Subject:Leaves
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Entry 7027
Yo' take de fig leaves. Yo' git green fig leaves an' yo' put 'em somewhere or 'nothah lak yo' grind 'em up. Powdah 'em up yo' know jis' lak yo' would throw terbacca [tobacco] until yo' poun' dose green leaves up. Yo' know whut ah mean. Yo' let dem git dry enough till yo' poun' dem green leaves teetollay [teetotally] up intuh a powdah, an' yo' kin use it. Dat sup- posed tuh be wit candy or chewin' gum or anythin' else. Jis' sprinkle a li'le of dat powdah on de chewin' gum or candy, an' dat'll absolutely break 'em from drinkin'.
(Drinking liquor?)
Yes sir.
Entry 892
About fifteen years ago [1922] I was workin' to a place an' didn't seem like de peoples seemed to like de way I was gittin' along. I was gittin' along purty well. [Then he becomes ill.] An' come along a colored fellah and his wife an' he told me, he say, they had buried somepin around the place where I worked at to throw me out mah job an' make me unhealthy. So he ast me - he was out de woods - there's a weed in de woods they call gall of de earth. I told [him] I did not [know it]. He say, "Well, you come an' I'll show it to yah. [It was] a little black place right down in de branch here [near Hartsville, S. Car.] an' he take me down there an' says, "Will you know this when you see it again?" I tole 'im, "Yes, I think so." But I ain't seen none of it around heah [Wilmington, N. Car.]. I've been lookin' close for it thinkin' I'd stay in tetch with it. So he had me to send an' git some vinegar. [Previously] I tole him mah right feet was swell up four times big as mornin [normal] - mah leg up to mah hip. I had to drag it. An' he put on a kittle an' heats some water. He put cookin' salt, vinegar an' chamber lye, some sun-cure [rather than smoke-cured] tobacco in it, and strained it out an' this gall of the earth, an' he boiled it about five minutes. Then he got de foot tub and he put a cover over it like this, an' he stirred it a little bit an' he kep' feelin' in it an' it got so he tole me to put mah feet in it. He took dese leaves of this gall of de earth - they's about dat wide I reckon an' about dis long, look kin'a like somepin dey call dog tongue [= hound's-tongue], [used these leaves] like a cloth, an' he bathed mah leg down [magic rite of down- ward] and feet. An' then he took de other handful of green stuff, gall of de earth leaves. He beat 'em up an' he put de salt an' [corn] meal in it, an' then he taken some of this same stuff he bathe mah feet with an' dampen it good all over an' bind mah leg down dis like I'd wrapped it around a wound. An' de next mornin' I could walk. De swellin', ever' bit of it was gone. An' it ain't never hurt me in that ankle since, but ever' year I have a hurtin' in de hip along between now [February] an' de spring of de year.
(How did he say you were hurt?)
He dug - was some kin'a bottle about half as big as that brown bottle yonder, about a half pint, an' it was a lota diff'rent kin'a roots in it. I don't know what dey was in it. An' he took it an' he shuck it up an' he looked at it an' he put some kin'a seal on it an' done some markin' on de paper [he pasted on the bottle] with a pencil an' he tole me did I know way dey a runnin' stream was. I tole him yes. He ast me how fer it was. I tole about a half of mile. So he said, "Well, you arrange to git dere an' throw it in dere at twelve o'clock mid- night." He say, "When you git dere, you jis' say, "Between the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost, beside me dere is no other [only time I ever heard this unusual addition, ' an' throw it right over your head, be sure you throw it in the water, an' don't look back at it." He say, "Go on back home. An' den after dat he went off an' died an' I never could tell no more about it by me changes places [moving] comin' over here [to Wilmington]. This happened in Hartsville, South Carolina. [Wilmington, N. Car., (312), 240: l; I interviewed his wife (313), next.]
Entry 1116
You get bazley. You take this bazley and you boil it. (You mean this vaseline out of a bottle?) No, bazley - it grows like a - smells sweet. (Basil?) Basil - sweet basil, they call it.
