Subject:Nails/Rusty nails
Entries
Entry 4984
Yuh take nine rusty nails an' yuh git 'is socks. Let it be real soiled - one, it don't diff'rence, jis' so it's a dirty sock. An' put dose nails intuh it an' bear [bury] it in de back yard. An' a... Well, YUH HAVE TUH EXCUSE ME, YUH 'URINATE OVAH DIS PLACE an' covah it up. See, dat will fix it so nobody cain't take 'im away from yuh.
Entry 5006
Jis' lak a man's sock or sompin, when yuh wanta break 'em up or sompin, or yuh wanta run 'em away, yuh bury it. Yuh jis' take it, jis' lak it's yore ole man or sompin an' yuh wanta git rid of 'im. Yuh kin run 'im away wit 'is sock, or: if yuh wanted tuh keep 'im, yuh kin keep 'im wit chure sock. (How would you run him away with the sock?) Well, yuh take his sock an' yuh wrap 'is sock up in sulphur, lodestone an' bluestone, an' yuh bury dat sock an' yuh put three rusty nails aroun' dat sock an' two pegs, an' yuh'll soon git rid of'em.
(How do you put those two pegs?)
Take de sock an' yuh bury his sock wit dat stuff in it. An' yuh take two rusty nails an' yuh put two on each side of de sock - one on dis side an' one on dat side. P An' put one in de middle of it, an' yuh put de pegs behin' it [like this N N N ]. What are those pegs supposed to do?) Ah dunno. [They symbolize the headboard and footboard of a grave. The design is a cross mark on the grave. She has crossed him.]
Entry 5016
Jis' take de sock an' roll it up - roll it tuh yuh. Jis' lak if ah want somebody tuh come tuh me, roll it tuh me.
(Whose sock?)
If it's a woman, her husban', or eithah if it's yore frien' or sompin yuh Want - if yuh could git holt of one of 'em, yeah, anybody's. Roll it tuh yuh an' put nine needles in dere, goldeye needles, an' nine rusty nails, an' bury it undah yore do'steps an' dat'll draw 'em.
(What about that red pepper?)
Yuh put de cayenne peppah in de sock.
(What will that do then?)
Dat will draw 'em tuh yuh.
Entry 5535
Well, ah kin take dat foot track if ah jis' - say jis' WAN'A KEEP ANY- yo' see. Ah kin jis' ketch 'er track in a clear place, an' git a nice li'le stick an' measure dat track, an' git a good size bottle. An' ah'll sew dat track up in a red flannen cloth, an' ah will git nine bran'-new needles, see, an' stick it in dat cloth. Stick de needle right up lak dat in dat cloth, see. An' git three rusty nail an' tie it tuh- gethah, an' drop it in dat bottle an' cork it up airtight, an' evahthin' will be okay. Won' have no mo' trouble gittin' along wit chure wife.
(You said you use the stick for something?)
Yes, jis' any piece of li'le stick. Yo' jis' kin take a knife an' run off a li'le piece jis' long 'nuff tuh measure de track lak dat, see. Den yo' take de li'le stick an' yo' break it up, break it up in a li'le pieces, see. An' yo' put it in dat red flannen an' sew it up. Yo' take up dat track yo' know. Yo' take dat track up, see, an' put it in dat flannen jis' where yo' measurin' it. Sew it up an' take dem nine needles [etc.].
Entry 5553
Yo' take a person dat yo' dislike an' yo' wan' 'em away from yo'. Yo' seet 'im. He's comin' dat way an' yo's comin' dis way. Take a bran'-new piece of papah, a piece like dat [he changes this for cloth later]. Take a bran'-new easpoon. When ah say bran'-new, ah mean one dat was nevah used fo' any purpose. An' yo' put it - take a piece of cloth, white cloth dat yo' have nevah used fo y othah purpose. Take dat wit yo'. An' prepare tuh meet yore man, whomsoevah ir is. An' meet 'im dere, an' git a smile if yo' kin. Pass 'im an' pass 'im a certain distant [distance]. But gauge yoreself so as tuh not allow 'im tuh git ay too far. An' yo' take de track up wit dat teaspoon. Begin right at de toe, don' cha know an' pull it directly back tuh de heel. An' git de spoonful an' put it intuh dis cloth, an' wrap it up so it won't - yo' know, it will be out of de way. An' yo' take a rusty nail an' yo' cross de track directly in de centah, an' den cross it ag'in from de heel tuh de toe - away from yo', directly. An' throw de nail ovah yore left shouldah. Den yo' keep de stuff dat yo' got in de cloth, take dat an' take de spoon an' throw dat ovah yuh right shouldah. Take dat cloth right on, roll it up tight, tie it away from yuh, don't cha know. Take a piece of rock an' put in it, in de othah part of it, an' yuh care [carry] it an' yuh throw it ovah yuh lef' shouldah, right ovahbo'd intuh runnin' watah. Or if de tide is goin' down, on de tide, when yuh throw it ovah. An' yuh mention de person's name. Dey goes right on out like dat [with the tide]. As it go ovahbo'd, dey die. An' if it's comin' up, yuh know what yuh call a spring tide, huh, when it's comin' up, why dey'll git almos' crazy until de tide turns. An' as soon as de tide turns ag'in, dey gone.
(Where did you learn this?)
Ah learned dat in de Bahamas.
(At Nassau?)
At Nassua.
(From this girl?)
From dis girl.
Entry 5558
Whut dey would do if dey git holt of yore foot track. Well, dey'd pick dat dirt up an'.dey would take dat dirt intuh a bottle, an' dey would git 'em a rusty nail. An' den dey would stop dat dirt up in dere, an' den dey would throw it in runnin' watah. Dat would run yo' away from heah.
(Why do they put the nail in?)
Well, becuz it's rusty, an' it got a p'int tuh it.
