Subject:Pregnancy
Entries
Entry 6870
[Instead of scattering the following cures and protective devices throughout this subsection, I have gathered them here under one submargin title:] Before the Civil War they wouldn't put a woman to make soap that was in a family way. She could turn it backwards and it wouldn't make. And it won't neither. You take a woman in a family Way, she can take a spoon and turn cream backwards and can't git it to come [[to butter]]. And you can't neither. ["This old man was a boy of eleven when the Civil War started." I am quoting the notation on my pencil transcription made almost immediately after the recording. Yes, he must have said Civil War, though in his younger years he may have spoken of the "War between the States." For the power and peculiarities of women during pregnancy, See FACI, 2nd ed., 1965.] [Fredericksburg, Va., informant 44, by Ediphone.]
Entry 6887
If a woman didn't have no intahco'se wit no boy friend or man or sompin lak dat, she would have a hard time [at childbirth] see. Dat's all ah've heard of dat. (How do you mean if they didn't have intercourse?) Well, jis' lak if ah wus impregnant, dat's whut chew mean. Well, ah wus impregnant. Well, maybe mah husband wus away. Well, ah an' 'im nevah had no dealin's wit each othah at all, see. Well, regardless tuh whut de othah man done, dat would git me in birthin' dis chile, if ah nevah had no intahco'se or nuthin tuh do wit dis man [I would have a hard time at delivery]. [Having had contact with the other man during her husband's absence, she must continue this contact to avoid a hard delivery. This reminds me of a tale I read years ago, an old Italian novella, the type of Boccaccio's Decameron: The husband after fertilizing his wife left home on a long journey. As time past, a neighbor, a trickster, informed the woman that her husband had left home without completing his task. The parts of a baby, he told her, were made at different times. Unless the husband returned soon the baby would be born with an arm, a leg, almost any- thing missing. To make a short story shorter, the neighbor, being a man, agreed to help her. The baby was born with all its parts.]
Entry 697
Her first husband's sister had two daughters and this younger girl married. But when she married this young man there was quite a bit of confusion. They didn't want her to marry this young man, so she married this man any Way. And after some considerable time everybody thought she was pregnant, but she stayed right under the care of a physician. And she didn't seem to revive, So the physician just gave her up. So her mother got very interested in her, she got interested. So she went to this same Woman down in [Augusta] Georgia. And when she took this girl to this doctor [recommended by the Augusta woman] it was too late that night for her to see him, so of course they had to go over until the next morning. So the next morning they went again to call on him. So he said to this girl, he said, "Well, you're in right bad shape," he said, "but you'll have to eat breakfast with me this morning." So he got an egg and he broke this egg, and he put the white of it in one dish and the yolk in another. And he whipped this [white of the] egg up to a froth and he took something and shook over it. She says she thought it Was salt. She don't know what in the world it was. And he said, "Now, you eat this and I'll watch this" - he's speaking of the yolk of the egg. He handed this plate to the girl, and a fork, and told her to eat it. She ate that and he watched the egg [yolk]. And when she had finished eating this white of the egg, why this yolk had turned as white as the white Was. So he said to her then, he says, "How do you feel now?" She said, "Well, I'm not hurting like I was, but I don't feel very good." So she leant over and he says, "What's the matter?" She say, "I'm having such cramps." So she said to him, she said, "I'll have to go to the bathroom." So he rung his bell and a woman came in. So he turned around and got a sanitary plate - one of these paper plates - and give her and told her, "Now, you use this instead of the commode. You use this." So she took that. And she said when she went to herself and her bowels passed, this plate was just piled up with long and short warms [worms], just as long as one could stay on there. And he told her in the meantime, he said, "Now you watch your action." So she went on out and that was the results from the medicine. So then she went back again to him. She told him. And he said, "Well, you didn't get frightened did jeh?" She said to him, she say, "I'm so nervous, '' she say, "I never saw any- thing like that." And he said, "Well," he say, "you're in bad shape- But after you were able to pass those warms [worms]," he said, "now I can cure you." So he gave her some medicine. And she's a perfectly well woman today, but she doesn't have any children. He said this thing that was put on her interfered with her organs and so she doesn't have any children.
Entry 1336
A woman's in de family way an' if it be from mah husband an' ah didn't care, an' ah knowed it be from mah husban', an' she give me a lot of trouble, den ah git a mare's rope an' put it right where she walks, an' put dat mare's rope an' if she cross it, she cain't have that baby - that baby's goin' be crossed in dere. Git a mare's rope.
