in it like that...and...)
An' de way yo' wan' de parties tuh go, why de way de angle point, dat's de way dey'll travel. (I see. You make that angle - the way that angle points, that's the way they'll travel. I see.)
Entry 5766
Well, if anybody wanta run a woman or a man away, yo' git de - in de middle of de track yo' git dat dirt out of de middle of de left track. An' take dat dirt an' take it tuh a stream of runnin' watah an' fold it up tight in a li'le rag an' put it in dere. An' it will float away, an' dat will drift dem clean away.
Entry 5767
Yo' take de lef' track, if yo' kin ketch de lef' track. Yo' take up dat lef' track an' throw it in a runnin' stream an' dey'll leave town. Wherevah dey go dey won't stay long, but ah don't know whut hour yo' do dat. Yo' have tuh have a pahtic'lah hour tuh do dat.
Entry 5771
Take yore track - yo' go along an' jes' take yore han'fulla track an' grab it up quick lak dat. An' carry dat tuh runnin' watah an' throw dat in run- nin' watah, an' dat will make 'em leave home.
Entry 5777
Well, if ah disliked yo' an' didn't wanta be around yo', an' didn't wan' chew tuh be roun' me, why ah take yore track an' jes' pick it up. (Both of them?) Jes' one, yore lef' track. Take it tuh a stream of watah dat's runnin' no'th an' throw it in dere. An' ah throw, ah turn roun' back an' says, "Go from me." Why in nine days dey would leave, have to leave off.
Entry 5796
If they want chew to be with them, why they bury it under the doorstep. Like if they want chew to come to my home, see, I bury it under the doorstep. And if they want to run you away, why put that in running Water and make a wish. (Which tracks do they use?) Get de dirt from under de right foot. Like, just if yo' want 'em to come to your home, see, yo' take it when they're coming to de home. If yo' want 'em to leave, yo' git it out of that track when they leave home. [Elizabeth City, N. Car., (438), 401:3.] [The sixth section Of division THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF is HAIR. De- spite the hundreds of hair rites that now follow, hundreds more are scattered throughout the text of Hoodoo, because hair is often only one ingredient in a compound rite containing other important substances: URINE, BLOOD, GRAVEYARD DIRT, etc.] [The lO submargin rites under this margin title recall the well-known belief that hair continues to grow a long time after death - FACI, 2nd ed., 15415, p.714; 1st ed., 10367, p.595. Not so well known are the following beliefs about living hair continuing to grow, after it has been taken from the body:]
Entry 5893
Ah knowed dis, pers'nal sperience. Ah give yo' dis firs'. Now, dis is not fo' love 'fairs, but dis is tuh make yo' leave heah. Yo' kin take some of yore hair an' yo' kin put it in a frog mouth an' yo' kin throw 'im ovahbo'd if it's on fresh watah, an' as long as dat frog go, yo' go be wanderin' somewheres. Well, if yo' put it in dis salt watah like de tide goes an' QES: IF DEY PUT IT ON DE GOIN' OUT TIDE, WHY YO' GOIN' LEAVE HEAH; BUT IF YO FUT IT ON DE COMIN' IN TIDE, YO' CAN'T GIT AWAY FROM HEAH. BrUNSWiCk, Ga.,
(1189), 2007:2.1]
Entry 5903
Say, if dey git some of de hair out of de comb an' dis graveyard dirt an' bury it underneat' chure do'step, but bury it tuh.de sundown, not sunrise.
[I interrupt.]
(What do you mean? Bury it at sundown?)
Dat direction [demonstrates].
(The direction of sundown.)
From where yore house is set at - see, at sundown. [Informant adds confusion! He means bury on the west side of your house at smdown. Despite the confusion I do not forget the purpose, as my question now shows.]
(What will that do then?)
That will cause yo' tuh wandah away, not be stationary - jes' wandah away an' all, don't stay one place atall.
Entry 5915
Yo' kin take yore own hair, take a man's hair or a woman's hair [a man or woman can do this], put [wit it] graveyard dirt, three coppah cents, six pins - no needles - six pins - an' put it eithah in buckskin or eithah in red flannel. An' go to a runnin' stream, throw it wit yore left hand in dat watah. If it sink it's all right. But as long as dat stay in dere, yo've got to travel. Yo' ain't satisfied nowhere, yo've got to leave yore own home.
Entry 5917
Well, if yo' wanta do dat, dat's very simple. Joo git chew nine pods of dis heah whut chew call guinea peppah an' den yo' slip it round dere, yo' see. Yo' git some of dis heah woman's hair an' put it in dere an' place it into her room where she sleep - into one of de cornahs where she'll nevah find it. An' it will cuz confusion dere, cuz confusion in de home, an' fin'ly in de long run dey'll break an' leave one anothah off.
Entry 5955
[Informant speaks about intention, a word rarely used in hoodoo though its presence is everywhere; it being the power behind potive, ritual and desired result. As informant says, the present rite wouldwork eithah way, depending upon intention. Many rites work either Way - see preceding HORSEHAIR. Dey says dat dey could give good luck by taking yore hair an' mixin' it up wit othah ingredients.
(Do you know what the other ingredients are?)
Well, such as salt an' pepper an' common things of dat kind. An' put it into a little bag an' bury it undah de doorstep, an' if dere's no steps to de house, hy close roun' de house, where de person would step ovah dat in an' out of de bouse. An' dey claim dat would eithah - it would work eithah way. It would Sork so as to keep de people livin' in dat house or to move 'em out, whichevah gay dat de intentions were fer it to go. (Well suppose you intended them to stay in, would you have to do anything ex- cra? Say anything or do anything? How would you express your intention?) Well, yo'd express yore intention in dis way, in de same mannah. If yore intention wuz to keep dem in de house, why yo' would do jes' de same, use de sue ingredientses an'.... (You would form your opinion. That determined whether they were to stay or to go.) To stay or to go.
Entry 5968
Yo' wants de woman an' man be fightin' all de time - yo' wants de man outa here. Well, see, jes' like yo' wuz de woman's sweetheart. Undahstan'? An' yo' want 'im outa dere. See, you'd make her git some of 'is hair. Undahstan'? Tie de cord string aroun' it. Undahstan'? An' put fo' knots in it an' wear it right aroun' 'is waist, an' dat will cuz de man to leave dere an' dis othah man'll come in.
(I would put that around my waist?)
Yes, sir.
(To make that other man go away?)
Dat's [that's to] cuz 'im to be battlin' an' she'd tell 'im she would leave 'im.
[Since the house is the woman's, this means he must leave.]
(I see.)
[Years ago, soon after its collection, I marked this rite doubtful, but it is quite possible. The man who Wants into the house has complete control over the man within the house. The 4 knots symbolize the four corners of the earth [Rev- elation 7:1] often concerned with sending-away rites.]
Entry 5971
Ah heard dat dey could take a stran' of yore hair an' tie it into nine knots, an' dat will make yo' leave.
(What will they do with that hair then?) Well, dey puts it in de rivah for tuh drive 'em.
Entry 5999
If yo' wanta make anybody leave dere home, yo' kin take dere hair out from right in de front of de haid right dere [demonstrates] lak where yo' part it at. An' yo' kin take two needles an' thread dem needles wit de hair, an' put it in a bottle an' bury it right at de block of de house, as yo' goin' out by de front. An' jes' lak de blocks, jes' lak de bricks filled in undah de house - see, yo' could bury it right back down dere.
(What will that do?)
Dat'll make yo' have peace in yore home, or eithah make yo' bring love back - anythin' lak dat.
Entry 6084
Well, ah heah 'em say dat dey take de hair from undah yore arms an' de top of yore-haid, an' dey say take an' tack it on a piece of pastebo'd - put it in a little bag an' tack it on a piece of paste- bo'd. Den throw it in runnin' watah an' dey say dat'll, jes' lak if yo' wanted tuh drift 'em away from yo', dey say dat would make 'em walk off in de rivah.
