Subject:Length
Entries
Entry 3494
When he's layin' asleep take an' measure his privates wit a cord. Take de length of it an' take de roun' of it. An' take it an' tie a knot dere on it an' wear it aroun' 'er below 'er knee. An' dat will stop 'im from runnin' aftah othah women.
Entry 3584
[Rites of where to measure a man have al- ready been given, but for the sake of completion here are a few more examples of length, width and length and width. Length of person's body rarely occurs in this type of measuring.] Measure him, measure a person, an' tie nine knots. Aftah yo' git de length, den yo' tie yo' nine knots, an' yo' take it an' yo' wear it roun' de top of yo'. [Informant either demonstrated or I turned off machine, missed the words about leg.]
(Oh, round the top of your leg like a garter?)
Yes. Take it off at night an' git up in de mawnin' an' put it on. He cain't do nuthin. Any time he start: [I interrupt].
(Why do you take it off at night?)
Well, he den kin find it. See, yo' pull stockin' off wit 'em, becuz' dey liable tuh go tuh feelin' roun'.
(You hide it at night?)
Sho'.
Entry 3592
An' if she got yo' so dat yo' couldn't fool wit no othah womens - prob'ly she done given yo' some appearance [menstrual blood], dat anywhere she be at, yo' wants to be dere wit 'er. Well, quite natchly [naturally], yo'll say to yoreself lak dis, "Huh, well, ah could fool wit mah wife so, an' when ah git aroun' othah women, den ah can't do nuthin. Which yo' really is, but de ninute yo' aim to do things, yore courage will leave yo'. Well, dere wuz a woman, she got a cord yo' know, jis' lak any little fine piece of line.
(A cord, yes - a string, yes.)
Well, she done - while yo' sleepin', she done cut de length of yo'. She done cat de length from yo' an' how big aroun'. She done cut dat. She'll put knots in de twine. She'll put nine knots in de cord. She take dat cord an' she put it right ovah herself lak dat, add it to anothah piece of cord, an' she'll put nine knots in 'er cord what she got, an' she'll wear it aroun' 'er waist, but de knots in yore length dat goes ovah 'er, she got it right in front ovah 'er pri- vate. An' jis' as long as she got dat roun' 'er, yo' couldn't fool wit no othah womens.
Entry 5531
They say that if you take a rule and measure a [foot] track straight and then measure across, and take that same measurement and mark it out on a piece of paper, and take that paper and put a piece of cube root they call it, it grows mostly in Florida they say, and take that and the Sampson snakeroot and also Adam-and-Eve and 'coon root and High John the Conqu- er, and put that in with that paper, and then take that paper and put it so that it can be used under the head of the individual's bed, and by staying there for nine days in succession the individual begin to pine away and finally die. [Elizabeth City, N. Car. (182), 551:2.]
Entry 5545
Yeah, yo' kin take up a person's foot track jis' lak yo' kin - yo' know, a person walk along, why yo' kin go dere an' take de measure. Take yo' a string an' measure dey foot, de width an' de length. Yo' kin use both if yo' wan' tuh. Dat's whut dey tell me, dat yo' kin use both of 'em wit a string. Measure de width an' de length wit dis string. An' den yo' go tuh work an' yo' bury it at dere back do'steps. Dat string jis' de length of dey foot, yo' bury it dere an' event'ly [eventually] dey'll jis' leave 'way from dere. Dey cain't rest dere.
(You make both measurements with the same string?)
Wit de same string, see; an' yo' bury dat string.
Entry 7315
(Have you ever heard of them going out to the graveyard and getting some of -that dirt out there?) I've heard of people usin' graveyard soil, but ah nevah used any in mah life - no.
(Well, what do they say they do with that?)
Ah've heard dey say dey take it an' have diff'ren' cases lak yo' might kill a man an' he's buried dere an' yo' wanta try to help yoreself. Why yo' take nine thimbles of dat graveyard soil from dat grave, but yo' stand off from de grave. [You] stands off an' wit de index fingah [he means little finger] an' your thumb - undahstand, stands off an', as yo' stands off, yo' measure dose spans in equal parts. Dere yo' are. An' yo' take a brass thimble an' take up nine thimblefuls of dat graveyard soil in yore hand, an' dat'll help yo' in de court.
(I see. When you have killed the man. If you have killed a man.)
[My second statement tries to soften the first.]
Say, if yo' killed one - yo' know, anyone, not only - not de person dat kilt de man kin do dat, but ah mean anyone else dat do dat fur 'em, yo' know, what git to de graveyard where de fellah is buried dere. (But YOU MEAN THE FELLOW THAT KILLED THE MAN MUST BE UP IN COURT AND SOMEBODY MUST DO THAT FOR HIM?) Oh, sure, yeah! (Well now, how did you measure that off? I didn't quite understand how he did that.) Measure it off wit yore hand - de index an' de thumb here.
(WHERE DO YOU BEGIN NOW ON THE GRAVE?)
Right at de head of de grave. Dere yo' are.
(In the head of the grave.)
Down to de feet dere. (FROM THE THUMB TO YOUR INDEX FINGER.) [Only later did I realize informant Was calling the little finger the index finger. HE WAS USING THE COMMON SPAN = 9 INCHES. HE WAS HORSE-MEASURING THE GRAVE!] Dere yo' are.
(And you do this way - keep measuring off nine.)
