Subject:Manure
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Entry 564
She [the informant's grandmother] commence with a sore leg. An' she go to the doctor for a treatment, an' the more he 'tend to it, de worser it would get. So one moon night she lay down an' she dreamt about a remedy fer it. She got up the next morning, she went out an' sit on de doahstep - an' she say she dreamt that a ole lady tole her to get some cow manure an' put on this leg an' that would heal it. So she went out an' set on the step. A cow came by, an' she took de manure an' put it on her leg, an' five black-headed worms came out in dis manure. She nevah did have any more trouble with it. [Was she told in the dream to sit on doorstep until a cow came by? My note, while transcribing reads, "This sounds like the remnant of a folktale" - the theme.]
Entry 1186
(How do you handle chickenpox?)
Well, yo' boil this tea - yo' kin make it outa hen manure. Git dat white - dat little white speck on dere an' yo' make tea outa it an' den yo' give it tuh de individual. Dat breaks it out an' also dey begin tuh dry up.
Entry 1187
All you have to do is go to the henhouse and get some of that white hen manure. Jes' take and rub it on your forehead and stroke your jaws with it, and they can't do a thing in the world to you.
Entry 1188
You take a snake bite - and if a snake bite you, you can take chicken manure and make a poultice out of it, you understand. See, like you got a sore in amongst there and the doctors can't cure that sore, take chicken manure and put it on that sore. You understand. And it'll draw that sore and take all the inflammation out of it and heal it up.
Entry 1189
Chicken manure? They use that to rot people teeth out.
(How would they do it?)
Well if, a person bite another person, they get just enough for 'em to do that.
(What do they do?)
Rub 'em - like chicken manure and sugar. You burn that sugar till it turn a dark brown, mix it with that chicken manure and rub it on that sore, and it rot that person's teeth out sure as hell.
(You mean. if they bite you?)
If they bite you. [The story told by Vander's wife is surely an unsurpassable account for this rite - see No. 888, p.319.]
Entry 1190
Yo' bite 'em [he bites you] like tonight and dey [you] got a nice bunch of chickens - jest any kind of chicken, you know. Ever' mornin' fer about nine mornin's yo' go out and you says yore prayers right at the chicken coop and jest as yo' go - jest as yo' say de last prayer, last work in de prayer, say, "Lord have mercy, ' you rub some of dat chicken manure over dere - right fresh chicken stuff and dat will rot yore [his] teeth out.
Entry 1192
Dey say dey take chicken manure. Dey take it and dey mix some of it with anything dat chew drink - take and mix it up and you drink it. If you ever drink any of it all yore teeth will fall out chure haid. A lotta people do's it fer revenge.
Entry 1228
A man tole me if a person is crazy or anything, yo' know, an' it's not a natch'al disease, git a dog manure. He did tell me, aftah it so many days old it turns white or yellah-lookin' - something lak dat, an' make a tea out of it an' let them drink it. An' he said that will cure them.
(Any kind of insanity? A person who is crazy?)
Yeah. He tole me tuh use that on mah mothah an' ah haven't did it yet because ah haven't been where she is.
Entry 2397
If dey wanta be a rastler an' nobody kin throw 'em down, dey'll ketch a blacksnake an' skin him - de black an' green one - an' stuff dat wit sawdust or manure or somethin' to dry it. Den git all dat stuffin' out an' sew dat round in de bindin' or dey underwear - sew it round dere waist. It's purtty hard for man tuh throw 'em down. Ah've tried dat mahself.
Entry 2652
Take de cow manure an' yo' boil it. Yo' boil dat cow manure an' yo' put chew some Jockey Club Perfume in it, Hearts Cologne [three ingredients] an' yo' start tuh scrubbin' at chure front. Start tuh scrubbing at chure front - from yore front to yore back, all in yore house. An' when yo' git through scrub- bin', yo' git chew some sugah an' yo' start back in dis corner [demonstrates].
(The right-hand back corner as you come into the house.)