Entry 6086
Well, ah heard in mah days past if yo' had a woman or a man an' yo' wnted tuh make love wit 'em an' wanted tuh make 'em stay wit yo', [take] some [hair] from de centah of de top of dere haid an' some of de hair from dey body down heah. An' some of de hair from undah dere arms. An' Cobine dat an' carry dat wit yo' to a young grave, where yo' could bury it. Or, yo' know, yo' could take all of dat an' if yo' wanted to make a person leaveyo', S0 dey'd worry 'bout yo' an' wanta come back to yo', but dey couldn't come back yo', jes' throw it in runnin' watah.
Entry 6096
Now along de hair line. Yo' kin take de hair outa de top if any in- dividual's hair, say if yo' wanta send 'em away. Dis is mo' from sperience ah'm tellin' yo' dat. [Now follows a good example of giving a rite and then illustrating it with a personal ex- perience.] Yo' take dat hair an' ketch a rabbit den, an' split 'is skin right in de fo'head dere, an' place dat hair in dere an' sew it up. Jes' turn 'im loose. Well, who- Cvah hair den dat yo' put in dere, if yo' want 'em tuh leave, when yo' turn dat rabbit loose dey can't stay. [We lived] cross town togethah. I an' 'im were good frien's, too. Well, he bad a right clevah wife. So ah nevah said nuthin tuh anyone heah 'bout dese things jes' like yo' talkin' tuh me now, 'bout runnin' off people. So ah says, "Well," says, "ah kin take de hair outa anybody's head, outa de zole [mold or mould] of de haid an' ketch me a rabbit," ah said, "an' ah kin nm a off quickly." She said, "How do yo' do dat?" Ah said, "Well, yo' git de hair out de mole of dere haid an' ketch chew a rab- bit an' split 'im right in de fo'haid," say, "an' put dat hair in dere an' sew it Turn de rabbit loose. She say, "Shuah 'nuff?" Well, ah didn't pay no mo' 'tenshun tuh it. Two-three days latah ah wus out in de woods cuttin' crossties. [Railroad rails are laid on and spiked to crossties.] All of a sudden he pulls off 'is clothes, all but 'is top-shirt. Ah nevah bothah. Ah reckon about fifty yards distance betveen us - us dere a log-cuttin'. An' when 'is cuttin' stopped, ah stopped aattin', looked tuh see whut wus he doin', weren't thinkin' about nuthin. So chen ah looked he wus standin' up on de log lookin' right straight off tuhwards de cypress pond. He got down off de log an' he walked right straight on off de Way, de direction he wus lookin' tuhward dat pond. He walked on off down dere an' he walked on it. Well, ah nevah pay any 'tenshun, ah went on back cuttin'. Ah say, "Maybe prob'ly got hot an' he's about gone [to] cool off." Dat's whut ah thought tuh mahself. So ah worked on about a hour an' he hadn't came back yet. Ah jes' worked on, hadn't nevah give it a thought. Well, it's about three hours he hadn't come back, so ah thought ah'd go down tuh de pond. Ah went on down tuh de pond where it wus muddy goin' in jes' 'fore yo' git tuh de water. Ah tracked 'im on tuh de watah. Ah whistled an' whistled an' called an' called. Aftah ah couldn't [find] 'im, ah went on aroun' de pond, an' when ah got on de othah [side] de back of de pond - ah seed where he come out. Still ah couldn't git no hearin', ah called an' whistled. So ah went on back, ah said, "Maybe he jes' went off tuh look fo' some [something]." But still he wus in his shirt, nuthin but 'is shirt. Ah went on back an' ah worked on till time tuh knock off. He hadn't came back yet. Time tuh knock off, ah couldn't call 'im up, couldn't whistle 'im. So ah went on back home. So ah went on down tuh his house aftah ah got suppah. He hadn't showed up yet. His wife couldn't tell nuthin about 'im atall. De nex' mawnin' he hadn't showed up. So ah went back out in de woods where his clothes still hangin' dere where he lef' 'em. Well, ah come back tuh de house den tuh tell 'er about it. He git plenty time to git 'rested [arrested for being in his unclothed condition.] Some- body mdght search fo' 'im. Well, de people dat know 'im - de law, dey took 'imup an' dey look fo' 'im dem two weeks. Dey nevah did find 'im. So' 'bout six-eight weeks latah dey got ahearin' from 'im. He wus in de 'sylum. So, I an' 'is wife wus talkin' dere one day aftah he had gone on an' she say, "Yo' know one thing?" "Whut?" Say, "Yo' know whut chew tole 'bout dat rabbit?" Said, "'Yes?" She says, "Ah tried dat. Ah thought yo' wus roun' devilin'," say, "an' dat's whut run mah husban' off from heah."
Entry 6292
Dey'll take yore hair an' put it in runnin' watah an' dat'll cuz yo' to leave home, cuz yo' to run away. Sometime, ah've heard 'em say, it'll cuz yo' to go in a 'sylum. But ah do know, dat it run yo' 'way.
Entry 6293
Kin take yore hair. Take yore hair an' take it an' put it in, chunk it in de rivah, in runnin' watah. An' dat will run yo' 'way.
Entry 6294
Take yore hair an' put it in runnin' watah. Dat make yo' go away, yo' know - leave, jis' wondah, yo' know.
Entry 6339
Ah heard dat chew kin take three stran's of a person's hair an' go tuh a runnin' stream of watah an' put it in dere, if yuh want tuh git 'em outa town - sompin lak dat - an' let it run down. Yuh know, dey put it in de watah in some kinda papah an' jis' let it go down de stream. Dat dey would leave de town.
(You said they wrap it up in some kind of paper.)
Wrap it up in some kind of paper an' let it swim, see. Let it swim downstream an' dat - dat person would leave town.
Entry 6346
If a man would take some hair out a woman haid, or eithah a man haid, an' jes' or'nar'ly - see, we got a sluggish slow tide chere. An' yo' stop it up [in a bottle] jes' as tight as it kin be stopped, see, an' put jes' enough water or anythin' dat sink dat bottle. Jes' let it swim wit de tide a piece, not [sink] right down to de bottom. An' she left town. She won't come, be back, but she won't be hurt. Dat de woman's hair, see.
(That's to run her out of town?)
Yeah, dat's to run her outa town.
Entry 6452
All right, now, heah's anothah one yo' kin take. Yo' be's roun' some person an' yo'll say, "Lemme look at yore feet." Yo' kin take - yo' know dis heah thick skin dat be's in de bottom of a person's feet. Yo' kin scrape out dis thick skin. Jis' scrape a li'le bit offen dis thick skin an' hold it in yore han'. An' if yo' wanta trick a person, undahstan', jis' lak yo' roun' an' someone sleepin' heah, an' yo'all had a argu- ment or sompin, see. Yo' take dat dere scale offen de bottom of dere skin an git chew some sulphuh, undahstan', an' yo' git chew some red peppah. Well, yo' mix dat tuhgethah. All right, den yo' go an' git chew some wild animal blood, an' put dat in dere. All right, aftah yo' mix dat up good, yo' git chew a li'le box, an' put it in a li'le box an' carry it in yore pocket. An' de nex' thing yo' do wit it, yo' carry it tuh a graveyard. See, yo' goes tuh de graveyard an' yo' do's lak dis, yo' go tuh de graveyard an' yo' stan' up [demonstrates], an' de grave is back dere, yo' stan' up by dis grave [like this].
(You stand up with your back to the grave.)
Wit yore back to de grave, an' yo' chunk dat an' yo' say, "Ah hope yo' go 'vay from me. Name of de Fathah, Son an' Holy Ghost, go 'way." Yo' throw dis back when yo' speak de las' words. Dey gone an' yo' don' have no mo' trouble wit 'em.
(What will that do to them then?)
Well, he'll leave yo' an' yo'll nevah see 'im any mo'. Yo'll nevah see him any mo' an' nevah have no mo' [trouble].
Entry 6455
Puts 'em in a bag, dese.
(These fingernails and toenails?)
