Subject:Snake
Other forms: Snakes
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Entry 620
If a person had did yo' any harm - jes' say fo' an instan' if they did joo harm an' yo'd go to someone to do yo' good. Well dey call dis [thing] to a lady sometime - a snakeshed don't chew know - an' ast this thing - this insect whut - if dey s anybody did anything to yo, dey want it to go to yo', right direct to yo', an' point out de places [where you are hurt] yo' know or go to de places don't yo' see. Yo' didn't ask about a snake but ah can't help speaking about it. [See margin-title Madam Helen for her snake.]
(All right.) [Miss Young's snake (No. 242) tells you what's wrong.]
[He says a doctor can use any kind of animal, even a stuffed snakeshed on a timid woman instead of a live snake, which he now describes:] Well, de snake he'll go an' wind around yo', don't chew know - he'll start around at chure feet an' stop to where dis stuff is stopped in yo' dere, don't chew know. [Informant continues with turtle:] Well, de same way with the turtle, he'll point his direction to yo' where it is - he'll come to yo' an' mark time with yo' - make lak dat wit his head - be a foot, one time - yore neck, two time - lak dat. [If the turtle, (tortoise - terrestrial turtle) nods or wags or moves his head "one time," you are hurt in a foot; if 'two time, ' in your neck - et cetera.] Don't chew know. An' dat's whut dey are good fo'.
(You mean these hoodoo people carry those things?)
Yes sir.
Entry 794
[The preceding margin-titles, Live Things in You and Roots (see No.720)
left opportunities for a doctor's ingenuity, but the following trick at the end of informant's account is one sold by the hoodoo trade:] Ah tell yo' 'bout dis hoodoo. Ah spent money an' spent money an' ah lak tuh lost mah home an' wife on account dat. Ah spent money fo' dat to git love wit other women an' buy whole lotta ole junk - dirt, graveyard dirt an' stuff an' put in a rag an' tie up, an' git mah home, git mah mind all tore up by thinkin' 'bout whut he says. An' quit mah home, mah min' all tore up an' there won't be a thing in de worl' tuh ut. It's jes' git chure min' all tore up an' yore family goin' crazy an' yo' be worried 'bout dat. Den yore home jest be tore up fo' nuthin. Ah tell yo' one thing ah've had done. Ah've had a person heah - ah paid a person five dollars year befo' last to give me luck. He had me tuh go to a - he had me tuh go git a bull bat - bull bat dat fly, a leather-wing. He had me git him a leather-wing bat - dat's fer hoodoo. An' ah put out a 'ward [reward] for him to a little boy - give him fifty cents 'ward an' he find him one night. An' ah tuk him an' cut his heart out wit a - he's livin'. Ah put mah foot on his head an' cut his heart out, an' den ah carried it back home, den went to a grave- yard, dis graveyard right ovah heah, one dark night, dark night, an' reached in dat grave wit mah han' like he said, in it an' got some of dat dirt an' carried it back home an' put it in dis bull bat, wit dis bull bat an' tied it up in a piece of red flannen an' dat's [a hand] fo' mah luck. An' ah like tuh went crazy, an' to de chain gang an' ever'where there. Dat's one of badest lucks ah've never seen. Ah've spent thousands an' thousands of dollars. [This is like I've had every doctor in town.]
(Did you go to the chain gang because of that?)
No, sir, like to went. Yes, sir, ah nearly did gwine jes' on account dat dirt Dat hard luck.
(He had you do that to give you luck?)
To give me luck. Yo' wants tuh know about somepin 'bout gittin' yore wife back. Well, yo' go buy yo' ten cents bottle of hearts cologne. He buy a ten cents box of talcum powder an' he put dat wit dat perfume an' den he puts it on yo' - dat's gittin' yo' wife back. Dere no sech thing as that. It's all 'magination. Well, it's some kind of root, it's a kind of a root that goes off in sprouts. Yo've seen dis heah stuff called lodestone - kinda dirt, de rock dey dig up wit fur on it. Dey'll git dat, den dey goes out an' gits some kind of a root with little ends on it - call High John de Conker. Dey git dat an' dey tie it up - it be's all lak together an' den dey'll give it to yo' fo' to tote in yo' pocket, an' ah paid $25 for it. Ah tote it in mah pocket an' tote in mah pocket an' lost everthing. [Lodestone or loadstone is magnetite, an iron oxide and important iron ore. What the hoodoo trade uses I do not know, though I have seen numerous pieces of it - all looking different. A stone having fur, being fed, and growing - this is beyond my visual and tactile experience.] Now, dere one'll come dere. He'll have somepin he kin burn; he jest 'maginat' [working on the imaginations of the] people, see. He may call dis woman outa de crowd an' she'll come dere an' he'll make her think she's got her head hurtin'. She ain't got a head hurt. Den he'll splain to her den, her head hurt an' some- body done somepin to her. She'll say, "Yeah." Say, "A long time ago in yore hat." She say, "Yeah." It won't be a thing but he jes' git dere 'magination. Den he have some kind of a root den, an' he'll burn dat root an' dat root curl up jes' lak a snake. Den he'll make lak dat'll come out of her haid - make lak dat come outa her haid an' den he won't let nobody pick it up but her. Den dey carry it back heah an' throw it out. It ain't nuthin but a root burn an' curl up lak a snake. [A chemical, not a root, is burned - an old trick.]
Entry 932
Now, dere's a girl down on de street where ah live at now, she wus fixed up heah summer 'fore last an' she ain't straightened out yet. An' we carried her to a man. An' de way she got hers, it wus a girl give her some aigs - dey said dey wus lil' snake aigs in some whiskey. An' de snake aigs bust in her body dere an' yo' see dem snakes create. An' at one a'clock, de time dat she got dat stuff - any day at one a'clock - yo' see dem snakes runnin' in her veins.
(You say these eggs busted some place?)
De lil' aigs - when she drunk 'em, yo' see de whiskey cooked dem-in de person in whut dey develop an' it made lil' snakes.
(Oh, they developed into little snakes.)
Yes.
(And she hasn't been cured yet?)
No - she's gittin' it outa her but she ain't got [cured yet].
Entry 980
Ah was kinda tricked - ah had sores - somebody done a trick tuh me and had me so mah feet was swelled and ah couldn't walk. Mah feet got jest 'bout like - every time ah would get up to move it feeled like pins and needles was sticking in de palms of mah foot and ah jest had to go down to de floor and stay where ah was without moving dat time, pricked me all ovah. Well, ah went to see and went around to diff'rent people to see whut de trouble was and dey tole me ah'd been hurt. Well, ah come back and went to New York and a fortune-teller told me, said, "You've been hurt and the best thing you kin do is to get somebody to work on you - tuh [work on] de person dat tricked - de man dat's been working on you." Well, individual [eventually] - anyhow ah went and had a salve - a salve was mixed up for me - it was mixed up. De first thing they told me to bathe with mullein - dis mullein tea - take dat an' boil it and keep mah feet in dat and always bathe it down and say a prayer over it.
(What kind of a prayer did you say?)
Ah said, "Lord, taketh the one that put this misfortune on me - to move this pain away from my foot - turn dis evil spirit away - amen - in Thy Name." Ask the Lord to remove this evil spirit - bathe it down.
(Why did you bathe it down?)
Dat's to rub it out, out - see, it was come in [through the foot] and want it to go out from de toe. Start down from de head and carry it out - that's to make de pain go out of mah foot - each stroke I gave it out. Jest put it in dat water with mullein, carrying each stroke out. Well, dat 'gin to do a little good. Den dis person made a salve, it was fer me. They made it with snake oil - ah mean, you know, de snake's liver. And [they] made of dat grease - grease from de snake, saltpeter - an' mix dat up and a little of de mullein - it was boiled down and mixed with dat and mutton suet. That mutton suet - and made de salve, and ah rubbed dis foot and dat's whut kinda got me up so ah could walk. But time after time ah couldn't go nowhere. De foot turn kinda black jest like something had bit me.
Entry 1089
He was fixed lak dat a long time ago. He was in de house an' he went out to feed de chickens, an' a lady sprinkle some powder down an' when he stepped ovah de powder somethin' lak a snake got in his laig, an' his laigs swoled up an' dey [doctors] had tuh cut his laig open an' left a lot of pus out. An' after dey [doctors] let all dat pus out, ole woman come dere an' sayes she could cure him. Hit swole back up agin after dey [doctors] healed it up. An' [again] some- thin' lak a snake was moving in his laig. She'd taken some mullein an' boiled it an' bathed his laig as hot as he could stand it an' set him right in front de fireplace, an'somethin' started fryin' in de fire lak it was a snake burning, but dey never did see him come out. She rubbed it [snake] right on down to his foot an' his laig went down [see Downward Rubbing, p.377].
(Do you know what kind of powder that woman sprinkled?)
No, sir, ah don't know whut kinda powder it was.
Entry 1564
Take a snake shed when yore nerves is bad an' rub it in yore han's like that - jes' rub it in yore hands until it git fine, jes' rub it all ovah yore hands. It will stop yo' from bein' nervous. [Since the nerve ailment shingles (herpes - creeping things or reptiles) is caused by a snake, nervousness is cured by a snake - like cures like (see p.394).] [See also Blacksnake, Rattlesnake, etc. and Index.]
Entry 1850
Take a pin an' put a little hole in it [chicken egg] an' put some of yore blood in that little hole. Yo' know, yo've seen dem little eye-dropper or nose-dropper, somethin', drain it down lak that. Take a strand of yore hair an' stick it down in there - in that hole an' carry it out in the woods where yo' know that snake's there - most any kind of a little bug or something is, yo' know. But chew put some sugah roun' there yo' see. See, that aig is goin' tuh sweat, chew know, an' that sugah is goin' dissolve and the ants or whatevah gits ovah to it first, that's jis' whut - if it be a snake, well, yo'll crawl lak a snake; if a ant gits holt'a it, well yo'll fis' wander aroun' jis' lak a ant.
Entry 6454
Some [graveyard] dirt an' some crawfishes an' snakedust. Mix it tuh- gethah an' some of yore toenails an' yore fingahnails an' some of yore strength. (Some what?) Some of yo' strength yo' - WHAT HAVE SOME OF YORE STRENGTH IN SOME OF YORE FINGAH- NAILS. An' take it an' put it up ovah de do' or up ovah yore head, anywhere. An' jis' lak dose things pine away, dat person pine away. Yo'll pine away an' die. Or either put it on a toadfrog in a box wit dat graveyard [dirt] an' put it undah de steps. Go out yo' home an' put it undah de steps an' dat frog will stay dere nine days until he pass away an' die. Dat person will die. Jis' lak de graveyard dirt an' de crawfishes molt away, yo' molt away.
Entry 6543
Yo' take some dog hair an' put it in some whiskey. Mix yo' a li'le sulphur in wit it an' yo' give dat tuh a person to drink, an' it'll 'cumulate snakes in 'em. [Snakes are created because hair, usual- ly horse hair, will turn into snakes - see SNAKES later.]
