Subject:Liver
Entries
Entry 3156
A girl tole me dat she could take beef livah an' cook it an' give it tuh me tuh eat, an' dat would cuz me, if ah went out wit anothah woman, dat would cuz me an' 'er tuh go tuhgethah lak a dog. Jes' beef livah. (She wouldn't put anything else with it?) Ah don't know whut she put wit it. She nevah did tell me whut she put wit it. [Surely not beef liver but dog liver is meant - see later sub- subsection (c) DOG, under subsection (1) CAUSES OF SEXUAL IMPOTENCE.]
Entry 3425
If yo' want two people tuh be tied up tuhgethah, jes' lak yo' know a man an' a woman goin' tuhgethah an' yo' want 'em tuh be brought tuh shame an' disgrace. Why then yo' git de [male] dog livah. Kill a dog an' git 'ls livah an' let - jes' [llke] ah wuz tuh cook livah fo' suppah. Well, now, ah put livah on yore plate, de dog livah on yore plate, but ah ain't goin' put it on mah plate, see. An' ah ain't goin' be wit chew. Ah'll play lak ah'm ministratin' an' can't be wit yo', see. [To be with him before the dressed liver performed its mission would break the spell; it could also be magically dangerous. Another example of the belief will be given later.] An' let dem use de dog livah an' yo' use de othah livah, yo' see. An' when dey go ahead an' be tuhgethah, dey'd git tied up lak a dog.
Entry 3433
Well, jes' lak yo' Want - if yore wife is a run-aroun' woman an' yo' Wanta ketch 'er wit someone, an' she all de time tellin' yo' dat she don't do dat.[ Well, all yo' gotta do is git yo' a dog - steal de dog an' carry 'im off an' kill 'im, see, an' git 'is livah. An' den when yo' git de livah, yo' jes' go on an' buy yo' a dime or so of de othah livah, yo' know, an' mix in it an' carry it to her dat night, dat aftahnoon, an' tell 'er to cook it fer supper, "I be home fer SUppah." See. AN' DEN SHE GO ON AN' COOKS IT. WELL, IT'S A KNOWN FACT DAT SHE BE WAITIN', WAITIN', WAITIN', AN' DON'T SEE YO' COMIN', SHE GOIN' GIT MAD AN' EAT HERS, yo' undahstan'. She goin' eat part of 'ers an- MAYBE IF SHE DON'T, WHENEVAH YO' COME IN, YO' JES' MAKE OUT LAK YO' GOT A PAIN IN DE STOMICK or yo' sick OR YO' DON'T FEEL LAK NUTHIN, yo' see. An' den she'll go on an' eat 'ers. See, an' 24 hours aftah she eat 'ers, why de nex' day or so if she go off, any time dat Week, any tIme - CO'SE YO' CAN'T EVEN HAVE NUTHIN TO DO WIT HER, see. [For other examples of this belief see Nos.3425 and 3431.] If she go out why yo'll find it out. See, yo' undahstan', she goin' git stuck. See, dat dog's livah make her, when she have connection wit de othah man, dat will draw de both of 'em togethah. Dey can't git away. See, he'll swell up an' she would too.
Entry 3434
It jes' lak dis: if yo' were a man - is yo' a man an goin' wit anothah man's wife. Now, lemme see if dat right. Yes. Aw - no. If yo' wuz goin' wit anothah woman an' yore wife found it out, an' she killed a puppy an' cooked dat puppy livah an' give it to yo', why yo' an' 'er [other woman] when yo' have connection yo' would git hitched [= tied]. Yo'd git hitched, an' yo' know it take doctors [M.D.'s] dat know dere business to unhitch yo'.
Entry 3436
Ah heard of dat. Dey tell me dat chew kin kill a feis' dog [a small dog] an' any way dat chew kin git any of de blood offa de livah of dat feis' dog [a feist] in any- thing at all to eat fo' him. Well, if he has anything to do wit anothah woman, it's natural he git stuck, yo' see.
Entry 3437
Jes' lak a woman's husban' runnin' roun' an' she wants tuh ketch 'im, why den she kin take - lak a fellah dat eat livah or somepin lak dat, why dey kin ketch a black dog, jes' a real black dog. Kill 'im an' take his livah. Jes' lak she would buy livah fo' suppah. Take dis livah an' give it tuh 'im dis evening. If he has intahco'se wit a woman, he git caught jes' lak a dog.
(Then they can catch him.)