Yes, takes yore fingahnails an' toenails. Dey git holt of 'em an' puts 'em in a bag. Aftah dey puts 'em in dis bag, dey take an' go tuh de graveyard an' git some dirt in dem an' hang 'em up ovah yore door- sill. An' aftah hangin' yore fingahnails ovah de doorsill, stay up dere awhile, den dey take an' sprinkle dem down by yore do'.
(And what will that do?)
Dat will run yo' away from someone dat dey don' wan' chew tuh be wit.
Entry 7584
Well, ah knows dis to be did. Why dey'd go tuh work an' dey'd go an' fin' where dere's some- body buried, a young person dat is twelve yeahs old. An' dey'd take a can, yuh know.
(A cane?)
A cane.
(Yes?)
An' bo' [bore] dis cane through an' through.
(You mean sugar cane?)
No sir, a cane whut grows in de groun' - what yuh fish wit, yuh see. Don't have tuh be a fishin' cane, but it have tuh be a certain size fo' tuh git de dirt yuh know. [This is probably the cane-reed or southern cane, common names for Arrondinami macrosperma, a tall grass native to wet ground from Virginia to the Gulf States.]
(I see.)
From right off de haid of dat corpse, see. Dey drive dat [hollow cane] down tuh de bottom of dat grave. [This is a slight. exaggeration; a foot would be a good trick.] An' dey gits dat dirt. Well, dey take dat dirt an' dey will loosen it in dat cane enough tuh throw it across de house. Well, aftah dey do dat, well dey'll git a egg den. An' dey'll bust dat egg at de bottom of yore steps, an' bury de hulls [shell]. An' den yuh'll git in a axe so dat yuh can't stay dere - yuh won't stay dere. Yore min' will be always tuh go. Yuh'll go leave dere. Ah've knowed sich as dat tuh be did. Ah lived by some ole people dat used tuh do sich things as dat. People used tuh come tuh 'em tuh do sich things as dat.
(You say you are living by them now?)
No, sir, ah ain't livin' by dem now, but ah used tuh live by them.
(Oh, I see.)
Entry 7594
Ah heard dat chew could go tuh de graveyard. Yuh have tuh go at one a'clock in de night tuh git graveyard dirt. An' yuh git de dirt, graveyard dirt, an' yuh bring it back an' yuh sprinkle dat dirt on people's po'ch, anybody's po'ch, an' make 'em move.
Entry 7595
Go tuh de graveyard roun' 'bout fo' clock in de mawnin' an' buy a penny's worth of graveyard dirt. An' come back an' sprinkle it roun' de house, all roun', an' sweep off de do'step behin' 'im. Dat will move 'em ['em, 'im and 'um are usually the same meaning. Sweeping graveyard dirt is both an uncommon and dangerous rite. The wo- man here, who wants to rid herself of an unwelcome roomer or friend, sprinkles graveyard dirt about the house outside, leaving her- self a dirtless entry. Coming indoors she closes the dirtless entry, the door- step, with graveyard dirt. She is a prisoner in her own home! But, as soon as he walks over the dirt, entering or leaving, she sweeps it away. The spirit in graveyard dirt, not liking to be swept by a dirty broom, flees back to the grave- yard; the man, having crossed the dirt, must go away forever; and the woman, now imune from the graveyard-dirt spirit, is free - for another roomer or frierd.]
(How much dirt do you get from the graveyard?)
Penny's worth.
(How much would that be?)
Dat be - uh two ounces.
Entry 7620
Dey - yuh take graveyard dirt, it will run anybody. Dey goes out an gits some graveyard dirt out of a grave an' put a nickel in dere where dey done got de dirt from, dat whut dey call payin' fo' it. An' dey go back an' go tuh dis person's house, an' take a little pepper, an' mix wit it, an' go dere an' make lak yuh talkin' tuh 'em, yuh know, an' sprinkle it roun' in dere house. Three days aftah dat, dem folks is ready tuh leave dere.
Entry 7621
Wal, dey learnt me dat if yuh wants tuh do any harm wit graveyard dirt, dat chew take ten cents [dime] an' go tuh a graveyard early in de amin' jis' befo' day, an' run yore han' down in dere jis' as deep as yuh kin. Have de dine in yore han' an' drop de dine dosn in. If yuh gu dem person name, yuh call dem name an' tell 'em yuh wants tuh buy a dime's wor' of dust an' do so- an'-so wit it. An' dey say when yuh git dat han'ful of dust, leave de dime dere an' take dat dust an' care [carry] it an' strike it round yore [victims] house. Jis' throw it roun' dey place of business.
(What will that do?)
Dey say that will run dem out or kill 'em, jis' whatsomevah dat yuh tell 'em
[the dead] tuh do - yuh wants tuh do wit it.
Entry 7643
Well, yo' goes tuh de graveyard an' yo' gits some graveyard dust. Now yo' don't git it off de haid, yo' git it off de foot. Dat mean travelin', see. (When you get it off the foot, neans traveling.) Yo' git it off de foot of de person off de grave, see. All right, den yo' come back an' yo' mix dat up wit a li'le pot salt an' jis' go tuh 'er doah, yo' un'ahstan' [understand] an' yo' take dat jis' lak yo' would go in a field an' sow rice, peas or spring cotton or somepin lak dat, yo' know. Yo' jis' sprinkle it fronta her house, right on until all of it give out, an' she'll have tuh leave dere. She couldn't stay dere. She will be all mixed up; he or she, whosomevah it is. All mixed up, jis' couldn't stay dere.
Entry 7648
Whenevah dey's [there is] someone livin' at a place dat dey didn't Wan'em dere, wan'em tuh move or somepin. Dat dey'll go tuh a grave an' take de haidstone an' put it tuh de foot, an' take de foot- stone an' put it tuh de haid. An' reach down in de middle of de grave an' jis' as fah [far] a'zhoo [as you] kin reach - yeh ahm [arm] will go down - an' git some de dirt an' bring it up. An' mix it tuhgethah wit some cayenne peppah, an' sprinkle it aroun' de home where dey äh [are]; an' dey'll leave, dey won't come back.
Entry 7649
Ah heard 'em say, go tuh de graveyard an' git some de graveyard dust cleah [clear] out de man's breast an' bring it back an' put it undah 'is do'step. Dat'll run 'im away.
Entry 7653
Yo' could go tuh de graveyard at twelve a'clock at night an' go tuh somebody grave dat chew know dat wuz not very long buried dere - dat chew know 'em by der name personly [personally], see. An' jis' scratch chew a hole right on de lef' side of de grave tuh de haid part, right where yo' 'magine de heart would be, an' run yore han' down in dere tuh de elbow an' drop three pennies in dere. Git dat sand right on out an' come on back home. Put some cayenne peppah intuh dat graveyard dirt. An' on de side of de baid where he always lay, on de front or de back where he always lay, yo' jis' take dat sand an' sprinkle it on de mattress. An' make yo' bed back up an' let 'im lay on dat. Dat will run 'im right off from yore house.
(You will get rid of him then?)
Git rid of 'im.
Entry 7656
Dey take an' git, yo' know, it have tuh be a rank sinnah or a wicked person. Yo' don't git it off of a Christian. But chew take an' git dat grave- yard dirt off of a sinnah's grave an' off de left side. An' dey take dat an' sprin- kle it all roun' yore house. An' dey says it won't be long 'fo' [before]. some- body, yo' know, die or leavin'. Dey'll leave, anyway.
Entry 7677
If anyone disliked yuh an' wan' choo tuh move - lak yuh a nex'-do' neighbah - dey go tuh de cemetery an' git graveyard dirt tuh make yuh move. Dey say dey go in dere at twelve a'clock at night an' run dere han's jis' as fer as de joint of dere elbow right down in de earth, an' git chew three han'fulla dat fresh graveyard dirt outa dere an' put it in a bucket. An' bury three pennies in dat dirt when yuh take out de las' han'ful out. Yuh put three pennies in de grave. Dey say dat's payin' fer it. An' den yuh bring it back an' sprinkle it aroun' de person do'. An' dat will make him leave.