Yo' sprinkle yore sugah in that corner, then yo' sprinkle it in that, an' yo' sprinkle it in this one, then yo' go an' sprinkle it ovah in that corner. (As you are going into the house, you sprinkle first at the back right-hand corner, then you sprinkle it at the left-hand back corner. Then you come in and sprinkle it at the right-hand front corner as you are coming into the house.) Yessuh, then yo' sprinkle this corner.
(Then you sprinkle the last corner.)
De last corner right to de do', see. Then yo' take yo' some sugah an' yo' jes' drop a few grains, yo' see, all aroun' ovah de flo'. Dat's tuh make 'em cam [calm] an' easy, an' dat fo' luck yo' see in gamblin'.
(That is, if you are running a house, that keeps down all disturbance.)
That keeps eve'ything cam an' easy when dey come in. Yo' see, dey gotta be, yo' know. No suh, dey won't quarrel at all.
Entry 4396
Dey stop it up, dey stop up de manure of a person, a human, an' it will cuz dem tuh have - dey'll ketch it in a cup [can] dat has a top dat it will fit tight, an' dey bury it or eithah throw it away, an' it will lock de bowels.
Entry 6732
Well, dey say if a person bit chew, all yo' have tuh do is git some chicken manure an' put it on de sore where dat person bit chew, an' yore teeth will fall out - jes' rot out.
(Any kind of chicken manure?)
Any kind. [I have included this belief here because it states "any kind." The same belief is found everywhere, including Mobile, Ala., (704-706), 969:2; Charleston, S. Car., (511), 517:3; etc.] [Fayetteville, N. Car., (1390), 2491:9.]
Entry 6735
Take black chicken manure an' put on it, on de bite. An' jes' lak if anybody bite chew, jes' go an' git some black chicken manure an' put it on dere, an' all yore teeth rotten out. [Sumter, S. Car., (1368), 2426:4.] [The same belief from: Richmond, Va., (404), 353:7; and Norfolk, Va., (about 464), 454:6.]
Entry 6738
Put black hen manure on bite, heals bite and rots biter's teeth. [The healing of the bite is understood in all these rites; the biter's teeth dropping out is a revenge rite.]
Entry 6739
Ah've heard people say that if anybody bite chew, yo' could take brown chicken manure an' use it on it as a salve, an' it would rot dere teeth out.
Entry 6740
If a person bites yo', yo' kin go an' git black hen's manure an' rub it on dere, an' dere [the biter's] teeth will turn black, too.
Entry 7289
Dey say yo kin go through a cow lot, slip through a cow lot where dere manure, an' dat will kill de odor, an' de dogs can't git de trail.
Entry 7291
Well, dat fellah will run till he git to a cow pasture, an' when he git to a cow pasture he go on through an' he step in de cow manure; jes' step on de cow manure an' jes' keep a-goin'. De dogs won't nevah ketch 'im.
Entry 7292
A man tole me dat if a man do a crime an' wanta git away, say he go to a cow, where a cow have dropped, an' go an' rub 'is feets in dat cow droppin', say dey couldn't ketch 'im. Dat's all ah heerd 'em say about it.
Entry 7293
Jes' lak ah go an' kill someone an' ah wants tuh git away, see. Ah heard dat chew kin go in a cow stall an' put both foots in de cow manure, yo' understan', an' ah done walk on off an' de dog kinnot trail yo'. Don' care where ah go, de dog will come up to de stall - come dere an' stop right dere.
Entry 7294
If he happen tuh do somepin an' run away, an' he'll go to a cow stall an' step in cow manure, go through dis cow stall an' step in dis cow manure, dey may track 'im to de cow stall [but no farther].
Entry 11050
Yo' could go to a chicken house an' git some chicken manure an' rub it on dere [if person bites you] an' it will make a person's teeth rot out.
Entry 11315
They take a white dog's...
(A white dog's what?)
A white dog's nurine and mix it with black pepper.
(Wait, the urine from the dog or the manure?)
The manure from the dog.
(And mix it with what?)
With black pepper.
(With pepper?)
Yes, sir, and sprinkle it up underneath the steps.
(What will that do?)
That will make you move out in nine days. That's what they told me. [For vhite dog manure see also No.1840, p.548, v.1.]