(Is it a flower?) [I still was not too certain.]
It's a leaf - it grows - you plant it - you gets the bazley seeds and you plant it, and it grows and it smells nice and is good around the place. Now, you take that bazley and you take some of those leaves and you boil 'em. And you take that water and you get you a handkerchief and, for instance, put it in a bowl with fust a little - that little water you boiled it in - and take it and do all this [demonstrates].
(Just wipe or wash yourself down.)
Bathe yourself with that - bathe yourself with that for nine mornings and they can't do you no harm.
(This sweet basil - is that called sweet basil?)
Basil - you buy it at the seed store and you plant it.
(Is this a kind of a flower?)
It comes up like it has a little flowers on it when it's going to seed.
(What color are those flowers?)
Little white flowers. [Good.]
(White flowers.)
And sweet smell all over - you can just put your hand over it like that and smell it - nice basil, sweet basil.
(Now, after you bathe that way, then what?)
Just throw that water out for nine mornings and they can't do you no harm.
(Just throw that water any place?)
Any place.
Entry 1250
Dat's good tuh cure any poison. Yo' take de fig tree - first yo' take de leaves an' then yo' go an' git the root. Yo' git de root an' de leaves, stir it together an' make a tea. Aftah yo' stir it together an' make de tea, yo' git brimstone, sulphur, sweet milk, an' fifty cents in silver, a ole fifty cents, an' boil it together. Make a tea an' drink the tea three times daily. Take the fig root - boil de fig root an' bathe wit de water an' always throw it to sunrise; if yore poisoned, every bit will come out - it couldn't stay in.
(You drink this tea only from the leaves?)
Outa de leaves.
(And the root tea you use just for bathing?)
Fo' bathing - dat's right.
Entry 2234
In case yo' an' me are bootlegging an' ah wanta keep de law away from you, well it's a weed dey calls de rattlesnake marster. [I had been called a bootlegger before - see No. 808, p.279.] (Did you tell me why they call it the rattlesnake master?) It's de master of all snakes - it's de rattlesnake master, it conquers ev'rything. Well, it grows out heah - ah intend tuh bring it down heah an' show it to yo so yo' kin know. Yo' see it has wide leaves on it jes' lak dat an' yo' gits two of 'em - it's a he an' a she. De she one de leaves is got speckled splotches on it - red, jes' lak blood; an' de he one ain't got it on dere. You see you put that in two cans an' sell it. Yo' see those pair goes together. Yo' see yo' sets dem on each side of yore door an' no sheriff or nobody kin interfere wit yo' atall. (If you are bootlegging.) [For rattlesnake master identity, see No. 1436, p.469.]
Entry 878
[As the preceding examples indicate, the first part of a hoodoo consul- tation concerns time: either You came to me just in time or You came too late - depending upon whether the doctor thought his cure would succeed or fail. We now come to the second part of the consultation, which is always something like: You're on your way to the graveyard!1 He lived over on the same farm that I was raised on - I left there when I was four years old - and he claimed that he was one of these high fellahs [usually high man = root doctor or cunjureman on the Eastern Shore]. So he got his name out here as being one of those high fellahs. So he fixed the path between his house and our path, our house rather, and fixed this path up like he wanted it. In fact, he got himself a spool and he made some holes in this spool just about the size of a needle point. He takes these needles and he puts 'em down in here. And he goes and gits himself some muratic [muriatic] acid [commercial name for hydrochloric acid]. He bores [small holes] in the bottom of this bottle and lets the points of these needles go through this spool just where they could touch this acid. Well, the needle would stick up just above de earth where these barefooted folks walked. ["The heads of the needles touched the acid and the points stuck up above the ground" - my note made at the time of my transcription, a few days after story collected.] And then, naturally, when a man come along and stepped on one of these spools with his bare foot, you know what took place, with that muratic acid through that needle in his flesh. ["The acid is