Entry 3438
Dog livah will tie yo' up.
(Just how do they do that?)
Yo' gits dat dog livah. Cut dat dog while he live an' take de livah from 'im, an' dey'll take dat dog livah an' put it in whiskey or in de tea or anything, an' - if dey kin git to yo' - yo'll nevah do nuthin. (You say it will tie you up. How do you mean?) If yo' connect wit a woman - if a man connect wit a woman, git fastened.
Entry 3439
[Gyp or gip has been a common term in the United States for a bitch, the word deriving from gypsy or gipsy (chiefly British) and originally meaning a gypsy-like dog - a wanderer. Here, as so often in the United States, the female is accused of a trait not exclusively hers. Dogs - the males - as I know from experience can be male tramps. Finally, Gyp or Gip is - used to be at least - a favorite name for male or female dogs.] Yo' kin take a dog's livah now, if yo' wife is havin' intahco'se wit any othah man an' yo' wanta ketch up wit 'er. Well, yo' kin kill a gyp dog an' yo' kin care [carry] her two slices of dat livah an' let 'er eat it, an' de very nex' time, if it's de nex' day or de day aftah, she have intahco'se wit dis othah man, why dey git hung jes' lak dat gyp dog would.
(A GYP DOG? WHAT KIND OF A DOG IS THAT?)
A SHE DOG.
(THEY CALL THEM GYP DOGS DOWN HERE.)
Entry 3441
Well, if a man got a wife an' she's runnin' roun' an' he wanta ketch 'er, an' he can't ketch 'er, well, he kills a dog dat's proudin' an' take de livah. An' jes' lak yo'll go uptown an' buy hog livah or cow livah, an' take it home an' let 'er cook it an' eat, an' de man dat she have connection wit, dey'll tie up jes' lak two dogs.
Entry 3444
Yo' know de colored people laks livah, laks tuh eat livah yo' know - beef livah, calf livah. Well, quite natchel [natural] dey cooks de dog livah. Well, now, quite natchel, he laks livah, yo' see. But now, yo' wouldn't prepare dis livah fo' me, if yo' didn't care nuthin about me. Dese wimmins genly [generally] use dat on dere husban'. Dey usin' dat to tie him; if he goes out anywhere, why he'll git hung jes' lak a dog would. Dat's whut dey do wit dog livah.
(That's to shame him or something if he's caught.)
Oh! he git caught. Dere ain't no doubt about it. He'll swell up. An' de only thing dat kin unswell 'im - co'se de doctor [M.D.] kin do it, but quite natchel he might not he'p 'em [be able to help them] if dey settin' down a couple of days. He put a piece of ice right dere, an' dat ice gotta have at least three minutes, an' it will untie 'em. If she haven't got no ice, no good ice watah where yo' kin bathe 'im back down [my root doctor informant is now talking about his own professional abilityl, or bathe her down where it swellin', den he'll git fastened dat much tightah an' de doctor [M.D.] have tuh unloosen dem. Give 'im somepin tuh cool 'im down an' throw de swellin' down. Dat's why some use it - dem dat's mean enough - use dog's livah fo' dat. Dat's whut dey do wit it.
Entry 3445
Jes' lak we were talkin' 'bout back heah while ago, if a person git hook up lak dis, yo' give 'em dog livah an' dat will relief 'em. Dey tell me dat will relief 'em, give 'em dog livah. (If the man and woman are stuck together, you give them dog liver to eat. That'll unfasten them?) [This is an example of like cures like, see margin title, p.394.] Yes, dog livah will unfasten dem.
Entry 3446
[The following belief indicates that there is something strong and powerful about dog liver, even for the dog itself:] Yo' kin take a dog livah, if de woman's mad wit chew an' at 'er. Git de dog livah an' some kinda othah livah an' cook it, an' don' yo' eat none of it. Give dat to de dog an' he'll run away an' won't nevah come back. Take de two livah an' fry it togethah see, an' she won' know it.