Entry 11320
Take de dog manure an' bury it under yore house. Dat keep anybody from interferin' with yore busines [also a witchcraft deterrent].
Entry 11321
Parch dog manure with graveyard dirt, red pepper, dirt dauber nest; put in your room anywhere you walk; causes you to travel, drift about, unsettled mind.
Entry 12487
Step in cow manure; dogs can't trail. [Known everywhere.] [Charles- ton 642:2.]
Entry 651
You go down in the field and git manure, but you have to git a certain kind of manure. You have to git bull manure, not cow manure. Git that and wrap it in a red handkerchief. He claimed he was tricked. He let someone use his hammer and something they put on his hammer got on his hand and kept him from work. [This proves that he was poisoned.] Some one of these two-headed people that he was dealing with told him he had to git some bull manure. Well, I was jist a boy and they sent me to go git it. I go and git that bull manure and go and git some pokeberry root. Get the he pokeberry root. There's two kinds, a he and a she. The he one is white and the she one is red. The she one has a red skin on it, she come up out the ground. They git that and mix up with this manure together and cook it together and put that on him [his arm] and bind it down. He got so he went to work again.
Entry 2011
When yo' do lak dat, yo' goes where peoples take - to a horseshoe shop where dey shoes horses an' mules. Yo' understand dat. Yo' git chew, understan', nine p'ints [points] of de horseshoe nails - nine p'ints. Whut ah mean by nine p'ints now - de whole horseshoe nail when yo' shoein' de horse, dey drive it in de hoof, an' yo' takes yore pliers, yo' drive it [nail] through de shoe into de hoof, through de hoof an' it come out ovah heah an' dat leaves de p'int stickin up lak dat, a good little piece. Well, dey rings dat off on dat side an' files it off wit a file. (They clip those little points off?). Yeah, clip dem off. Yo' pick 'em up down dere on de ground. Yo' tells de man, say, "Ah wanta, Boss, a han'ful or so of dese little p'ints of dese little horseshoe nails." Says, "Go ahead," says, "ah don't care nuthin 'bout dem - ah'm done with 'em." Pick yo' up nine p'ints an' put 'em in yore pocket. Den when yo' git dat, yo'll go back an' go where yore cow is, or mah cow, or lak dat, a cow stall or in a cow pasture, an' git chew, understan', a han'ful, jes' about dat much, of dry cow dung. Be sure dat hit dry an' hard - not green, not half-green. Gits de ole dry cow dung dat's hard an' dry, an' come back an' crumble that thing up, yo' understand, an' take dem nine p'ints of dem horseshoe nails an' put it in dere wit it. Sew it up in a lil piece of flannen, if yo' wanta, an' put it in yore pocket an' take den an' git yo' dis - git chew some dis heah whut dey call Hearts Cologne. Yo' kin git dat an' dat smells so high, so high in a crowd lak dat, yo' kin leave hit off [and use a linament]. (If you don't use the Hearts Cologne, you use this linament. Now what is it called?) Ah'm tellin' yo' now - whut dey call Nerve and Bone Linament, an' po' it on dere. Wet it good wit dat. Dat Nerve an' Bone Linament, dat takes all de man's nerves dat he git. If yo' git a man nerve, den yo' got him up any time where yo' Want him. He ain't no damn good. Yo' kin work him any kinda way yo' wanta. Dat takes de nerve 'way from all de rest of 'em. Yo' see, yo' got de nerve down. When a man's nerve gone, he's no good.
(That's for luck in gambling.)
Entry 2503
Then agin, I git de graveyard dirt from somebody relative who is dead, [died] good -, ou know, make peace. Any person who dead, git dat dust you know. Den you git de white-horse manure, mix that with salt and sulphur, and sprinkle around yore place. An': hey'll [officers will] call round yore place but they'll go away - wouldn't stir about chuh.
(Keeps the law away.)