supposed to go through the length of the solid needle" - my note at time of my transcription.] And in two or three days time this man would be all swelled up and dey didn't know what was the trouble. Now, they had to send for him. [No high man, even a stupid one, would have used such a crude trick as exposed needles in a path. This piece of gossip is merely one of many versions of the buried-needle theme - a pain or swelling in foot or leg comes from walking over a buried needle. However, a person does not step on an exposed needle point; contact between needle and flesh is magical. Originally the buried needle was a buried root (see No. 718, p.239). The author or editor of our story has heard of hypodermic needle but he does not know that it is hollow. How he thought acid could flow through a solid needle I am unable to say.] He'd come around and tell 'em, 'There's first, one thing buried here around this post." Said, "I don't wonder tha' chew being swelled up - no, I don't." He says, "Man, you got somepin awful around your house here. I kin move it. I know right where it is and I kin take it away from here. Well, naturally, you want that thing taken away. You all swelled up there and didn't know what de trouble was. He'd go to work and he'd come there, and he'd git a bottle of hair, needles and pins, first one thing and then another, and bring it in the house, open this bottle, and there you'd find all this stuff. He said, "Man, you're ruined, you ruined for life. You've got to be worked on and worked on quick." And he just gone there and took those few needles up in the earth there, see [those he was supposed to have buried], and he'd know just what to do, you know, to cut that acid from hurtin' yeh or burnin' yeh to death. And you'd pay him your money. And the first thing, you know, he'd go in the pound [cattle enclosure] and git a ole dumplin' of cow dung, you know, and fix it up. And go out and git hisself a few leaves of ole field mullein and elder roots, and boil all of that stuff up together. Then he'd put that on a fire and boil it up, and put some rock salt in there and a little table salt, fix it up, in a few minutes have your feet in there up to your knees. And you sit there now until he tell yeh to get up in a certain length of time.
Entry 1411
Then I seed a woman taking a frog from a woman. She got some peach tree leaves and she boiled them until they was real, real strong, and then she'd taken table salt and put in it and saltpeter and bathed her. And she put twenty drops of turpentine in that and give her a dose of castor oil behind it and it passed through her. (Now, what did she make to wash her with? And what did she give her to take inside, now?) Peach tree leaves - just an ordinary peach tree. Well, she just got those leaves and she boiled them until they were real, real, real strong; and then after you know, she got 'em boiled clean and cooled out, she put twenty drops of turpentine in it, and she put so much saltpeter in it and table salt. Did you understand me? [I was supposed to be somewhat deaf - for recording purposes.]
(I understand.)
Then she bathed her with it and also give it to her to take.
(Oh, there's just one liquid - you bathe in it and you drink some?)
Yes.
(I understand now. I see. And that got these frogs out.)
And afterwards she give her purgative behind it, and it worked it all through her.
Entry 1993
Dey would go to a man fer to get good luck. So when dey go to dis guy, dis guy would tell 'em you know. It would be a little black bag, have a whole lot of little things in it. It would look somepin like little pieces of stone, and a little piece of dried leaf Would be all cut up, you know, in there. I seen 'em. I seen one of 'em and I tore de thing open, I didn't know what it was, fer to see what it was. It was a little fine pieces of stone and it looked like some little leaves was into it and some little gravels looked like offen de ground. So they said de fellah says fer to hold it tight, keep it in your pocket all de time; an' if you leave it to git loose, it would git away from you and go back to 'im and you wouldn't have no luck.
(What do they call this bag?)
A qood-luck bag. You kept it in your pocket where you keep de money. You know, it would be mos' fer a man. Well, if a woman would carry one, they would have to keep it in de pocketbook.
