Subject:Mockingbird
Entries
Entry 593
Well, jes' befo' day, whatevah sign yo' wanta know - whut luck or whut performance it goin' be - first we gotta git our mind. Whatevah we mind tuh change, we git our mind on de mockin' bird. Well, he'll come somewhere on our premises, on de lot, an' if he come dere successful [successive] three mawnin's - three early mawnin's 'fore daylight, den we put ovah whatevah we undertake. It's de same as put ovah. Dat's our sign from de mockin' bird - comes three successful [successive] days.
Entry 3768
Heah's whut she do, she git de gizzard of a mockin'bird an' [or] de dog gizzard, an' if de man is tied up, yo' know, Doc, an' yo' wanta git loose. Is dat whut chew mean? (That's right.) If de man is tied up an' he wanta git loose, an' de woman whut he goin' wit wanta git 'im loose, an' de woman or he git a gizzard from de mockin'bird. An' he take de gizzard while it's bloody - lak it is jes' from de bird. Don't cook it or do anythin' wit it. An' put on 'isself an' jes' take de gizzard an' put nine times. Draw dis gizzard down 'is penis nine times. An' dat will bring his nature back.
Entry 5716
Yo' take a mockin'bird's nest an' yo' burn it an' git de ashes out of it, an' use it in makin' a man or a woman go 'way. Yo' take dat wit some of dere tracks an' hang dat up ag'in wit a long string. Tie it up wit a piece of new cloth. Put it in a cloth have nevah been worn, an' put dat in dere wit a long string on it. Hang it up on a white oak an' it will swing. Hit will make 'em go off. DERE SO MANY WAYS TUH MAKE A PERSON GO OFF.
Entry 5979
Dey take yore hair - jes' lak noW, YO' WANTA RUN ME PLAIN OUTA DIS ROUN' WoRLD. Yo' don't wanta kill me, jes' keep me goin' an' ah'll nevah stop. Dey take mah hair, a plait of it, an' dey'll tie a string on each end, an' dey'll ketch dis mockin'bird an' tie it round dis mockin'- bird's neck. An' dey tell me as long as dat mockin'bird live an' go, dey say yo' goin' de same Way. Yo'll nevah have no mo' sense or no mind or nuthin.
Entry 7835
Git graveyard dirt [from] a fresh grave an' a mockin'bird nest. Dere ain't been many people know how tuh find a mockin'bird nest. Yo' have to go an' look in a peah [pear] tree at, in de tiptop of a peah tree; a fo'k of a limb, yo'll find 'is nest. An' dere's three li'le large limbs an' crossed lak dat, kinna lak a cross[3 prongs like a triangle point upward] an' a li'le moss right on down top of it. Yo' take dat moss an' dose two pieces [the three-pronged fork] an' graveyard dirt, an' put it ovah yuh do' an' says, In de Name of de Fathah, Name of de Son, an' de Holy Ghost. An' in nine weeks she'll be back. Yo' kin bring a woman back dat way.
Entry 12432
Ah've heard this about a mockin'bird. Ah knows dis to be a fact because me an' mah brothah is [when just] boys, yo' know, we's gwine long at night, a dark night, an' we would go whut we call bird threshin' yo' see. We went bird threshin' an' killed a mockin'bird.[This is evi- dently done with long switches or sticks, beating the shrub- bery on which bird was singing. I should have asked for details.] Well, mah mothah wuz living den - mah mothah's dead now. An' she tole us, she said, "Chillun, ef ah wuz yo' all ah wouldn't eat dat mockin'bird, " she said, "dat is mah death dat chew'all got." Well, we went ahead on. We went ahead on an' eat de mockin'bird an' sure 'nuff in about six month's time mah mothah died.
(What did that have to do with her death?)
Well, ah don't know, but dey say [to kill] a mockin'bird is bad, say dat would be murder. But we went ahead an' et dis mockin'bird. An' so dat wuz mah mothah death.
Entry 12434
If yo' wanta git anybody's secret, git yo' a bird aig, a mockin'bird [egg] an' cook it an' eat it. Boil it. (What will happen then?) Say yo' kin git anybody's secret, have to tell yo' dere secret; if yo' wanta know it, anything yo' wanta know. Any- thing dey done an' yo' wanta know it, yo' jes' give 'em dat. Dey tell ever'- thing dey know. (They would have to eat that, then they'll tell you the secret. You won't eat it. They eat it?) They eat it.
(They tell you the secret?)
Tell yo' de secret.
Entry 12440
You take a mockingbird.
(A mockingbird?)
Yeah, you take a mockingbird egg and a canary bird egg, and you put them twd eggs in a bottle together. And you take a person's name and you put alcohol on that, but you mark the name in initials and you put it in a good bottle. [One bottle is used in this rite.] (You just put their ini- tials on that?) Yeah, and you put it down in that bottle and shake it with that person's [name] that you don't like or do [person who has done] you something. It will just make 'em talk all over from their mouth, send them to jail, give them trouble, make them get in a fight and get in trouble.
(You say this will make them talk?)
Make them talk aplenty, make them get in trouble.
(Well, why does it make them talk?)
Well, you see, the two birds don't agree - make 'em chatter.