Entry 3911
I've heard dis-like, it seems purtty bad. I don't guess it would suit yore occasion. Now I heard talk of lotsa men an' girls dat I really been roun', an' said dat dey really did it, an' a boy couldn't go no place wit'out dey'd be right - yo' know, she couldn't go anywhere wit'out 'er husban' or man or fellah or whutsoevah it might be, be right where she wus. Yo' know, jis' like sometime a woman have periods, she would go to de stores an' buy some kin'a red meat, choo know, dat produce a lot of blood - sompin like livah or steak or sompin like dat. An' she said dat she'd taken dis steak [or liver] an' beat it up an' taken one dem things [menstrual cloth], yo' know, from roun' 'er concern, an' wrap dat thing up in dere, an' wore it jes about a half of day an' taken it right off. An' when 'er husban' come in she, yo' know, cooked it fo' 'i. An' he went on an' et [ate] it. An' she said dat she cain't even git rid of 'im, an' she don't wan'a stay wit 'im, or cain't git rid of 'im. Yo' know, some witchcraft tole her about it. An' she says [saz not sez] it really happens fo' a fac' [fact]. An' I do know dat he's stays tuh wery lovin'. But anothah man stay wit 'er right now. But 'er husban' cain't stay away from dere. He's goin' dere to care [carry] 'er some money dis aftahnoon. He tole me so. He gon'a bring 'er some money fer 'er an' 'er baby.
Entry 10941
Ah would jis' simply - ah would make me a smoke, an' dat would knock evahthing in de haid. (How do you make that smoke?) Ah would make it wit de fish livah an' heart. Ah would take de fiah an' ah would put de heart in a saucah an' leave dat set fo' 'bout nine days. An' aftah dat ah would take a furnace an' ah would take jis' a li'le small pinch of it. An' it drives all evil spirits clear away. Absolutely.
(What kind of fish do you use, any kind of fish?)
Catfish. De oldah de catfish is, de bettah it is.
(Now you make this smoke, then what do you do?)
Dat explores all ovah de house where yo' live. De party dat wants tuh git chew out, dey cain't be successful.
(If I want to stay in the house, I make that smoke and they can't move ne out?)
Can't move yo' out.
Entry 12067
Handwriting thrown into running water or the ebbing tide runs you By: [Elizabeth City 403:9.]
Entry 12476
Well, if a person do sompin an' dey wanta git away an' dey got 'em trail'-lak, say fo' instance, dey put de policemen on dere track or put de bloodhoun's. Dey git bloodhoun's behin' 'em an' trail 'em. Dey git a piece of beef livah an' jes' rub dat blood in de bottom of dere shoes. Dey git 'em some garlic an' chop garlic up an' put it all in de bottom of dere shoes. An' wheresomevah dey makes a track, kin nuthin trail 'em.
Entry 12900
[These following rites, excepting a few new locations of beliefs and a detail or two, add little to the dog rites in volume 3, numbers 2408-2419.] Dey tell me, dat if you having trouble in yore home with your family, dat if yo' wanta ketch 'em so dat yo' know who it is yo' havin' trouble with, dey tell De to takes yo' a piece of dog liver an' give it to yore wife, an' whenever dis fellah come back in dere, why he'll be fastened dere an' stay until yo' come.
[W11son 2647:16.]
Entry 3426
Ah heard dem say yo' take a - jes' lak yo' klll a dog, or a dog git killed. Yo' take dat blood from dat dog an' fix it up in bread or sompin othah lak dat fo' yore husban', an' if he mess wit ary [any] othah woman, dey'll git fastened.
(You mean they get that from a dog that gets killed?)
Or, eithah yo' - de dog git kllled, if yo' ain't got de heart tuh do [it]. But dey say mostly it'll work bettah if yo' do it chureself. Split dat dog open an' git de livah. Cook it an' give it to yore husban', an' if dey'll have a intahco'se wit a woman, dey'll do jes' lak a dog do's. (You get that dog's blood and put it in some of his food.)
Entry 3427
Othah things about a dog, ah hear'n 'em say. Yo' could take a dog's livah if yo' wanta. Jes' lak if a woman's husban' goin' wit anothah one [woman] an' she [wife] wanted tuh ketch up wit 'im an' couldn't ketch up wit: 'im no way, an' she take dat dog livah an' cook it an' let dat man eat it. Well, when he go back to dat woman an' have connection wit 'er ag'in, dey git hang up.
Entry 3428
Well, yo' see de way dat's done, it's lak a man an' woman's havin' connection - white an' [or] colored, yo' know, togethah, an' de woman Want 'er husban' tuh stop. Why yo' git dat dog livah an' cook it, yo' know, an' den have her husban' eat it fo' suppah, yo' see. He eat an' den he go out, de firs' thing he git in 'is min', 'bout dat colored woman or whatevah woman he's wit, an' he go dere an' git wit dat woman, an' de doctor [M.D.] have tuh git 'em apart.