Entry 2086
To keep de police away is tuh git chew High John de Conker root. Git chew High John de Conker root an' Lucky Heart - dat's a weed dat grow up an' it shaped in a heart like, lak dey call it Lucky Heart. It's a red leaf, dey call it Lucky Heart. Yo' take dem two tuh- gether an' yo' put 'em together in a red flannel sack, yo' see. An' yo' take an' put chew some sulphur in dere wit dat. Yo' understan'. An' yo' bury dat right undah yore do'step. Git chew two sacks so yo' kin make two of 'em. Put in each do'step an' dey tell me if de law come dere, dey can't come in. If dey do, dey overlook ever'thing whut dey come in dere fo'.
Entry 6820
Take de grapevine an' de gourd vine an' dese things dey call sunflow- ahs, an' yo' kin make a tea wi' dat. An' dat is very good tuh take fo' de blood if anyone go tuh work an' work on yore blood agains' chuh. Well, yo' kin go tuh work an' work wit dat, an' nobody kin nevah hurt chew. A gourd vine is a very simple medicine tuh take against poison any time. If anybody take it, dey nevah git poisoned.
(Well, what would they take from the gourd vine?)
Jis' de leaves, eithah de vine.
Entry 8436
Jes' lak a photograph [demonstrates with something]. Dat's de breast. Right in de centah of yore heart. Go tuh a mahsh [marsh] an' yo' jes' - jes' lak yo' are on side of de sea down dere. Yo' git dat pitchure an' yo' put it right down dere. Yo' git chew a tenpenny nail....
[Informant has been demonstrating all the while.]
(Wait now, you turn that picture upside down.)
Dis heah is de face [demonstrates].
(I see, turn it over on its face.)
Dat in de centah of de mahsh.
(Right in this marsh.)
An' yo' got dat thing right in de centah. Yo' turn dat pitchure down jes' so. Git chew a tenpenny nail dat ain't nevah been drove an' drive it down dere[demon- strates].
(Drive it through the heart.)
Yes, sir, right through de heart. Git chew some leaves an' covah it. In nine days yo'll be daid.
Entry 9123
[The statement in the following text about the tribes of Israel comes from hoodoo, not from a critical study of the historical sources.] De shoe business is lak dis: Dere's twelve tribes in de Bible an' dere's 56 tribes of de whole thing. In de third chaptah of St. Luke yo' find all de tribes, but dere's twelve special tribes of Israel in dose chapters. Well, yo' take dem. Now, dis is de way tuh handle things in co't an' handle things anywhere yo' goes tuh have peoples tuh go wit chew, yore way. Yo' read de 56 tribes, an' put down a green leaf of sage evah time yo' read a tribe. Yo' take green sage. Yo' undahstan' me. Ah don't mean nuthin but de pure sage. Yo' know, peoples take some othah things fo' sage. Well, ah means sage. Evah time yo' read a tribe, take a green leaf of sage an' lay it on dere. Now, dere's lak fo' leaves. Yo' understan' me. Until yo' read 'em all an' yo' [have] 56 leaves down dere. Well, de superior tribes is twelve. Yo' takes de tribes of Benjamin, take de tribes of Noah[!], an' de tribes of Moses[!] - dere's twelve of 'em. Jes' keep on till yo' - yo' know de special [12] tribe. De tribes of Israel is de main tribes, but dere's twelve of 'em - de twelve tribes. Well, yo' take dose tribes an' aftah yo' read de 56, yo' go back an' yo' skip fo' an' take one. Evah time yo' skip one, yo' see, yo' leave three an' pull out one an' place it ovah heah. Yo' skips fo' ag'in an' pull out one an' lay it ovah heah, an' when yo' git three yo' got twelve tribes. Well, take dem twelve leaves an' put 'em in de bottom of yore shoe an' go in jail, in de co'thouse, an' anywhere, yo'll come out. Yo' save de rest of 'em tuh buy up de crowd wit. Put dat in yore left shoe. Whut's left of de twelve yo' put in yore left shoe. An' ah guarantee yo' won't miss. (You put 56 leaves in this pile of all the tribes, and then you pull out four? Or, you leave four and pull out one.) Dat's right. (Leave four and pull out one until you get twelve leaves. Those twelve you wear in your shoe, and that other bunch you put in...) Twelve in yore right an' 44 in yore left shoe.