Entry 5559
She an' ah were talkin' an' she said tuh me, "See dat man on top of dat lumbah pile?" Ah said, "Yes." She said, "Tuhmorrah he'll be gone." Ah said, "How will dat happen?" She say, "Ah'm goin' tuh git 'im tuh go." So she ast 'er how'd she do it. An' she said she'd taken a big rusty nail, an' as he walked along leavin' 'is footsteps, she drove dat nail right down in de centah of dat hollow of 'is feet. (Either foot?) De right feet. He gone. Ah nevah did see him any more.
Entry 5657
Yah suh, dey - someone has tole me dat if dey git aholt of yo' foot track, an' dey put it in a bottle, an' dey puts six needles, six pins an' six ole rusty nails, six new gold- eye needles, six pins dat nevah did been used an' six rusty nails [mistakenly repeated] - an' den dey take it an' put it in a forked stick like dat [demonstrates], see. An' dey ties dose togethah an' dey put it to de foot of de steps, see. (Well, now they put that stuff in the bottle first, don't they, and then they put that bottle in that fork of that stick.) Yeah.
(I see. Where do they put that?)
Put unnah de steps or put it on de sunrise or sundown side. See, de haid of de step like dat, see, put dat down dere.
(I see - the step must be on the sunrise side of the house?)
Yassuh.
(And what do you do at the sundown side of the house then?)
Dey put de bottle outside - dey lean de bottle, put de bottle an' lean it. Don't let it lay down flat. (I see, they put the bottle at the sunrise side of the steps and they lean it tovard the sundown?) Uh-huh an' den dey lay down. Ah don't know nuthin about it befo' ah learned. (That's what I wanta hear. What you have heard about it. That's right. What vill that do to the person?) Suh, whut dat'll do? Dat track, if yo' got a husban', dat'll make him stay bome. An' den if he ups wit any othah wimmin, he can't even run about. If an- othah woman got 'im tied up, dat'll break 'em up. Dat's supposed tuh break 'em up in nine days time. (I see. And after you bury that bottle, do you do anything else then. After you bury that bottle, you let that stay there for nine days and then.
Entry 5984
Ef dey git holt yore hair, dey could lead yo'. Yo' could take dat hair an' yo' kin grease dat hair, an' yo' kin wrap it aroun' a rusty nail an' tack it up side de wall, an' he's goin' go wherevah dat hair is.
Entry 6271
Jes' fo' instance, say, if yo' were livin' wit a woman an' jes' say, yo' wanted tuh leave 'er an' she wanted yo' back. She had a lock of yore hair. Den she would put in some nails, rusty - dey'd have tuh be rusty - rusty nails an' about nine or ten rusty needles. Put 'em in a bottle an' urinate see on it. Den whenevah she's ready fo' yo', she'd prob'ly shake de bottle an' git it all upset. It won't be long 'fore yo' git back dere. [The shaking of bottled urine, also other substances is a common rite, shaking should be indexed as a magic rite.]
Entry 6713
[This case of witchcraft occurred near Leland, Brunswick Co. N. Car. It is not much of a story but the ingredients and cure are in- teresting. A doctor from Sumter, S. Car., cleared up the case by finding two packages, one buried at the front door and the other in the ground under the house and beneath the woman's bed. Each package contained 6 Adam-and-Eve roots, balls from devil's shoestring roots, running huckleberry vine roots, and 4 rusty nails, each package wrapped in red flannel. The root doctor burnt both packages.]
Entry 8356
Ah learnt dat chew kin take dose nine nails an' dey would be rusty nails, undahstand. Ah learnt dat chew kin take an' drive 'em intuh a person's pichure, undahstand, an' dat would injure dem. In othah words dey would die, wit dose rusty nails, nine of 'em. (Where would you drive them? Into that... Where would you tack them? Against the wall or what?) No, intuh a tree.
[I stop machine too soon and must restart to add word heart.]
(All nine nails into the heart you say?)
Well, as neah as yo' kin git 'em intuh it.
Entry 8462
Ah kin give yuh two practices on dat. Now, dey kin take yure photo- graph, yo' know, what yo' have already gotten yureself, since dat's yo'. Write chure name at de bottom first, write chure name on de top an' tote chew right down tuh any stream of watah dat goes up an' down [tide- water stream], you git tuh a piece of wood [= woods, collection of trees] where dere a tree what de watah comes up on. Yo' know, as it comin' up it looks lak dat [water covers a part of the tree trunk].
(As the tide comes up?)
Dat's right. Turn de haid right down an' take a rusty nail an' nail it right in dere. Don't drive de nail haid in, don't drive de haid in. Jis' drive it enough tuh hold it. Evah time when de tide comes up, why yo' know yo' will jis' be all crazy, evahthing looks funny tuh yuh. An' when de tide's goin' out, why yo'll jis' set in one place - lie down in one place an' sleep all de time. Sleep comes ovah yuh jis' lak dat.
Entry 9154
(Tell me right from the beginning of it.)
From de beginnin' of de accident an' all?
(That's right, and how she had to pay this and all, you know.)
Well, she cooks fo' C. P. D. Dat big man up dere tuh Something & Company. She been workin' dere two years.
(This is your daughter.)