Entry 3429
Dat is to say, to tie up a person. If a man thought 'is wife wuz run- nin' aroun', he could kill a dog an' git 'ls livah an' feed de livah to his wife; an' den if de man come dere an' have intahco'se, he would git hung to her lak de dog.
Entry 3435
Yo' could kill a dog, a puppy don't yo' know, an' take his livah out don't chew know an' fry dat. Put it wit some ole livah don't chew know from de sto' when yo' fry dat. Give it to yore ole man. He shore [sure] eat dat wit de dog livah. An' jes' whatsomevah woman he runnin' roun' wit, foolin' wit, well when dey ties up togethah, dey'll jes' hook up togethah, yo' undahstan' me. Dat's whut it take to make dem two, yo' know, git hook up togethah an' yo' can't git 'em loose - yo' undahstan'.
Entry 3440
A man kin kill a proudin' gyp an' take dat livah an' cook it an' let 'is wife eat it, an' if she went out near anothah man, dat's where she'd be found. [My following comment is not a gratuitous remark of mine. I am merely re- peating what informant had added after I had turned off recording machine. Other examples of these brief additions will be found in the text.]
(There's no way of getting them apart.)
Entry 3442
Dog livah, dey claim dat yo' kin git a dog livah whilst a dog is proudin', if yo' kin git dat dog livah, an' if yo' husban' is goin' wit a woman - a man an' woman is goin' togethah, an' if yo kin git dat dog livah an' give it to dem to eat, dat dey would git hung.
Entry 3443
Dey ketch a dog whilst she's in heat an' takes de livah an' fix it up intuh a man. A woman give it tuh a man if she wanta ketch 'im - jes' lak if dis man is goin' out wit othah wimmin. Whenevah dis man go tuh be wit dis othah woman, dey find 'im fast.
Entry 3463
Dey said dat if a man is goin' wit anothah man's wife or girl frien', or whosomevah dey wants dat does not belong to dem, an' dat individual gits a dog an' dey feed dat individual on de livah of de dog - say fer instance, if a man got a wife an' he ketches 'im a dog unbeknowst to her, an' dey kill dat dog an' dey gits de dog's livah an' dey feed dat wumman den on de dog livah, but [she] suppose dat it come from de market. Well, she eats dat livah an' den any man goes wit 'er aftah den, why will git lined to her.
(Is there any way that they get them apart?)
Unlined? Dat. dey lose one or de othah. ONE OR DE OTHAH HAS TO BE KILLED. I've seen one or two cases lak dat, but DE WOMAN WAS LOST BUT DE MAN WAS SAVED. DEY MORE ( OR LESS TAKE DE WOMAN.
Entry 3465
Yo' jes' kill a li'le dog, any kinda dog, an' take his livah. Take it an' flour it an' fry it, fix it, an' he eat a piece of it, an' den de firs' woman dat he go tuh have, dey git stuck togethah dat way. [This was the logical place to stop recording, but informant immediately con- tinuing forced me to repeat his last statement in the form of a question.]
(They have to kill the woman?)
DAT OUTA HER, CUZ IF DEY GO TUH CUT IT OUT SHE GOIN' DIE. [FayettevIlle, N. Car.,
(1450), 2335:4.]
[We are concerned here with the simple knot, one of the oldest and most Fl portant inventions of man. What would he have done without it? No wonder the tying of a knot soon became and has remained for the untutored mind a great magic rite, one of confining the spirit, making it submissive to the tier's will.]
Entry 12068
Well, dey say dat yo' kin take a dog livah an' grind it up an' take some cow haslet.
(You mean dung? Manure?)
No, not de manure. Take de cow haslet somewhere. De haslet from de livah of a cow - de haslet [transcriber gets it right again]. An' dis dog livah, see, an' grind it up into a meal or either chip it up where it come tuh be fine, an' mix it in with this dog livah. See, an' fix it as a food. See. Well, de ones dat yo' don't like or somepin lak dat, dey eat an' dey'll come tuh bark jes' lak a dog.