Entry 7684
Yo' go tuh a - if somebody troublin' yo' an' yo' jis' want 'em tuh git in trouble, see. Yo' go tuh a sinnah - yo' gotta know somebody wuz a wicked sinnah an' got killed - yo' see, a gamblah. Yo' go tuh 'is haid an' dig down about wrist deep. An' put three pen- nies dere an' jis' tell it - jis' lak yo' talkin' tuh in - jis' lakyo' know'im, say, "so- an'-so-an'-so, ah wan' chew tuh go tuh Such-an'-such-a-one an' give dem hell, jis' give dem hell. Wham! Fight 'em, make 'em fight. Make 'em kill if it's necessary." An' yo' put de pennies dere. Kivah [cover] de hole up an' go off. Walk off an' nevah look back. Yo' take dat graveyard dirt an' yo' ketch yore dog an' cut some hair off de end of 'is tail, see. All right, yo' ketch chew a ket [cat]. Yo' cut some hair off 'is haid an' 'is tail. An' yo' take dat dog an' cut jis' a li'le bit of hair out 'is fo'haid. Yo' git some of dis urinate, see. All right yo' git yo' some red peppah, table salt, put wit dat. An' yo go by where dem people stay an' jis' tell 'em [dirt and its ingredients] what chew want 'em do wit it. An' throw it.] Don't evah look back, keep goin'. An yo' ain't goin' be a minute off fo' yo' see 'em raisin' Sam [Sam = devil]. Dey goin' move from dere. Aftah while dey goin' move from dat state.
(That is to run them out of there, run them away.)
Dat's tuh run 'em away. Dat's hard tuh ovahcome. Now ah heah'n [heard] a man tell dat an' ah seen it work. See, fo' a fact he used tuh git me tuh go by dere sometime an' throw it dere. Dis ole Doctor Bush.
Entry 7685
Now, ah saw a woman throw graveyard dirt week fo' [before] las', an' ah know de woman is gone. She lef' evahthin' in de house [she left so fast]. (Well, how did she use that graveyard dirt?) Well, yo' gotta git it off a sinnahman's grave an' den yo' gotta put so much money in dis grave. Dey say dat's payin' 'em fo' de dirt. An' den yo' tell dat spirit tuh run 'em away. An' dat spirit runs 'em away.
(And then waht do you do with the dirt after you get the dirt?)
Yo' take de dirt, care [carry] it an' sprinkle it across dat do', or if yo' kin git it inside, put it inside - inside de house. An' if yo' cain't git it inside de house, jes' sprinkle it crossways de do' where dey gotta come ovah it.
Entry 7693
They kin take those headbo'ds or any part of that bo'd, an' if they wan'a make yo' drift out of the neighborhood, they kin take that an' put it to the doorsill, if they know where they live at, an' make yo' leave there.
Entry 7731
Dey put de li'le bag - yo' sleep in anywhere - in yo' baid in yo' mat- tress, anything. Dey'll slip dat graveyard dirt in it an' put it in de mattress, sew it up intuh de mattress. An' if dey wanta run yo' outa town, run yo' away from dere, den yo'll leave dere, if yo' sleep in dat baid.
Entry 7735
Dat graveyard dirt - dey takes dat graveyard dirt an' dey'll come intuh yore house an' set, laugh an' talk, yo' not payin' 'em any mind. Well, dey'll take dat an' sprinkle it ovah yo'; yo' know, undah yore bed, table, aroun'. Well jes' keeps yo'- rathah be from home den tuh be roun' home. Ah don't care where yo' go, yo' can't stay dere.
Entry 7790
Well, they say that chew can go to a graveyard and take the dirt be- tween the top and the bottom down in the grave, and mix that with a right foot of a rabbit; but the rab- bit must be shot down while he's running. And you take that and then git somebody's finger- nails and toenails and mix in with that, if you're against them, and then put that in a gun and shoot that away; and the direction that you shoots, the indi- vidual will leave, go off that same direction and become a wanderer.
Entry 7810
It's de same as yo' were livin' intuh dis premises right chere, yo' undahstan', an' he might not be a sufficiently good enough neighbah roun', yo' know, in de community, an' yo'd like tuh git someone out chere. Well yo' goes tuh de graveyard yo' undahstan' an' yo' gits holt of some of dat dirt an' yo' put, ah think it's black peppah an' salt, an' yo' sprinkle it aroun' in de fo' cornahs of de house. An' den yo' jis' take de rest an' den yo' scattah it an' go on out tuh de street. It won't be but a day or two befo' dey'll go on, have tuh leave dere.
(Have to move out of the house?)
Oh! dey couldn't stay in dere.
Entry 7847
Den yo' kin git some graveyard dust an' put it in de no'th side of de house an' yo' kin make 'em leave in dat way.
Entry 7857
If ah wus tuh go tuh de cemetery an' gathah some dust, graveyard dirt as we call it, an' come when dey are not suspectin' an' sprinkle it ovah de po'ch. (What will that do then?) Well, dat would, yo' know whut ah mean, corrupt de minds of de persons dat lives in dat place. An' it won't be long befo' dey leave dere.
(That will make them move out.)
Dey'll move.
Entry 7858
Yo' go, if yo' know a person dat die bad, yo' go tuh de grave an' jes' run yuh han' about dat deep in de grave an' git some of de dirt. An' if yo' want a person tuh leave from 'way round yo', throw it on de po'ch. Dey'll be gone. [For an interesting little story about this driving-out-of-a-house rite, see one from Wilmington, N. Car., No.1629, p.506.]
Entry 7870
Take some graveyard dirt, a li'le bit of it an' a li'le bit of salt, an' eithah sprinkle it roun' de house or eithah 'neath de house. An' dat'll make him leave or eithah have a fight. [Florence, S. Car. (1323), 2268:4.]
The informant describes graveyard dirt mixed with salt and reports departure or fighting as alternatives; the account does not establish an observed effect.
Entry 7871
Go tuh de graveyard an' git some graveyard dirt an' bring it back home an' put salt in it, an' sprinkle it all roun' yore do' an' yo'd have tuh go.
(That will drive them away?)
Yassuh.
The informant's description, the interviewer's question about driving people away, and the informant's confirmation remain separate parts of the exchange.
Entry 7886
Yo' go tuh somebody's graveyard [private cemetery on a farm] an' jes' lak dey got somebody down dere, lak yore name is Jane or John or sompin, say, "Well, dere some people's [people is] givin' me trouble an' ah don't know whut could ah do tuh make 'em go 'way." An' reach down in dere an' git some graveyard dirt an' go right back tuh de house. An' put some salt an' sulphur wit it, an' tie it up an' put it right undah de do'steps. An' when yo' go an' put it undah dere, says, "Go, yo' son of a bitch." An' dat John, he'll worry dat house so, he come down de stairs, got a ball an' chains an' buckles an' evahthin', jes' causin' a rattlin', an' dem folks will move.
The informant gives a conditional account with prescribed addresses, not a record of a particular invocation. The bracketed farm-cemetery and grammar explanations are editorial; the rattling and departure remain source-reported.
Entry 7917
Dey say yo' take graveyard dust an' sprinkle it around yore house three times in succession befo' leavin', an' dey say yo'll leave dere - yo' can't stay dere. [For a hazy statement like this one I normally would ask Who sprinkles? Who leaves? Probably I forgot to restart recording when questions began. This could be called a typical spite rite. To get even with the rentman, the departing renter on leav- ing for the last time throws back through the door 3 sprinkles of graveyard dirt. Whether vocally expressed or not, the departing person does this in the Three Holy Names! The next occupant will not be able to remain in the house.]
Entry 7924
I have heard of people giving graveyard dust. You throw it in running water. The person you want to go away or come back will come or go. You throw it over your right shoulder and don't look back but keep walking and have the person in mind.
Entry 7996
Well, dat little coffin, dat is de one like if a woman is in love wit a man. Well, she will cut out maybe a little doll or image of 'im an' dey take dat an' bury dat maybe perhaps by some canal or some place - some guttah or some of dat kind of stuff, like dat. An' dey keeps dat dere an' dis man can't leave out of de town dat he is in. Whatevah town he is in he can't leave out of it, as long as dat coffin is buried in dat town where him an' her is at.
