Subject:Ring
Entries
Entry 784
This was in 1863 - mah huncle [uncle] was a slave an' his mastah name Was Miller, an' he made out he was a fortune-tellah only to keep from goin' tuh de field tuh work. (Where did this happen?) Dis happened in No'th Ca'lina. An' he made out he was a fortune-tellah in order to make good wit his boss, that he wouldn't have to work so hard. He says, "Mastah, I kin tell fortunes." He's bluffin' - couldn't tell nuthin. So one day his mistress was out washin' her hands an' she had a di'mond ring prob'bly not as expensive that day as it is now, in '63. She pulled it off an she laid [it] on de side of de washbo'd while she was washin' her hands. An' Bias [Tobias] come along - dat was mah mothah's brothah. He picks up de ring an' goes in de kitchen an' mix up some wheat dough right quick an' he bobbled it up in dere somepin de size of a marble of a middleman - dey used to have middle- men fo' marbles. An' she said dey had about fifteen or twenty turkeys an' he takes it out to a certain gobbler. Dey had several gobblers but he knew the gobbler - he had a beard hangin' down his breast an' de gobbler swallowed it, gobbled it up. Dat evening - afternoon, mah mother said, dey called Bias, says, "Now, Bias, you sich a" - he spoke a oath. Shall I speak that?
(Yes.)
She say he spoke a oath, he says, "You sich a damn good maker of wisdom, tell me whare mah wife's ring went dis mawnin'." Bias says, "Mastah, yo' have tuh give me a little time tuh study." He says, "She had it heah in de house an' she's lost it somewhare. Now, you make out you kin tell me that." Says, "The war's prob'bly fixed to go on. If sich a thing gon'a be done, you prob 'bly be de loser an' you may not, but if you tell me this definitely, ah'll make it very easy on you - ah'll put chew overseah ovah de othahs." "Mastah," he says, "ah'll tell you." He says, "When you gon'a feed dese turkeys?" He say, "Ah ain't got nuthin do wit turkeys; tell me whare mah wife's ring is." See, he was hot, de mistress was cryin'. She [informant's mother] said he went on den an' he tole 'em tuh call 'em up den. He call 'em up tuh feed 'em an' he fed 'em, an' he says, "Mastah he says, "you kill dat gobblah thare." Dey didn't know nuthin dat he done dat himself. Says, "Look heah, kill him fo' what?" He says, "You kill dat gobblah," says, "ah wanta bring dat ring back." Says, "Whut de gobblah got'a do wit dat?" 'If ah kill dis gobblah ah'm gon'a buckle you across dat barrel an' give you a gen'ral whupping. So, dey caught de gobblah. Soon as dey killed 'im - when dey cleaned 'im an' cut his craw dey found de ring. An' his mastah went all about ovah de country, tole ev'ry man, says, "Ah've got a niggah on mah place dat knows something." An' he jes' jumped up and down an' gave 'im a very easy job, but he was awful to pick. up things hisself - he was a great thief hisself, you know, tuh steal, an' so he didn't be hard on him.
(Your uncle was supposed to have done it in Cleveland County, North Carolina.)
[I occasionally found this practice among white informants in Adams County, Illinois - a person telling a folktale would identify the chief actor as a member of the family. Sometimes this was a story; other times the informant as a child had heard the tale so often he actually believed it belonged to the family.l [At the time of collecting I must have known what the marble of a middleman was or he explained while machine was off.]
Entry 1753
Go an' git a brass ring. Ah kin go an' git a brass ring an' wear that ring on yore [my] finger - what they call the ring finger on your right hand. (On which finger of the right hand?) The ring finger - the second finger - next to the little finger. The brass ring there. An' that will help yo' git a job.
Entry 3844
Prick yo' fingah an' git chure blood.
(Which finger?)
Dis fingah [demonstrates].
(The finger with the ring on, the ring finger of the left hand.)
Dat's it. Yo' prick it an' yo' git chure blood an' yo' write his name full an' yore [woman'sl name full. Den yo' make three rings aroun' dat wit de blood. An' yo' fold dat papah, yo' know, dis way, de two ends in, an' yo' bury it undah de no'th end of de house. Dat'll bring a person back tuh yo' regardless tuh who it is. It'll make him come back tuh dat pahtic'lah place. Dat'll bring anybody back. (If your husband has left, if you put the two names together.)
Entry 3845
Take de lef' third fingah - dis fingah [demonstrates].
(Which one is that?)
[Informant demonstrates.]
(That's the ring finger, the finger next to the little finger on the left hand.) An' yo' take yo' a needle [demonstrates] an' pick dis fingah till it bleeds, an' yo' would write her name on de top line an' 'is name on de bottom line. Now, jes' say mine, an' draw a small ring aroun' it de first time, an' den one a li'le bit largah, an' de nex' a li'le largah [magic of increasing size] till yo' draw three rings aroun' de names wit yore blood. Den yo' would bury dis papah undah yore do'step. If yo' do dat in de mawnin', why dat night he would come back tuh 'er. He'd stay wit 'er an' wouldn't leave. Jes' de blood from yore lef' fingah.
Entry 5510
De track yo' know. Dey take de track, take it from de heels tuh de toes jes' lak dis [demonstrates]. [If he]' walks dat way [away from you], why yo' take it from de heel, jes' from de heel tuh de toe. Take dat track an' throw it tuh where jes' lak dey walks on [throw it direction he is walking]. Throw it dat way an' dat'll keep 'im goin', yo' see - goin'. Lak if yo' wanted 'em comin', why yo' take it from de toe tuh de heel.