Keep away because yo' have a white horse in de pasture and dey'll tell de party, "Oh! Looks like a white horse." (That white horse keeps them away? This is supposed to be the white horse in the pasture?) Yes. See, if you have a white horse in de pasture, dat horse will fight all other horses, but dey never fight dat white horse. (Those other horses won't bother a white horse. That is why the white-horse manure is good.) Yes.
Entry 7205
[For Doctor England's interview see pp.1386-1401.]
But ah see dem use. Well, it's mos'ly used, is dis yere - well, de manure from a ole white mule. It is known tuh be de drawin' problem. Dey do's it up an' use it as an incense mo' [more] of a white horse or [than] a white mule. (What do they use that for?) Drawin' powah, tuh draw eny person, see. Yo' kin perfume it up. It is vury good to use dis Mary Garden Perfume, Mary Garden. An' also yo' have tuh use a portion of dis Hearts [Cologne]. LET IT DRY OUT AN' WET IT AG'IN. LET IT DRY OUT AN' WET IT AG'IN, TILL YO' GET IT CURED AN' DEN USE IT DAT WAY. (What do they usually do with that manure, carry it around, or do they burn it or what for drawing?) Well, fo' drawin', dey leave it intuh de home. See, tuh draw 'em on. If a girl's frien' have been here an' she wan' 'im come tuh 'er, den dey place it on de house stove. Den, by right an' all it's used wit it a composition of all whut ah used mahself is, dey uses oil of rose - oil of rose an' oil of Mary Garden. See, an' let it burn.
Entry 888
And that's another experience I had. You see, I'm kind of old - I know a whole lotta things. Well, I had a friend once, years ago after I lost my first husband - I've had three husbands and they all dead - and you know, he was a drunkard. And when he got to drinkin' he was rough - he'd fight me, he'd bite too, he bite and knock, and he bit me on the shoulder. It right there to show for itself. Ah told a lady one day, ah say, "You know Vander and he was fightin last night," and I say, "Vander bit me.
(What was his name?)
Vander - Vander Graham. I say, "Vander bit me," and I said, "I don't like it neither," I say, "comin' bitin' me like I was a dog or nothin'." And she say, "Let me see it," and I let her looked at it and she say, "You got any chickens?" I say, "Yes." She say, "What kind of chickens you have?" I say, "I have all kind - I have no special, they all mixed up." She say, "You have no black chickens?" I say, "Yes, I have a black hen - and she settin' though." She said, "Well, that's more the better," she say, "come on and I go home with you." And we go on home and she went in and say, "Where is the black hen?" I showed 'er and she went and runned 'er up. You know, quite natch'ral you run a hen up and she been settin' there so long she do what she goin' have to do. Well, she did a whole lot. She say, "Well, that's all I want." And she'd taken it and rubbed it on this place [the bite] and do you know that all his teeth dropped out. Not a tooth did he have. He wus jes' as toothless as I am now - co'se the doctor had all of mine pulled out on account of my health, and that ain't done me much good 'cause i' tain't nothin' but that ole medicine, you know, they give you. And so he'd sit down to de table sometimes eatin' and he'd say, "Ugh," he say, "you know, ah believe I'm goin' lose ev'ry one of my teeth - they're all loose.' Ah say, "They is?" And he say, "Yes." He say, "Ah had a pretty set of teeth." He didn't have a decayed teeth in his head. But this old lady put this on me and she say, "Any time anybody bite you, you stop 'em from biting you," she say, "jis' git some black hen manure and put on that place and let it heal up with it. and they won't have nothin' to bit with nc more." I'm telling you it was true.
(After that what happened?)
And when he left me - now, I'm goin' tell you this. I runned him away from me because he was too bad drunkard and fightin', but he'd take care of me nice and everything. He would dress me nice and buy plenty of food and everything, and he bought a nice little home and everything for us, but oh! he Was awful drunk', you see, and fighting all de time - all de time he was drunk. He would work, he was smart, but from Sat'day - he would come in Friday from his Work, didn't go back till Monday. He worked de [that] way - all de time. And he'd come in with 'im a jug of liquor and he would drink and fight me - he would make me sit up all night long under a gun.
(Under a gun?)