Entry 6544
Dey take cat hair an' dog hair an' place it intuh a man's food, an' if dat'll remain dere 'bout nine days, well, it'll turn, yo' know, lak hair worms. An' den it'll stay dere 'bout six or seven months, den it beginnin' tuh form snakes. Whenever dose things get live, yo' know, dey jis' crawl an' crawl about. Well, it's quite natchel [natural] den dat'll run yo' crazy.
Entry 6548
Yo' kin take a toadfrog an' hang 'im up an' kill 'im. Hang 'im fron' de fiah an' git nine drops of blood out dis frog an' put it in whiskey. Take de frog an' take an' kill 'im. If yo' kin git a snake, yo' kin take an' kill a snake an' git nine drops of 'is blood, an' put it in whiskey fo' yo'. It won' kill yo' right away. Yo' gon'a live an' be sick, but atter while dey gon'a be so big [inside you] dey kill yo'.
(How do they get those live things out?)
Well, lak dey put 'em in yo'. Go ketch yo' a snake an' don' kill 'im. Jis' split 'im open 'live an' - lak he's mad hot - an' smash it on dere, an' dat takes [those live things] outa yo'.
(Well, how do you get those frogs out?)
De same way wit snakes. Don' kill de frog, jis' ketch de frog while it's hot. Jis' play wit 'im or somepin an' make 'im mad. An' git 'im while he's mad, yo' see, an' split 'im right open an' slap it right on dat place, an' it will take de frogs out.
Entry 6597
[As a diversion from the usual accounts of live things in you, I begin this margin title, about live snakes in a person, with a snake sensitive to time and psychology. For similar material in Hoodoo, and else- where in Hoodoo. Time without the psychology is a very important element in hoodoo.l Dis girl, a man fixed 'er, an' he had sompin jis' about dis big aroun', long lak a snake, an' it worked all de way roun' in 'er body. An' she said at night when she'd know dat dis man wanted tuh see 'er real bad, dat she had tuh go. Say dat snake would move roun' an' roun' 'er until [it] come all up aroun' dere [where?]. Yo' know, yo' could natchly [naturally] see it when it wuz movin'. An' it stayed in 'er back. Yo' know, move up in de bottom of 'er back dere, anl she could git rested. She couldn't do nuthin. An' DE MINUTE SHE WALKED IN DE DO' TUH 'IM, SHE SAY IT STOPPED MOVIN'.
(He put the snake in her to make her come to him.)
An' dey tryin' tuh find out how he put dat snake in her. Ah dunno [I do not know].
Entry 6598
[I follow the preceding snake story with a rare account of a woman with cancer, who, after hospital treatments and as a last resort, visits a spiritualist or hoodoo. About as revealing as the material itself, is my pencil note written on the original transcription sheets within a year of the original interview: MisceZl [miscellaneous material] several small things - will take [choose] one out later. The present cancer ex- perience is the only small thing I took out. Twenty or thirty years later I put over that old comment of mine 3 large exclamation marks in red ink!!!] Dis lady, she wus a frien' of mine, but ah knew 'er fer a long while. An' she had firs' - supposed tuh be a tumor on 'er arm. Had de tumor taken off an' she went on fer years an' anothah one came a'out some place else. She had dat taken off. An' fine'ly [finally] she had trouble wit 'er stomic. She wus comin' from work one day an' she wus comin' up de steps an' a pain struck 'er an' dey had tuh bring 'er in. She couldn't walk. Dey brought 'er in an' put 'er tuh baid an called de doctor. She wus swollen up from 'er toes all de way up tuh 'er hips. De doctor said she had a tumor an' made arrangements fer 'er tuh go tuh de hos- pital. She went tuh de hospital on Sunday an' she wus tuh be operated on Monday, but dey kept aftah 'er so. An' dey couldn't git 'er in any kinda condition fer operatin'." Dey had 'er dere a month 'fo' dey operated on 'er. Aftah dey operat- ed on 'er, dey'd taken a'out a very peculiah tumor. She tole me it had knots on it like a knotty white potato. [Potato in the Southern States usually meant sweet potato.] An' so aftah dey'd taken dis tumor a'out she stayed in de hos- pital a week, two weeks, an' den she went tuh 'er son so she could git 'er strength tuh come home. She wus at 'er son's, she had anothah one come out on 'er neck - up heah on 'er neck - an' she wus so dat she couldn't swallah. An' she said she could feel sompin movin'. She could feel sompin movin' in 'er throat. An' she would go tuh cleah 'er throat an' she would feel sompin like a claw, very painful an' 'er throat wus very sore. Ah know mahself she couldn't swallah. It would take her all day long. She couldn't git down so much as a glass or orange juice. [There is material in Hoodoo showing that live things in a person sometimes try to leave the body through the person's mouth; this being one of the causes of serious choking spells.l So a frien' of mine tole her about goin' tuh see somebody dat supposed tuh be A SPIRITUALIST OR HOODOO, or whutevah yo' might call 'em, an' - aw, she wus very sick, she couldn't eat anythin'. So dis girl [taking care of patient] she went tuh see dis [hoodoo] woman. Ah don' know where de woman is [her street ad- dress]. Anyhow, dis woman she tole her tuh come see her, an' she say she didn't go out, de woman would have tuh come tuh 'er. An' we [corrected later to girl] tole her de woman wus too ill - de girl tole her de woman wus too ill. So she said bring 'er in a taxi. So ah mahself helped tuh git 'er ready, but ah didn't go tuh de woman wit 'er. She went tuh see dis woman, an' dis woman tole her dat it had been seven years ago dat it had been snake aigs wus powdahed an' put in 'er icebox in watah, an' she drank dis watah an' dese aigs 'cumulated in 'er. Yo' see, an' yo' know, dey jis' had formed in 'er an' dis woman said 'er insides wus scally like a fish. An' so, at first she tole her she didn't know whethah she could do her any good or not, but fer 'er tuh come back de nex' day [THE MAGIC DELAY SO OFTEN ENCOUNTERED IN HOODOO]. An' IN DE MEANTIME SHE GAVE HER, SHE CALLED IT GRAVEYARD DUST, IN SOME WATER. [This graveyard dirt was probably a blackish powder known as black draft or black drink, two different preparations, cathartics, frequently mentioned in Hoodoo.] She vomited up. De girl wus wit 'er. Now, ah wusn't wit 'er, de girl wus wit dis woman. She tole me she vomited up absolutely little yallah eggs. An' dis woman [hoodoo] said she had been so long [in finding out what was wrong with her] she wus jis' bedded wit aigs. See? An' she vomited up dese aigs in a pan. She give her a bucket aftah she give her dis graveyard dust. She vomited up dese aigs in dis pan. An' she tole her tuh stop by de store on de way home an' git mack'rel an' take it right a'out, salt mack'rel, an' take it right a'out de, yo' know, a'out de brine, jis' as it wus, an' don' wash it off or anythin'. Don' care whut it had on it, jis' take evah- thin' along wit it an' eat de belly of de mack'rel. Now dis is de truth. Now ah know dis fer mahself. An' she et [ate] dis mack'rel an' she said dis thin' dat wus up along 'er neck - it wus a snake in 'er neck, see - an' SHE SAY DIS BELLY OF A MACK'REL WOULD TURN DIS SNAKE DOWN, SEE. AN' SHE WOULD GIVE HER TREATMENTS AN' WORK IT DOWN TUH 'ER STOMACH [so that it could gO out through the bowels]. Well, she did an' she hadn't et anything fer a long time. She did. She et [ate] dis belly of dis mack'rel an' dat's de firs' thin' she had swallah- ed fer ovah a month. Yo' know, she couldn't swallah anythin' hard. An' den aftah dat, nachur'ly [naturally] she got bettah an' dis woman tole her if she Would keep on comin' tuh 'er she could cure her. NOT TUH GO BACK TUH DE HOSPITAL 'CUZ DE DOCTORS DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO FO' HER.
(What sort of treatment did she give her when she went to her house?)
She give her dis snake dust, er [I mean] graveyard dust. Dis made her vomit up dose aigs, yo' see. An' ah don' know whut she did. Ah guess she continue givin' 'er dat so much each time she would go dere. But anyhow she got bettah an' she got so she could go tuh dis woman 'erself. Now dis is de truth 'cuz ah know dis mahself. Ah seen 'er. Ah know 'er. She wus a frien' of mine. An' she WuS gittin' along fine an' CO'SE SHE WEN' TUH DE HOSPITAL TAKIN' RADIUM TREAT- MENTS FER A CANCER, yo' see. An' it burned 'er neck, yo' see, an' of co'se her son bein' [modern and insisting that she go to the hospital, etc.] [Something must have happened here. Machine turned off. I ask her to re- peat.] Yes, she wus goin' tuh de hospital takin' radium treatments an' yo' know dat hot thin' had burned 'er. An' see in de co'se of time it made her neck sore, an' of co'se as she wus sick she wasn't able tuh work den, an' 'er son he wus 'er main support. He started tuh go work fer [against] dis woman [hoodoo], an' den she went back, started goin' back tuh de hospital again. But dey didn't do her any good in de hospital. But dis thing it did git out of 'er neck. Whatevah it was it got out of 'er neck, an' she got so dat she could eat, 'cuz ah used tuh carry 'er food mahself, so dat she could eat. Of co'se, aftah 'er son wouldn't give 'er money [to go to the hoodoo], I give her money two or three times mah- self tuh go tuh dis woman. An' so in de co'se of time - an' in de meantime dis woman tole 'er dat dis woman had got mad wit 'er an' dey fell out about sompin othahs. Dis woman wus a roomah intuh 'er house. Dis woman put de stuff in 'er. An' dat had been seven yeahs ago dat stuff had been in 'er. See, it wus jis' workin' on 'er grajly [gradually]. Dat wus in '35. She wus supposed tuh die in '35. Well, she didn't die in '35. Well she died de fifth of [5th month] '36 - 1936. [I interviewed this informant, March, 1938.1 An' so ah used tuh go ahead an' bath 'er. Ah don' know whut it wus, but her had a big knot almos' as big as mah fist, she had it right undah 'er arm. She had a big knot an' truly yo' put chure han' on dat, it would move. Yo' know, yo' put chure han' right on it dere an' yo' could feel it slip. Ah don' know whut it wus.
(Where was this woman living when this happened?)
Yes, indeed, right heah in Washington, D. C.,
(And the root or hoodoo doctor lives right here in Washington, too?)
Uh-huh, she lived here in Washington City. An' she jis' continue tuh git wuse [worse] an' wuse an' got so bad off. She an' 'er son were livin' tuhgethah an' yo' know, she wus 'fraid tuh leave her home by 'erself an' all, she got so weak an' all. Dey'd taken 'er back tuh de hospital ag'in, right down heah to de [?] Hospital. Dey had taken 'er down to Doctor Reed [Walter Reed] Hospital. An' she jis' continued tuh grow weakah an' weakah, an' den, ah don't know whut it wus, but she had somepin othah an' she lost mo' strength. But dat thin' dat she had in 'er arm would achly [actually] make her arm jump, jis' dis Way [demon- strates]. An' it did like dat until she died.