[I solved a number of unusual problems as they arose at the interview table, but this one I missed completely! My keep measuring off nine means informant kept measuring off the distance between his spread-out thumb and index finger! I thought he was measuring them in groups of nine! I did not know that he was try- ing to locate the center of the grave. That comes later. The diagonal lines connecting the 4 corners of the grave - easily drawn with a stick or by crossing 2 long sticks would have given the center. THAT WORD SPAN WAS THE CLUE. BUT IT NEVER OCCURRED TO ME THAT ANYONE WOULD HAVE HORSE-MEASURED A GRAVE. WHY NOT STEP IT OFF, SIGNIFYING THAT MURDERER OR HIS SUBSTITUTE HAD THE VICTIM UNDER HIS FEET? PERHAPS SOME OTHER SYMBOL OF MAGIC IS INDICATED HERE.1 Nine. Measure off till yo' measure off to de end of de grave. Dere yo' are.
(Oh! To the end of the grave.)
Den yo' divide dose spans - keep count of dose spans. Was it ten, was it five an' a part, was it nine, or was it four an' a half? Yo' understand, huh? Den yo' take an' measure dat grave in de middle section [measure width]. An' den yo' take up - dig a little hole [in] dat [center] an' take dose nine thimbleful of dat graveyard soil.
(In Other WOrds, YOU MEASURE THIS GRAVE TO GET THE EXACT CENTER?)
Dere yo' are.
(I see, I understand. That's what they do to get the fellow off in court.)
Entry 8564
Git de dirt from a person foot track an' yo' could put some steel dust with, an' hair from undah yore arms, an' yo' could bury it, an' yo' could keep a person down lak that. Either yo' could make 'em travel. Yo' could take a person's foot tracks an' yo' could take de steel dust, hair from undah yore arms an' dirt from undah yore fingernails. An' yo' take dis ole [anything you measure with] yo' know de length that yo' measure. Measure it [foot track] crossway an' straight up an' down, too. An' yo' could write de name [on a piece of paper or article used for measuring] an' bury it an' yo' keep 'em down. An' yo' could take a piece of their sock with that, yo' understan'.
Entry 9804
If yo's a keen farmah an' lookin' fo' 'em tuh break yo' up, yo' go git chew six needles, bran' new, an' take yore - now, heah's yore barn-facin', yore barn door facing.
(Facing of barn door?)
Yes. Yo' make a way [split with knife] in dere an' place dem needles in dere. Make a crack in dere wit chure knife so yo' kin place dem needles in dere. But de eyes [of the needles], three of 'em, an' place 'em jes' about de height of a man's body. Go up tuh dat do' an' put three [needles] on each side [of the door]. An' yo'll find no breakin' up of yore farm.
Entry 10241
Measure a man. Yo' kin take a new cord string. Dat's whut ah heard. An' take his measure dis way, de long Ways, an' dis way [probably made a sign with fingers]. (Around.) Yes. An' then yo' tie those knots. Tie one [knot] in each end [of length measurement string] and tie de othah two [ends of] around [measurement], one right here jes' around dat way. An' wear it right in front of you, see. An' dat'll make him stay at home. [To repeat: a knot is tied at the end of the usually new cord held against the body. A second knot indicates end of the length. While second knot is held at the beginning of the circumference measurement, a third knot in the same string will establish the end of this double measurement. Remember, measure- ment is taken while man is asleep.]
Entry 10276
I know at one time a woman and a man were very familiar towards each other, they would do anything they were inclined to do. So at last one day this woman decided that she would take the measure [circumfer- ence] and the length of her sweetheart. And after doing so - just as if you would go and measure a dog's tail. I don't care how bad the dog is, I don't care how much stranger he is, you can measure his tail and take the length of the measure and bury it at your doorstep, and that dog will never depart from you. So this woman, after taking the measurement of this man, goes to work. Then she decreed that, I want this man for myself individual. She would go to work and take this measurement, and wrap it up in a bundle and put it in a bottle, and put this measurement in her trunk, with a small quantity of her urine with this; and stopped it up and put it in her trunk and let it remain. And this man then would always forever be ravish with her and always wanting to get to her. You measure with a piece of string, stick, anything. You put that in the bottle with the urine. The man, you measure the length; the woman, you measure the size. He would do the same sort of thing with her measure. [Hamp- ton (Old Point Comfort), Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 13221
If a man leaves home an' a woman wants tuh make him come back, well - vell, ah understan' she could take de measure of his whole body an' dat she could take de measure of his- self, an' tie nine knots aroun' it. An' den at de bed where he sleep, de side dat he sleep on, tie it de whole length of de bed. An' den whatsomevah... Yo' know yo' always have a spirit dat chew pray tuh, well are him tuh back yo' up, yo' see. An' make yore wish whut chew want him tuh do. If yo' want dat man tuh come back home, make yore wish an' den scrub yore house oat wit sweeten watah. (What do you do with that length from the head to the foot? What do you do gith that length, that string?) Yo' measure it...yo' tie it de full length of de bed, yo' know, on de spring- Lak, from de haid tuh de foot.
(You don't tie nine knots in it do you?)
Yeah, nine knots.
(And you tied nine knots in the other string too?)
No, yo' tied nine knots in dat string.
(What do you do with that short string?)
Well, dat othah short string yo' wear aroun' yore waist. Algiers, La.,
(1586), 2695:4.]