Under a gun - have a gun on me and didn' 'low me to close my eyes. I just got sick of it. And this same Doctor Tiggers - I had him run 'im on away from here.
(How did he run him away?)
I don't know - he never give me anything, you see, but chew just tell him what you Want, write him, anything. Tell 'im what chew want him to do and when it's done - he'd say, you don't worry, everything will come around all right. He'd never write you much [see No. 887, p.319]. But hit'll come just like he say. He sent him away from me and I haven't seen Vander since.
(Well, why did he hold a gun at you that way?)
Well - me? Just mean to keep me from going to sleep. I'd be so sleepy I'd be just noddin' off and he'd say, "Wake up," and curse me. "Wake up - wake up or I'll blow your brains out." I got sick of that. But when he left me, he didn't have no teeth. I ain't got none now but the doctor's pulled mine - his'n dropped out.
Entry 1201
And there was another fellow here. His wife had his skin, his urine, his action and everything, she had it all in a bottle and had it buried an' that poor fellow - he was all he could do to walk, he could not straighten up and he bend that way for eleven months. And he couldn't eat anything but a little crackers, a little sweet milk. He came down there one evening dragging - he came in. She [doctor] went back in there - she had been out in the country and she got a big old cow turd and she tied it up in a rag and made him a big cup of tea. He drank that - he drank it, ever bit of it. She said, "Now lay down." " And he slept for about three or four hours and when he got up from there could stand straight. She give him 15c worth of castor oil and about half of a bottle of Sal Hepatica. That is what he needed and it cleaned him out. And she gave him mounds [incense molded into small conical mounds] to take home and watch his wife to burn. [While he burned the mounds, his wife was burning.] And I mean it took every bit off him, put it right back on her. She gave him the brown and black mounds to burn. He burnt these while his wife was gone and threw it right back on her. Just lighted them and burn them in the house where him and her stayed and slept.
Entry 1202
My mother, she was hoodooed at Miss S's house. I guess, if you ever been up on Cherry Street to old S's - they Was Jews - but she had a woman there named Tuley[?] S. Well, my mother was a pastry cook - she was making twelve dollars a week, but this other woman she didn't like that 'cause she wasn't getting the money. But if she got rid of my mother that would be her job. She hoodoo her in her shoe. She put somethin' in her shoe - just poisoned her same as a rattlesnake. She was a hoodoo. And her [mother's] feet come to bothering her and was swollen. Doc come to my mother.
(Doctor Robey?) [Informant had mentioned him in another story.]
Doctor Robey, and told her to go out in the pasture and get some cow manure where it's done got brown just like - just done caked up, and make a tea out of it. Get her a beef gall and -
(What was that - a beef gall?)
A beef gall, and take that beef gall and squeeze a little of that syrup from out of there - whatever it is - squeeze it into that tea and drink it. That stuff come out of her black as your hair - from out of - you know, black as your hair. And she before that - she didn't die neither. That ole man cured her. [My hair was dark brown. Usually informants said, "As black as your hat," referring to an old black hat concealing a microphone on the table - see Intro- duction and in Index, Author, black hat of.]
(Just put the beef gall into this cow manure tea?)
Into the cow manure tea. Boil this cow manure.
Entry 1229
Whenevah - if yo' have a dog, watch de dog carefully an' see whenevah he has an action. Den yo' git his manure whilst it's fresh an' place it in a quart cup of water an' den yo' boil it down to a pint an' den use it wit a cloth to dab dat in good - dis out-flannen-an't [= anointment (an't) out of (out) flannel (flannen)] it used to cure de piles.
Entry 3712
Go out to de henhouse an' git yo' nine dry hen turd an' put 'em in sompin an' let dat watah git lukewarm. Take dat an' stroke yo'self down good. Jes' lak yo' expect to go dere tomorrah, why yo'll do dat today. Den say, dat aftah tomorrah, de nex' day, yo' go an' buy a little bottle of Heart Cologne, an' go on back an' bathe wit it.
(That will restore his nature?) Yessuh, an' he do dat mo' den one time.