Entry 8001
You can cut out of paper or you can cut them off from shingles and make the image of a person, and write the name and whatever you wish. Well, you can take this shingle and carry it and throw it in running water, or you bury it, or you can take it and hang it upon the side of a tree and let it blow away. That's if you want to run 'em away.
Entry 8029
Well, dey sprinkle it roun' yore house in yore home, de dust of dat dead person - de dead folks' dust yo' know roun' yuh home. Dat creates confusion. If dey want chew tuhleave, dey do dat jis' tuh run yo' 'way from dere. From de dead person bone, dis ole dust from de bones rotten.
Entry 8042
Yo' kin take a pusson's skull attah dey daid, thirty days attah dey daid. [Nothing more is said about skull.] If yo' kin go tuh de graveyard an' turn de casket roun' an' yo' kin take one clip off de end of dis fingah, an' carry it back tuh dey house an' bury it tuh de'steps - dat's wherevah dey come from yo' know, or anybody dat yo' have anythin' ag'inst - dat's about nine days aftah dey's daid, jes' take de fingah off, jes' so yo' git one j'int, an' yo' bury dat at de do'steps an' say, "Yo' leave," jes' lak dat, an' bury it down. If yo' don' believe it, yo' try it, an' it will be datavay. Wit de fingahnail up facin' de house, jes' lak dat, an' dem people have tuh move. Hobody Will nevah stay at dat place. AH KNOWS TWO PLACES RIGHT NOW IN TOwN NO- BODY BEEN ABLE TUH STAY IN LONG AS AH'M IN TOWN. (All you do, you just go out there and just take this finger and bury it in the door. You don't do anything with the skull?) No, yo' ain't gotta do nuthin wit de skull tuh do dat.
Entry 8114
If a person got a photograph, if yo' kin git it an' burn it up an' have somebody tuh bury de ashes right back undah her steps, well dat will give her bad luck. Dat'll run 'er away from town, make her move out dat house.
Entry 8150
[This margin title about graves and graveyards shows how difficult the arrangement or ordering of material in Hoodoo has been. All the following rites could have been placed under section DEATH - BURIAL - GRAVEYARD, Pp.3293-3419. These beliefs, however, actually emphasize photographs.] Lak if yo' got a person an' yo' don't lak 'em an' yo' want 'em tuh stay from yo', when yo' go dere an' git dere hat, pichure or anything an' take it tuh de grave- yard an' bury it - an' dey will be gone fo' good. Yo' will nevah have no more trouble wit 'em.
Entry 8335
Well, yo' kin take her pichure an' carry it tuh a tree an' nail it three times, nail a hole in it three times. An' take it an' put it in runnin' watah, an' dat will make a person leave yo'. (You take this picture to a tree an' you take one nail?) Yeah, yo' nail it three times. (Against the tree?) Against de tree, an' den yo' take de pichure down an' put it in runnin' watah an' dat person will keep goin'.
(You only use one nail though? Just make three holes in it against the tree?)
Yes, against de tree, an' den yo' jes' take de pichure out an' put it in run- nin' watah. (This is the woman that went out when the root doctor came in.)
Entry 8395
De onliest thing, yo' kin go tuh de fork of de road tuh do. Yo' kin take yuh husband's pichure an' go tuh de fork of de road an' bury it. Go dere fo' nine mawnin's an' make watah on it. An' if yo' want 'im tuh die, or if yo' want 'im tuh leave yuh, yo' kin run 'im out of de house dataway.
Entry 8456
Yore photograph is yore pichure. Well, ah've heard dat people have taken yore pichure an' some quicksilvah an' throwed it in watah an' run yo' crazy or make yo' leave home. (Well, what would they do with that quicksilver?) Dey taken an' put it on de pichure [quicksilver here probably tinfoil] an' put it in a li'le sack, an' throw it in a stream of cleah runnin' watah. Jes' lak dis watah's runnin' downstream an' throw it in dat stream of watah, an' turn yo' back on it an' go on back. An' it'll eithah run yo' crazy or make yo' leave home.
(You just spread that quicksilver on the picture? The back of it or?)
On de back of it.
Entry 8485
Well, dey says dat dey kin git chure blood an' write chure name, an' evah whut dey wanta do tuh yuh, write dat wit yore blood. Say, if dey want chew tuh go crazy, say yo'll go crazy; an' if dey want chew tuh leave town, yo'll leave town. If dey want chew tuh stay right dere wit dem - evah whut dey want chew tuh do, why dey write dat aftah dey write chure name an' yo'll stay right dere; but chew gotta take dat, aftah yo' write it, an' put it in a secret place where cain't nobody put dere hands on it but chew.
Entry 8532
Use a coconut, put turpentine in dere an' de party's name, an' stop it up tight an' throw it intuh de Mississippi River, when it will float in de watah, an' de party will leave dere home. Turpentine in dere, yes.
Entry 8539
They tell me that if a person will cross two sticks and then make a cross mark, and have those sticks standing up cross each other right in that cross mark, and put nine pins in there, in that same mark around there, that whichever one that has the longest end to it, the indi- vidual that you have something against, if he has to go that direction [in the direction of the longest mark], put it down there and he'll cross over it for nine days, and then finally his mind'll get confused and he'll wander away from home.
Entry 8555
A person that yo' wanta git rid of all together, an' if he's working against chew, an' yo' kin git his name, yo' understand an' write it, jest write it jest lak yo' writin' a lettah, an' Wrop it comin' tuh yo'. That's if he's against yo' an' yo' Want him to come to yo', wrop it to yo'; an' if he's against yo' an' yo' want him tuh go from yo', wrop it from yo'. An' then if yo' kin git to his steps where dey goes in an out, an' whate'er side, yo' stick de end of that paper, yo' understand, dat yo' had his name, dat's de side he'll go. An' he'll go dere too an' he keep goin' dere, too.
Entry 8744
Yo' know trees, a switch offa each tree, dat is not alike an' go tuh a runnin' watah an' throw dese switches in dere one by one an' call de person name, jes' lak yo' want 'em tuh leave, an' jes' say, "Ah hope tuh God So-an'-so will leave, In de Name of de Father an' de Holy Ghost." An' yo' repeat it ovah, ovah an' ovah, till yo' throw de last nine switches in de watah. [You take one switch from each of nine trees: maple, oak, pine, etc.]
(That's all you have to do. You don't say, The Name of the Son?)
No suh, jes' De Name of de Father an' de Holy Ghost.
Entry 8773
If yo' want a man tuh leave town an' travel all his days an' don't stay no place long, yo' take yo' cord string whut chew git yo' round dese groceries. Yo' seen dat. An' when he git dat cord string, he put nine knots in it, but don't have none loose [have knots loosely tied]. An' den when yo' go to his do' an' call him three times, an' aftah callin' him three times, dodge [away from door] an' don't let him see yo' tightenin' dem knots. [The voice is caught in the tightened knots.] Git chew a gun an' anywhere de d'rection dat yo' want 'im tuh go, yo' put hit in dat gun.
(Put the string in the gun.)
Put de string in de gun an' stick a piece of papah in dere tuh wad it down - lak de ole muzzle-loadin' gun lak we used tuh have yeahs back - fifty yeahs ago [50 years before 1939, date of interview] an' shoot it in dat d'rection. He'll nevah stop travelin'.
Entry 9298
It will run you away.
(Well, how are they supposed to do that?)
Well, they say they write your name on it, on the egg - say they write chure name on the egg with indelible ink. An' they'll take it when de tide is goin' out an' say, as the tide goin' out, you'll be on shore yo' know an' throw it. An' let de tide go with it an' say, "Go, yo' rascal, yo', " or "go yo', enemy, yo', " or something like that yo' know. An' they say, they'il go on away from yo' - say they'll leave here. An' I tell yo' a few weeks ago - no, it was about a month ago now, a woman told me that a lady told her to do that to run a man away from here an' I know he's gone. An' I say, "What did yo' do?" She say, "Why the woman say she went out in de country an' got me a black hen's egg, she say no other egg will work 'ceptin' [excepting] a black hen's egg." I said, "Well, HOW DO YOU KNOW IT WAS A BLACK HEN'S EGG FROM ANY OTHER EGG?" SHE SAID, See, be- cause people buys them so much from her to do that.