Entry 10
Well, I know of a lady tryin' to poison someone else. An' so I wus told by a gentleman [doctor] that - she goes to work an' takes a tahrahpin [terrapin], a water tahrahpin, cooks this water tahrahpin up, takes this grease of it an' greases the other lady's husband in order to poison this lady [husband's wife]. Well, see, this lady [wife] was a - she happened to be cunnin' enough to not let this man [her husband] git nowhures nigh 'er. Well, he goes back to whure this woman wus. An' so in jist about a - well, say about nine month's time - well, it wus - yes, it wus nine month's time, this woman she has to be taken to the hospital. An' so whenever she got to the hospital the doctors wanted to 'topsy 'er after she died. So whenever she died they finds a tahrahpin wus hung on to this woman's livah. This wus re'lly true. I knowed this woman mahself. That wus in 1926. That happen in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The woman died in the hospital. [The preceding word poison is a technical term unknown to toxicology; it is a concept belonging to the realm of magic thought and action. We shall meet poison again and again, also the concept fixed, and always there will be problems. Why did not the husband have the terrapin hanging to him? The evil-doer intended the terrapin for the wife. How was this intention thwarted? By counter-intention. We are in a strange world - the nature of reality faces us.] She got it back on herself. But how this man turn it back on her, I don't know. But I know how the man told de man's wife to do to not let it be turnt back - for her to not get it, you see.
(What did she -do to get this on him?)
She rubbed it on him.
(All over him?)
No, not all over him. She just rubbed it on him [his privates]. So this fellah he wus supposed to go home to his wife. See, he wus to get this grease on her an' this wus supposed to take onto her, you see. He didn't get it off on his wife. So by his wife bein' cunnin' enough to not let him touch her no way, he goes right back to this woman an' returned this deal right back on her. An so the length of time that it wus supposed tah take - you know, in de nine months - why it taken effect.
(Instead of an actual child it was this terrapin?)
It wus a tahrahpin that wus attached to her livah. [At this point, from the informant's hesitation and manner, her companion's attitude, I suspected that the story must have been a personal experience and so asked for the complete details.] She wus tryin' to git rid of me. So she a - I commence, you know, I'd feel funny. Mah husband, he wouldn't stay at home, you see. I couldn't keep 'im home. Nothin' I could do, you see. I couldn't keep 'im at home. I could do - come in an' clean up [and leave]. An' two children in the home. Workin' ever' day. You see, I couldn't do nothin' atall with 'im. An' so he'd come in; he'd stay in the house for a few minutes. An' so mah mother-in-law, she stayed there with me, an' she says, "Nora," she says, "you'd better watch," she says, "maybe perhaps that woman has done somethin' to Thornton." I says, "Ah shucks!" I says, "Do away with that, mama." I says, "They ain't no woman can do nothin'." I says, "He jis' want to run anyhow." So one day she come to me - I wus drivin' an' ole Ford car. I'd always take him to work ev'ry day, bring 'im back home - backwards an' forewards. So I says to 'im, I says - she stayed home with me, she says, "Nora," she says, "I wan' choo to go off a piece with me." I says, "Go off a piece wid joo, mama?" She says, "Yes." So I says, "All right." An' so that day - so I goes on an' takes mah husband to work an' I rushes right back there. I says, "All right, mama." I says, "I'm ready to go." She got right in - she gets in the car. When she gets in the car, why, I says, "Where you goin'?" She says, "I'm goin' to Dunn [North Carolina]." She says, "No matter where I'm goin'," she said, "you come on an' take me." Well, I felt funny, you know because I know de whole - all of them, you know, that it wus used to such as that [all people who believed in cunjuration], that they did somepin [to protect themselves]. So I says, "All right." So I goes ahead with 'er. An' so we get there, we gets out of the car. An' so we commence goin' through a branch. We stopped the car way out here an' commence goin' [walking] through a branch. I says, "Where you goin', mama?" She said, "That's all right. Joo come on an' go with me." So we goes on acrost to a - so we goes to a branch. An' we wus steppin' acrost tussocks, zhoo know, goin' across. [This is my only encounter with spoken word tussocks: in the U. S. A.] I kep' axin' 'er. I said, "Mama, whar is you goin'?" Well, I wus afraid, joo see. An' she says, "Don't joo be uneasy." But whenever [as soon as] we walks in the house - we come to the door, she walks right up to de man. He wus an' ol' cunjure-man [a white man]. And we walked right to the door. And so he said, "Good evenin', Miss Nora, come in." Well, I looked at 'im. Well, I could have [been] shot [she was so astonished because he knew her name]. Well, I says, "Good evenin'." He says, "Pore thing." He say, "You ought to have been here long ago." [This is a usual opening remark by doctors.] He says, "You're tormented." He caught me by the hand an' says, "Have a seat, chair." Well, he drawed his chair right up. He says a - he says, "Well, you is certainly in a bad condition."