(What did the doctors say was wrong with her?)
Ah nevah had nerve enough tuh ast de: son, but ah heah 'im talk dat ovah aftah she died.
Entry 6599
Well, she takes de snake an' she dries 'im up an' she takes 'is bones outa his tail, which dose de softes' bones, an' she dries dose bones up. Dey make a dust outa dem an' put dat intuh a vaseline, or hair oil, or hair grease dat he uses, an' he passes dat ovah 'is head when he combs 'is hair. An' it will penetrate tuh 'is - through 'is skull intuh 'is brain. An' he will al- Ways have a min' dat he wants tuh drown 'imself, or he will always have a min' he wants tuh kill 'imself or commit suicide. But de Way tuh keep 'imself from doin' dat, committin' sui- cide, HE WILL HAVE TUH GO TUH ONE OF DOSE PEOPLE OVAH DE RIVAH [IN ALGIERS], SOME OF DOSE TWO-HEADED PEOPLE, AN' DEY WILL TELL 'IM JIS' WHUT IS WROEG WIT 'IH AN' DERE IS NO DANGAH FO 'IM, BECUZ DEY KIN GIT IT BACK OUTA 'IS SKULL BEFO' IT
(How do they do that?)
Dey shave all de hair off, yo' see, an' dey use fresh lard an' sulphh an' hot towels, an' dey will draw dat - draw dat right out, an' he will have tuh pot eat anythin' fo' nine days. He should not have anythin' on 'is stomic, nuthin in "is bowels, nuthin. Give 'im two or three big dose of salts, an' dey contimue usin' dat fresh lard an' sulphuh on 'is head. An' in about nine or ten days, he il begin tuh come back tuh 'imself, an' den he will realize den whut dangah be sus in.
Entry 6600
Yo' be's de firs' one - an' when yo' git 'im yo' put yo' a wire through 'is haid, don' chew know, where yo' kin hang 'im up cleah [clear - not touching anythingl like dat. An' let 'im hang dere.
[The wire as well as hanging clear or free is a magic isolation.]
(Why do you hang him up that way with the wire did you say?)
Why he become 'live after yo' do yore tricks. Yo' hang 'im up an' let 'im die dere. [Here as in so many rites is the tor- ture before death theme.] Well, aftah he die dere yo' take his hide an' yo' groun' dat, yo' know, dry it out thoroughly an' den yo' powdah it. An' yo' take dat - take dat hide - it be's tuh blind yo' see. [Informant begins to tell me this powder will blind a person, but changes his mind.] Well, yo' take dat haid an' cut dat haid off an' powdah dat haid up an' git it intuh a person. Dat makes live snakes [in him]. [After informant left interviewing room, I say to my re- cording machine: This woman spoke so low I don't know whether I shall be able to hear her or not [[at transcription time]]. That or not shows me unconsciously imitating informant's repetition - redundancy! All through Hoodoo informants and I frequently requote one another.]
Entry 6602
Well, all right, ah've had de pleasure tuh meetin' a woman travelin through de country, an' five or six diff'ren' people of mah profession tole [her] dat dere wus snakes put intuh 'er. Now, dey wus Wondahin' how did dese snakes git intuh dis woman. Ah claim dat yo' kin take snake dust an' put snakes intuh a person. Yo' kin sprinkle dis dust over some of dere food an' if dey eat, dey claim dat snakes will grow intuh 'em. Ah've had de pleasure of gittin' one from a woman. Ah've taken de hair from de top of 'er head an' burn dis an' let 'er weah dis dus' in 'er lef' shoe, an it made dese snakes disappeah.
Entry 6603
People had got hurted. People have, yo' know, whut chew call poisoned peoples. Dere wus a lady stayed [with us]. An' dose peoples comes dere tuh 'er. An' yo' know people kin fix yo', yo' know, kin put snakes in yo'. She came dere to de doctor an' yo could see where dey had fixed - in a couple of places yo' could see de snakes.
Entry 6604
Ah had a cousin once. He wus co'tin [courting a girl an' he nevah did ma'y [marry] her. An' 'er mothah fixed 'im up an' a live snake come outa his laig. But how she done it he nevah did know.
Entry 6605
Go down tuh dat Crackerjack Drug Store an' git some, some of dis rattlesnake dust. Git some of dat rattlesnake's dust an' put in dere food. No, dey ain't put it in dere food, dey jis' put a little pinch of it intuh it. An' ah'll guarantee dey have nuthin but snakes in 'em.
Entry 6606
Snakes, any kinda snakes, any kinda insex [insects], if dere somebody yo' wanta put snakes an' scorpions in an' kill 'em. Yo' kin take de snake an' kill it, any kinda snake yo' wanta be in a person. Yo' kill dis snake an' aftah yo' kill dis snake yo' name de person whosom- evah yo' wanta kill. Yo' would name 'em. An' fo' nine days yo'd go dere an' turn 'im ovah. He'd be dead. Yo' turn 'im ovah callin' de person's name fo' nine days. An' de ninth day yo' go dere an' take dat thin' an' parch 'im up, yo' know, an' jis' make a dust outa it. An' if yo' wanta put it in whiskey or amythin', or pat it in some tea or anythin' lak dat, yo' put de dust in yo' knoy vtut cheo make from dat dead snake, or scorpion or spidah or anythin', an' den yo' give it to den. It won't hurt nobody but dem dat chew called dere name. An' den when de ninth day's up dey'll take sick, an' den yo' know, dem dere snakes an' scorpions ll be livin' in dem people, whut yo' give dat dust to - in nine days tine.
Entry 6607
Yo' run 'im.
(Either the frog or the snake.)
Until he gits real hot. Yo' git chew a forked stick like dat [demonstrates] chew know. Yo' grab 'is haid while he's hot. Yo' cut dat haid off, yo' see. Yo' take it an' carry it tuh yore home, an' put intuh a chimley tuh dry tull it git so yo' kin jis' do it dataway [demonstrates] de dust of it. An' if yo' don' like a person, like ah don' like yo' an' pertend [pretend] like ah like yuh, yo' sprinkle it intuh dere food. An' dey tell me dat will certainly bring live things intuh de stomic.
Entry 6608
Well, ah heard tell of 'em usin' snakes fo' killin' peoples. Well, ah've heard tell of 'em takin' snakes - take de snake haid, cut de snake haid off whilst he's live. Make him angry an' cut 'is haid off short. Take dat snake haid - cut: 'is haid off whilst he's real short, yo' know, whilst he's live. Don't cut it off aftah 'e's daid. Cut it off whilst 'e's life [alive]. Den yo' take dat snake haid an' yo' dry it. Hang it up yore chimley dey say an' dry it fo' nine days. Den yo' kin take dat snake powdahs whut chew git from dat snake haid, an' it supposed tuh lill yo' daid. If dey kin git it intuh coffee, food, anythin' - dat snake powdah It'll be so dry till yo' kin jis' pound it up yo' know. An' den yo' take dat poudah, an' yo' kin sprinkle it in anythin' an' dat'll kill a person.
Entry 6609
Yo' take a snake an' when he git angry kill 'im. An' dey take dat snake an' hang 'im up an' let dat blood drip. An' when de blood drip, take dat blood in a bottle an', lak if any- body dat yo' don' lak, a person yo' don' lak, yo' put dat blood intuh dere whiskey. An' dat poison a person. Say dat put live snakes in some persons.
Entry 6610
(What do they do with that snake blood now?)
Dey take de snake an' kill de snake while de blood is warm, yo' know, befo' de snake git cold, yo' see. An' take de blood an' put in milk or coffee, but if dey put it in coffee it won' show up as bad, dey say. An' yo' drink it, an' dat'll have snakes in yo'. De little snakes will crawl all dhrough.
Entry 6611
Now, dey tell me tuh take a snake, cut de snake's head off, let 'im drip, an' while his blood is drippin' ketch de blood in somepin as it drips. Jis' as many drops of dat blood yo' ketch, jis' as I - if I is a enemy, jis' how many snakes yo' desire tuh be in me, an' I lie - yo' let dat blood drip - drop - fall intuh some vessel. Whut kinda whiskey I drink, why yo' po' dat whiskey drink on dis blood, an' shake it in dere wit dis whiskey. Shake it tuhgethah an' give me dis whiskey tuh drink. Very soon I'll come tuh be fulla snakes.
(You'll have little snakes in you from those drops of blood?)
Yes, dat's right.
Entry 6613
Git a snake an' put a snake in yo'. Dey kin go ketch a snake an' kill it, cut 'is head off an' hang 'im on de limb [of a tree] by de tail. Tie a string aroun' 'is tail an' hang 'im up an' put a tin cup or tin plate undah 'im an' ketch 'is blood. Let 'im bleed in dat tin plate or tin cup, whutevah it is. Now dey take dat blood an' dey kin put dat blood intuh yore food or somepin tuh drink; or dey kin let dat blood dry until it comes jis' tuh a hard powdah. Dey kin sprinkle it in yore shoes. An' de perspiration from yore feet will such up de strength of dat blood an' cuz yore body tuh attract dat, an' it will go all through de body an' kill de body. An' it will be crawlin' jis' undah de skin, all about, mostly from de point where dey entered. Depends upon how long it is when it gits in de stomic an' come on up. An' he'll choke yo' tryin' tuh come on up.
Entry 6615
Well, yo' kin take de blood outa scorpion, eithah snake, eithah one, an' put it intuh a person's food In de Name of de Fathah, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, an' dey'll becone tuh have snakes in 'em, or scorpions in 'em. Den if yo' wan' dose outa dere, yo' git chew some salt, red peppah, sulphuh. Combine 'em tuhgethah an' let 'em take it fo' nine mawnin's In de Name of de Fathah, de Son an' Holy Ghost. An' dat soon will git 'em out.
(Get those live things out?)
Yes sir.
Entry 6619
Yo' kin take a - take a rattlesnake - yo' kin take anythin' dat wandahs in de woods snakelike - yo' take 'im an' yo' cut 'is haid off. Well, yo' put dat snake up an' let 'im be dried by de sun. Yo' take dem snake bones an' beat 'em up tuh apowdah, an' yo' put jis' a little bit of dat whiskey - alcohol, anythin' - an' yo' kin set dat bottle up, if yo' wan'a do it. Yo' set it up dere an' if yo' don' happen tuh give it tuh 'em dat day, or dat night, den mawnin' when yo' git up de snakes will be in it [bottle] - little snakes. [Snakes in the bottle next morning proves that snakes would have been in a victim, had you given the snake blood to him the day or night before.]