Ah works fo' So-an'-so, de jeweler uptown in de store. All right. Well, on de second Sunday of each month Mrs. D. lets Emily off, she's mah daughtah, fo' her tuh nuse [use] Sunday. She jes' go an' gits break- fast an' don' have tuh clean up, jes' dust. Dat's her commune Sunday. An' she jes' go an' git breakfast an' jes' dust around, make de beds - spread de two beds an' dust around. Yo' know, make things passable. An' she gits off. Well, this partic'- lah Sunday, which dis Sunday gone - a month now - wus de second Sunday. Well, she came home befo' ah did. She got off befo' ah did. She got off befo' ah did an' she came home an' she went tuh de garage an' got her car out. Well, she started to go to a girl's. She had her hair done dat Sat'day. Well, she started tuh go tuh dis girl tuh jes' have her hair turned undah yo' know. She got up dere on de cornah of Amherst an' George Street. She met two friends of hers an' dey said, "Oh, mah feets hurtin' me!" Said, "Would yo' take us home, Emily?" Emily?" say, "Why, yes, ah got time ah reckon." She looked at de watch. She says, "Yes, ah guess ah got time." Well, she went right on down de street dat way an' on House[?] on Egmont Street is where she got in dis collision wit de water - whut chew call it?
(Hydrant?)
Yes, dat's whut dey call it. An' she jes' ran right up intuh it. De steerin' wheel got locked on her. Yes, got locked on her. Well, den, it's nuthin she could do. Well, dat jes' tore de pipe all up an' muddied de streets with water an' everything, see. Well, someone ah guess up dere called up de police. Dat's de bes' thing yo' could have done. Dey came out. Well, dey 'rested [arrested] 'er an' made 'er git in dere cah. So dey called up dere at de wreckah, de Chevrolet wreckah. De Chevrolet wreckah came an' taken 'er car down tuh de Chevrolet place. [Police] taken her along tuh jail. Well, jes' about dat time - she wus in jail about five minutes. Ah got off from work an', cos' [of course] quite natchly [naturally], she gone tuh de co't- house right down dere. Evah'body ran tuh meet me, "oh Mirandy, Mirandy, have yo' heah whut happened?" Ah said, "No - no - what?" Said, "Well, Emily wus in a wreck." Ah said, "Did she git killed or git hurt?" Ah jes' wus flusterated den yo' know. So dey said, "No, she didn't git hurt. Dey taken her tuh jail." Ah said, "Well, all right." Ah went - rushed right on down tuh de fail. Dey said ah couldn't see her but dere wus nuthin wrong wit 'er. Well, where ah wus workin' at de time, ah wus workin' fo' one of de police's sistahs an' he stayed right dere, de little fellah dat rides de motorcycle, Andy C. He said, "No, Mirandy, ah wouldn't tell yo' a story, yo' know, yo' mah cook. Ah would not tell yo' a story." Ah said, "All right." So den ah came on back home aftah ah couldn't see her or talk tuh her. Ah Went ovah dere tuh Mr. G. an' ah axed Mr. G., ah said, "Goodness sake, whyn't yo' call me up an' let me know dat Emily wus in jail?" He said, "Mirandy, it jes' happened jes' now." Said, "Ah didn't know where tuh call yo' an' ah knowed yo' would see me." Ah said, "Well, ah do see." Ah said, "Ah want mah chile out, " ah say, "Emily is no jailbird." Ah said, "An' accidents are likely tuh happen tuh anybody at any time, an' especially wit a cah." Ah say, "Ah seen some cahs would go sailin' by hers a thousan' times an' say be wrecked, " ah say, "an' ah've read in de papahs where a man an' his wife were jes' married on dere honeymoon, got killed an' hurted." Jes' went on explainin tuh 'im. He say, "Yes, " he says, "Don't chew be worried." He said, "If it any sech thing lak money tuh git 'er out, why she's comin' out." Ah said, "Well, 'phone 'em an' ask is she hurted?" So he did. Dey said, "No, dey wasn't anything wrong wit Emily nor de people - de two girls whut wus in de cah. Ah said, "Well, all right." Mr. G. say, "Go on home." Ah say, "No. Well, no." He say, "Yes, yo' go on home." Ah went on home an' as soon as ah unlocked de do' an' opened up de house, den she came. Well, dat wus on Sunday, de second Sunday in last month. So Monday, dat Mon- day, yo' know, dey had co't. Well, de judge didn't wanta fine me, becuz he knows me an' 'er folks, yo' know, an' den ah worked fo' 'im. Ah have worked fo' 'im. Haven't worked fo' 'im. recently but ah have worked fo' 'im. Anyway he knows me. An' de Chief, Chief Francis, said, "Judge, dat Mills woman" - he wus talkin' 'bout me - he says, "ah've knowed her, been knowin' 'er fo' ovah 25 yeahs." He says, "She's a truthful woman. Ah believe evah word she says." He says, "She's all right." But yet, yo' see, de city had tuh pay fo' dat hydrant tuh be put back an' it cost - dey only charged her fo' dat hydrant tuh be put back. Dey had tuh hire extry help, yo' see. De watahin' people had done knocked off at dat time, yo' know, an' dey had tuh call on extry help. Dey had tuh call on extry help. Why ah guess dey had tuh pay dem extry. Ah know dey did.
(Overtime or something?)
Yes. So de Judge wus very lenient wit 'er. Dey only charge her $25.50. $25.50 but aftah she back ovah tuh de co'troom or tuh de jailroom - whatevah yo' call it - why she had tuh pay $26.50. All right, dat wus settled right fo' dat. She didn't have tuh go tuh jail. All right. Den she went on back an' fixed dinnah fo' her people. Well, de cah wus still at de Chevrolet place where she bought it from. So de one tuh go ovah - ovahhaul de cah an' see whut it would cost an' check up on it, yo' know, see whut dey could do. Well, Mrs. D., de lady dat she worked fo', friend - a personal friend is a businessman. So he tried to do it cheap as he could an' it wus $63. Well, latah on de watah people taken a 'tachment [attachment] on de cah an' Sued 'er fo' $55.55. BUT DEY'LL BE AS LONG GITTIN' DAT $55.55 AS YO' OR I WUS GITTIN' GROWN. AH'M GOIN' SEE TUH DAT PART. AH'LL TAKE CARE OF DAT MAHSELF. (Now, you were going to tell me what you have done now to take care of that - make a nice story of it.) Well, ah taken me a piece of stick - common ordinary stick an' ah hew it down jes' about lak dat [demonstrates].