(It just has to be the rope they tie around a mare's neck?)
Dat's right - whut dey been usin' on a ole mare horse. Try tuh git the rope from her an' put it in where she passes all de time an' if she cross it she can't have that baby.
Entry 6670
Ag'in dere was a woman dat had frogs put into her - not frogs but turtles. She was about to become de birth of a child. Dere was a ole wo- man dat lived next door to 'er an' by 'er being in that condition she Was quite disagreeable. And dis ole woman was supposed to be a hoodoo woman an' SHE WISHES THAT THE CHILD SHE WOULD HAVE WOULD TURN TO A FROG; BUT INSTEAD OF THE CHILD TURNING TO A FROG, DIS WMAN HAD DE CHILD AND THEN HAD THIS TURTLE AFTER. that's a fact because there was thousands of people went there to see it. It happened down in Louisiana, down in St. Bernard's Parish. Dat's where dat hap- pened. [Doctor Sims (see later), good as he was, surely misses the point here. The hoodoo woman did not fail. She changed the twin, the second child, into a turtle! If this story is true, someone had a quick hand.]
Entry 6686
De worm, de frog, yo' poun' dat up, some people do, an' dey sprinkle dat ovah de food. It will take effect on a woman more, becuz she will breed, yo' see, in a length of time it will form de form of a snake [worm or frog] inside de woman.
Entry 6872
If a woman's goin' have a baby, well now if she [some woman] kin git tuh huh tuh take any huh - anythin' from huh, yuh know, an' she kin go bury it, den she'll have dis woman - it'll kill huh.
(You mean a piece of her clothing or anything like that?)
Anythin' - a piece a huh undahclothin' nex' tuh huh skin.
Entry 6882
(What do they say about that?)
Well, tuh make a woman tuh carry a baby twelve months, dey take a woman - dey take a mare's rope an' dey'll put it across, close - tie a horse, a mare close aroun' where she live. In some way or another, she have tuh pass dat rope, and if she cross ovah dat rope, she'll go twelve months lak a mare an' she cain't have dat baby.
Entry 6883
Dey git a mare's rope.
(A mare's rope?)
Yeah, an' jis' lak yo' goin' tuh pass dere, well yo' don' pay no 'tention tuh dat rope. An' dat rope be dere an' yo' cross dat mare's rope. Dat cross dat child in yo'.
Entry 10677
And if she can have the baby, they'll fix her so she'll tie. Well, she'll go with her husband - make her go with her husband like that - and make it cross. All they do is they put somepin on her husband and it get on her. She'd have to carry that baby overtime. She carry that baby overtime and that baby'll get all up in a knot and get all doubled up; it can't come. If it will start to come, it comes foot foremost - the butt will come out first. Well, she crossed. You see, the butt shove out first. Well, she's done crossed and the doctor have to take his tools and cut the baby up to save her; to get it out, you see. [This woman, whose baby was cut from her, was fixed by another woman who put something on the baby's father to carry home to cross his wife, so that the baby would be tied!]
Entry 923
Now mah wife, I an' her wus togethah heah year befo' last. We separated Christmas gone a year ago. Ah reckon we lived heah three months ago. Now, she wus fixed, although she's impregnant - understand. Sometimes she would grow out an' den sometimes she would go back in. Ah could lay mah han's on her stomach an' I could feel somepin knockin' lak dat - jes knockin'. Well, ah tried doctors - de doctors stayin' in town heah now - Dr. Fields, Dr. Olson, Dr. Roach. She wus workin' in de Georgia Power an' Light Company. So she came home an tole me, she say, "Well, now," says, "ah don't feel no bettah." She say, "Ah jes' have de fainting spells, ah don't feel no bettah atall." Well, dose peoples next do' to us would come ovah an' he'p do fo' her. Well, ah wus a man an' ah had no business doin' all those things fo' her. Some things I could do an' some things ah wouldn't do, although ah wus her husband. Well, dey would come ovah an' dey would do fo' her. So ah tole 'er one day, ah said, "Say, listen, whut de doctor say?" Ah say, "Did yo' went to him?" She say, "Yes, ah went to him." She say, "Dr. Fields say an' also Dr. Walker say I was impregnant. She say, "Well, ah tried Dr. Whitman, an' he say de same identical thing," she say, ''but ah can't understand it, ah'm not impregnant." Well, ah say, "Ah don't know - dis way is funny - mahself - but," ah say, "de blame is on yo' - ah don't know." She went like that fo' seven months an' she come out well. Well, she had to be operated on fo' first of October - Dr. Louis told her she had to be operated on de first of October, also Dr. Whitman, an' wus operated on. So ah tried an' tried an' tried an' tried an' at de main time dat de chile Wus supposed to be born, if it wus a chile; but it wusn't no chile, wusn't nuthin. So ah goes to a fellah - de fellah's in town now. Ah goes to him an' ah walk to de do' an' look round. He