[This is another usual remark by doctors.]
I says, "In a bad condition! Why?" Well, she [the mother-in-law] still hadn't tole me anything, you know. So I says, "Why you say I'm in a bad condition?" He says, "They's a brown-skin woman that's givin' you lots of trouble," an' he says, "you are [something]." He says, "Now, I'm gon'a work for you." He says, "I seen you comin' here." He says, "You been on your road here since one a'clock." I says, "Yes?" Well, I know'd I left home at one a'clock sure enough I says, "Yes sir." An' so he says a - "Well," he says, "the thing for you to do, he says a, "tonight when you get home," he says, "whenever [as soon as] your husband comes home tonight," he says, "he ain't goin' hardly wait to eat his supper before he wan'a go to bed." I says, "Yes?" I looked at 'im. I says, "Wan'a go to bed?" He says, "Yes, '' he says, "but don't choo go." He says, "Don't joo go to bed - find something to do. Keep ev'ry night alone for two or three nights - keep away from him an' he'll care [carry] this right back." He says, "Pore thing," he says, "I'm sorry for you." Well, I go on back. I says, "Well," I says, "now, if he [the husband] don't do this, I know he's [the cunjure man is] not tellin' de truth." So I goes on back home. I talked with mah mother-in-law goin' on back all the way. She says, "Well, I knowed whare I wus car'in' you." She says, "Lots of people would say their mother-in-law wouldn't do that, you see, but it's a shame for him to do like that." I goes on back home. Sure enough, he comes in from work an' goin' out - you know how this house is, out on the porch, an' washin' his face. He - I had supper on the table. He couldn't - it looked like he wus nervous or something. He couldn't eat. He - "Come on," Nora, "let's go to bed." I says, "No." I says, "My land of mercy, I've got all these clothes to pack up here." I says, "I can't go." "I'se wantin' to get it." I says, "No." I says, "No, whenever I ain't got no work to do" - we jist had a big racket about it. I says, "When I ain't got no work to do," I says, "you is out an' gone." I says, "You can git out an' go." Well, he worried me around, around, there till about eleven a'clock, jist like he [the cunjure man] said. At eleven a'clock he says, "I believe I'll walk down to the depot." I says, "All right." He walked on out. But when he came back 'twus that next morning. All right. An' about two month's time another girl came to me. She says, "Oh-oh-oh, she says, "Thornton an' Mary is raisin' a new family." I says, "They is?" I says, "That's nice." She says, "I suppose it's so - I'm only tellin' whut I hear." An' so mah mother-in-law - in a few days mah mother-in-law come to me. She says, "Oh," she says, "Fannie [someone sent by Mary] come here to get some medicine." I says, "Did you give it to her?" She says, "Yes, I give it to her." I says, "All right." So - I still - so she hadn't heard still whut he [the cunjure man] told me. I told her some an' I kept some. [The mother-in-law was not present during the actual interview between the informant and the cunjurer.] So sure enough, about - well, she taken ill on about Saturday. So on Saturday he came to me an' he says, "Nora, I guess you're satisfied." I says, "Whut's de matter?" "They say you has poisoned Mary to death." I says, "Oh! beg your pardon." I says, "Poison?" I says, "I haven't paid one nickel out to poison nobody." I says, "If you think that joo would want to die yourself [be hanged or electrocuted for poisoning a person]." I says, "Whut's de good of a head an' you don't use it?" I says, "I jis' as well take a knife an' cut de thing off an' throw it away." So when I said dat, he says, "Well, you's poisoned her." I says, "Whut?" He says, "I'm gon'a do ever'thing I can for 'er." I says, "Well, that's all right - go ahaid an' do it." So on Saturday night he comes in - she wusn't dead, she wus in the hospital. Well, I wus workin' on Fairmont Hill, that's why I heard it - I could come down, the hospital sets a-way back - an' I could hear her screamin' murder, an' she's screamin'. They said, whutevah it wus, it would rise up in her - jis' rise up jist like that [from her stomach towards the throat] an' go back down an' rise up. Well, the doctors begged an' begged her fathah to let 'em 'topsy her. So when they 'topsied her they said it Was a tahrahpin [about six inches in diameter] wus hangin' onto her livah. So he came in that Sunday night an' set down by me an' set on the side of de bed, an' he busted out in a-cryin'. He says, "Well, you have killed her." I says, "Well, thank God! My prayers is answered." That's all I said. So mah mother-in-law come acrost a-laffin' to me. She says, "Nora, she's gone." I says, "Yes!"