Entry 6620
Yo' git a snake bone an' take de shoes - yo' git de snake bone an' yo' take a person's shoe an' take dat li'le leathah piece outa it whut's in dere. An' yo' take dat li'le bone an' dry it up - yo' know, kinda make li'le powdah of it. An' yo' take de othah part, de tip-end of it, dat sharp part, an' put it down intuh de shoe an' place dat li'le cloth back ovah it. Yo' take dat powdahs an' sprinkle dat all roun' in dere. If it's yore shoe, if ah wanta kill yo' or put sompin in yo', put snakes in yo' where dey won' come out. Well, yo' see when yo' put dat shoe on, yo' goin' press yore weight ag'inst it; an' when yo' does, see, it pops up intuh yo', intuh yore heel. Well, yo' see, dat poison jis' goes right straight on up in yo'. An' aftah dat poison git up intuh yo', in about de ninth day it begin tuh make li'le snakes in yo'. It begin tuh make li'le snakes in yo'. Well, if yo' wanta git dose snakes outa yo', yo' git chew some sulphuh an' green peppah, black peppah an' mix it all tuhgethah. An' den yo' git chew dis milk of magnesia an' den yo' put dat in wit it an' mix it tuhgethah, an' jis' nine drops of spirits of turpentine. Yo' mix it all up tuhgethah an' yo' take dat fo' about eight days an' it will kill dose snakes. An' yo' go tuh de woods an' dere's one li'le sprig of stuff dat dey call dat Copras it bears one of de straight leaves an' de li'le j'ints [joints]. Dey got about four li'le white j'ints run up tuhgethah. [Does informant mean copperas, and does he think it is a plant?] Yo' take dat an' weah dat intuh yore clothes, an' dey say dat will really, surely run de snakes outa yo'. Put it all tuhgethah an' it will run dose snakes out of yo'. (You just wear this root though, you don't take either of those things - just wear it?) Yes.
(And that snakebone, can you get that any place about the snake?)
Yes, yo' kin git it from de snake, jis' any part of 'is body, jis' so it has dat li'le sharp end kind lak a pin.
Entry 6621
Yo' kin take a snake, mos' any kinda snake - ain't got'a be no special snake, mos' any kind. An' if yo' kin gi t'is aig an' break it intuh a cup of coffee or anythin' dat chew drink, an' whosomevah drink it; well, when dey drink it it'll come tuh be snakes in dere laigs. Dat's de way dat do.
Entry 6628
Take a snake an' cut 'is haid off, which is poisonous, yo' know, an' let dat haid dry up completely. An' den take it an' pound it up an' give it tuh dat individual tuh eat. Or de snake gut or anythin' like dat, an' give it tuh dat individual in dere food tuh eat. It don' hardly kill 'em, but it will cuz li'le insex [insects] tuh grow in 'em.
Entry 6629
Ketch a frog an' take a snake wit 'im an' yo' hang 'em up tuh de chim- ley. Let 'em stay until dey are, yo' know, dey are dry. Let 'em dry - snake, frogs an' lizards. Dat's what dey all puts in yo' dey tell me. Take 'em an' tie 'em up an' put 'em up in de chimley where dat smoke will dry 'em. An' den dey git tuh work an' powdah 'em up - jis' powdah 'em up soft an' fine. An' yo' takes dat - dey tell me dey take dat an' put it intuh whiskey or anythin' an' give tuh yo' tuh drink off it. An' yo'll drink it an' dey'll become live in yo'
Entry 6637
Ah heard 'em tell dey could git a snake, a poisonous snake, an' take kill 'im, see an' dry him. Dry him out an' dat would make a dust, yo' undah- stan'. An' take dat dust an' put it in dere shoes, an' it would kill 'em. Ah don't know how true it is, only whut ah heard. Jis' put in 'is shoes.
doubted report of harmful dust from an explicitly poisonous snake. Both Ah heard and Ah don’t know how true it is, only whut ah heard must remain visible. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 6643
Say, if ah wanted tuh' do sompin tuh yo', ah would git me a snake an' kill 'im an' put 'im intuh a sompin an' bake 'im, an' ah would use mah wish. Ah would take de ashes an' ah would drop it in- tuh yore meal or intuh de watah yo' drink, an ah would made de wish fo' whut ah wanted tuh happen tuh yo'. An' it would happen.
(Do you mean you would wish anything?)
Anything dat yo' wanted tuh wish. Dat's de way ah heard of it.
(Wouldn't that dust create certain things in you or what?)
[My question is leading but the live things are obvious.]
Yes sir.
Entry 6652
Well, dey tell me dat if a person wanta poison anothah one, jis' lak - AH RECKON DEY CALL IT WITCHCRAFT. AH DON' KNOW WHUT DEY CALL WITCHCRAFT. AH DON' KNOW EVEN WHUT DAT IS. But anyway, ah'm talkin' 'bout whut ah have heard, whut folks tell me. Say, jis' lak yo' might wanta poison a man or woman, or somebody else ah didn't lak, ah would hunt a snake, de skin offa dat snake, dey shed. Ah take dat shed an' ah would carry dat an' pound it up an' put it intuh dis an' hang dat up in de chimley where it keep warm an' hot fo' nine days. Den yo' take dat aftah yo' let it stay nine days, take it down an' yo' kin - dere'll come live thin's in it from dat shed. An' yo' take dat den an' put it in othah whiskies an' give it tuh someone an' dere come live things in 'em.
Entry 6658
Ah had a aunt. A man got 'er hair. See, he got mad becuz she wouldn't marry 'im. Well, he took a piece of hair from 'er mole [mold] while she wuz layin' down on 'er bed fast asleep. All right, took a piece undah 'er arm. (Both arms or one?) De lef'. An' den took a piece some- where else - down below. Dey took it tuh a new elm tree [at Algiers?].
(They took it to a new elm tree or to New Orleans?)
Yes, all right. Well, de only way, if dey didn't know nuthin 'bout it, it would liable been too late. Well, aftah dey [the man] went tuh someone in] Al- giers, dey had it fixed. Dey also had some glass, some kinda black glass [prob- ably broken from a black bottle]. Dat means fo' tuh kill 'er. An' it would have killed 'er, see, but she wuz saved by St. Anthony. Well, now, he came back [from Algiers or New Orleans] an' she begged an' begged an' cried. He told 'er dat he would not hurt 'er, see. She wus moanin' [molting?] an' moanin' [molting] away an' de only way wuz to git dat hair an' dat thin' back - dat wuz de only [way]. Well, all right. Aftah he done it, he wouldn't give her up. Well, twixt 'em, dey went out dere, way ovah de trees [in the woods] somewheres, an' got some root. A man wuz sellin' some kinda roots. He died [he is dead now]. Well, he got some root in a hurry an' made a poultice. He had some of 'er othah thin's, piece of 'er ministratin'. An' dis man got some kinda calomel [surely calamus] root. De drug stores got it [calomel], but any drug store don't got [calamus] becuz dey wouldn't know whut it is. Got some of dat an' made a tea. An' got some dog dirt, [also] yellah clay, cleah yellah clay, an' beat it up. She hadda take it though. Took it [dog dirt and yellow clay]. An' den got some new - bran'-new cloth an' bind 'er all arou', see. When he bind all aroun' 'er, well it somepin came outa 'er - through 'er bowels. Dey were kinda lak a rattlesnake - jet black. Dey had 'er fixed dataway in New Orleans-Algiers. [Algiers is a Ovah de mivah part of New Orleans.] But she pulled through an' de man came back. See, didn't know she would pull through. Aftah dat she lived ten years.
(What was the name of this doctor out here that is dead now?)
[A name informant couldn't pronounce or spell.]
Entry 6659
Ah heard dat yo' could take de hair an' take it an' put it in - jis' urap it up or tie it up in a cloth or somepin an' weah it on yo' some place. Weah it on de firs' piece yo' weah [wear next to skin] an' dey say dat will cuz yo' tuh come back tuh 'em. An' den ag'in yo' could take de hair an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up. An' put it in runnin' watah an' den it would turn tuh a snake. An' when it turn tuh a snake it would kill yo'.
Entry 6681
Yo' kin take a drop of frog blood, an' a drop of snake blood, an' a drop of dese here wood sawyahs. He's in dis ole rotten wood, wit a flat haid. (He's in the wood, sort of a worm. What color is the worm?) White, with a flat haid. Take dat blood an' put it on a sandwich an' give it tuh anybody; an' if dey eat dat, dose things will grow in 'em. (They take these drops from each one of these three things and put it on the sandwich, separately or what?) No, put 'em on dere tuhgethah.
Entry 6802
Yo' kin split a live frog open an' put it on dat place where yo' snake bitten at an' de poison will come intuh de frog.
Entry 6811
Yo' take garlic, yo' see, if a person got poison in 'em. Yo' jis' take dat garlic an' yo' stew dat down wit vinegah, an' yo' give it tuh dat person tuh eat. Dat will kill it down in dere. (What kind of poison?) Any kind. Jis' say, jes' lak dere's a person down heah gives yo' poison in whiskey or sompin. Yo' know, jis' LAK A PERSON TRY TUH KILL YO', TRY TUH GIVE YO' ANY KINDA SNAKE-HAID DUST.
(Any live things in them?)
Yeah.
Entry 7040
If he a heavy drinkah - if a man a heavy drinkah, yo' git chew a king snake. See, a king snake about dat size [demonstrates]. Aftah yo' kill de king snake, yo' take his haid. An' yo' take de tip end of 'is haid an' yo' boil dat down. Boil it down tuh a medicine-lak, jis' about dis much, tuh put in a vial. An' aftah he goes tuh drink - he might drink wit chew. An' aftah he drink wit chew, yo' put about dis much of dat lik- kah in de whiskey. An' aftah he taste dat, he won't drink no more. Make him sick fo' 'bout twenty-some [twenty-one?] days. [The king snake of the southern United States of America is called king because it kills other snakes. Actually it lives chiefly on mice and rats.]
Entry 7192
Mah mothah's [mother wasl poisoned. In cloudy weathah lak dis she got a frog run up an' down 'uh ahms [arms].
(Only in cloudy weather?)
[We have had TIME AND HOODOO SPELL: (1) Pyschological, (2) Chronological, and
(3) Spiritual, pp.349-361). Here the weather influences hoodoo spells.]
Only in cloudy weathah. An' yo' kin see dem jis' plain runnin' up an' down 'uh ahms. A woman gave huh snake blood on account of mah fathah. Dis woman doin' [that] fuh [on account of], fathah. An' she gave huh snake blood in tomatoes an' she et it. An' dat's whu' cuz [what caused] dem frogs tuh run up an' down 'uh ahms. Yo' cain't see [them] until it's cloudy weathah. Mah mothah only weighs 75 pounds. She's vury pō' [poor in health] an de' [dey = they] killed mah fathah. (They killed him? Well, has your mother gone to a root doctor to find out what's wrong?) Yes.
(What does he do for it, anything?)
He did take some money but ah don' think he kin cure huh. He's a man over at [some place I could not understand and considered it fruitless to ask for a spelling] an' dey call 'im Doctah Buzzard. Ah've guess yo've hear'd speak about 'im.
(I've heard of him. He used to be in Beaufort [Bu-fěrt] County.)