Entry 9124
Yo' kin take den, if yo' goin' be tried, yo' kin take sage, if yo' kin find it, de largest leaf sage dat chew kin find, an' write de twelve apostle name on dat sage an' put six each - write up de twelve apostle, put six in yore right an' six in yore left shoe, an' de jedge wouldn't have any case against chew. Dey'll acquit chew, even if yo' went tuh trial, but chew more den likely not tuh go tuh trial. An' if yo' couldn't git de sage yo' kin use jes' any or'nary white papah, but put some sage in each shoe. But write de names of de six apostle on each piece of papah strip separately, an' put six in one shoe an' six in de othah, an' make de numbah of twelve. Now, dat is true.
Entry 9125
Well, yo' go an' git chew twelve - git twelve sage leaves an' yo' puts six in each shoe. Now yo' go tuh a Bible an' git twelve disciples names out of it. Yo' know de twelve disciples, yo' know which ones dey wus. Well, yo' git - put six in each one of yo' shoes. (When you go before the judge.)
Entry 9126
Kin take de twelve disciples name an' yo' kin git some sage leaves. Git twelve of dose sage leaves an' yo' write one of dose disciples name on each one of dose leaves an' yo' sew it up in a little bitta bag. An' place it in each one of yore shoes - dem twelve disciples an' twelve sage leaves - an' yo' kin win any case dat chew go in. In any case, ah don't care whut kind...
(Don't you put twelve leaves in each shoe or six in each shoe?)
Put six in each shoe.
Entry 9127
An' den, too, dere's anothah story sompin de same thing, dat if yo' got a case in co't, yo' git twelve sage leaves an' yo' write de twelve apostle names, one on each leave. An' if yo' gotta meet co't, den yo' put six in one shoe an' six in de othah, an' de judge himself have tuh be in yore favor. Yo' see, if yo' do dat, den by God Almighty, it's a help tuh yo', yo' undahstan'. Here we are told what is unexpressed in the similar rites. These twelve names compel God Al- mighty's help!]
Entry 9134
Yo' take yo' nine leaves of sage - yo' seen sage - green sage. Yo' take nine leaves of green sage an' yo' put it in de bottom of yo' shoe. Yo' firs' write de twelve disciples names on evah leaf. Yo' know, jes' lak Petah- Paul-John. Yo' write de twelve disciples name on evah leaf of dat sage. Put one in yore right shoe an' one in yore left shoe, an' yo' go down befo' de judge, yo' could repeat dem same words dat ah said jes' while ago: Three daid men looked outa de windah; one had no lung, de othah had no tongue, an' de third wus deaf, dumb an' blind. Holy Spirit, speak fo' me as ah pray tuh three times a day. Only goodness an' mercy shall follah me tuh mah grave. Yo' jes' go in de co'thouse attah dat an' when yo' git up befo' de judge jes' continue tuh say dat, an' he'll dismiss yo'. He will eithah give yo' a sus- pended sentence or turn yo' loose.
Entry 9173
Yassuh, ah heard dat chew kin - now, ah know dis, ah didn't only heard dis. Jes' lak yo' is in trouble now an' yo' wanta git out. [Yo'] be in jail. Ah go in de woods or anywhere ah kin find a willah tree an' git five willah leaves. An' ah'll give 'em tuh yo' maybe in through by yore ration. Ah'll put it undah yore ration an' carry 'em tuh de jailhouse tuh yo'. Well, yo' take dem three willah leaves, dem five willah leaves, an' put two in each hip pocket an weah one in yore right shoe. An' read de fo'th chaptah of St. Luke in de second verse three times a day, an' yo'll be outa dere in three day's time. [St. Luke says little to the point here: Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. King James Version.]
Entry 10414
Do somebody dat way - take a bottle an' put a green leaf in it.
(Any kind of a green leaf?)