say, "Hello there." [I] say, "Hello." [He] say, "How yo' feelin'?" [I say] "All right." He says, "Well, yo' comin' tuh see about chure wife?" "Yes, ' ah say, - "Yessuh, '' [I] say, "she's come with a little condition." Ah say, "Well, from whut ah kin learn, ah can't understand de matter she's in, can't understand de sickness." He say, "Her sickness is not nach'ral," say, "she wus run home - dat's where [when] she got her dose - yore wife is a woman dat she loves tuh run round" - well now, he wus tellin' me wit dis on cards. He says, "Yore wife loves to run round," he says, "she's not a woman true to one man, she wants yo' an' fo' or five or six men." An' he say, "She messed wit a man's wife up dere an' jumped on de woman about her husband an' de woman had her fixed like dat. Now, she's fixed an' perhaps she is pregnant." Well, ah know de girl - tell yo' de truth, Boss, she nevah come in de house [came home] at all. He said, "But chew go back to de house an' yo' go up under about three feet," he say, "under de do'step." He say, "Go up under de house an' stop, dig jes about dat deep." He says, "Dat's where de mess lays - all messed up." He say, "Can't chew smell somebody's chamber lye all round yore house?" Ah tole him, "Yes sir." He say, "All right, den yo' go back to yore house an' git dis." He give me some kinda thing like vaseline, but it wasn't vaseline 'cause ah smelled it - it wasn't vaseline. It was greasy - to keep de misery from comin on me, yo' see. [This thing like vaseline was to protect him, especially his hands, while digging up the mess.] He said, "Yo' git this an' yo' bring it to me." He said, "Yo' go in de woods an' git me three," he say, "git me three piece of cedar-tree root, jes' about dat long," he say, "an' bring dem back to me. Ah tole him, "All right, sir." He say, "Co'se ah won't have it fixed fo' yo' till tomorrow," see, "sometime," he say, "but tonight at twelve a'clock zactly, yo' go out chure back gate, come all round de streets dat chew come in de front do' an'," he say, "have yo' some salt an' some red peppah." He say, "Sprinkle dat salt all de way through yore house from de gate on out to back an' back round de house again." He say, "Make a round ring," he say, "an' den put some dat peppah de same identical way." He say, "Now, dese people will go to yore home tomorrow to git a match. In case yo' don't let dem have de match, dey gon'a be back ovah dere to borrah some lard." Ah tole him, "All right." He say, "Now, yo' have to give me chance - tomorrow ah'll have her all right." He say, "Co'se she gon'a be operated" - she wusn't operated on den. He say, "Co'se, she got'a be operated on - operation do her good, but still ah do somepin an' let somebody else [the surgeon] do something fo' her, or," he says, "she'll be in a terrible condition till she die."
[This is my only example of cooperation between doctor and doctor.]
An' ah went back an' got dis stuff from under de house an' carried it back tuh dis man, an' dis man fixed it. Now, what he put in it - ah don't know whut he put in de stuff. But ah tell yo' whut was in de stuff dat wus fixed fo' her. Dey had a piece of her hair. Dey had some of dis heah cut from de seat of her underclothes. Somebody had eithah slipped in de house an' got dat stuff - see, she wouldn't let nobody do washin' or anything - co'se dey prob'bly had a chance tuh cut it off de line out dere while it hangin' up on de line dryin'.
(The seat of her underwear?)
Dat's right, an' dey got a piece of her underskirt - right up undah heah [demonstrates].
(Under her arm?)
Dat's right, dat wus in dis mess - now, ah'm tellin' you whut ah seen in dis mess. Dat wus inside dis mess whut dey had fix fo' her. An' a little somepin - ah don't know whether it wus tomatoes or don't know whether it was some of her ministration or whut, but hit wus inside a little rag, it wasn't in no bottle, it was in a rag. An' ah carried it on back ovah dere an' gave it tuh him. So after ah gave it tuh him, he say, "Well, now, don't chew git uneasy," he say, "in a few days she'll be all right." An' so - well, it wus on a Friday when ah had taken it back ovah dere to him. An' dat Sunday, she got 'long jest as - nevah been sick no mo'. (Do you know what he did with those three pieces of cedar root that you took to him?) Ah don't know, suh. He wouldn't even tell me whut he did wit it. After ah'd taken her back dere wit me, he wouldn't even let me come in de room whilst she's in dere. When ah got de cedar tree root ah give it tuh her. Yo' see, ah went back ovah dere wit dem all right but ah give it to her, an' him an' her went in a room, like yo' in heah now [and no one else in the room], an' he wouldn't let me come in dere at de time he fixin' dat fo' her. An' he tole her tuh wear dat. Cause she's living now - ah reckon, if she's not daid - but ah haven't seen her in 'bout a year an' three months, cause I an' her separated.