Entry 9337
Yo' kin take a aig, lak now a person livin' in de nex' house ovah dere. Well, yo' kin take a aig an' mark it [write name of victim on, see later], dis aig an' make a wish, an' goes somewheres by dem at de crack of sunrise. Well, do dat fo' nine mawnin's an' let de sun be lak de same, an' carry dat aig. An' evah way yo' go back dere fo' de nine mawnin's, go back anothah way, see. If yo' hap- pen tuh go round or go back dis way, let it be a object [opposite or different] mawnin'. Evah mawnin' be a new way comin'. See whut ah mean. If it happen tuh be de las' mawnin' de way yo' went de firs' time, let it be a new way comin' roun' de same thing. [Never go over the same path or road twice during the rite.] Well, yo' kin take dat aig in de last ninth mawnin' an' jes' haul off an' chunk it up on dat house an' let it bust, an' make yore wish befo' yo' bust it, one of dem names in de house. Jes' make a wish an' chunk it up dere. Write his name on de egg. See, dey goin' tuh leave. (You first get you the egg, don't you?) Yeah, git holt de aig. Take dis aig, an' well, fo' nine mawnin's yo' take up dis aig an' walk to someone yo' don't like. See, whut ah mean. Yo' want 'em tuh move out from roun' dere, from dis heah home. Yo' don't undah- stan' why people leave, yo' don't want 'em disturb. Yo' git dat aig an' yo' says, "Ah want dese heah people leave heah wit'out fussin'." Take dis aig an' carry de aig ovah heah, well jes' de time yo' see de sun jes' comin' tuh be. Well, take it out...
(Take it out where?)
To de front - tote de aig tuh de sun. See, jes' take it out where yo' kin see de sun an' turn back - don't look back. An' yo' place dat aig right back in de same place. Well, de nex' mawnin' - yo' do dat fo' de nine mawnin's, goin' out...
(Just going out and seeing the sun?)
Yeah. But don' let de sun be no fu'thah den yo' see it de firs' mawnin'. Don't let it be too fer. Jes' do dat fo' nine mawnin's an' let de sun be de same object an' 'bout de same time. Set yore clock. Do dat fo' nine mawnin's. Make yore wish an' write his name on dat aig an' jes' walk out de same mawnin' 'bout de same time, throw it an' let it bust. Yo' won't have no trouble.
(Where do you throw that egg?)
Jes' throw it an' let it bust on de house. On de left side [as you stand in front of the house looking at the house].
(That will make them move out.)
Dey gone.
Entry 9397
Dey kin take yuh han'writin' an' draw yuh from home, an' dey kin run yuh from home.
(Well, how do they do that?)
Dat's by - jis' as ah fo'say, ah kin take dat an' calls yuh name. Callin' yuh name ah go tuh de shop an' ah buy me three aigs, but ah gotta guarantee dey gotta be black hen aigs. [How informant knows eggs come from a black hen is not explained.] An' twelve 'clock at night, jes' de direction yo' is, ah throw dat aig an' bust it. An' jis' where she fall, SHE RUN YUH AWAY OR BRING YO' BACK.
(Well, how do you accomplish that?)
Becuz yo' are comin' - write chure [= victim's] name on de aig: "God de Fathah, God de Son an' God de Holy Ghost, Power." Den yore name come aftah it on de aig. De direction yo' are tuhward de street outside, twelve 'clock on de minute.
(You throw the three eggs?)
Throw de three aigs.
(That's to bring you?)
Bring yuh or run yuh, eithah one, whichevah yo' want done. Dat's right. (Well, how do you signify that you Want to run them away or to bring them back. How do you do that?) Tell dem on de egg, yo' write it. If yo' right in town - jis' right heah now yo' wanta run dat feliah dat be nex' do', yo' jis' come right by an' if 'is baid in de middle room, yo' throw dat right dere. Well he gone.
Entry 9454
One of de mos' valuable things, yo' kin take salt an' run evahone out dat house in ten minutes.
(Just how would you do that?)
Jis' take dat broom an' open de back do' an' de front do', jis' lak yo' open dis do' heah, an' take de broom an' turn it bottom upwards, an' put a handfulla salt right in de broom, an' set it wit de broom up an' close de do'. In ten minutes evahone of 'em git restless an' leave dere. Ah run company dat way some- times, when ah have company home an' git sick of 'em. Ah jis' git up an' go in de kitchen, an' take de broom an' set it behin' de do' an' throw salt on top of it, come back dere an' set down. In about ten minutes dey all git restless an' leave - dey go an' leave.
Entry 10639
An' den ag'in yo' see where dem little antses come in yore house - yo' see dem antses comin' in yore house, strollin' in lak a little trail. Pret- ty soon yo' goin' move from dere. Dey [law] come an' move yo' out. Yo' goin' leave, too. (When you see the ants com- ing in that way.) In dat house - dey make a trail in dere, de little antses, one right after de othah, some comin' an' some goin'. Dey goin' move yo' out an' yo' goin' go, too.
Entry 9622
Jes' lak he visit de home backwards an' forwards [visits frequently]. Evah tue he leave yo' jes' take some cayenne peppah an' sulphuh an' salt, an' throw it behin' 'im an' make a curse or somepin or 'nothah an' sweep 'is track. He'll have tuh go away.
(That will make him stay away?)
Dat's right. He couldn't stay dere.
Entry 9647
Ah've heard it said, yo' kin take table salt an' black peppah. As dey go out de do' yo' sprinkle it behin' dem, an' yo' take de broom an' yo' sweep it out behin' den. And dey say dey will leave an' dey won't evah come back dere no more.
Entry 9809
Well, now if yo' is livin' neah me an' dey brings on confusion between I an' yo' which we can't git along or make us bat up wit one 'nothah, yo' kin take eight straight pins. Eight straight pins now. Yo' lay fo' of 'em tuh yore front do'. Yo' lays fo' tuh yore back do'. An' yo' goin' have tuh move 'way from dere. Yo' can't stay. (Do they lay those in any particular way?) Well, yes, yo' lay all de p'ints back out at de front steps, see. Jes' lak yo' go in de house, yo' come up an' go in de house over de step, well, yo' lay dose pins lak dat, de p'ints p'intin' out p'intin' 'way from de house back an' front.
(That makes you move.)
Entry 9851
I have hear'd talk of a needle - dat yuh kin break up needles. Yuh take needles, needle dat sewin' wit, about twelve needles, an' crush 'em up. Yuh know, pind [pound]'em up. An' put 'em wit peppah an' sprinkle 'em arom' a person doah. An' dey'd soon leave dere, an' dey'll take badly off sick befo' dey go.
Entry 9932
Well, it's 'cordin' tuh whut dey put down fo' yuh tuh walk ovah. Well, dey kin put diff'ren' things down fo' yuh tuh walk ovah. Well, jis' fo' instant [instance] say yuh kin take frogs de way dey hops. Well, dey takes dat frog. It's how dey fix de stuff. Yuh see dey takes dat frog an' kills 'em an' dey lay dat frog in de sun an' let 'im dry up, yuh see - jis' dry up dry. An' dey powdahs dat up yuh see. When dey powdahs dat up, dey put dat down dere fo' yuh tuh walk ovah, yuh see. Or else dey take it an' throw it in yore room some place an' yuh walk ovah dat, why dat supposed tuh make yuh move, yuh see. Dat'll move yuh, run yuh away, yuh see.
Entry 10824
If someone in yore house an' yo' wants 'em tuh leave or eithah stay, yo' lay dat broom down in de flo' an' let dem walk ovah dat broom an' if yo' want 'em tuh leave, yo' take it tuh de no'th side of yore room an' set it up wit de sweepin' part down, an' dey'll jis' leave all de way round. Dey won't come round dere any mo'. An' jis' lak if yo' want 'em tuh stay, well, yo' know, tuh come roun' yo' very often, yo' Set it up wit de sweepin' part up, an' dey'll often come tuh look aroun', yo' o, at chure house; come an' see yo' [if] anything dey kin do fo' yo', dey'll do dat.