Any kind of a green leaf. Call dis fellah an' he answer yo'. Stop it up, den yo' got his voice in dere. Take some runnin' water an' throw it in dere [throw the bottle into run- ning water], an' he'll be gone. (But the fellow must answer you, you call and he must answer you?) [He had said this on first giving the rite.] Yes.
(Why do you put that green leaf in there? Do you know why it's done?)
To hold his voice.
Entry 11361
Dey tell me, say, yo' kin git de fo' names of de 'ciples [who wrote the 4 Gospels] an' write it yo' know, an' jes' like.... An' den take twelve fig leaves, sompin othah lak dat, an' wear it in yore left shoe, an' dey tell me de folks will come; yo' know, give up.
Entry 11591
I heerd [heard] in dis mannah [manner] way. Dey say let 'em Walk outside de dōah damp weathah in spring, dat w'en sap arisin', see. An' aftah dey walk two step, go in de left-foot track, aftah dey make de third step, an' git dat piece of mud out it. An' go to a peach tree w'ich jes' begin to have sap in it. An' mix it up togethah wit de strengk [strength] of dat. Dey tie it [dirt] up in a sock an' keep it till Friday. Dis is a bad unluck day. An' den dey walk t'ree [three] steps from dere doah an' care [carry] it to a wondrin [wandering] stream [throw it in] an' [as] it goes up or down. Dey say it'll make him go away.
(What did you get from this peach tree and put with that dirt?)
They put High John de Conkah an' de devil shoestring wit it.
(Do they get anything from this tree?)
Yes sir, dey git de leaves, de peach-tree leaves; dat's de sap in dat leaf, see. An' w'en dey git dey foot step wit de sock - wit de strengk of de sock - so dey say dey got de sap rising. See! An' dey conkah him by his feet.
Entry 11857
I could take just about three strands of hair of your head and go to a tree. And I would put it on the sunset side of that tree, where the sun goes down on that hair. And just take a long spike nail and bore a hole in that tree. And ball all that hair up on the sunset side of the tree, but it has got to be when the sap is up in the tree. By what I mean by the sap is when the leaves is on the tree. And bore a hole in that tree and stick that hair up in there, and drive that nail in there behind it. And when the sun commence to go down, that cause you to have headache, don't you see. And this headache will get worse every day, and from that it will drive you crazy, and from crazy it will kill you. [you do this] when the sap is up, because when the sap begins to go down you won't live very long.
Entry 9132
[If you] have a case in co't - ah've experienced dat - he kin take twelve leaves of green sage an' write de twelve 'postles name on it, an' bury it unbeknowst tuh anybody undah de co'thouse steps, an' he mo' den apt tuh win de case. (You put it there so that the judge and these officials will have to walk over it.)
Entry 10619
Well, if yo' have a person tuh leave yo' an' yo' wanta bring dem back- yo' loves dem. Yo' loved ones gits scattahed off an' yo' wanta bring 'em back tuh yo'. Dere's two roots grows in de woods, ah'm tellin' yo' truth, dey has two leaves. We calls 'em Eve-and-Adam an' de roots of dem roots is got two little knots about little bigger den a coffee bean - two little knots. One of 'em is a woman an' one is a man. Yo' take 'em an' dry 'em on a stove. Put 'em on a stove an' dry 'em dere stiff an' spongy - spongy like a sponge. But chew cut 'em up when dey gits dry an' make a softa powdah outa dem - a soft powdah. If dat woman drinks coffee, tea, or anything dat she drinks, well yo' kin jes' sprinkle jes' a little bit in de bottom of de cup an' den pour on it. Pour a drink in an' den she drink dat she'll be crazy 'bout chew. Ah believe dat's de truth. Ah'm halfway telling yo' by experience. [St. Petersburg, Fla., (1008). 1630:3.]