Entry 4419
Yuh kin take a person's a - yuh know ah couldn't use de proper name of it, yeah manure. Yuh kin take hit an' yuh kin go tuh a pine tree, an' go roun' right whare it pointed right to- wards de east, see. An' bore yuh a hole in dere, an' yuh could put it in dere an' stop it up, an' go dere nine mawnin's an' drive a nail, see, in- tuh dat. An' den go dere nine mawnin's an' drive dat nail fuhthah an' fuhthah in fo' nine mawnin's. Time comes it would come tuh 'im, yuh know, be worried wit 'is backside, yuh know, an' it will cuz him tuh have so much trouble it will kill 'im in de long run. [Informants proper nome of it is undoubtedly a messy four- lettered word!]
Entry 4425
Yuh kin take dis person's or individual's where he go an' do his job - this, ah [mean], yuh lgc, manure.
(Manure?)
Manure, yuh umadahstan', where he done go an' do his job, see. All right. Yuh gits jis' enough of dat tuh, yuh know, do what yuh want wit it. An' den yuh takes dis needle. (Just one?) Jis' one needle, an' yuh brings dis an' yuh hangs it up high jis' about - if he six feet, yuh hang it seven feet an' stick dis needle in it. An' as yuh stick dat needle in it, an' dat's seven fet above 'im, dat's a feet above hi - he's six, yuh make it seven. An' den as yuh do dat, why let it stay dere nine days. An' aftah nine days, de individual will be mentally unbalanced.
(What did you put that stuff in?)
Yuh stop it up in a bottle. An' den yuh wrap a papah or rag, anything aroun' it, an' den yuh stick it up about a feet highah dan he is.
(Hang it anywhere?)
Hang it on a tree - hang it up on a tree, a limb of a tree.
Entry 4455
Dey could take some of yuh manure an' dey'll put dat - stop dat up in a bottle. An' dey carry it tuh a dogwood tree, a fo'ked dog- wood tree, yeah fo'ked, an' bo' a hole in dere an' slip it down in dere [demonstrates].
(Oh! Bore a hole down [slanted] in the fork like that.)
Yeah, an' stop it up. Walk off an' don't look back, an' yuh'll nevah have a pass unless yuh cut 'em open. But dey couldn't [have] nary one demself, only jis' gittin' relief.
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 5169
Take a pair of shoes dat yo' have worn an' yo' kin take dose shoes an' carry dose shoes tuh yore house - carry 'em tuh yore house. Den aftah yo' carry dose shoes tuh yore house, turn 'em ovah on dey face an' den go out in a cow stall somewheres an' git chew some of evahy kin'a manure yo' kin pick up from diff'ren' animals, all kin'a manure yo' kin pick up, an' put in dat shoe. An' dat will drive yo' jis' as crazy as a bedbug. (That is, if you want to harm me, you would get my old shoes and take them to your house to dress them?) Yes.
(Then what do you do with the shoes after you put that stuff in them?)
Oh! Yo' take de shoes an' carry 'em away an' bury 'em.
(What would that do to me then?)
Dat would jis' fix yo' up so yo' couldn't walk or do nuthin - paralyze yo'.
Entry 5528
Take dat an' put new manure in it. Take mah track an' put new manure in it an' jis' scattah it each way yo' see, an' den ah'll keep a-goin'. Ah jis' won't nevah continue ' nowhere. Dat's tuh keep yo' wit travelin' min'. [This manure, animal, is evidently scattered both ways along your tracks so that you are not going to or coming from a definite destination but in all directions. Human manure is almost a foot-track rite in POWER FROM DEAD PREACH- ER'S BoNE, that amazing and almost unbelievable story, p.285. In the present and following rites newness is reguired.1
Entry 6737
If a black-gummed person bites you, put black hen manure on the bite and the biter's teeth will decay and drop out.
Entry 6742
Soak black manure from a hen about three days in whiskey; give to per- son to make loose teeth.
Entry 6751
If yo' got a boil - jes' lak a boil grow on yo' - take dat cow manure an' warm it an' tie it dere. Dey say bt will bring it tuh a head.