(This is on the north side of the house?)
Yeah, it must be on de no'th side of de house.
Entry 10848
To make 'em leave, if somebody is heah dat chew wanta git rid of 'em. Well, if yo've got anything with any of yore clothes or anything, if ah kin git a buzzard or anything an' kill him an' git some of his grease. Lakif yore clothes is hangin' up dere [points to something] ah'll take an' run some of de grease maybe in yore clothes. Rub it under de arms of yore clothes or somewhere near, round in heah [demonstrates]. Yo' couldn't tell it wuz on dere.
(What will that do?)
Yo' will leave home.
Entry 10935
Okey. You kin take a catfish - a fresh catfish - and if someone done did you somepin and you wanta make 'em leave town, you take their name and write it down. And take that catfish and cut him open and sew their name up in that catfish. And go to the river and throw it overboard. And he going to, to drift away from town i that person, after you get their name. He going. He don't leave with somebody, he going leave.
Entry 11072
But she says if he leaves, she says don't worry about him going. If you wanta bring him back, if you got anything in the world that belong to him, [she] say you just make your wish. And if your wish is for him to come back, take it to any stream that is contin'ly running and put it in there. Then you turn around and come back, and atchly [actually], in a short while he'll return. He'll never be satisfied nowhere he goes, he's bound to come back wherever he left from.
Entry 11313
[Take] de hair from undah a dog's left laig, left hind laig, an' bury it down at de front do'step. He nevah will leave home. He'll stay right dere. Don't care if somebody steal him an' carry him off, he'll come back.
Entry 11674
Go to the forks of a road and yo' can git dat dirt jes' as it turn off at de forks of de road, yo' kin git dat dirt an' yo' kin take it and bring it back an' sprinkle it in a person's shoes an' if dey wearing dat shoe an' yo' want 'em to go, that will keep them going.
(But you must get this dirt from the fork of the road.)
Git it from de turn, that's to make them leave. (It must be the dirt from their track?) Not from their track. Yo' go out to the forks of the road, you git dat dirt.
(Anybody's dirt or any kind of dirt.)
No, yo' git de dirt out of the road, not nobody else's track.
Entry 11723
Fix it up an' go in de cemetery an' git some dirt an' fixes it up.... (That is all you put in it?) No sir, yo' put sulphur an' put dis table salt an' red peppah, grind it fine, an' yo' take it an' sprinkle it anybody's track - sprinkle it ovah dere - say dey'll leave an' dey won't come back no mo'.
(You call that mixture goofer dust?)
Yes. [This informant gave an unusual account of how to sell self to the devil, No.375, v.1.]
Entry 11775
Mix graveyard dirt, cayenne pepper, and henhouse manure, and throw at victim's house 9 mornings to run that person out of town. [Wilmington 260:2.]
Entry 11793
Mix graveyard dirt and cayenne pepper, throw it about person's house, tell occupants to move, and they'll go. [Wilmington 141:7.]
Entry 11820
Graveyard dirt about door causes quarreling; man will leave the house.
[Richmond 369:1.]
Entry 11917
If you bore a hole in a tree and stop up a person's hair in it, it will either rumn the person crazy or out of town. [For a long time I could not understand how hair stopped up in a tree could run a person out of town. Nothing could be more illogical! Gradually I learned that intention or wish was more powerful than action or symbolism.] [Wilmington 74:3+85.]
Entry 11977
If you tie a person's hair into a handkerchief and throw it over your left shoulder into running water, the victim will soon leave that place. [Peters- burg, Va., 426:6.]
Entry 12105
Hear dey take de bow out of a man's hat. Take de bow out of man's hat an' wear it in de toe of dere shoe an' dat will make 'em leave town. [This looks more like holding a man, but intention is everything. That bow in her shoe is a walking bow. It keeps him walking.]
(Well, who would do that, primarily?)
De woman would take de bow out of a man's hat.
Entry 12423
Now, she kin take a piece of cord, or a piece of string, or anything lak dat an' measure him, yo' see. Yo' ketch de string tight an' yo' measure him. Den aftah measurin' it, yo' tie dem nine knots, an' yo' put it in a bottle or put it in a can or any- thing lak dat an' throw it in de rivah. Yo' see an' dat'll keep him driftin' - jes' keep a-goin'. Dat's when yo' wanta run a fellah way.
Entry 12604
So, well, ah goes on to another man den, an' he learnt me some things about how to run a person away from yore place of business. Lak if yo' loved a girl friend an' if yo' don't wanta be bothered wit dis fellah an' he look like he gitting de best holt [hold on her], dis fellah tole me to git red pep- per an' manage some kind of way to slip it into de toe of his shoe. See, an' dat will run him away from dis place, an' everywhere he go - everywhere he'd git to her jes' couldn't res', he jes' had to keep agoin'. Well, dat's de way to get rid of a person, if yo' bothered with 'em an' don't want to be bothered with 'em. Dat's de way to get rid of dem.
Entry 10242
I've heard of 'em takin' a handke'chief an' measurin' [a man's penis] so many inches, don' choo understand. I don't know whether it's six inches or what it is. An' they'll tie it. I think, the handke'chief in three knots, an' they will bury it. That'll make that man, don' choo understand leave home. That's what I heard 'em say. That'll make that man leave home, don't choo understand an' go the Way that they want 'em to go. They's some women, don't choo understand, they - you know - they don't [want] de man themselves an' they don't want choo to be there wid your people. An' they'll do anything in the world they kin to break 'em up.
Entry 10841
Taking a buzzard feath- er an' bury it to yore do'step an' dat'll drift yo' 'way - make yo' leave home.
Entry 11032
Suppose that you leave home and the woman want to bring you back home, Want you to come home. Now, what will she do? She'll take a feather out of a rooster and get a forked stick, like this [demonstrates] cut it off here, stick a feather in that, by splitting it, you know. And stick the rooster feather in it, and name that rooster feather for whatever de man is named. And stick it in de back yard, where she want him to come, just with the top of it out, and he'll come back.
[Here is the forked or "Y" stick.]
(Just the top up with the feathers on the two sticks up?)
De fork [corrects me by demonstrating]. (You put the fork down in the ground. And that handle - so the handle is split with the feather in it?) That's it.
(But you cover that up a little bit?)
You cover up de wood but leave the feathers sticking out.
(Oh, you leave the feather sticking out. I see.)
Because the feather is named him - is named for him. Leave the feather sticking out. Say, now like, "John, I want you to come home and stay here." You stick that down with the feather out, and John will come.
(John will come home.)
[While machine is turned off, informant explains and I repeat it.]
(Now, "John, go away from home." You prepare it the same way and bury it. Then they take it up? Then he'll leave home?)
[Informant repeats what I had missed.]
Now, if you want John to go from home, why you just name that same thing to John and carry it out from home and bury it and den he won't come home. (Oh, you bury it away from home! But if you want him to come, you bury it in the back yard?) Yes, sir. [A note of mine in green ink years ago reads: notice symbolism. I suppose this means: to bring back, the handle or stem of the Y stands up人; to send away it stands Y - the shooting away position for a rubber-shooter. For a similar "Y" fork rite, see in wishbone rite in No.]
Entry 11186
You take dat to de crossroads - dat nine strands of de devil's-shoestring dere. (Nine strands?) Of devil's-shoestring. (You take a piece of devil's-shoestring?) Devil's-shoestring, and you kin take nine strands and plant it at de crossroads: dat three in de east, three in de west and three in de north, and de south is open. And cover dat up. Under- stand me, after you cover dat up, den say one word to dat. Dere you are, and turn around and go away from it - dat's a very diff'rent proposition.
(What does that do?)
Dat's a detrimental character, dere you are. If you want a person to leave from 'round you, dere yo' are.
(I see, that will make them leave?)
Shore.
(You take nine strands of the...)
Devil's-shoestring.
(You put three strands to the east.)
Three in the west.
(Three west.)