He still ovah in Beaufort County. Well, HE'S A GENUINE "ROOT MAN," yo' see. [Notice the word genuine, indicating some doctors are frauds or use few roots. Notice, too, how informant changes my root doctor to the older root man.]
(Does he come into Charleston?)
He don't come ovah here. Evahbody has tuh go ovah dere tuh see him. [For more about Doctor Buzzard, see pp.891-905.]
Entry 7246
I knowed a fellow and he lost all control of himself [because someone did this to him]. They cut up horsehair as fine as he [they] could cut it and put that up in his food, and after that was internal it formed snakes. They [the snakes] commenced to destroy him. This doctor took them out. He gave him saltpeter, olive oil, poke root, and other things [surely including a laxative], and mixed them all together and gave him, and perished those snakes and they crawled out of him. [For horsehair producing live snakes in person, see also Nos.6571-6572, p.3084.]
Entry 7776
Once ah wuz goin' wit anothah woman - me an' anothah fellah wuz goin' yit de same girl an' we didn't know anything about it. An' she tole anothah girl dat me an' 'im, dat we wuz both ma'ied [married] an' she wuz goin' kill both of us befo' three days. Well, we went on back an' wuzn't pay- in' any 'tenshun an' she fixed a pint of whiskey up an' sont [sent] fo' me a' 'im tuh come an' git some of it. So den de fellah come on an' got de whiskey a' tried tuh git me tuh go an' ah didn't care tuh go. An' he went an' got an caken a drink of de whiskey. He taken sick an' he lived three days aftah dat. An' she tole 'im, when she got through wit 'im, she taken some of 'is hair out from off de left side of 'is haid an' put it in some whiskey an' got some grave- Yard dirt an' went to a place where dere wuz a dead snake, an' got some of 'is womes an' grin' hit up real fine an' put it in de whiskey. An' he drinken [drank] dat an' he died in three days.
Entry 8998
Ah hear'd dem say once, say a man had killed somebody, but ah don't [know] who he is. Ah jis' heer'd dis thing now, dat a man had killed somebody yo' see. An' he went up tuh de judge, went in de co't an' see a buttahfly fly aroun'. Come in de co'thouse an' fly aroun', aroun' where de judge goin'. An' den aftah dat, say in courtyard in de front, dey see snakes been crawlin' on de wire. An' aftah dat, he [judge] tell de man tuh go on back home. But de case wus thrown off for a certain time, but ah don't know how he [rootman] do it.
(Well, how did that butterfly and snake get in there?)
Ah don't know how he git in dere, but dey say de rootman musta carry 'em in dere. [For snakes in the cOurthouse, See DOCTOR BUZZARD OF BEAUFORT, SOUTH CAROLINA, No.3070, pp.891-905.] (Oh, the rootman brought them in there. I see.) [This account is marked lowland dialect, meaning that it is not too well transcribed.]
Entry 9372
If de snakes is eatin' de biddies, yo' take de aig, den yo' boil it, undahstan' [understand]. Den yo' put it right back in de nest, an' dat will keep 'em away - keep de snake away.
(Biddies are the small chickens?)
Yes. [My transcriber, of Irish descent, adds a footnote: Biddies are colloqu- ially known as hens with families. I once heard of an elderly nun being called an old Irish biddy looking after her chicks - young nuns. A snake eating or swallow- ing a hen I would have to see to believe, unless it was a boa constrictor! That snakes steal chicken eggs is another piece of folklore; the thief usually being a rat, racoon, etc., or sometimes a dog who once picked up an egg and dropped it. Informant means, as stated here, the snake was eating the biddy': s eggs, or biddy = bitty, as in little bitty (little bit of), something small, little chick- ens. In any case boiling an egg keeps the snake from doing whatever it does!]
Entry 9685
An' if yo' don't want 'em tuh come tuh yore house, yo' take table salt an' snake dust - cos' [of course] snake dust will kill yo'. Dey throw it at chew when yo' goin' tuh de house. Yo' take dat an' chunk it. Dey call it throwin' it at chew, but dey don't throw it at chew, dey put it down fo' yo' tuh walk ovah it. But if dey don't want chew tuh come tuh de house, yo' take one of yore right-foot shoes, an' sweep dat shoe, dirt an' all out de do', an' den dey'll walk backward from dat shoe in de house. Dey ain't comin' back no mo'.
(Whose shoe do they put out there?)
Yores. Jes' put a little table salt in dere. Dat will carry dem away.
(What do you do with the snake dust?)
Dat snake dust? Well, now, dat's tuh kill yo'. Dey won' do nuthin but jes' pur dat down, right down in yore pathway.
(Where you can walk over it?)
Yessuh, an' yo' walk ovah it. (But if they want to get rid of you, they just put that salt in your shoe and seep it out?) Yessuh. But dat snake dust, if yo' walks ovah dat snake dust an' dey got it in dere, why dat'll git chew, see, 'cuz dey got dat lodestone in it, yo' see.
Entry 9889
If a snake bite chew, [I will] start on dat firse [first]. If a snake bite chew an' yo' kin do yore goodsness [aid] fur dat bite right on de minute [immediately], it would he'p tuh git [it] out chew; but if yo' don't [have im- mediate aid] it might run a long ways. Yo' hardly git shet of it. [Without immediate aid a snake bite may be fatal.l But yo ketch yo' a toadfrog an' tie 'em a lettle above dat place dere [the bite]. Take yo' a string an' tie hit up above [the bite]. Don't have it too small [tight] tuh stop yore blood from runnin', yo' know. But have [do] dat an' jes' [as] de poison gwine out from dat frog, de mo' de poison he gwine out [you] chew know, an' it [poison] go right on out [of you]. [Here is the principle of poison kills poison.] An' move yore string, move it all. An' when it [poison] git out good, go tuh de drug stop, an' git chew white smellin' - ah fo'got de name yo' call it. Anyhow yo' go dere an' git it, tuh he'p [help] tuh git chure flesh smooth - yo' ou, lak it was.
Entry 10953
For snake bite or rat bite, Doctor King, temporarily of Richmond and elsewhere, used a fresh black chicken poultice.
Entry 11281
An experience of my own self. I tell you about it. Few years ago - a few years ago, just I came to Virginia. Well, I came here with some kind of spell or something on me, and I would suffer so in a way, you know, would break out with those fine spots [bumps?] and then they would dry up and when they would dry, I could peel it. I had days at a time when it would turn right rough- like and peel it out to my fingers - both arms. And usually my hands, anywhere about my face, it would turn dark. Well, I never had been my natural color since, and I come to be all splotchy and everything like I am. But after my husband came here, there was a man told him, say, "you take her to Berkley [the hoodoo cen- ter near Norfolk] and she can get cured." Say, "There is a woman there." Her name was Jenny Bridge and she died four years ago in Ber- ley, Virginia, on Berkley Avenut. And she gave me some medicine. I seen her making something. I didn't know the odor, but I knowed the [something] cuttlebone and I knowed the [some- thing].
(What was the first part of that medicine you mentioned?)
Cuttleburr [Cocklebur]. You know in the field it's sticky, stick in you. And King of the World [this the second preceding "Something"] - it's a wood, and she had some black [surely black draft or draught, a laxative]. I knew that. And she say that would kill effect [of] the poison. And she had green [something]. And she boiled that all together and she had some kind of other powders, but she wouldn't say what that was and I didn't know what it was, but it seems some kind- like alum. It must have been alum, the way it would [feel?] on my flesh, you know, kind of sharp. And then she gave me one big old halfa gallon glass jug full of it. And it make me awfully sick when I take it, but I'd taken it because I wanted to get well, because I was just a walking skeleton. I whar in a bad fix, but she told me, she say, "Well, you take this now, but what pass from you," she say, "don't you empty your bucket or slop jar." She say, "Let your husband empty it because it be's about him." And I use it and he tell me to leave it. He was running a store you see, a grocery business, and I leave it fer him to come in. And one morning he got up, he said, "Now I will empty the slop jar before ah leave." And he opened this jar and he just cried like a baby. He say, "Oh, you, just come look." And all that, you know, was big-like, bloated. And on top of it it was like skipples [skippers]. You see skipples come out of meat? [Yes! Out of country-cured hams. Skippers in Southern U. S. A., any maggot in- festing meat. Those in ham can jump 50 times own length upward into air! Some- where in HOODOO I describe my experience with them.] It was just as full of skipples as it could be. The skipples just branching out. They coming from worrying. They come from me. And you see I ask her the next time I went for another jug of medicine, I say, "Miss Bridge, what is the trouble with me?" She say, "Why you was hurt with a blacksnake in a stale melon." She say, "That's why my body would get st........ [steaming = fever?]." You know I was terrified all the time. [Our doctor, saying patient's ailment had been caused by a black snake, may have had herpes [snake] or shingles, in mind; but surely much of the skin trouble in HOODOO came from pellagra, disease caused by deficient diet.]
Entry 11842
[THE LETTER "H" OF CHANNEL DE WORLD BEGINS HERE and SO dO some extra rites about human hair, a subject already largely concentrated in pages 2937- 3049, volume 4. For various reasons hair, not always the primary element of a rite, is widely scattered throughout HOODOO. The following beliefs about hair start with a few longer rites, which are followed by many brief statements with- out margin titles but with the key words being underlined.] And again they say if you take it [a hair from per- son] and put it [in] some kind of manure or somepin - like if you have a cow or somepin round the lot and they do fresh manure. Say, if you take this hair and bury it in there, and set this manure about in some shady place maybe it won't dry so fast, and say let it stay there. And you take it out of there and put it in a bottle of rye whiskey, a pint bottle of rye whiskey, and say in nine days it will be a snake. I've heard that. (But they don't put that snake in you though? That snake they don't put in you?) Well, if you drink the whiskey, if you drink the whiskey before the thing kin, you know, come to be whole, well hit will come alive in you.
(I see, but you have to put it in this cow manure?)
No, take the hair out it [the manure] if you know right where you put the hair in.
Entry 12133
Heard of 'em usin' a hawk's right foot. Well, yo' take de hawk's right foot, de one dat carryin' a claw [what the other one did I forgot to ask!]. Got a claw like a rooster have on his feet. Yo' take dat foot an' yo' take an' wrap it in a piece of flan- nel cloth wit sulphur an' den wit peppah an' salt mixed [3 ingredients]. Well, dat's fo' good luck in gamblin' an' things lak dat. An' ag'in dey takes de bird [hawk's] head or snake head. Take snake head an' beat it up into a powder an' dat will cripple someone, because ah wus crippled once on dat mahself.
(Just how would that cripple them?)
Dat will cause snakes an' things in dem - sompin of that kind.
Entry 12176
Take a piece of horsehair and put it in some whiskey and give to a person and it will form snakes in 'em. (Is there any way of getting those snakes out, if you get them in?) Yeah, you kin take some sweet milk and give it to 'em and they will come out of 'em. Drink it and they will come right out.