Entry 6752
Dey tell me dat chew git a po'tion [por- tion not potion] of rat- tlesnake dust, red peppah, gunpowdah in yore shoes, dat'll cuz [cause] yo' tuh have achin' an' swellin' j'ints an' stuff. Dat'll put a spell on yo'.
(Sort of swell up your feet or make your joints ache?)
Yeah, yore j'ints ache, an' swell yore j'ints up, too.
(Well, is there any way you can cure that, I wonder?)
Yessir, yo' go tuh a cow stall an' yo' git dat dung, dat rakin' of de cow stall where de cow trample.
(The cow manure?)
Yeah. Yo' take dat an' yo' boil dat an' yo' bathe yore feets in dere. Yo' dilute dat an' put a li'le salt in it. Bathe yore feets in dere wit dat. An' yo' take dat an' yo' THROW DAT SUNDOWN SIDE. DAT MEANS FO' DE MISERY TUH GO DOWN, de sweat of it goes down an' de mis'ry [misery] tuh go out. Yo' throw dat sundown side.
Entry 10875
(Well, now, how would these people make you move out? What would they do to make you move out?) Oh, that. That is very easily done. You see, you kin take - you know, two tom cats fights whenever they meets. Well, they kin git to you very easily. You git two tomcats - their manure. That [is the] frontyard there and that [is the] front porch. I will take, if I wanted to do you harm, I would take my left hand any time at night and I will probably throw it [manure] over that porch or over dat front yard where you gotta cross for to come into the porch. I will throw it thataway, see, as I'm going on up. I would walk de lenk [length] of that porch or de lenk of the front yard. I will take my hand, the left hand, and throw thataway, and don't ever look back. Well, you bound to cross it. Well you, if you stay there, you'll stay there in trouble; tormented forever and you'll be glad to get out, because them two tomcats - just like they was fight- ing all the time, that will keep you like that.
(I see, but you have to get the two tomcats.)
Yeah, the two tomcats. Well you take them two and you kin [do] enything and break up enybody - break up eny home.
Entry 10882
Well, if yo' livin' heah an' somebody want chew tuh move out, ah know whut dey kin do tuh make yo' move. Well, de way ah've heard it an' de way ah've seen it did, yo' git a black cat an' a dog an' make dem fight, an' git some of dat hair. Den yo' git some of whut dey do, de passage, an' dry it up tuhgether, an' put dat hair in it. While dey all growled up an bristeld up, yo' git some dat hair out dey back. Rub it tuhgether an' let it dry until it git plumb ontuh a powder. Put it in de stove an' parch it until it git tuh a powder. When it git tuh a powder, den yo' git somebody if yo' cain't go tuh de house, yo' git somebody else tuh go dere, yo' understan'. Dey go dere wit dat powder, have it hid, an' sprinkle it in de fo' corners of dat house. Dey'll move undah five days. Dey cain't stay dere. [I would call this a quasi- quincunx rite, the fifth point being the 5 days. At the moment I do not recall anything similar, though I am almost certain that there is.]
Entry 10887
Take de hair out of a dog hair an' de hair out of a cat tail, or eit- her git it out of one of 'em's tail an' de other out one of dere haid - either one of dem animals. Yo' kin git dat an' put it together, an' when yo' put it together, yo' put it an' makes a ball of it. But den yo' wanta put it - yo' jes' have de least little bit of peppah in it, any kinda peppah, an' yo' make dat ball with a string to it. Put de string lak dat, but yo' take de biggest part of it now - chew git dat cat hair an' dat dog hair an' yo' put it in a piece of cloth an' den yo' git three pods of rat manure, an' yo' put dem in an' sew it up together. Yo' make dat ball together an' yo' kin come roun' - if it mah pump or mah bucket or any- thing, an' den yo' dump it in dere three times. An' den yo' throw it away. Dat'll broke us up fo' life, won't.enjoy life no mo'. Ah see dat done.
(You are supposed to go out and'drink that water?)
It jes' make us fall out fo'evah.
(If you drink the water?)
Entry 11047
Sew dat up in a rag.
(What do they sew up in a rag?)