Three in the north and leave the south then open.
(What do you say when you do that?)
I say, "Go, damn you, go."
(I see, you say that and then you cover it up.)
Cover it up dere.
(Where do you come from?)
New Orleans - 219 Ramport Street.
The informant describes nine devil's-shoestring strands at a crossroads, three each east, west and north with the south open, covered with a command to make a person leave. Repeated questions clarify placement and wording; the source's command and variable ordering of speaking and covering remain explicit. The later personal address is context only.
Entry 11475
(What do they do with that?)
Well, they kin make you leave town with that. Just get that, what they scrape off the bottom of your feet, and take that and go to the drug store and get you some concentrated lye and put it into that. And then take it and tie it up in a handkerchief or something, and then leave it it set such a length of time.
(For a certain length of time?)
Well, about a week, about a week or six days. And then take that and go bury it under your doorstep. And you'll leave.
(Under the doorstep of a person that you want to move?)
Yes, sir, the same thing as that. [Vicksburg 1008:7.]
Entry 12021
Hair buried in a graveyard runs its owner crazy, or runs him away, or make a wanderer of him. [Baltimore 44:3.]
Entry 12930
Ah learned about de new shingle from a house, sech as bad luck or like dat. Dey said dat if yo' have - jes' like dis building heah an' yo' ovah yondah somewhere. Git chew a new shingle an' bring it an' tack it on dis buildin', if yo' want anybody to leave out from dis buildin'. When yo' tack dat new shingle on dere, dey said it won't be long befo' someone will take sick in dat house, an' aftah dey take sick when dey git up, dey'll leave out. (You tack a new shingle on somebody's house.) [Waycross, Ga., (1159), 1935:4.
Entry 12970
Dey throw shoes in runnin' watah, git de right shoe an' throw it in runnin' watah. Well, he will go 'way - he'll go clean away. [Wilson, cylinder reference lost, but informant, No.1500, comes between informants 1499 (cyl.2667) and informant 1504 (cyl.2671).]
Entry 12979
If someone cuts a piece out of your shoe and tacks it up under the house, you can't leave that house. [Mobile 903:2.]
Entry 12981
To send person away it is better to put his shoe on the train engine than in a boxcar. [Memphis 1551:5.]
Entry 13195
Woman with cruel husband, doesn't want her to go anywhere. She puts a teacup of sugar in his right sock, buries where he walks over, an' you's free to go anywhere you want and he'll be pleasant for you to go. [Mobile 969:4.]
Entry 13196
Take man's right foot sock, put sugar in, stop up in bottle or jar, bury under house, he can't leave. [Memphis 1560:11.]
Entry 9813
Well, yo' go git chew nine needles, nine pins; jes' take nine needles an' nine safety pins. Jes' cross de needles an' put de pins up an' dom. See, heah's de needles crossed an' heah's de safety pins across dem. Lak if yo' have a piece of cloth heah [demon- strates] an' yo' stick a needle across in it dere, yo' stick a safety pin lak dat [demonstrates] but don't hook it.
(You put the safety pin across this needle right in the cloth.)
Dat's right, but don' hook it, undahstan'. An' yo' take dat den - aftah yo' git 'em in dere, yo' take dat piece of cloth, if dey anywhere aroun' neah an' jes' take it - yo' ain't gotta bury it if yo' don' wanta. Yo' kin wrap it. Yo' kin bury it middleways of de steps, if yo' git undah dere. Go right middleway of yore steps. Don't have [to] bury it or yo' kin do it, jes' in de middleways of de steps. Dey ain't goin' stay dere long 'fore dey be gone.
(This will move them out.)
Yes sir, dey won' come roun'. Dey won' even come up dat steps no mo'. Dem same nine needles ah's tellin' yo' 'bout, dem same nine needles, yo'll cross de firs' one across. Put de needles 'cross an' de pins straight up an' down - de safety pins.
(Get a piece of cloth like that?)
Yes, an' put dem in dere an' let 'em stay in dere, an' put it 'way somewhere. "Stead [instead] of 'im goin' off, he'll stay roun' dere. De person dat's been bothahin' yo' is goin' tuh leave dere, an' de law ain't hardly goin' come. Dat's whensomevah yo' wants tuh run dis person dat's bothahin' yo', an' whensomevah yo' wants yore customah tuh come tuh yore house an' de police tuh stay away.
Entry 2274
Said dat if yo'd like to run a person from a place, yo' could put salt around their bed, an' dey wouldn't be interested in staying dere no longer - dey would soon leave.
(How do you put that salt around their bed?)
Well, jest po' a little slight stream, yo' know, wit de hand - a little hand- ful, yo' know, jest round de bed in a circle.
Entry 4059
Yo' kin take a person chamber lye an' po' it in a bottle, an' take it an' bury it underneat' chure do'step. Have a little hole in dere, yo' know, where it will drip it lak dat. An' when de las' drop go out, drop out, DEY'LL LEAVE WIT DAT LAS' DROP.
(I would do that with their chamber lye to make them leave?)
Make 'em leave, see - git rid of 'em, kill 'em. See, dey'll lingah along yo' see.
The account places a bottle beneath a doorstep. This link retrieves that doorway location; it does not identify the doorstep with a door panel. The continuation describes making someone leave and killing them; these are source claims, with no established outcome.
Entry 4238
Take chamber lye an' yuh kin put salt in dat an' throw dat in de rivah. Dey say dat will run yuh 'way from home.
(You would throw this person's chamber lye in the river.)
Entry 4292
Yuh go dere early in de mawnin' jis' a little befo' day - tuh dis house, yassuh, an' yuh sprinkle red peppah all around it, all in de yard, an' heavy undah de steps where dey have tuh go in an' out. When yuh git through sprinklin' dis red peppah, den yuh take yuh some chamber lye an' throw it undah de steps on de peppah dat's undah de steps. An' den yuh leave. Dat brings up confusion between 'im an' 'is family an' de person dat he's dealin' wit, an' he'll have tuh leave dere.
(That is to get even with the landlord? To keep people out of the house?)
Yessuh.
Entry 4583
Yuh take dis little bow here an' take some devil's-shoestring dey call it. Take dat devil's-shoestring an' dis bow an' some cinnamon bark an' salt [and] black peppah. An' dey takes dis bow an' put it in de sole of yuh shoe. See, like yuh got a shoe, a woman would do dat. Dat's tuh make her - make yuh stay. Yuh goin' tuh stay right wit 'er. An' she'll take dat an' put it in de sole of 'er shoe an' wear it dere. As long as she got dat thing in dere, yuh can't leave her.
Entry 13309
Use de thresher [thrasher] feet.
(The feet from a thrasher, the bird. What do you do with those?)
Yo' take an' put that in a bottle. Yo' bottle dat wit chure hair, an' put milk in it, an' yo' put love powders in dere, an' put sulphur in it, an' put red peppah in it, an' yo' work it up airtight, an' dat'll do de work den. Dat will run 'em away. (What do you do with that bottle?) Yo' take dat bottle an' put it in de no'th or de east corner of de garden. Yeah, dat'll make him leave, or if yo' wanta run him crazy, that will run him away.
Entry 11497
Den yo' kin [take] dey foot track an' put up ovah de do' an' dey'll nevah leave dat house. Dey'll stay in dat house. Dey'll nevah leave dat house.
[Sumter 2413:6b.]
The account repeatedly predicts that they will never leave the house; the negative relation is retained without establishing an effect.
Entry 11758
If you [not a member of household] throw graveyard dirt about house, the spirit of the dead within the dirt will worry the occupants until they leave.
[Wilmington, 139:3+85.]
The conditional account predicts occupants leaving after alleged worry; the non-household-member specification is bracketed editorial wording.
Entry 12969
You can take that same piece, like I told you to [the insole of a shoe in 1347:1] put that saltpeter under, in the toe of the shoe, and throw it in some running water, and you'll get up and start to go on - you'd leave home and never come back. That same piece out of that shoe. [New Orleans 1348:1.]
The informant predicts leaving home and never returning after a described disposal; the preceding-piece identification is partly editorial.