(About as long as your long finger.)
Yes. Ah hewed me anothah piece about a inch, about two inches long. Ah make a cross in dat.
(You made a cross of those two sticks.)
Ah taken it an' ah put it in de back seat undah mah cah - undah de back seat of de car - our cah, de flivvah, mah cah. Well, it's mah daughtah's but ah call it mine.
(The car that was in the wreck you mean?)
Yes. Re'lly, it is mah daughtah's cah. Ah taken me three new nails, three rusty nails an' put dem in de back of dat cah. Ah got me some dust outa dat cemetery an' ah put some peppah, gunpowdah an' salt in a little sack - jes' made it about dat much - jes' a little lak dat, of each [demonstrates].
(Just a pinch of each.)
Jes' lak dat an' ah put it undah de.... [demonstrates].
(Under the seat?)
Uh-huh. Well, yo' know, ah hol' up de hood of mah cah wit a pencil [demonstrates].
(Made a cross with a pencil like that.)
Dat's de end of it.
(Well, now, where did you put those nails?)
In de back seat - undah de back seat of mah cah an' dat cross.
(Well, now the nails - usually they drive them into the wood?)
No, yo' jes' throw dem careless [demonstrates].
(Just throw them careless.)
Yes, careless.
(And just lay the cross in there?)
Jes' lak yo' would have jes' ole rubbage in yo' cah.
(Just throw stuff in.)
Yes, any stuff dat chew might need.
(And that was done so that they couldn't win this suit. That the idea?)
Dey will nevah win it, unless ah die or dat git misplaced. But DEY'LL BE AS LONG GITTIN' IT AS YO' OR AH GITTIN' GROWN UP.
Entry 9730
Lak somebody have did somepin tuh someone an' dey wanted tuh change it onto dem - turn it back ontuh dem. Dey kin take three nails, rusty nail, an' put in dat bottle a chamber lye. An' let it set dere fo' nine mawnin's an' den take an' throw it intuh runnin' watah.
(This will turn the spell back on the person that put it on them?)
Yes sir.
(Whose chamber lye do you use?)
Yo' kin use yore chamber lye. See, if yo' wanted tuh take it off yoreself, use yores.
(That is if you tricked me, I would use my own chamber lye?)
Yes sir. [Informant would not throw his own stopped-up urine into running water, he throws emptied bottle.]
Entry 9732
If yo' want tuh kill a woman or a woman wants tuh kill yuh, she could take six rusty nails an' git a piece of yore undahclothes, an' [or] ole stockin'. Takes it an' drop it intuh a quart jah an' screw de top on it. An' left about three holes in it, where jes' a li'l' sand kin drop in dere. An' bury it undah yore steps, if yo' aren't scared. An' den yo' walk in an' out an' back an' fo'wards [over it]. Jes' as de sand drop in dere, yo' [inside the quart jar] gits sick. Well, yo' git tuh de play [place] yo' won' be no mo' good tuh yuhself or nobody else. An' de mo' sand drop in dere de mo' closah yo' gits tuh yuh grave. Jes' kill yuh, yo' know.
Entry 11017
Now, yo' kin take a underweah, a underweah whut yo' got on yore chest like dis heah [evidently opened shirt to show underwear]. Don't ca' if it's a thick one or either a thin one - underweah. An' ah kin take dat, an' three rooster feathah - hen or rooster, any kind. Ain't gotta be but one kinda feathah, dat's de feathah come out de wing. All right yo' promise me yo' gonna [not work in Savannah!]. Dat woman ovah dere, yo' understan', suh. Yo' wanta bring her back jes' lak yo' got life in yore body an' ah got life in mah body. Well, ah kin git dat [done] jes' as easy as anything. Jes' git dem three feathah lak ah telled yo'. Understand, an' git dere undahweah, an go right out in de woods to a green pine sapling. It isn't goin' dirty yo', an' git chew a rusty nail - not no new nail - a rusty nail an' put dat undahweah jes' lak dis heah [demonstrates].
(Put that underwear up against the tree.)
Put dat undahweahs on dat pine saplin'. Yo' understan' whut ah mean? Yo' take dem three feathah an' put 'em lak dat [demonstrates], yo' understan'.
(Put the three feathers on the underwear.)
Put de underweah dere first to de tree - yo' listen whut ah'm speakin' - an' take de three feathahs an' put 'em lak dis heah Idemonstratesl. But yo' stick dat nail 'fore yo' nail dat underweah, understand, where [demonstrates] nail de undershirt up dere an' dem feathah right dere. All right, den chew go back. Don' teli none of her fren's. Dey don't [know] whut chew been doin'. In eight day's time she'll be to yo' residence.
(That's all you have to do to bring that woman back?)
(You put her underwear up there. You put the nail up there an' put [hang]
the underwear on it with the feathers?) The chicken ain't gotta be daid atall. [Pull the feathers out of a live rooster.]
Entry 3082
I came here to find out. (Will you sit a little bit closer so I can hear you?) [To bring him nearer the microphone.] [The following paragraph will introduce you to the problem I faced every day while collecting the material of this investigation - see also Introduction.] I came here to find out what your work may be, if there is any help I kin git in connection - if there is any of your help or whatnot in connection with what has happened to me in my business. [He is a bootlegger.] That's what I wan'a know. If it's anything 'at I've to tell or go through. I wan'a know that an' I'll begin my story jis' like I started off before [before I turned on machine]. There's so much of dis recently, I thought I jes' couldn't understand it you see. Lots of people come here an' say you's someone who tryin' to trap someone, an' this is tryin' to git someone in trouble. Well, I say, "Well, I don't know what in the world it's all about, but if he, that is to say, [does] things to help me, why I don't mind goin' over an' explain myself." ['Here I explain my work." These words are my penciled comment made at the time I did the original transcription in pencil. Here I also made one of my many mistakes. I failed to transcribe my explanation. My failure however Was excus- able - hand transcription being such a tedious and impossible task I had to call in an expert transcriber for the post-Wilmington cylinders. Yet one explaining sentence does remain, "I don't heal anyone, I don't sell anything." As you will now learn, this man Was in serious trouble. My lost explanation at least set him more or less at ease.] You mind if I light my cigarette?