Entry 12775
[Letter "s" in this long CHANNEL DE WORLD division begins perhaps with the largest sentence in HOODOO:] They say, if yo' take the Twelve Apos- tle's names like I told joo, an' write 'em on a piece of paper, or each Apostle's name on a sage leaf, an' have the Apos- tle's names on another piece of paper, fold them toward joo all the time, an' keeps 'em in your pocket an' have 'em whensomever yo' go for a job, they say he'll [you will] more than apt to be lucky. [For sage leaves and court see also No.9117-9137, some of which also contain 12 Apostles, v.4.]
Entry 12925
If a man huntin' a job an' he wanted a job, de first thing, he's got- ta make de man feel he's sorry fo' him, an' to do dat, he'd have to carry on him what is known as Shame Brier. But he mustn't git de Shame Brier until [FOR IDENTITY - NAMES - EXAMPLES - SEE v.1, p.646f.] it closes up. Yo' see, de leaves is open, an' deh, dey'll close up. But chew gotta pass de han' ovah dere an' say tuh de Shame Brier tuh "be shamed", or whatevah yo' wanta do, yo' tell de brier dat an' tell de brier tuh be shamed. An' den when it closes up - it will close up itself. Well, yo' git chew nine of dose leaves. Yo' wrap dem up an' den take 'em on tuh where yo' wanta go an' den ask fo' yo' job.
(That will get you the job.)
Entry 1238
Git some de bark off it an' git about ten rusty nails.
(You go to a dogwood tree?)
Yessuh, an' boil dat together an' den git chew some heart leaves an' put in it, an' if anybody gits hurt - dat's whut ah heard. [If these are not heart-shaped (cordate) leaves, they are leaves of the heart- leaf - several American species of Asarum.]
(What do you do with that? How do you give it to them?)
Yo' give it to 'em - yo' makes a tea out of it.
(You make the tea out of this dogwood and these nails and the heart leaves?)
Yes.
Entry 13449
Well, now a persimmon - de persimmon ain't much good as dat. But de weepin' willow tree, it's mighty fine fo' luck. A weepin' willow tree, is mighty lucky.
(Well, how do you do that?)
Well, yo' take dat an' gits de leave of it, de roots of it, an' dry it. When yo' shake it dry, den yo' jes' put it in a bottle an' set it up on de mantel- piece. About once a month yo' take a taste of it. An' ah declare hit'll bring luck in yore home fo' hit shore brought it in mine. [Since the weeping willow is a tree of ill-omen and generally considered unlucky, our present rite is unusual, one of defiance of fate, or one based upon contraries, or the well- known poison kills poison doctrine.]
Source passage
continuous interview or recording context · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
Yo' kin use a simple thing, whut chew would nevah think - yo' kin use some fig leaves. Take yo' some fig leaves an' write de name of de judge on dere, an' if it de Superior Court yo' goin' be tried befo', write de judge name an' dis gentleman name. Watch de papahs an' git de jury's, an' yo' put down some of de jury's names on dere.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
(How many do you use - just one leaf?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
No suh, yo' use sev'ral leaves, yo' use twelve leaves - of dose little leaves, yo' know, suh. De whole leaf - jes' clip it off, yo' know, suh. An' den yo Write de name. Yo' see, if yo' evah noticed a fig leaf close - if yo' haven't, yo' take notice of it, suh. Or yo' might ask someone tuh bring yo' a fig leaf. Dey don't know why yo want it. Yo' look at it. It got veins jes' lak in our han' - on de sides, de veins. An' yo' write his name, write his name right in de centah. Den yo' turn roun' an' write yore name right heah, meetin' his - don't care if it go ovah it or in it. Yo' write it dat way, yore own name
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
[demonstrates]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
(You write your name across his name, making a sort of a cross.)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
Write his name jes' lak yore veins is standin', lak mah han' is sot
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
[demon- strates]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
. Write his name on dis one de same. Yo' notice dis fig leaf if yo' happen tuh git chew one, in de middle of it in de middle of it heah, dis middle fan is wider - it's fixed jes' lak a person's han', if yo' notice it close. Den yo' write de judge's name in heah
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
[demonstrates]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
(On that middle thing.)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
Yes suh, on dis middle one. Den yo' write yore name, yore own name. Yo' turn it round dere. Turn it round. Let it be on somepin solid. Yo' tum it round an' den write yore name right into his'n. Ovah heah yo' write it an' yo' write it heah,
recited or prescribed formula · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
"God bless yore soul."