Entry 12441
Well, de mockin'bird eggs is puttin' spells on people. Yo' write, jes' like yo' write on 'em [black-hen eggs previously given by informant]. Yo' take dose eggs, de same identical way. Well, yo' take dat egg an' yo' put it somewhere where he breed, an' den when he breed it, why den dat will be his luck, his bad luck, dat happen to him wit dat mockin'bird egg. [You write on egg whatever you want to happen to victim and restore egg to nest. When egg hatches your wish comes true.]
Entry 12443
Well, dey didn't tell me no certain 'mount, but dey jes' say yo' kin use mockin'bird eggs an' yo' kin separate a couple wit mockin'bird aigs. (How can you do that?) Yo' cook dem aigs. See, dey'll git hard. Under- stand. Cook 'em an' yo' powder dem aigs up, an' den yo' kin sprinkle dat round a person's house or inside dey house, an' dat'll separate dem. Dey always said dat mockin'birds would be - he would make his nest but he would soon tear it down. He wouldn't nevah stay. An' dat's de reason why dey could take dat an' yo' [dey] kin sprinkle it round yore house an' in de house, an' dat'll shore make a couple spearate, fuss, yo' know, have argu- ments an' all like dat.
Entry 12447
Don't know if dey use de mockin'bird aigs but ah know dey use de mockin'- bird nest. Yo' burn it to ashes, and when yo' burn it to ashes, an' yo' jes' put some sulphur an' saltpeter in it or sulphur an' pep- pah or gunpowders - either of dem three, an' yo' mix a powders with that. An jes' what yo' say it do, it works by what yo' say...
(Give me an example of one thing you could say to it?)
Well, it ain't but one thing yo' kin say, an' den dere's plenty thing yo want to say.... It jes' what yo' want to say, or jes' if yo' have good idea - jes' any feelings tuhwards me, if yo' think ah doin' sompin ah got no business to yo', an' when yo' do dat den yo' tell it whut chew want it to do to me.
Entry 12448
"Specially dis time of yeah, dese mockin'birds. Dat's how come we take ca' of de mockin'bird's nest roun' de house. An' so jes' take dat man's hair or dat woman's hair an' put it in de bottom of dat mockin'bird's nest, an' dat man have de headache dat run him perfectly crazy.
Entry 12450
Take a mockin'bird nest an' put undah bridge, if yo' wanta break up a boy an' a girl, or yo' know, keep someone from a place. Den yo' take it an' put it where dey kin step ovah it or walk ovah it an dey won't go dere no mo'. (Like some boy and girl are going together, and I would want to separate them?) Separate dem. Go put dat nest, jes' put de nest some place where dey'll go walk ovah it chew know - him or her, either one. Dat will separate dem. [Suml ter, S. Car. (1365), 2411:8.]
Entry 12452
Yo' kin take a mockin'bird an' tell him - like yo' want him tuh go some place an' care' [carry] a note. All yo' gotta do is put it, yo' know, a little strip up under his laig, an' tell him tuh go an care' it to de person. An' call dere name three times an' he'll go dere an' light on dere house an' put it dere.
(Where do you put that note now? Do you attach it to the bird?)
Yes sir, yo' ketch a mockin'bird...
(And where do you put that note now?)
Jes' tie it on him anywhere. Tell him three times an' call de person name to him plain an' he care' it dere.
Entry 12453
Yo' kin git de young uns [ones] an' raise 'em.
(The young mockingbirds?)
Yes, an' yo' kin take a man's hair - jes' lak ah tell yo' 'bout de fish. Say, yo' carry 'em from heah - carry dat bird from right heah tuh Columbia [S. Car.]. An' fasten dat man hair on dere, to his wing an' turn him loose. Yo' ain't goin' have no mo' trouble about Tom [owner of hair] until dat bird die or somebody kill him. Nou, dere's a good one [method] tuh carry people off from heah. Dat's de only thing ah know [about mockingbird].
(You said that man will die?)
No, if dat bird die, dat man will come back home.
Entry 13334
(How Would you fix [put a spell on] her?)
Well, ah tell you. Ah'd ketch me a little sparrah - see, ketch me a little sparrah alive, and ah'll git me a little fat from a cow or fat from hog - sompin like dat - or fat from a chicken, eny kin' fat chew know to make some grease an' fry dese birds, see. I'll git dem fat an ah'll fry dem birds, see. Fry dem birds an' ah'll take a little piece of new homespun cloth, see. An' ah'll take dat homespun an' ah'll take dat grease, an' pour it onto dat homespun, see. An' after ah take dat an' pour 'em onto dat homespun, why ah'll git another [O.K.] piece of cloth an' ah'll wrop [wrap] it see. An' den ah'll take a needle an' a spool of thread wot [what] nevah beer used an' sew dat up. See, sew it up tight with dat cloth wit de grease on it, so it can't even ketch air. An' ah'll stick dat in de mattress right where she sleep at, see. Ah'll git a little Hearts Cologne an' den ah'll put a little sweet spirit of niter, see. An' ah'll pour a little bit of dat on her, see.
(On the woman herself.)
Throw a little sweet spirit of niter in front of her and a little Hearts Cologne in her back, on her right shoulder. An' she'll think the world, de sun rise an' [go] down on me.
(That is the [another] way you will get her.)