(No, go right ahead.)
[I was smoking a cigar, why should I mind him smoking a cigarette. A woman later over in Memphis "came in...smoking a big cigar" - see MAMMY: THE CIGAR SMOKER in INTERVIEWS.] Now first, I'm a married man. I've got a wife an' three children - jes' as well say five because I've two to take care of that's my wife's sister's, dead, an' they stayed with me from the first, each one of them, so that makes me have five [children] to take care of. Now my wife, she's sick an' has been for a long period of time. Her first [sickness] was believed by medical experience was pelegra, an' after that, why I found out something else; an' I went on an' kep' - go see her an' I kep' finding out something else. I went to work at Wrightsville Beach six years ago [1931], right down here ll miles from the city, where I was workin' for Doctor W. there. An' one day, after knowin' that my wife had been sick so long - I kep' tryin' to, wonderin' what in the world's the matter - finally I found out from Doctor H., that it was pelegra. [Here informant is returning to something already said.] Thereon he subscribed that I take her to the country for her health. No doubt it would be a little beneficial to her, an' where it was quiet an' didn't hear the runnin' of the cars, the streetcars an' so on, an' jis' git out of all that stuff, an' it would make her no doubt so she recover. An' so I carried [her] on over to Atkinson, North Car'lina, an' she stayed there for a long long time - in fact the whole summer through an' partly of the fall. An' one day I got a telephone call - it come at ten o'clock jes' before I carried [her] to Atkinson. [Informant again returns to something already men- tioned. For the difficulty in following this type of thinking, see confusing story, No. 2750, Pp.758-767.] An' that was while I livin' away from home in the country right out here. In fact she was jis' like her mother, my daughter's god- mother [grandmother?] as fer as that concern [whatever this means]. Tom T., it was his wife [who. telephoned]. She say, "Come to town at once. Eliza is crazy."
[This may be why "she was jis' like her mother."]
An' I didn't believe it. When I got in town she didn't know me from [some- thing, not Adam] or nobody else. So after havin' consulted with Doctor H., as I foresaid, I carried her on up de country. She lived up there fer a while an' I'd go there. She jis' got in such a wreck, kickin' up so, an' jis' nobody could go around 'er. She didn't want to hear what they had to say. She jis' git to the place she dispised 'er father, you know. An' even to 'er sister or to herself or anybody. She didn't wan'a see nobody. Well we goes there to Clinton, North Car'lina. There's ole man up there, they call 'im Mr. Wickins[?]. He read the cards. He also give me a dose of medicine to take.
(What did he give it to you for?)
He told me when I took that dose of medicine - after readin' my palm - he said, "This dose is goin' work for you an' not her [it is not MEDICINE BY PROXY, p.365]; and besides, you goin' get it in house when you get back home. [This is preventive medicine - see PREVENTIVE MEDICINE CARRIED TO EXTREMES, p.328.] Well, I wonderin' what he meant by that. He told me, he said, "There's someone has thrown for you," he said, ''but they're not tryin' to kill your wife in connection with you, but they're durin' [doin'] somethin' to keep her puny, ailin' along." He said, "They'll give it to you, if they're havin' a whole lot of trouble with her." He said, "Now, it's a black-skin woman an' a dark-skin woman that's doin' this." [A doctor is always vague when identifying culprit - see MADAM JACKSON ACROSS DE CREEK, p.757.] An' besides, de black-skin woman is the woman that want joo, an' de dark-skin woman don't visit chore house very often but she's helpin' fo' this people." He said, "Now, the way they did this - goin' to git it goin' their way - they went there an' sprinkled somepin in de baid while you were away [in the country].
(Did he tell you what they sprinkled there?)
He said some kin'a powder. He couldn't - he don't - he set some kin'a thing in front of him. It was a little thing that looked to me like a little horses settin' up there, an' a little somepin looked like a crab, another thing looked like a little fish, another little thing looked like a little serpent. He could touch them little things, you could see them shiver all around in - looked like to me they was settin' in a little basin or a little [over shape? = over size?] bowl of water.
(Was it a bowl of water?)