Entry 12743
I have heard that in some parts of South Carolina - of course it seems as though they have quite a...something against South Carolina - that you crush snake heads. One woman would pay so much for rattlesnake heads, just cut this rattlesnake head off and make a powder from then. And they would send these to the people who were envious towards the others, and that would cause snakes to come in their bodies. I imagine this povder they put in their food.
Entry 12988
Yo' could take a lizard or a snake or a frog or anything like dat an' Perish it tuh death. Jes' put it in a can or sompin, yo' know, an' let 'im die. Sell, when he die yo' could, yo' know dry it up. Yo' could make a powder out of hin like dat. Well, den if yo' kin git dat in anybody's food, he gonna have dem Live things in 'im - hit'll come back tuh life. Yo' see, dey grow. Well, not de thing dey is tuh git dat out of him - jes' say, if yo' put it in 'im or anybody else put it in 'im, an' dey come tuh yo' [author become a root doctor] fo' tuh git it out of 'im, yo' git chew a silver piece of money. An' yo' wash dis heah, every edge, if yo' use a dime or a quarter or fifty-cent [piece] or anything. Let it be solid silver. An' hit every edge dat dey is round dere. Well yo' give him dat silver [intern- ally] an' dat silver will git dat out of 'im. Hit'll take every bit of dat poison out of 'im.
(You have to hit every edge. With what?)
Yes sir, hit every edge [of the milled coin] with a file. Git chew a brand- new file dat has nevah been used an' yo' hit every edge - jes' a little grated silvah an' [and you give it internally to your patient poisoned by lizard, snake or frog].
Entry 13076
Ah'll tell yo' anothah tale - ah mean a joke whut ah heard... [Follow- ing the joke came an experience about 10 years before this reading.] Mah broth- ah in 1928, he wuz robbed. We wuz stayin' close to each othah, jes' lak dese houses is, only it wuz in de country. An' anothah man had a boy about de same size as mah brothah. Well dey got in a fight an' dis man hit mah brothah. Well ah ketched him, see. Ah kept him off mah brothah. He tole me, say, "Ah'll git chew if it be de last thing ah do." All right, dat wuz done in 1928. In 1931 or it wuz 1932, if ah don't make no mistake.... He [brother] kept worryin', by an' by, he kept worryin'. Sompin worried him every night. An' so dis day when ah left - ah wuz goin' tuh mah house - an' mah sister an' dem dey kept worryin'. Den dey pass prepared sompin in his room. It wuz in de country yo' know. An' he found a vial, whut we call a bottle - a little bottle jes' about dat high [demonstrates]. When dey found it, it wuz sompin - a little black sompin jes' lak a snake. An' we taken it in de house an' throw it.on de hearth an' dem little snakes run all ovah, roun' an' roun' in de fluid [flow or] in de bottle. [A root doctor was called in and he] po'd 'em out, said dey gotta leave by derself. Dat's whut he tole mah brothah. An' he [doctor] come. Dere wuz five of 'em layin' down side in de bottle shet up. Dis fellah took it to de fire an' burnt it [empty bottle] up.
Entry 13077
Jes' lak if a fellah wanta git a job, ah hear 'em, dey take an' kill a snake an' let him dry, yo' know. An' take him yo' know, jes' lak he git into ashes, yo' know an' put him inside of a bottle. An' take - jes' lak a cigaret smoke an' blow it in dat bottle an' stop it up. An' dey says dat every time yo' open dat bottle, a little sompin will come up out dat bottle lak a snake, yo' know. Say if yo' tote dat in yore pocket an' tote it in yore pocket bottom upwards, yo' know, dat chew could git a job. But ah ain't nevah tried it. Ah had a ole fellah tell me dat once but ah ain't nevah tried it.
Entry 13080
Ah've heard dat yo' kin take a snake, ketch a snake an' git about a... If yo' kin, jes' take de teeny end off a snake tail - de sharp end. Dat lil' point end, de tail end. Yeah, clip it off. An' den yo' put dat on de dice yo' carry in yo pocket. An' yo' carry dat lil' tail-end of dat king snake tail with dose dice.
(You get this though from a king snake.)
From de king snake. Dat's conkerin' all othah snakes. Dat's de king of all snakes.
Entry 13081
Use de snake shed when yo' a great han' fo' breakin' up de dishes. [I had never before heard this piece of ordinary folklore nor have I since.] Take a snake shed an' run yore han's in it, why yo' won' break 'em up.
(That keeps you from breaking dishes?)
Yes.
(Any kind of a snake shed?)
Yessuh, any kind.
Entry 13083
If yo' didn't like nobody an' yo' wanted to fix 'em some kind of way, says yo' kin go out in de woods an' kill a snake an' let its hide dry. An' dey say if yo' want dem to have snakes in 'em, go dere an' put it in dey water off dat hide. Dey'll have snakes in 'em.
Entry 13086
Yo' ketch yo' a snake an' kill dis snake. Now, yo' if [you] know it 'tain't but one person goin' handle dis axe, take dis snake an' rub dis snake undah dis axe handle or eithah a hoe - what [what- ever] it is. Lak now, if ah wus mad wit chew an' if ah know nobody use dis but chew, ah would jes' rub dis snake on dis axe handle good. Dat would make yo' swell up an' die.
Entry 13106
Just like I wanted to do you harm. I can get some snake dust and get some graveyard dust and - just like you are in the habit of, when you are cooking anywhere you feel. Like in the country we cook on a fireplace - like you put your hand up there. And perhaps you may find a brick that is loose where I can stick that dust before anybody can catch me. When you have your back turned - and you may rub your eyes or something like that, like you rub your face some- times. They can hide that dust in that chimney and if you should get wet on your hands, it will cause your hands to swell up, and if you get it in your eyes, it will cause you to go blind. [This rite given by a professional doctor.]
Entry 13109
They take the little bow out of the hat and after they take the bou out of the hat, they carry it to a hoodoo. And he will take snake dust - just like you take dust out of a rattlesnake's tail, they have dust in their cail - and you [the hoodoo] put some of that dust on it. And they can bring it back and give to you and that cause you to go blind. They put the bow back in your hat, don't you see, and you put that hat on and it cause you to lose your eyesight.
Entry 13130
You take water, if you going to take a bath in water. You wanta hurt me or anything of that sort. Well, I'm going to take my bath and probably just before I take my bath, if you after hurtin' me [that word after preceding hurt- ing was added by Irish transcriber], you would take, say for instance, this is my bathroom. I'm fixin' to go in there to take my bath. Well, I liable to draw my water first. See, and I got my water took, I'm liable to walk out. And if I don't do that, you take and you - before I go in the bathroom to draw my water, you get you some of the stuff you call kankeena.
(What do you call that?)
Kankeena.
(Kankeena?)
Kankeena.
(Where do you get that?)
It's a powder you can get it at most any drug store.
(I see.)
Get kankeena, it's a white powder. You get very little for a nickel, just a very small quantity for a nickel. You gets that. Now, when you get that pow- der, you sprinkle it around that tub, all around on the edges, not to the bot- tom, but be sure it gets just around the tub, like that.
(On the outside or inside of the tub?)
On the inside of the tub. It's got to get into the water, see. Now, that stuff there is to take - when I bathe in the tub, this powder going to get on me. Now, when I get this powder on me, it liable to startin' and itchin' an everythin'. After I done bathin' it start in itchin'. It won't be the soap, it won't be the water. I won't know what it's all about. See. It'll start me to itchin', probably, I'm liable to start to breakin' [out] in a few days - break all kind of sores out on me [quite a separation between break and out!]. See. Well, then I liable have to go to a doctor [M.D.] to find out what it is. He think it's my blood's bad. He try to use different medicine. He wanta give me shots of somepin. Probably he can't do me no good with the shots and all that they gives you. Well, then, if he couldn't do me no good, he done give me [I turn off machine to bring informant to point]. (This doctor [M.D.] couldn't do you any good and you go to the Cracker Jack Drug Store and get the same things you said, you mentioned.) I'm going to get - I'm goin' to get more than the one thing, I'm goin' to get some of this steel dust.
(I see.)
I'm goin' to go to the Cracker Jack - I'm usin' steel dust again. I'm going to use the steel dust. I'm going to get me what you call the snake oil - they sells that. I'm going to get that snake oil. I'm goin' to get steel dust. Now, when I get the snake oil and the steel dust, I'm goin' to put those two together. See. I'm going to use that to rub with. I rub myself with that at least three times a day. Now, in rubbin' with that stuff, I says the 35th [23rd] Psalms of David. See, that's a prayer. You say it, that's the 35th [23rd] Psalm of David. I says that! "The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want." See, as I'm rubbing: 'The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want." And I just keep arubbin'. See. Well, now I may have to do that, maybe nine or ten days. I may have to do it for a couple of weeks. Eighteen or twenty days at the most, anyway. See. Well, then I do that and as I do that every day for three times a day, I says the 35th [23rd] Psalm of David and for about twenty days and then I'm over with that. See.
Entry 13451
An' jes' lak a woman - quite natural a woman git ill sometime an' crabby an' othah things, an' if yo' want her tuh stay 'way from yore house, yo' go down an' git chew some willow string. Dat be's a long branch - yo' know, willow string root. Yo' git de willow string root an' yo' don't have tuh boil it. Yo' dig it up. It's sorta like curls up, it's a root jes' crooked jes' lak when yo' make whiskey or sompin, jes' lak a [distill- ery] worm, yo' know, yo' make whiskey, yo' put sompin in de copper outfit. It jes' bunch up, dat's de way it [root] do. An' yo' take dat an' jes' let three balls [coils] of it be's runnin' roun' an' roun' one another, an' it pile up, yo' know, sorta lak a snake. It crawl up, dat's de way it do. An' yo' bury dat undah yore do'steps, front do'steps, an' she'll nevah stop dere ag'in. Dat will keep her away. Yo'll say to her, say, "Come back." She say, "No ah got [a bet- ter place to live]."
Entry 330
This lady had lived on the suburbs of the town over there at Berlin, Maryland, between Ocean City and Berlin, and she had jus' lost her husband. She has a little four-room house, very poorly constructed, it didn't cost much, and she has one boy. The boy's around fourteen years old. And directly after she lost her husband, there was a colored man came there and insisted that she take him in as a lodger. Well, she told him no, that she had never did it, jis' lost her husband - she rather not to do it. But he insisted staying there and she jis' couldn't get away - see, he jis' forced hisself to stay in her house. And after he had been there a couple of days, she come in home one afternoon from her work, and there she discovered this man had company. And on the second afternoon that this fellah had been at her house she come in from her work, and her son and her both heard this laughin' and talkin'upstairs. Knowin' there wasn't anyone but de one man there they began to investigate. And de boy goin' up de steps come back to his mother and says, "This man is up there and he has another heavy-set right black man settin' there with him, ' and he says, "they are a jis' havin' a big time."
(How did the boy see him?)
