Subject:Mud
Entries
Entry 374
[Years ago when the informant lived in Louisville, Kentucky, he did a great amount of gambling without much success. A friend offered to make him a successful gambler, provided he would participate in a certain rite. To perform this ceremony, both men one dark night went out in the woods, where the friend immediately made a large mud pie. Then, taking from his pocket a red-flannel ball which he began to roll round the outside of the pie, he asked the informant to cut the pie with a knife. But, before the latter could overcome his timidity, things began to happen. It lightened and thundered. Dishes dropped from the sky and broke on the ground. A cock appeared and began to crow. Knowing the cock to be the devil, the informant began to run and never stopped until he reached Louisville.]
Entry 4329
Yuh kin take a woman's watah, tuh run 'is wife 'way from de othah man. An' yuh kin take dat watah an' put it intuh de dirt, if it not already on de dirt. Take it an' put it in de dirt an' make a kinda mud-like outa it, see. Yuh take de watah intuh de dirt an' yuh kin bo' a hole intuh dat tree, an' put it in dere an' stop it up In de Name of de Fathah, [and the Son] an' de Holy Ghost, an' make yuh wish de way dat chew want it tuh work. It will work.
(Any kind of way?)
Yes sir.
Entry 4867
Dey tell me dat if yuh wanta drive a person away wit dey own clothes, dat yuh kin take an' care it tuh a runnin' stream. An' take a stave an' stob
[or stahb] it up through de [mud]
an' let it stay down on de mud at de bottom wheresomevah dat it hit. An' whensomevah dat it stay dere an' rot, an' keep afraging away, dat dey will jis' be walkin' - driftin' de balance of yuh days.
(They drive that down into the mud with the stave.)
Entry 5730
Ah tell yo' about de foot track as fur as ah knows. Yo' drags dat track from de toe an' drag it back wit dem two fingers, until yo' thoroughly gits back to de heel. [Demon- strates.] (You take the right hand and the index finger and the little finger. Make them as a shovel and drag it back towards the heel. And you begin with that track - your thumb must touch the heel and then where those two fingers rest, you draw them back like that.) Right in de centah of de track. Yo' takes dat track an' yo' buy yo' a bottle of ink, an' yo' mix jis' enough of dat in dat track tuh make a li'le, yo' know, a dough of it yo' might say. Den yo' go tuh a growin' tree on de sundown side an' bo' a hole right down at de foot of it. Put dat in it, pack it up, an' go back dere fo' three days evah mawnin' an' give it [peg] one tap. De third mawnin' yo' have it [peg] in wit [even with] de tree. Den take some of dat same ink an' stain all roun' dat place, an' go on about chure business. Dat man nevah go out in peace. Dat will jis' run 'im com- plete 'way from dere.
Entry 5749
Dey take yore foot track, take it up, yo' know, jis' lak it is, an' turn it aroun' an' p'int it tuh dem, an' put some of dere watah in dat. Yo' know, make a ball of it. (Make a what of it?) Make a ball - you know, wet it 'nuff tuh ball it up, yo' know, lak a snowball. (Oh! Oh! Make a mud-ball.) Yes, yes, but wet it wit some of yore watah, yore urine.
(I see.)
An' den yo' bury dat undah yore do'step. Dat brings 'em tuh yo'.
(Oh, that brings them to you.)
Yes. (I see. Well, who would do that? Some woman, a woman would do that to bring a man to her?) Or a man eithah. Make no diff'rence.
Entry 6246
Dey kin take yuh hair an' bury it, yuh see, an' dat'll run yuh crazy. Dey'll bury it wit de same hot stuff, gunpowder, red peppah. Dat's when dey wan'a run yuh crazy. An' dey'll take dat wasp nestes. Yuh know de wasp look lak dey goin' fly at chew an' goin' sting yuh. Yo'll take de wasp nestses an' take dat [wasp] powdah. Take dem little waspses outa de nest an' takes de dirt an' dey makes a little powdah. Dey makes a little powdah wit dat an' dey'll go tuh work an' dey'll.... Whut did yuh ast me? Uh-huh, yuh hair. An' dey'll take dat hair an' dey'll put all dat togethah an' dey'll bury it, or eithah put it in [a tree]. Dey'll go in de woods somewhere an' dey'll put it in a tree toward de sunrise, an' yo'll always have achin's an' achin's in yore haid an' be crazy.
Entry 7253
A young boy, a young girl wus wild about 'im an' he wus crazy tuh go tuh school - he didn't caah tuh fool wit girls. Well, her people did all sech as dat [hoodoo work] an' so she slips, knowin' whut tuh git - she had some of dis snail dust, an' worm dust, an' also some ground puppy dust. [The latter is called ground puppy or mud puppy = chango or hellbender or salamander. We have here 3 dusts: snail, worm and mud puppy.] De end of dat, she, knowin' evahthin', bein' aroun' [experienced], she put a li'le [of these 3 dusts] around in de band of 'is hat. He become deaf. Den he got speechless, he couldn't talk. Den he got mindless. He had no misery nowhere but, see, jis' aroun' here [demonstrates].