Looked to me like it was water. An' he talked to me. Den directly he go startin' talk to these little things in there, an' they kin'a quiver. [See photograph, supposedly in crystal ball, "trembled like a leaf," p.173, line 5.] An' then he start to tell somepin else. ["I suggest that these figures were magnetic, shaped in forms of the zodiac, and that they quivered whenever the root doctor holding a concealed magnet passed his hand over them. There was no water in the bowl." This comment is a part of original transcription in pencil. The evidence or experience for it I no longer remember. These quivering figures may be a diagnostic device (pp.165-217) like the trembling photograph in the crystal ball just mentioned. It is certainly one of the many tricks to impress the patient - like invisible writing (p.265).] So he told me, he said, "You weren't all right, don't sleep well at night, an' neither one of you don't sleep good at night." I said, "Well, you're right." He said, "Well, don't answer me." He said, "I know what I'm talkin' about." I have given many examples of a doctor knowing or foreseeing everything - see YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME, p.316.] I says, "Well, I must tell you, she don't sleep at all at night." He said, "Well, that's why that was sprinkled in your baid for. An' the way this black-skin woman had the dark-skin woman to do, to give it to you, were to sprinkle some of the same stuff under your door, an' that's why it got choo an' it fix you. Then I told him exactly [all that had happened.] He give me some kin' of little roots - he called one [of] them John de Conker. Then he also give me some kin' of little stuff called wood mold. It grows in the little pine [something - could be thickets?] like tha' choo go to rake it up an' you use it for makin' fertilizer - like the farmers use. [In Maryland this "little stuff is called shadders (= shatters), "fallen pine leaves or needles," used for animal bedding, which turns into manure or fertiZizer - 723, p.240.] An' he told me to take that [wood mold] an' red oak bark [frequently used for medicine, p.462 and elsewhere] - take that stuff an' boil it, make a tea out of it, an' feed her off of it. Give her all salts that I could get her to take - physic salts. An' so I did it until she got to the place that she wouldn't even take that. An' I went back to him again an' he said get Vita-Food east [brand of yeast] that come in a big tall can about that tall - somepin tha' choo sprinkle over de food when she gits ready to eat. Not de Fleshman [Fleischmann] east, something in comparsion, but it was yellowish lak sulphur maybe an' had a very strong odor. An' he had somepin called Eastborn [yeast-born or Eastbourne] tablets. Well, she had then fallin' from a hunderd an' seventy-six pounds down to a hunderd an' twenty. Well, I was feedin' [her] on that stuff an' she went back to a hunderd and fifty. An' I come on back to town. An' afterwards I brought her back from de country here an' we lived together fer a good while. My house be the second doah to my brother-in-law - from her brother house, my brother-in-law. I was at 905, where he was 909. An' rather than stay home, she'd stay over there; but when she goin' eat she'd come home, an' jes' as soon as she eat she'd be right out an' gone. Well I got worried over the gait[?]. So I told my father-in-law about it an' he says, "Well, any steps you wan'a make, why go on an' make it." So then I got into another [acquainted with] boy that was workin' there with me. We called him Skeet. Skeet told me of a woman down South - Madam Rachel - Dillon, South Car'lina. [Note that a man in North Carolina calls South Carolina down South. This was frequently done - see Introduction.] An' he also made men- tion of a old man called Doctor Buzzard.
(Where was he?)
Florence, South Car'lina. First, before I got to this Madam Rachel, this Doctor Buzzard came to my house [in Wilmington].
(He came to see you?)
He came here ordinary passin' by. An' another person he goes by [visits pro- fessionally]. An' someone told him that I'd care to see somebody of that kind. So he came in. He had a little hand bag, not a big case. [Was he referring to my 3 large cases - recorder, transcriber, and cylinder carrier?] It was a hand bag [in imitation of a M.D.'s medical kit then in use]. He had a whole lot of little snakes in that bag. [See SNAKE, Pp.66-73, and elsewhere.]
(Alive or dead?)
Alive. That snakes scared her. She's frighten anything that kind. My wife was there. She was lyin' right in de baid an' he told her, he said, "Now, I'll put choo to walkin' by tomorrow for four dollers and one cent.' I ast him what was he goin' do with de one cents. He says, "Well, the four dollars is for me; the one cent is the cure." "I says, "If you put my wife to walkin' by tomorrow, I'll give you four dollers an' one cent." [For this type of payment, see DOCTOR ARMOUR, p.891, line 2.] He say, "Well git me a pint of liquor." I say, "That'll cost you a dollar." I got a pint of liquor. He took a needle an' two straight pins an' crossed them. He crossed all three of 'em an' tied 'em together with a red piece of string an' put em into a little bag. Then he took out some little seed that appearently looked like flaxseeds. An' he told me take these seeds; if it's any time you want to go, be with some Woman. He say you drop one of these seeds in the liquor or somepin that she's drinkin' an' make her do anything you want her to do. I said, "I didn't ask you to come here to cunjure me an' wife. I ask you to come here to aid." He said, "I don't mean that." Well, I went on an' give him de four dollers an' one cent, an' [he] took all this stuff an' sewed it up in that bag [thus making a hand]. Then he took the snake out of it [iar], which [snake] he had already wrapped one around my wife's leg an' throwed [throwing] some liquor over it he wrapped it around the right leg jes' above the knee. Besides, when I got that second pint of liquor for him, he poured some down the table an' poured those snakes out of a little jar he had 'em in, an' begin to talkin' to those snake, an' they stood right straight up an' go over to him. There's where I vacate out of de room fer a few minutes. [I repeat preceding reference, SNAKE, Pp.66-73, and elsewhere. Besides after one drink of raw moonshine whiskey a person could see a few things; after two pints of it, anything.] So I came back. In a few seconds later an' he told me, "All right. Now, by tomorrow, as I told you [she will be out of bed]." Well, he went home an' she seemed to be recoverin' a little. But then this Madam Rachel, about two weeks later, she came there. This was the third party [root doctor] now. [She had been called from Dillon, S. Car., to wait on a case in Wilmington, and had heard about my informant.] An' she told me to go to the drug store to Doctor Mason [druggist], the Ideal Pharmacy. I was livin' aroun' there at that time. [This is a normal drug store, not a hoodoo store.] She tole me to git a dime worth of bluestone an' red pepper. An' she put out some dirt, some kin'a lookin' - I called it sand. She poured out a little bottle, but she tole me it was graveyard dirt. So she mixed it all together. Then she ask me before she give me that stuff, she said, "Do you know any officers in this town?
(Officers?)