Entry 832
Sometimes all they have to do is to touch you. I wanted to remember a boy and after he [a cunjure man] touched me I couldn't remember him. I didn't know what he [boy] looked like. This [spell] lasted over a year. I couldn't see [remember] this boy. I was in a family way. His mother got this cunjure man to make me forget him. He came to my house, I was in this condition, and he put his hand on my stomach and thinking of the boy when he did it, and after he removed his hand I couldn't think about him [boy]. I would see his pitchure but I couldn't think of anything of him. When this [spell] work off [after a year] it turned back on this boy - he got so he was loving me. After this spell was broken this man [cunjure man] came to me and told me he did it. He told me to put it back on the boy, the boy was in New York and would come back. He came back. I didn't marry this boy. He also gave my mother a little bag to wear on her stocking. My mother's thinking of putting me in trouble [worrying about daughter's condition]. After he gave her this bag she seemed to forget all about me being in trouble. She didn't think of it until the year was up. He told her to wear this bag. He put it there himself, on her left stocking. It had a string on it. He tied it around [her] himself. It was a little black bag. It contained something that smelled like spice, like cinnamon. Whenever he come in contact with you he kinda hypnotized you. I don't know where the hoodoo man came from. This happened in Newport News [Virginia]. His [boy's] grandmother did most of it. She died about two years afterwards. The last time I seen her she had great big knots on her face like some animal. She died a horrible death. It must of went back on her, too. I thought it'd come out on the baby but it didn't take any effect. Only he has funny little spells. Ev'ry night when he goes to bed he'll holler in his sleep. He always did do that from a little baby on up, even now. He's eleven years old.
Entry 1234
An' if yo' Wanta miscarry a kid, ah know how tuh miscarry a kid - diff'rent things yo' kin take: calomel powders, an' yo' kin take nine buckshots, an' yo' kin take bluestone, an' yo' kin take pencil lead from a pencil, an' yo' kin take yore finger an' miscarry. Ah know how to do that wit that. An' if yo' ain't impregnant an' wanta git impregnant, yo' kin take devil's-shoe- string, blackroot, guinsy light[?], an' yo' kin take life ever lasting [cudweed], lowbush myrtle, redshank an' dog-tongue.
(Is dog's-tongue a weed?)
Yes suh, hit's a weed - it grows [cylinder changed]. Boil"it an' makes a tea out of it an' takes it - a wineglassful three times a day. Dat'll clear up yore system an' git all de silt an' stuff stir up, an' yo'll git impregnant like that. Den yo' kin take dog-tongue an' dry it an' put it de fo' corners of anybody's house. Now hit's good fo' medicine an' den it's good for squabbling. Yo' take dog-tongue an' put it in fo' corners of anybody's house an' crumble it up an' rub it round in de house, an' he'll be aridin' an' agrumblin' an' aguarrelin' an' afightin' dere until dey separate or dey move out or dey do something. Dey won't live together happy no mo' - jest quarrel an' grumble an' row jest long as dat dog-tongue in that house.
Entry 1391
Well now, jest lak a woman in a pregnant condition - now, ah kin take dat mockingbird aig an' fix it an' go scatter it in her tea an' give dat woman some, an' dat chile will nevah be nuthin but a tattler an' news-carrier, be jest busy bee or anything.
Entry 1580
Take a swamproot. (Swamproot.) Yes, your back is weak and that strengthen your back. If you is not no breedin' woman, that'll make you breed. And they say you can take ginger root. Have you ever heard of that? And you can take ginger root, if you breedin' and done got caught - well, you can take ginger root and that makes you have a miss, you see. A hot, hot tea and you drink it at bedtime, and you get into bed and cover up and that begins to make your blood hot and you begin to sweat, and then the next morning everything there what you looking for.
Entry 6576
(A lizard can harm her?)