Through the crack of the door. And well, she begin - she was alarmed anyhow by him being there, and dat re'lly alarmed her more. And the next afternoon when she came in, her boy with her, they heard him a-laughin' and a-playin' upstairs. And when de boy went to see who was up there again and he had a great big black- snake on de bed playin' with it. Well, she asked him to leave again. But he laughed at her. So directly afterwards before she went back to her work, he came on out and went out, and she fastened ev'ry winder, locked ev'ry door in order that he couldn't git back in there. Well, when she came on back that night from her work he was right back in the house upstairs in his room. So then she began to think there was somepin funny about it. And he wanted to stay to his room. He didn't want to be seen around in de public. In fact he told her dat he didn't want to be seen in de public too much. And on the fifth day then he decided to leave and he went to her and he ast her what did he owe her. "Well, '' she say, "I don't make you any charge; anything you wanta give me is all right." She was only too glad to git clear of him, she told me. "Well," he say, "but I wan' choo to tell me." She says, "No, I won't." Well, he says then - he up and says to her, he says, "Now, you have recently lost your husband." She says, "Yes, that's right." And he say, "You owe the under- taker two-hundred dollars for this burial and everything. Is that right?" She says, "Yes." 'And you promised to pay him so much ever' month?" She said, "I did." "Well," he says, "I'm gon'a give you enough money to pay that bill off. But I want choo to do this. I want choo to pay them. You take this money and put away home here and keep it. And you go up and you jis' pay the twenty-five dollars a month like you have been doing, and don't pay any more than that, don't make any display with this money, becuz they know that choo can't make it. You haven't made it so quickly, and they'll want to question you where you got it from. And you act as I have instructed you." And she says he out and counted her out two-hundred dollars and gave her. And he packed up and disappeared, and told her that, "choo'll never see me again." And she believed that he was a man that had sold hisself to the devil. And when a person do that, if there's anything dat they want to accomplish, they can do it.
Entry 368
Go out to de fo'ks of de road an' stand when yo' git to the fo'ks of de road. Yo' goes out there an' meets - somepin comes to 'im. Dey say somepin comes tuh yo' an' tells yo' to come to de fo'ks of de road fo' nine mawnin's an' meet jes' whatevah he wants done. Jes' lak if he wants tuh be a musician. Well, yo' take an' go to de fo'ks of de road fo' nine mawnin's, if yo' wants tuh be a piano player or guitar player, yo' take that guitar an' go to the road fo'ks fo' nine mawnin's. When yo' git there then start tuh playin'. Well, dere somepin comes up 'cross de field behin' yo' lookin' jes' lak a cow. Well, maybe it have great big eyes when it git there. Why heah come snakes - a snake will come up there. Heah'll come a cat up. Heah'll come a dog up. Heah come a lion. Heah come a beah. Maybe a big smoke drop down ovah yo - drop right down ovah yo' an' yo' stand there an' meet that fo' nine mawnin's an' aftah de nine mawnin's, yo' supposed tuh leave an' go play any kind of music dat chew wanta.[ Fayetteville, N. Car., (1422), 2562:5.]
Entry 578
She [the informant's aunt] lingered along sick an' she sent to get a man from de South to come up here an' see about it. Well, when he came it wus too late; she had a hole in her back. He told her that she wus cunjured an' he would begun to verked [worked] on 'er. An' he told 'er dat it would be insex that came from 'er body. The first he got wus a snake, an' nex' he got two crabs. An' then he begin to doctor on her again. An' he told her dat some [ground] puppies would be [in her], an' told her if de puppies came out an' didn't look back an' bark at her, dat he could cure 'er; but if dey came out an' looked back an' bark at her, he wouldn't cure 'er. So the first one came out an' he vent runnin' on out de door into de front; de nex' one came out, he went runnin' out de door into de front; an' de nex' one came out, he got fer as de front doah an' looked back at her an' bark. An' in ten minutes after that she wus dead. So they took de puppies an' put 'em in some alcohol. [Wilmington, N. Car., (205), 197:3.] [Ground puppy = the hellbender, aquatic salamander (Cryptobranchus allenganiensis), common in streams of Ohio Valley and up to 18 inches.] 1
Entry 672
Well, now yo' take goofer dust - dat's jest whut chew might call cunjuration, jest lak yo' take a snake shed. Yo' know snake shed. Yo' take dat snake shed an' yo' put it up somewhere where it will dry - git right good an' dry. An' yo' take it an' pound it up - jest pound it up. Well, now yo' kin take dat an sprinkle it ovah anything - anything a person eat or drink. Well, yo' see, dat's puttin' goofer dust in 'em - dat's whut chew call de goofer dust. Jest lak a man go out huntin' a job - walk up where a big work gwine on, "Wanta see de boss." Says, "Well, ah'm de boss heah." All right, yo' walk up to him, "How are yuh, Captain?" Say, "All right." Says, "Captain, ah'm lookin' fo' a job." Well, he might answer, "Well, whut kin yo' do?" "Well, Captain, ah kin do so-an'-so." He might be fulled out. "Well, ah'm kinda fulled out." But yet an' still yo' got some dis goofer dust right on wit chew. See, yo' kin take dis goofer dust an' yo' kinda rub it on yore hand dat-a-way, rub back yore ear, back of yore ears three times. Walk right up to him regardless to how many mens he got. He goin' give yo' a Job - if yo' don't stay dere but three days he goin' give yo' a job, he can't let chew pass.
(You say this goofer dust is just a snake shed ground up.)
Jest a snake shed. [Almost anything is possible but snake-shed dust is most unusual when seeking a job.]
Entry 1267
Dey'd use a toadfrog - if yo' kin git a toadfrog - if a snake wus tuh bite chew - most any kinda snake - if yo' kin git de frog at de time an' split him open an' tie him on dat particular place why yo' would git to some doctor or 'nother, see.
Entry 1301
Jes' lak, now, if anyone should poison yo - put snakes in yo' or scorpions or anything inside yo'. Well, that's easy tuh cure. Yo' git chew a gourd, either a dry one or a green one, an' git de guts out of it - it's a very particular thing an' yo' have tuh be very particular with it. An' yo' boil dem guts an' give 'em one tablespoonful - if any kind of poison inside of yo', every bit of it's comin' out. If it's in de foot or de leg, den make a poultice an' it will kill it right in there. Jes' make a poultice out dose guts an' boil 'em - put a little meal with 'em, make a poultice. Dat'll kill dat.
Entry 1888
Take a toadfrog and stir him up [annoy or excite him] and get that oil that comes out [of his skin] and put it in a bottle, and get some whiskey and pour in on it; and when you get ready to gamble, shoot the dice you know, pour some in the palm of your hands and rub your hands all over with it [the dice]. That's good luck for gambling. And then you can get a snake. I'm scared of a snake but let somebody else kill it, and you can take and do it the same Way - use that snake oil. It's good for gambling.
Entry 6537
Yo' kin use de bat de same way yo' do de frog or de snake tuh make things go in people. Well, yo' jis' dry dat yo' know an' powdah it up [and drop in victim's food or drink].
Entry 6556
An' den yo' take yo' - ef yo' don' wanna kill anybody, de bes' things fer dat now, ef yo' wanna put snakes in dem, or if yo' wanna put scorpions in'em, or if yo' wanna put frogs in 'em, yo' take dis stuff an' yo' dry it by de sun.
(In making that frog dust you have to let stay nine mornings in the sun.)
[This detail was given while recording machine turned off.]
Entry 6624
Ah kin take a snake - yo' kin take a snake an' parch 'is haid up, an' beat 'im up an' give it tuh a person. Dat snake'll create back in a person. Take a lizard an' do de same thing. Yo' take a worm, a [wood] sawyah, powdah 'im up an' git 'im in a person, he'll create. Yo' take a roach, he'll create back in yuh.
Entry 6626
Take a rattlesnake haid an' put it down by de fiah jist-lak an' let it bake brown. An' said dat when hit bake brown, say yo' take an' beat dat up an' give tuh a person. Put it in coffee. Make jis'-lak yo' makin' coffee an' put in dere. An' when it boil, say yo' take an' po' it out an' give it tuh 'em, an' let 'em drink it. An' say dat would poison 'em. Dey jis' - say dey die all at once. It would kill 'em finely [finally]. [A note of mine asks could this be a fact? Could the poison in a rattlesnake's head actually poison after the heating, etc?]
Entry 11244
This root doctor said, "Nobody kin do this but me." Root doctor takes snake out of woman but she dies. People said she had tuberculosis.
Entry 13100
Dat band aroun' his hat, use rattlesnake dust. Yo' know a rattle- snake contains so many rattles tuh tell how many yeahs he is old. An' yo' take de dust outa dose rattles an' sprinkle it round de band of his hat an' he'll go blind.
Entry 13117
Dey say yo' kin take a snake an' cut his haid off, an' put him in de sun an' let it dry an' parch it, an' put it into sompin tuh drink, an' dey said dat will create snakes in 'em. [Sumter 2417:4.]
Entry 414
Ah have went out wit some fellahs tryin' tuh dig money. A gang of us decided tuh go out an' dig money. We went out one night. Ah taken mah old car an' driven out one night an' stopped it up at de edge of de woods an' we went all down - took our picks an' shovels an' went on down an' started tuh diggin' de money. Well, we supposed to have de money once right where it was. Well, yo' make a white mark. Git chew a bottle of sweet milk an' make two or three marks all de way round with this milk - all de way round dis place, jes' lak dis table, yo' makes yo' a round one [circle of milk round the treasure]. An' dey all gits inside of that place. Well, we started tuh diggin' money an' we dug there, an' dug an' dug an' dug, till we got close to it. An' as we got close to the money an' we listened out an' we heered somepin comin' 'long dat be's a-hollerin' an it wus a big cow come right up to de - right up close to dat line an' jes' stood up dere an' hollered. Well, he left away an' heah come a great big bulldog an he gone up dere. He went away an' aftah while he left an' nobody stopped. Well, on dis side heah come anothah - heah come lion up. He come up an' dere didn't no one say anything, dey stood a-diggin' right on. Snakes an' ever'thing crawled all de way round an' dey nevah did stop diggin'. We looked up an' dere come a big ball of fiah right down an' jes' look lak it's goin' drop right down. It come down so fur an' stop an' a man spoke an' said, "If yo' don' move, ah'm gon'a drop it. Ah'm gon'a drop it on yo'." An' one de fellahs got scared an' dropped out de line an' it musta been a great big blue smoke an' a big ball, an' de money went an' we nevah did see de money no mo' - it jes' bo'ed a hole in de ground an' went on out lak dat. We didn't see no money atall - it wus gone.