Officers. Policeses. I said, "Yeah, I know jist about every one of 'em." I told her the name of them. An' [she said], "Write them down on this piece of paper I'll give you. De's somepin I wan' choo to do with it." I said, "All right." So I wrote down every one that I could think of. She said, "Now, on this set of names, how many is it that you think would do you harm, an' he goes out an' make it his business an' come arres' chew jes' out of ordinary [for no purpose at all?]?" I said, "I don't know. I hate to go through that part of it; but still, since it's personal, why I guess I'll have to tell you." So I named the one or two that I thought wasn't very good friends of mine an' knew the whole family an' my wife and her [people] before I even knew her my own self. So I named 'em down fer her. She told me, she said, "Now, you take these names on this piece of paper, go to the northeast of this house an' bury it down there, then come back to me. Then she took that dirt, that mixture she had there, an' circle all the way aroun' my house entirely. [To circle the house with salt or other substances is a fairly common protective device.] An' told me then - she says, "There somepin under your front doorstep tha' joo an' your wife are walkin' over ev'ry day is what cause you not to be gittin' along any better, an' I'm gon'a stop it. An' besides, the officers been runnin' in here on you all the time an' claim that choo have a lot of liquor an' you doin' this an' that an' de other thing you' re not doin'." She said, "I'm gon'a stop that. Besides, Im gon'a fix it so when they come to the front door they can't come in." I said, "How much is that gon'a cost me?" She said, "Give me three dollers an' you pay for the goods an' a doller on my gas bill back home." Well, she had a big Buick car out in front. I did that. Well, I found out I was gittin' along very very good then an' really my wife did come out of bed, stayed up fer a long time, gittin' along gran'. So after she'd gone, I decided then I'd move an' change houses. I thought the house was bad luck to me. I didn't know if there any other stuff [sprinkled or buried] along there. So I moved. No sooner than I moved, I got in other house, [it Wasn't] three months before I in [jail] agin. That [this] time I cooked 60 days in the county jail up here in town. I cooked up there when the cook got sick.
[At least this tells us something about the informant - he was a fair cook.]
An' when I came back, to be sure whether I was right or wrong, I moved right back in that same house. [Which house?] Then [I] started to fallin back [into the same bad luck] right away. I had a ole - sister's dead an' gone now. She came to me one day an' tole me, she said, "Let me tell you somepin. She always did call me brother. [She Was not his sister.] She say, "Let me tell you somepin, brother." She say, "There's somepin aroun' this house that it interfering with chor life an' you can' be happy. You can't live with your family like you want to," she says. "I'm goin' find it," she say. She went up under my front doorstep an' got a pair of scis- sors out from under there with one of the points broke off of it, an' ole rusty nails au' needles all tied together. An' she brought them in the house with her, "Here it is, I've got it at last." [He did not see her find the articles.] I said, "Now, Mama Annie, do you reckon that's true?" She say, "Well, here it is."
(What was her name?)
Mama Annie, we called her. Her name was Annie P. We called her Mama Annie.
[She was a root doctor.]
So she tole me then to take that, break it up, burn it up, do anything I knew to do an' I would stop that stuff goin' on then. So I ask her what it was an' she tole me it was [some]thing that somebody still tryin' to git between me an' my family. I took that pair of scissors - I had a good hot fire in the stove - needles and nails, an' I thought that stove would melt. It turnt red-hot. An' I let it there fer two or three days till I was sure it was gone. I got rid of that. Well now, a little later on comes the nex' part of it. I got in some more trouble. A man 'cused me then of sellin' 'im whiskey. This happen recently, too. This party - he's dead, the one that said it; but this party lives right here in the city now. [I am unable to straighten this out - the man will appear again.]
(How long ago was all this happening - these stories?)
It happened to an' fro within the last five or six years - right along, all up an' down the sides, right up an' down. It's right now so. Jis' like I told Mr. Gavin out here [in my waiting or reception room in the Gavin home] jis' a while ago. [Mr. Gavin, my contact man in Wilmington, N. Car., Was the husband of the sister of Julia, page one. I interviewed in the Gavin home and had lunch there each day.] I said, "I've a tendency maybe today I want my wife any second an' I'll go to her. We are sweet and loving together. An' directly another feelin' jump right [up in] me an' I'm out and gone. Maybe she'll be talkin' nice an' lovin' to me. Directly she jump right up, "Oh! So-an'-So." An' I'm out an' gone. Well, I go around to her brother's house an' go to bed an' sleep or some- where, anywhere, at some friend, an' go on to sleep. So I told her one day, I said, "Let me take you down South. I had a party aroun' there in Walnut Street by the name of J. He told me a place up [down] here between Southport an' here, that I could go to a man that he was - well, that he could clear all that stuff where I lived at. [Southport - being south of Wilmington - equals informant's "down South."] Somebody agin! [Another root doctor!] An' that [meeting with the doctor down toward Southport] was suppose to have happened this last Thursday, but I was sick - had no more than come out of the hospital. I had a rectal abscess. I'd jes' been operated on. Come out last Monday an' I wasn't able to go. I didn't have any money to go with - the first part of it. I had to pay little bills you know. An' about this last party, to git back to de same trouble'as I started to say. This man claimed that I sold him some whiskey on the 21st day of November, an' I Wasn't even in the house that day or that night. An' so dis same [Walnut Street] Mammie J., he told me that, "I know a party that you ought to see right here in town. Maybe he kin help you a little." I said, "Who is it?" [No answer.] They [the rootworker between Wilmington and Southport] were supposed to be here in town this last past Thursday, but didn't come an' I didn't have any way to get to 'em. But I did see the party here in Wilmfngton. An' they told me also that it was things down aroun' my house; that's why I couldn't live happy an' peaceful at home.
(What do you think about it?)