Entry 684
[Because some of the preceding goofer dust was made from heads of snakes, scorpions and lizards (Nos. 668-670), here is the place to include a similar dust or powder - one creating live things in you. The basis for these beliefs is man's ages-old observation that live things get into his body as well as the bodies of animals:] I re'lly believe dat, in a way, because - now, you take a snake, blood from a snake or reptile or scorpion or lizard, and if it lay in you long 'nuff, I re'lly believe dat it'll form. It'll form and come to live thing jes' like a egg will hatch. If you keep de egg long enough it'll transform from a egg to a live chicken, if you keep it warm. And I believe dat blood of de serpent will, if you git it in you, it'll lodge in you; but consequently [subsequently] it might pass on through you and not lodge in you. But I believe if it will lodge in you, it'll transform, 'cause if a snake bite a dog and after while you happen to kill dat dog, dat dog will have a - I'm talkin' about now what [I hear], I ain't talking about what some- body say, I'm talkin' about what I seen - dat dog will have a whole lot of little snakes round his livah, little somepin like snake worms. See. And dey say dat's 'cause de snake done bit de dog so much and dere so many worms dat 'cumulated roun' his livah dat de dog died. See. Well, dat affection from de snake: bite went to his livah, see. We cured de snake bite on his leg - you could see it - but dey couldn't cure it on his livah. And dat whut de people say, if a dog died from snake bittin' so much, "An' you all cured de snake bite but you cut-him open and see his livah is full of snakes." Well, I believe dat if a person would git any part of a snake, blood or anything in you, if it git to stay in you, I believe it would 'coomulate.
Entry 11276
Now, in some of them, they goes in the woods. I have an old friend of mine, it is most good for those people when they get ready to sell theirselves [to the devil] to go on by another person. He will make him lay down. Then, uty when he lay down, he will call all the different insect[s], and if he kin stand fer them to go over him, he's all right. Back in 1927 I was called down here to a place what they call Cole Coran, H. Car. [Not in Dennison U. S. Postal Zip Code Directory, 1968.] While I vas there, there was young girl who had just returned from school. Well, they put ber under an evil influence: she was pulling her hair out, screaming, wanted to jp i the gell. So the gentlemen sent fer me. I goes right out and looks aromd. Sbortly after I find a piece of beef stuck on one side of the wall and the last piece vas a piece of liver. So I'd taken it all out. Somebody had taken some [of.this geat?] and dropped it in this water and [one of] them board caskets made it be- One these insects [maggots] into this meat. They were after putting ["after putting comes from Irish transcriber; leave out "after'] insects into the water what they was drinking, become as though they had little snakes, but by pitching [throwing instead of rubbing] it stuck on the sides of the wall, and on the top of the well, and didn't get in the well.
(I see.)
The arrangement [ruse] of making the person who do's all that to return to the well to show theirself up, you look to find two large oyster shells. The oyster shells may be placed into fire and burned slowly and gradually and burn 'em halfway - just about halfway. At exactly twelve o'clock at night, you takes them and pitch them in the well. The next morning you'll go out there and the person who did that will be standing up out there where you kin see them.
[441:3.]
Entry 1227
Dey use dat for asmee. Boil it, de dog livah - boil it right on de stove an' give 'em de juice of it.
(That cures asthma.)
Entry 1432
I hear'd ole man settin' down tellin' dis - said dat she [an old woman] got anothah ole woman [root doctor] to doctor on 'er. She said dat she had a - she had sweated 'er. She said she had a somepin up 'er liver in 'er skin. It crawled all over. She fis' feel it crawlin' undah de skin. [For a live terrapin hanging on to a person's liver, see No. 10, p.7.] An' dis woman tol' der dat she wus hurt - she said she wus tricked. She goes an' git some ratban [ratsbane] roots, an' git a he ratban root - git some of dem - an' a she ratban root. A he is got streaks up it, white streaks on de leaf; an' de she is jis' a solid small green leaf. She boils a tea out of it separate, an' take de she ratban-root tea, give all of dat; an' jis' a half of de he. An' dat cured it. [It is quite likely that had the patient been a man, the doctor would have prescribed all the he tea and half the she tea. All of one and half of the other is a diminishing amount rite.] [The plant here is not the ratsbane of European witchcraft but an American substitute. Its identity? What a botanist and a root doctor who digs her own roots call ratsbane can be different things. Besides, she is surely using two separate plants; the one with "white streaks on de leaf," the other "jis' a solid small green leaf." The former, the "he ratban root," appears to be either the rattlesnake plantain (Peramium pubescene), an orchid with checked or mottled leaves supposed to resemble rattlesnake hide, or spotted wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata) with white-mottled leaves. The latter, the "she ratban root' - as a sheer guess I would say it was a. plant growing in the vicinity of the "he."]