De black hen manure. Sew it up in a rag an' put de person name in it if dey doin' yo' harm an' yo' don't like 'em. An' yo' take it to runnin' water to de rivah an' throw it in. Put new safety pins in [package] an' throw it in [river] an' dat person'll go clean away an' won't trouble yo' no mo'. Ah done that mahself.
(Just put one safety pin?)
Two - three, yes sir, yo' put one on each end an' pin one across it, three. (Like the letter "H" on the package.) [The figure is more like this Ha double cross.] Yes sir.
Entry 11052
Ah heard dat if somebody bite chew dat yo' gits black chicken manure an' rub it on dere, an' it will rot all dere teeth out.
Entry 11055
They will ketch a black hen - goin' pick 'em out a black ole hen an' git de white offa dat, dey dung, de white. And if dey kin git it - maybe dey wants to do it, dey can't git to 'em. But he'll git somebody else an' put some in yore food. See. An' de minute dat yo' eat it, in nine days yore tooths will come to be slack all over everywhere - in nine days. (And your teeth will eventually drop out.) [Not eventually, but within 9 days!]
Entry 11057
If yo' bit a person, yeah, n' they git chicken manure an' anoint the place with it - if they bit 'en, an then their teeth will begin tuh rot out one by one. Of course, they all won't come out at one time, but one by one they'll eventually [come out].
(Any kind of chicken manure?) Yes, jes' so it's a chicken.
Entry 11058
You kin take manure from a chicken - has to be a black one, though - an' dat place [where you were bitten] put it on there an' tie it up, an keep it tied up for three days. Dat will take all their teeth out.
Entry 11133
Reach arm as far as possible in wicked per- son's grave, mix with bull dung, sprinkle at house, causes confusion.
Entry 11317
(What's that?)
(Bull dog manure?)
Bull dog manure. They'll take bull dog manure and wasp nest. Parch them down to a powder. It'll 'come pulverized like powder. Put them together and mix them. Come to your home where you and your wife been getting along nice and smooth Walk right in that home and talk with your old woman, just come right in the house and throw it around.
(Just sprinkle it around?)
Yes. You begin to squabble and fight and the next thing you know, why one of you is gone away from there.
(I see.) I see.)
Entry 10911
Dog manure an' dog hair - see, dey gotta git dat dog an' cat tuh fightin'; see, if yo' Wanta separate a man an' a woman. See, yo' git - lak mah, ah have two little white dogs now. Well, yo' git a cat an' git dem tuh fightin' an' clip de hair right quick while dey both mad. Yo' put dat tuhgethah, dat cat hair 'de dog hair, an' dog manure an' cat manure, an' rat manure. Well, yo' ba de three things don' git along, don't chew? Yo' know de cat hates de rat 'de dog hates de cat. So yo' throw dat in dere. It really separate any man wife an' it will make 'em move. Throw it in de room, jis' lak ah come in ah. Fo' instance, ah wanta have sompin in mah han'. Ah could be sittin' heah 'd coald be jis' sprinklin' it aroun'. [I replaced the original four-letter odd by amure.]
Entry 12183
Take animal manure and dry it. See, you got a good animal and dey want it. See, dey take de animal manure and dry it right dry. Take an' dey pound it up, see. And dey will take alcohol, see, and put in dat manure and bury it. See, and den bury it under dere doorstep. And you'll often be to their house to sell 'em dat horse. See, you'll want to sell him dat horse better dan anybody else. And he [horse trader] kin git de horse from you cheaper dan you bought de horse fo'.
Entry 1191
If a person should bite chew, go tuh de (dere)[transcriber's comment] chicken coop on a dark night an' git some chicken dung an' put on it an' dere teeth will rotten out.
(Must.it be on a dark night?)
Yes.
(Any kind of chicken manure?)
Any kinda chicken manure. [De and dere meaning the and their or there are occasionally so much alike it is impossible to distinguish them. Neither transcriber nor I was certain whether the bitten victim went to his own or the biter's chicken coop. Dark night looks like biter's - if so, it is unusual.]
The informant specifies chicken manure in a bite-related account; the location of the chicken coop is explicitly uncertain.