If yo' done wanta, take a lizard, jis' keep 'im swimmin' in watah, jis' keep 'im alive in dat watah. Keep 'im in dat watah, while dat woman is neah 'er time. Always jis' keep dat lizard in dat watah an' evah mawnin' git chew a teaspoonful of dat watah an' drop it in de watah she drinks. An' keep dat lizard in dat watah. An' it will make 'er have a hard birth or a miscarriage.
Entry 6768
Yes, sir, she eats that herself. Well, she eats that for to do away with children. She eats that, fourteen of them [the insects] to destroy her kids, if she is more than two months gone. If she is less than two months, she takes less than that - less dirt dauber - to destroy her kid.
Entry 6834
Ah've hear'd of - yo' kin use gunpowdah in drinkin' it in sweet milk, a woman or girl dat would breed children. It'll stop 'em from breedin'.
Entry 6880
Well, a woman kin be in de family way an' aftah she in de family way, why den yo' takes whut yo' call a mare rope. Listen good. (I understand.) An' aftah dat mare rope dere, it's tied. Yo' takes dat mare an' let 'im [!!!] cross de rope nine times. Yo' fix dat, run 'em cross. Den yo' cut dat rope, cut it off from dat mare an', if yo' kin, put it in 'er room anywhere dat she livin' at. An' any time dat she cross dat rope dere twice, she shall have dat child crossways in 'er an' dey have tuh take it from 'er.
(All right. Now, how can you take this off of her?)
Well, aftah yo' go tuh work an' fin' dat, dat is a fact dere. DEN YO' BEIN' WHUT YO' CALL A "TWO-HEADED DOCTOR" DERE, an' yo' wanta git 'er off it. Den yo' go tuh work an' yo' go down tuh a runnin' stream, an' yo' git dat same rope. De people goin' tuh bring yo' de rope, yo' know, when dey come tuh do yo'. Den yo' take dat rope dere an' yo' wait 'till night, twelve o'clock at night. Den yo take dat rope an' tie nine knots. An' de people dat she say dat put dat rope dere, down dere fo' her, take dere name an' put it dere nine times in dis knot. Yo'll throw it dataway [into the running streom] an' let it go down. Yo'll find dat de rope will pull a li'le bit tuh yo', but dat ain't nuthin 'bout dat dere. It'll go right on. [That Pull a Zi'le bit tuh yo' by the rope, is that the spir- it within trying to prevent being thrown into the water?]
(And the spell is off?)
Yes, sir.
Entry 6884
Cross dis woman up. Dey takes - dey gits right where dis woman'll pass at. Yo' undahstan'? Dey takes a knife an' a fo'k an' put dat knife in de fo'k disaway [demonstrates by crossing knife in fork] an' put it right where she goin' tuh cross ovah at. Yo' undahstan'? An' jis' as sure as she cross ovah dat knife an' fo'k dis- away, she cain't birth dat child. Dat child turn upside in 'er stomic.
(I see. All you do is cross the knife into the fork?)
Put de knife in de fork lak dis here [demonstrates] an' let 'er cross ovah it. Stand it up lak dat [demonstrates].
Entry 6886
De woman might be Impregnant, chew know. Somebody might wan' 'em tuh die in dat state, chew know. Dey [some woman] gits jealous, chew know. An' den dey git tuh a, go tuh a oak tree an' measure nine inches from de bottom, an' skin de bä'k up an' boil dat tuhgethah [with] anythin' whut de woman would eat, chew know. Suppose dey could give 'er dat tuh eat, chew know. Dat child nevah come down, yo' see. (The child will never come down. This child will stay right in her. It will kill her then.)
Entry 10606
If you don't want a baby, you understand, you kin taken a chicken gizzard, brown it and put in French brandy, kills it.
Entry 1255
Take fish gall - make a woman miscarry by rubbin' it on her navel. (What kind of fish gall - from any kind of fish?) Any kind of a gall from a fish [gall from any fish]. Put nine drops of it or as many drops as you kin in her navel an' let it stay in dere, an' let her lay flat on her back an' put a silver button ovah it or pearl button ovah it on top of her navel. Dat will make her miscarry.
Entry 4230
If a woman is pregnant an' yuh wanta make her lose de baby an' yuh don't lak 'er. Well, yuh see, yuh kin take some of her urinate an' stop it up in a bottle an' dat'll make her mis- carry a baby, or she'll git tuh de place she'll have sech dreadful pains in de bottom of 'er stomik, in 'er bladdah, see - sompin lak bladdah trouble, an' 'er stomik begin tuh git weak an' event'ly she'll lose out.