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
An' yo' write dose words, suh. If it's a hard case, yo' write de solictor general name an' yo' write some of de jury's name all like dat - dey draw 'em in de papah.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
[The names of these jurors are drawn and will appear in the newspaper.]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
Yo' bound tuh ketch some of 'em an' yo' kin make a mistrial. An' yo' write it dat way an' den aftahwards, den yo' turn around an' yo' write jes' a reg'lar little prayah,
recited or prescribed formula · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
"In de Name of God de Father, Mr. So-an'- So."
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
An' yo' call de judge an' yo' write him anywhere's dere, an' yo' done got him, he'll bind to yo', says,
recited or prescribed formula · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
"In de Name of God de Father, God de Son,"
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
jes' on his name,
recited or prescribed formula · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
"God de Holy Spirit, be favorable wit me. Loose de man an' let him go. Ohl Oh! Oh! Let me go back home."
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
Write dat, write it wit ink. Yes suh, wit ink or a indelible pencil. Says,
recited or prescribed formula · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
"Home - home - home - back home."
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
If dat judge don't be favorable wit yo', den yo've nevah seen a dead boy in yore life.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
(What do you do with that leaf after you write those names on it?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1841
Well, yo' write 'em all ovah it an' den yo' turn round dere an' den yo' write de name on one of de leaf of de twelve disciples. Yo' write dose on dat fig
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
leaf - write dere name on 'em outa de twelve leaves. Yo' write de twelve dis- ciples on one leaf, one large leaf. When yo' done write 'em all, den yo' fold 'em in careful. Dat's a leaf dat dries fast. Yo' take dose an' yo' put 'em in de foot of yore shoe. An' yo' strip yore sock down - start from yore toe an slip dem in dere. It be about dat high but dey'll go down, but dey'll go down. Dere nuthin tuh hurt chure feet.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
(You take these two fig leaves - one like that - and you put those together and put them in your shoe. Or do you put one in your shoe?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
De whole thing, suh - yo' have twelve fig leaves.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
(You have twelve fig leaves?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
Yes suh, but yo' write de judge's - start him in de center as ah said an' den aftahwards yo' write de name of de twelve disciples. Yo' use twelve leaves. An' yo' take dose leaves an' pack 'em right on top of each othah an' den aftah yo' pack 'em on top of each othah den yo' kind of fold 'em in lak yo' figure undah yore feet. Den yo' take de sock an' put it on. Be careful. Den yo' git chure sock about long to heah, toward de hollah of de feet, den yo' slide dose leaves down in de sock undah yore feet an' pull de sock on up. Fix yore sock an' yore shoe. Go on tuh co't.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
(Then the judge will dismiss your case?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
Yes suh.
Nested source context: interviewer hypothesis and informant correction · Vol. 2, p. 1842
(You take these two fig leaves - one like that - and you put those together and put them in your shoe. Or do you put one in your shoe?) De whole thing, suh - yo' have twelve fig leaves. (You have twelve fig leaves?) Yes suh, but yo' write de judge's
locally coherent printed subpassage
This printed instruction exchange preserves the interviewer’s two-leaf suggestion and the speaker’s twelve-leaf correction.
Twelve leaves versus two is a question-and-answer correction, not two equally asserted recipes.
Quoted prayer words are proposed written or uttered text within the interviewee’s turn.
The final dismissal is an elicited claimed result, not evidence of an actual adjudicated court case.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 2, p. 1840 · Vol. 2, p. 1841 · Vol. 2, p. 1842 · Vol. 2, p. 1843 · Vol. 2, page image