Well, I do think there [is something] in it. An' I'll be frank with you. There had been a time way back, when I was much younger, I didn't believe any doze kin'a things; but I still now, since I found things buried - there is so much. An' that when I'd go as I foresaid, an' try to make love to my wife, seem like ev'rything is all right, right at first an' directly things occurred in an- other different way. An' then I would come an' try to humor her along, "Honey, what's de matter? What's de occasion? Sittin' in de dining room, huggin' wit 'er as sweethearts do. We'll talk things over an' directly she'll say, "Well, let's do so-an'-so, let's be sweethearts again." She'll forgit it an' I'll do anything fer you. You kin bet chor life right on the same schedule agin. So I went to this party [in Wilmington] an' he read the cards out fer me, an' told me that there was somepin down at my house to cause to bein' this way, an' I couldn't help myself, an' give me a root, an' got it with me now as fer as that's concern. He told me to keep it wit me anywhere I went. An' I got another thing, I got two other articles at de house that I keep. An' whenever I go roun' my wife, he told me to always wipe my face down with that powder. It's a little sweet perfume powder. An' then there's a little ball somepin like you got it sewed up in a little bag. You can't tell what's in it. I didn't cut it open to see. [This is a ball-shaped hand.] I leave it at home unless I'm goin' round to her house.
(What's the name of that root?)
I don't [know] what de name of the thing. I got it here in my pocket. An' she told me to chew a piece off of it an' spit around the door before I walked in, to kill my enemies before I got dere. That's what she give it to me fer. She said that would kill my enemies before I got dere; an' if it's anyone to do any harm, it'll change their mind. That I would also find a little dark-brown-skin man there. I didn't intend to tell you about that. That's de trouble over me an' my wife. An' [she said] I would certainly find that man there. An' she also told me she did it [whatever this means]. An' my wife sometime would mention this man ["rootworker is my transcription notation] to me. She said she liked me but she never [was untrue tol me an' didn't live no man in the world but me. Well, I know that of it's true [truth]. An' the thing that - so far [the marriage?] would last three or four years jis' about perfectly right up to the minute [trouble began]. This little bag I pinned that on the inside of my clothes nex' to my flesh. Then sometime it would smell like a onion an' agin it would smell like perfume - change odors all kin' of ways, like turpentine an' agin you don't know what you smellin'. Jes' the way that thing smell. Well, as I tell you, I didn't open it up to see what was in it, because it was sewed down there. Then she give me a prayer. It was written on a piece of paper down onto the 24th Psalm, called Ezekiel, I believe it is. An' I'd read that an' memorize as much of it as possible when I'm goin' aroun' my wife - like I'm away there now an' I should happen to think [trouble Was brewing]. That [is] to quite fusses down or anything in case you may start anything. Read that as I start towards my house, an' when I git to my yard I finish it an' then go in. An' they told me when I paid her a dollar and a half more, that she would go in there an' git this thing up an' show it to me. An' I told this weekend I'd let her complete her part of the job. An' [I] found that ev'rything she told me has worked out right. Even now in this case that I have now, she told me that this case was gon'a be put off three times. An' she said, "Let's put it off some more."
(That case in court now against you?)
Yes sir, that this man J. accused me of sellin' him some whiskey, bottle of liquor on the 23rd day of November of last year, which I wasn't even in my house, as I aforesaid a while ago, dat day or night. An' she told me and said, "Well, I'm gon'a show that I'm right before I clear you completely. I'm gon'a put off your case some more." An' she has put it off eight times successfully. Now this comin' Friday will make the ninth time that I'm goin' to be tried.
Entry 174
Dat de devil beatin' his wife - de whirlwind. Git a rusty nail an' drive it down in there. That'll stop it - say, if it don't stop, yo'll heah 'em fussin'.
Entry 11941
"You can take the hair and a rusty nail, wrap the hair around the nail and take it and drive it in a tree...you won't live." [New Orleans 1133:3.]
Entry 1393
Ah've heard about wire nail. Jes' lak ah be walkin' in dis house or either walkin' out dere in de street. Ah go an' git me a wire nail - git one dat stickin' up in de groun' an' ah go ahead an' walk on dat nail. Ah'll take dis wire nail an' carry it to a tree. When ah carry it to dis tree, take it den an' nail it up to de head, an' ah'll nevah have any soreness in mah feet from no wire nail. An' either dat, den if it's a rusty nail, ah'll nail it in de tree an' ah will nevah have no lockjaw.
Entry 1238
Git some de bark off it an' git about ten rusty nails.
(You go to a dogwood tree?)
Yessuh, an' boil dat together an' den git chew some heart leaves an' put in it, an' if anybody gits hurt - dat's whut ah heard. [If these are not heart-shaped (cordate) leaves, they are leaves of the heart- leaf - several American species of Asarum.]
(What do you do with that? How do you give it to them?)
Yo' give it to 'em - yo' makes a tea out of it.
(You make the tea out of this dogwood and these nails and the heart leaves?)
Yes.
Source passage
continuous interview or recording context · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
Take nine ten-penny nails, dese wire nails about dat long
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
[denonstrates]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
, an' yo' puts 'em in a jar of watah, clear watah. Jes' go tuh de well an' drav a bocket - a bucket of watah, fill up de jar half-fuli. Put nine nalls in dere. Jes' lak now ah come tuh yore house an' ah want a drink of watah, an' ah ask yo fo' a drink of watah. Ah go git a drink of watah - go git dat jar an' po' out a glass of watah an' yo' drink off it. Yo' drink offen
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
[off of]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
dat satah fo' nine days, an' evah time yo' come dere ah give yo' some of dat watah. Bell, yo'll
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2100
come tuh be ailin' in yore stomach. Well, dem nails den, de mo' dey stay in dere, de mo' dey come tuh be rusty, an' all dat goes inside of yo'. Fin'ly kills yo' in so many days it kills yo'.
locally coherent printed subpassage
This is a printed hypothetical account of a harmful practice. Unclear source wording is retained; chemical or clinical effects are not established.
Changing first- and second-person positions remain as printed; no specific real victim or actor is established.
The source describes a claimed causal result, not a witnessed event or a recommendation.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 3, p. 2098 · Vol. 3, p. 2099 · Vol. 3, p. 2100 · Vol. 3, p. 2101 · Vol. 3, p. 2102