[Baltimore, Md., (153), 62: l+85; this cure in Charlotte Co., Va.]
Entry 3415
(They do what?) Take dem to de doctor [M.D.] an' if de doctor don' git 'em apart, go right back an' git some of de dog's, some dog blood, an' grease de man back right in de centah, an' he'll come loose right immediately.
(You grease the man's back you say?)
In de centah wit de same dog blood - de same dog dat dey got de livah from [in another rite]. Dey kin git 'im right loose right immediately. [I stopped recording machine, but informant soon continued with a time state- ment I had to recover.] (And you say if the doctor [M.D.] doesn't get them apart, or you don't get them apart, they will come apart in?) In nine days.
Entry 3453
Why when yo' go to fool wit 'er, git dat livah an' rub on 'er.
(What kind of liver?)
Dog livah. Rub on her an' anybody go to fool wit 'er, why she hang lak dat. Or yo' eithah take some dog slime an' put.on 'er an' she'll hang lak dat.
(Dog what?)
When a dog come yo' know, take de dog - git some an' put right in 'er, put on an' rub ovah 'er. I seen em jes' hang up togethah.
(Just put that stuff on her, this nature from the dog?)
Yes, jes' take a rag an' wipe her up dere wit it - make no diff'rence if - jes' take an' rub it on 'er, why he'll, jes' soon as he be dere it will stick 'im soon he go in dere. When he git wet, why it jes' stick 'im, see.
Entry 3880
So well, dey do so much wit chure footprints. Now, dey say perhaps, if dey wanted to git aftah yuh sure 'nuff [enough], dey would have to git sompin inside of yuh. Dey would have to git sompin othah inside of yuh to make it work, to make it take well. Now, dey go to work to get somepin othah in yuh now. Ah tell yuh how it is. Dere's nuthin too low fer some wimmin to do's - nuthin in de world. Now, ah've seen wimmin, ah've known wimmin, dey even totes livah undah dere dress, all-like dis mawnin' until prob'bly time fer yuh [a man] to come in [to eat]. An' cook it an' a little of dere, yo' know, in wit it an' season it up wit onion. An' yo' eat dat, why dey hardly [= strongly here] got chew fixed dere way.
Entry 1256
Well, you get you a fresh fish - you get the heart, the liver and the gall. You understand? And you lets it out in the sun and dry - see, till you can make a powder with it. Then you smoke yourself with that. You understand, you just stand over it and smoke yourself with it. Then you can use the gall - like someone done did you, put something in your hat like people say they do, steel dust or anything that fail your eyes. They can use this gall and anoint your eyes. [This cure is a variant of the one in Book of Tobit (in Apocrypha) 6:1-8; 11:10-14.]
Entry 2947
If you think candles is burnin' on you, you kin burn one on [them] yoreself. Suppose dey says, "Well, dere's candles burnin' on you." Well, you burn a candle - break it in half, if you think a candle is burnin' on you or some reader [reading the cards for you] will tell you a candle is burnin' on you. Or you feel lak a candle's burnin' on you, git a candle an' break it in half, jis' half, [and]. read, well maybe 118 Psalms, an' light it. [For other broken candles, see p.816 and Index.]
(Do you light this candle you break? Or another one?)
Light dat one - it'll burn.
(Where do you light it?)
Jis' crack it lak that - [light it] de usual place. It'll remain [lean] ovah but it'll burn. That'll stop de othah candle from burnin'.
(How would I feel if I felt that a candle is being burnt on me?)
Oooh, you feel bad, feel somethin's been crossed, an' you say, "Well, ah musta been crossed. You feel bad. You feel bad all de time an' you jis' feel lak yore livah is outa ordah an' lak that. Maybe yore blood feel lak it's a little hot. Yo' don't rest well, an' yo' don't have no success, an' jis' lak feelin' down all de time.
Entry 12906
The term proudin' used and liver fed etc. [Vicksburg 997:5.]
The short note names liver and says it was fed; the species, recipient, procedure and omitted details are not supplied.