Subject:Lobelia
Entries
Entry 12339
When you leave yo' house, if yo' know that yo' are going after whis- key [as a bootlegger], you understand - if you going after whiskey, you wanta dress [magically protect] yourself before you go. You wanta dress yo'self be- fo' yo' go. Anyhow dress yo' car. (How do you dress it?) Well, yo' take dat lobelia an' put one piece in de back, right in de back of de car, an' sit on de odder [other] piece underneath yo' seat, an' den nobody will tetch yo' car. An' coming in an' going out nobody ketch yo' car. Nobody ever hear yo'. Lobelia and hippo, yo' git dat out de woods.
Entry 12340
Yo' git three grains [pieces] of hippo roots, and one grain of lobe- lia. Yo' bury it at chure step, at de foot of yore gate. If you got a gate and de house setting back in de yard, well yo'll bury dat to - right to yore gate. De law come in dere. An' yore pickle [prickly] feet guards all over dat. [This man from the swamps used words and plant names I had never heard of.]
Entry 12774
If I wanta harm yuh - if I wants tuh harm yuh, I'm goin' show yuh de way I'd harm yuh. Now, ah've got somepin dat ah wants to git nex' to yo' fo'. Ah'll come to yore house an' sit down an' talk wit chew today. Dat to git de sense to see what chew, yuh notice me about, if yo' don' notice me too much. Den tomorrah when ah come back, ah bring my dose [mix- ture] what I wants to git nex' to yo', an' sprinkle it in yore house. An' de day what chew got - understand, dat what chew got. When ah leave yo' house, [you] will always wanta see me all de time.
(Well, what sort of dose would you fix up?)
Well, ah'll fix up sompin wit lobelia and hippo - lobelia and hippo root. [This may be my only example of Hippo, the name of the blood flower from the Bahamas.] Now ah git blacksnake powder or rattlesnake powder an' tie yo' up.
(Rattlesnake powder?)
Rattlesnake powder an' tie yuh up. Yo' take dis rattlesnake powder - yo' take it an' bring it wit chew out de Woods an' yo' put one knot in it. Git de blacksnake-shoestring [he means] de devil's-shoestring. Tie dat together an' ah've got chew.
(What is this blacksnake root that you tie up?)
Blacksnake root? Blacksnake root supposed to conkah anything yo' start after, an' rattlesnake powder...
(Rattlesnake powder?)
Rattlesnake powder, dat's a big bush grows about dat high an' grows about dat wide [demonstrates]. Yo' kin take it - yo' kin go to de woods an' take it an put it in yore yard or plant it in yore flowers. But it's no good heah to yuh, yo' gotta git it out de woods. Git chew five-fingah grass. It grows about dat high [demonstrates]. Yo've seen snake's tongue, ain't chew? Well it jes' like a snake's tongue. It grows about dat high [demonstrates], from de ground an' it spread out jes' like a snake's tongue.
(Well, what do you do with that five-finger grass?)
Yo' take dat an' bring it to yore house an' conkah anybody dat chew wanta come by. Anything dat come to yo' mind to do, yo' kin do it. Yo' don't miss nuthin.