(What would you do with that, then?)
Yo' takes de track den an' yo' throw it off - yo' know, throw it so far goin' from yo' [as far as possible from you] an' dat makes 'em go.
[Informant misunderstood my question, I ask it another way:]
(What if you wanted to bring them back, what would you do with that track?)
Why, if yo' want tuh bring 'em back, why yo' kin take de track from de toe tuh de heel an' keep de track. Take de track in de design lak ah wus tellin' yuh, from 'is toe tuh 'is heel, an' keep it an' he come back. Or eithah a ring outa his shirttail. Jes' cut a roun' ring outa his shirt- tail. Cut a roun' ring outa dat an' yo' kin keep it an' he'll come back. (Just cut a ring out of his shirttail and keep it. That will make him come back.) [In addition to a ring or circle of cloth cut from clothing, squares and oblongs (coffin symbols), perhaps other designs are also cut out.]
Entry 8487
Dey will take a brand-new ink pen an' pick dis fingah [demonstrates]. (That's the ring finger, next to the little finger on the left hand. All right.) Uh-huh, on de left hand, nex' tuh yore heart. An' prick dat fingah an' git de blood outa dat fingah, an' write de name on a piece of clean [new] papah, an' bury it tuh [in] de east cornah of de house, jis' facin' lak dat [demon- strates] east cornah ovah dere. An' make yore wish. If yo' had a gurl fren' or somebody wus in New York or some place an' make dat an' bury dat stuff, an' she'll come regardless.
(That brings her back to you.)
Entry 9683
They say that if a person doesn't like you, they'll draw a ring in the road right at your house and they'll sprinkle salt, soda, ashes, lime, other chemicals, sulphur. That will keep you from being an enemy against him. SPRINKLE IN IT: ASHES - LIME - SALT - SODA - SULPHUR
Entry 10451
If ah knows yore name, well at nine 'clock at night ah call yore name through a black art, which is cause an' [which is the cause of and contains] a witch, calling yore name. Only three time dat ah calls yore name, but ah wills mah voice will ring in de back [of your mind?] dat will go to yo' in yore sleep an' cause a worriation upon yo' de next morning. Yo'll be worried over de one who dat chew long to meet or who it is dat wants chew - womans, wife or gurl, or whatevah it is. Dey want chew at one 'clock in de night, when you [are] worst. When dey are sleeping dat seem to me as a better time to get holt tuh [hole to] 'em.
(What do you mean you call them through the black art? What's the black art?)
Well, dat's at night. Ah have - was sold mahself to contain of a witch, work- ings of witchcraft onto de body of de person.
(Well, do you mean you become a witch when you do that?)
Nah, ah wouldn't come [become] a witch [and fly away]. Ah stay home.
(You stay home, but...)
To my own house. Ah wouldn't have 'em dere. But using dere name, which you might call [like using] dis here 'lectric telephone. (That will make them do what you want or something of that sort?) Yes, dat will carry 'em to de house, but ah wouldn't tell you dat will make you stay when you git dere. (What would make them stay there?) Ah'm usin' dere name on it. Ah'd strip three verses out of de Bible, which ah would take de 2nd Kings, writin' dere name an' drawin' a ring round it with nine figures below - must be nine be- low dere name: dere wife's name or de woman's name down below dat. Put it into de mattress of de bed. (Then after this person has been called to go to this woman's house, that will keep him there?) Yes, got somepin to keep him off [away from home]. Whether he might wanta stay, ah don't know. But he [person I worked on] stay over dere yet. Dat's right heah in de city.
Entry 12207
Sech as ah heard people take horseshoe nails. An' dey take 'em an' make a [finger] rind out of 'em tuh give 'em luck.
(Lucky for what?)
Fo' gamblin' or fo' anything. (A horseshoe-nail ring?) Yes.
Entry 13235
Well, now, yo'll go an' get a good gol' ring, you know a nice quality of ring an' jes' rub that eye down like that [demonstrates] 9 mornings, 9 times, an' the tenth mornin' it'll be gone. Each mornin' 9 times, jes' like that [demonstrates]. An' make a wish, say, "Sty, go away."
Entry 13250
I stayed at a place up north. Every morning when I kindled de fire- I gen'a'ly made de fire - they had a package of sulphur there on that stove. When it was hot, they would sprinkle de sulphur on it, to fumigate de house with sulphur. They said that kept off the evil spirits and give it luck. (Every morning?) Every morning they'd sat- urate dat stove, when ft. got hot, you know, so that sulphur Would burn, they would sprinkle some of that sulphur on the stove. Said that kept off the evil spirits and give them luck. Druv [drove] the evil spirits out of the house, which, you know yourself, that there are more evil spirits than there are good ones. We are told by the Bible that many's the soul to walks this earth, visible or invisible. What they meant visible ones is the ones that we want to get rid of, don't want to be bothered with 'em. Well, now, we'll go back to de sulphur question. When you go to dig money, you make a circle around, all de way around de place yo' goin' to dig. Now a fellah tole me this to be a fact. Ah never seen it. An' sprinkle sulphur all around it [circle], an' yo' dig inside de ring of sulphur. When de evil spirit comes up there, he can't get inside that ring over that sulphur.