(Throat.)
So he wus brought here [to New Orleans] an' de second night he wus here de lady [doctor] dat treated 'im dat day when he got here, ah helped 'er. Ah was right dere wit 'er. She sent tuh de drug store an' got a dime of castor oil, an' she got some sweet oil an' laudanum mixed. I am uncertain about laudanum, which transcriber transcribes lavender.] An' den she got pure olive oil. An' den she goes in de henhouse an' she gits a white hen turd, a dry one, an' she put dat intuh a teacup an' drew de tea out. Now, she gave 'im dis whole dime of [sweet] oil, an' as she brewed de tea, why she put nine drops of dis pure olive oil in dere an' she had 'im tuh gargle 'is throat good wit dat. She let 'im lay until 'is bowels moved, an' it moved quickly, becuz he seemed tuh be very much clogged up. An' jis' as soon as dey moved, den she gave 'im five spoonfuls of sal he- patica. An' de nex' mawnin' she goes an' gits some shame flowah. [This Shame flower, the sensitive vine or brier Schrankia Uncinata, is usually called: Shame brier, shame vine, sensitive brier, shame face, Shame Jim, or Shamin' Judy (see P.646).] She gits two of de li'le bu'bs [bulbs], yuh know. Evah heah [hear] yuh look at 'em [the plant] an' say shame, dey fold up? [I probably answered this question by shaking my head, yes or no. For saying shame to the plant or blos- som, see No.2290, p.646.] She got two of dose [bulbs]. She gits de leaf off de flag lily, one leaf, an' one peetal [petal] off de bloom. An' she makes a tea of dat an' she bathes 'is neck an' haid good wit dat. An' den, when she got through bathin' 'im wit dat, she gave 'im three aspirins. He couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, couldn't notice nuthin, but he went tuh sleep an' he slept all dat night. De nex' mawnin' we got up, we were fixin' breakfast." "Hello' [he says]. Here he comes walkin', lookin' well. She had a very purtty li'le girl dere which she Vus raisin' [bringing up] an' he looked at 'er an' smiled. Soon as she got close tuh 'im, he threw 'is han's on tuh 'im an' say, "Hey, " the firs' time he had spoken in nine months. Fo' fifteen days dat wus all she done wus tuh keep dat treatment up. His speech wus almost normal. His hearin', his sense of evah- thing wus almost normal. An' den, when she got 'im dat good, she asked me tuh tell 'er a good nerve builder to build 'im up. Ah said, "Well, give 'im Dr. Miles Nerve Medicine, an' Dr. Miles Anti-pain Cure." Ah wish yuh would see 'im today. He is a big hearty man as lives. An' he had lost 'is mind completely.
Entry 11198
Dirt dauber's nest - take de dirt dauber's nest an' pound it with sulphur an' put it up ovah de do'post an' dat would separate a family an' make it go separately. [What is a doorpost? I would say one of the two posts of an un- ended door frame, such doors being fairly common.
Entry 11201
They will spring your doors and things. (Well, how would they do that?) They'll take that - they'll go to three people's house and you can steal you some salt from three people's house, and take that cayenne pep- per and that black pepper and dirt dauber's nest and beat it together and sprinkle your door and you'll move.
(I see. And you'll move. But you only steal the salt?)
Steal the salt.
(The other things you don't take?)
No, you just steal that from somebody's house.
(Just the salt. Those other things you take from your own house?)
Yeah.
(I see. That will make you move out?)
Yes.
Entry 11220
The dirt dauber's nest, you go in a person's house and put it in the four corners of the house - graveyard dirt with the dirt dauber - and they move out of there. Just beat it up.
Entry 11221
Now, yo' take de [chicken] aig an' broke a little hole in it an' put some of dis graveyard dirt - jes' a drop of it - an' de dauber nest [dirt] an' throw it on de house, and run 'em away.
Entry 11222
Yo' kin git dis heah dirt daubah nest an' de lettah whut he wrote chew. Yo' kin fix dat lettah all up an' send it back tuh him. (How do you mean, fix that let- ter all up?) Well, yo' take dis daubah nest an' a little bit, jes' a pinch of dis graveyard [dirt], an' put in dis lettah - not tuh let him see it, jes' dust ovah it - an' send it back tuh him.
(What will that do then?)
Dat will bring his mind back tuh yo'. [There is a collection of these letters in section LETTERS AND HANDWRITING, vol.4, Nos.8789-8881, Pp.3589-3610, some With graveyard dirt.]
Entry 11223
Take dirt dauber, cai-yanne peppah an' grave- yard dirt. Dat's tuh make people move, too. Yo' puts dem things intuh a ole cup an' yo' make a powdah of it, an' yo' go an' throw it aroun' dis place where yo' want de people tuh go.