Entry 684
[Because some of the preceding goofer dust was made from heads of snakes, scorpions and lizards (Nos. 668-670), here is the place to include a similar dust or powder - one creating live things in you. The basis for these beliefs is man's ages-old observation that live things get into his body as well as the bodies of animals:] I re'lly believe dat, in a way, because - now, you take a snake, blood from a snake or reptile or scorpion or lizard, and if it lay in you long 'nuff, I re'lly believe dat it'll form. It'll form and come to live thing jes' like a egg will hatch. If you keep de egg long enough it'll transform from a egg to a live chicken, if you keep it warm. And I believe dat blood of de serpent will, if you git it in you, it'll lodge in you; but consequently [subsequently] it might pass on through you and not lodge in you. But I believe if it will lodge in you, it'll transform, 'cause if a snake bite a dog and after while you happen to kill dat dog, dat dog will have a - I'm talkin' about now what [I hear], I ain't talking about what some- body say, I'm talkin' about what I seen - dat dog will have a whole lot of little snakes round his livah, little somepin like snake worms. See. And dey say dat's 'cause de snake done bit de dog so much and dere so many worms dat 'cumulated roun' his livah dat de dog died. See. Well, dat affection from de snake: bite went to his livah, see. We cured de snake bite on his leg - you could see it - but dey couldn't cure it on his livah. And dat whut de people say, if a dog died from snake bittin' so much, "An' you all cured de snake bite but you cut-him open and see his livah is full of snakes." Well, I believe dat if a person would git any part of a snake, blood or anything in you, if it git to stay in you, I believe it would 'coomulate.
Entry 688
It was years before I could stand to have anybody tell it to me. Years ago [1896] there was a woman that had something that began to move in the side of her leg and she went on for days and weeks and finally it went into months. And it seems that the moving became larger. First the doctor said that it was her blood. And then they kept waiting. And then the woman said, "Why does my blood move in this particular place and does not move anywhere else?" So she bathed it, rubbed it. And they did everything they knew. Finally, it got so large that you could see the shape of it just above her ankle. They began to bind certain chemicals to her leg which seemed to weaken the movement of whatever it was. So they poulticed it with things that blistered the skin and bound it very tight above. And all of a sudden one morning when she woke there was a little snake on her bed that had come out of her leg from where the blister was made. Then the doctor came and investigated. But he [M.D.] never liked to admit to the conjuration. While the older people that had been working on it told him that it was something that had been put on her leg by a witch. They say that that Was really true. I could have seen the person. Another occasion [a different storyl, pretty much like that, where the lizard came out of the end of the woman's toe. Either of these things I could have seen in South Carolina, if I had just gone to the next little town.
Entry 703
I knowed a fellow and he lost all control of himself. They cut up horsehair as fine as he could cut it and put that up in his food and after that Was internal it formed snakes. They commenced to destroy him. This doctor took them out. He gave him saltpeter, olive oil, poke root and other things, and mixed them all together and gave him and perished those snakes and they crawled out of him.
Entry 745
Ah had one [case] - Miss Katy Jones which was harmed, she had frogs in her. These frogs had came [from] de crushed bones of a live toady. De bones was grind and placed into de food with a serpent's head crushed with it and put into her food that she eat and create a growth. From this growth in her stomach - I could bring her fer you to see. An' taking a bone[?] weed, which dey call a herb which dey call a pestle - a pounder.
(What is the name of this weed?)
De weed? A bone[?] weed, dey call it. Yes, sir. Strip it up.
(Is it a bone weed, like b-o-n-e - bone of your body?)
Oh, no sir - a bore [or boar] weed - it grows like people say - dey call it de gall of de earth - a yella root. [Do pestle, pounder and bore or boar weed suggest that he is talking about the tion's-foot, a possible identification for his gall of de earth? The latter root is frequently used.] Take it and pull de bark from it up - you have to for casting, dat's de way ah always does it. [Pulling the bark up is upward magic to make the patient throw up, vomit, have a casting (up); just as dowrward magic, usually rubbing downward, drives pain or disease downward and out of the body through the feet.] Next, boil de herb and put a pickamarrow[?] into it.
(A what?)
A pickamarrow[?].
(What's that?)
That's a bush that grows high but you use de root of it. And boil de root and give dat to her to drink and that will 'cum'late a casting on [in] de stomach and that will bring de dangerous poison from de body, and then we kin be able to heal that body after bringing the casting from it. Otherwise, from that, if they have it in them and you never git a caskey [casting], you kin not cure de body.
(What is that caskey - what is that?)
That's heaving up - like you see some people heave up.
(I see - that's what they heave up, I see.)
That's de way I would get mine from 'em - let 'em heave it up, de poison part. And like rattlesnake's buttons off de body, you know, de rattle part of a rattlesnake - de powders from dat, people say dat will run you blind. Well, no doubt it will, if it git in yore eyes it will run you blind, but if it's crushed up into a powder and you eat that, that will create a death, because you kin not live with that in you.
(Well, isn't there any way to cure it, if they got that in them?)
Yes, sir. Take dat - that herb for them to throw up.
(That will cure them, too.)
An' you have to take a gallberry. You know what a gallberry bush is - take de berry from a gallberry bush and put it in water and squeeze de juice from de gallberry which dat is a snake food.
(What do you do with that, then?)
You squeeze it and take that juice from that and boil it. After boiling de juice, turn it into de person to drink, as after dey go to drug store and take a dose of castor oil. If dey have a cold, castor oil will break de cold on 'em, from dem, and dem [they] will be able to git rid of it. But if dey drinks dis medicine off of de gallberry leaves and de rattlesnake master, that will be able to help dem get rid of it. (Get rid of this - from the rattlesnake-button powder.) [Since gallberry (inkberry) is thought to be a snake food, here is another example of like cures like.] [Savannah, Ga., 655:1.]
Entry 869
[How Hippocrates began a consultation I do not know, but his descendants in ancient Rome, the Greek-slave doctor, always started with, "Do you drink white wine or red wine?" Two thousand years later their modern descendants, Doctors of Medicine, still ask a similar question, "How many packs do you smoke a day?" Yet my root doctors and witch doctors, colored and white, have kept the longest healing tradition, one predating Hippocrates, "Scare hell out of them!" Without primitive mask and rattle we will now learn how the scaring is done:] Ah hear dey use de fish - dey take live fish aigs an' dey give 'em to whatevah individual dey kin put 'em on in watah, to drink it down, an' dat will cause live fish to come in 'em. An' dat fish goes to worryin' yo' - dey'll grow until some- body take dem outa yo'. Den dey use snakes - dey use snake's blood. Dey got'a kill de snake, 'cause he daid, his blood is good. Or jes' bruise him enough to git a grain or two of blood. An' dey stretch it out fo' de person whatevah dey goin' aftah. An' de snake will live right on an' long as he live dat blood will live in him. See, dat woman or whosomevah dey be, it will cause snakes to form in 'em.
(Is there any way that you can get these live things out of a person?)
Yessuh, dere a way we kin git 'em out. We goes then an' we find a ole sorcerer - whut we calls ole witchcraft. We tells her - she tells us tuh come in an' we don' have tuh tell her nuthin. She says, "Somepin wrong wit chew." Den she goes on down an' she carries us to de room an' she says, "Someone has did somepin to yo'." Yo' tell her how yo' been actin' - say, "Yes, it feel lak dere somepin jes' movin' all about down in dere." Say, "Ah went to de doctors three or fo' times - six or seven time an' he don't seem to be doin' me any good." She say, "No, de doctor can't reach yore case." Say, "Ah'll have to cure yo but chew like tuh waited too late to give yo' time tuh git it up. Well, den yo' git scared an' say, Yo' reckon ah waited too late?" She say, "No, prob'bly ah kin reach yore case. Den she goes back an' she calls 'em.
(Calls whom?)
Calls dis heah plague dat chew have in yo' - she calls 'em by name, she have de name. De sorcerer have de name for it. Yo' kin find only 'bout a few of 'em. Dere's very few now. She calls 'em an' she takes her han's an' she carries it an' she holds one on de top yore haid an' one right chere - de back of yore neck right chere. An' she calls 'em an' she gives yo' some watah an' tell yo' drink three swallows an' hold yore mouth ovah a pot, an' he comes out. Den she gives yo' somepin tuh take.
(What comes out?)
Dis heah plague whatsomevah it may be - it comes walkin' right out - dis live thing comes out. She shets him up an' shows 'em to yo' an' she axe vo' - she axe yo', "Whut yo' want done about it?" Say, "Do yo' want me tuh put it back on de party whut put it on yo'?" She calls de party name whosomevah may be did it - she say, [whoever] did it, say, "Ah kin have them fixed that way by night, if yo' wanta." Well, yo' might feel at first, "Yes, let 'em have it." Well, yo' go den an' yo' leave dat house an' yo' go dere an' find dat person in de same shape. Dat's whut dey do. But lotsa times, yo' see, it kinda raw yo' know tuh turn de trick back on de person dat pulled it ovah on yo'. But first dey got'a git somethin' in yo' to do it completely. Dey do it through anything dat chew love - sometime dey do it through a friend. (You say the fortune-teller and the sorcerer are different?) [Sorcerer = a witchcraft said informant.] Dey entirely different - dey both obtain de same thing, but de sorcerer, he have de power to take things from 'em. Lotsa fortune-tellers doesn't have dat. De fortune-teller an' de sorcerer, dey have de power of tellin' yore fortune. He kin tell yo' whut happen to you an' tell yo' who done it, de way dey did it an' whut chew wus doin' when yo' wus did. An' de fortune-teller he kin tell yore fortune - tell whut yo' lost an' where yo' stole dem goods at, tell yo' whatsom- evah yo' lost an' whatsomevah yo' ain't, love cases. Dat's de fortune-teller - he reads yore fortune.
Entry 927
Two years ago - no more, ah was takin' so ah couldn't sleep at night and it went on dat way until finally my nights turned to days and my days turned tuh nights - jest went on around [days and nights were reversed]. (What do you mean by that? I couldn't quite understand you.) [To make her speak louder and repeat.] Well, ah couldn't sleep at night you know, and when ah'd see de daylight come you know, ah'd git scared, ah wouldn't know it was day. Ah hadn't been sleepin', ah hadn't closed mah eyes. And it would be day, but de minute that ah realize that it was day ah'd fall off into a deep sleep, and I would sleep from daylight until eight 'clock in de morning, but when ah'd wake up ah'd jest be fulla aches and pains, so much so that ah couldn't git up, so ah layed in bed till about ten 'clock and then at ten 'clock ah'd git up and git mah breakfast, and the minute ah'd git mah breakfast ah'd fall off tuh sleep agin. Well, it jest continue that Way tiil finally I fest give up to day-sleepin'. An' ah'd feel tuh mahself - ah feel jest like a snake do or something like that or frog or something other, but yet ah couldn't get mahself togethah. Natchurly ah couldn't work. Well, it went on like that tull ah begin to git sick inside - somepin jest jump jest like heart's beatin' and it worried me. And when ah layed down to sleep, somepin would jest go 'cross mah face like this [demonstrates] and ah'd jump and wake up, you know, and look under the pillahs. There would be nothing, ah could see nothin' you know. And sometimes ah would feel like feathers Was sticking intuh me - like de quills. Ah's take and pull dis cover off and there would be nothin', absolutely nothin' - could see nothin'. And so this continued tull finally ah became a wreck, and den dey said it was bad nerves and ah goes de hospital. De doctor pronounced it neuritis, ar-ritis, flamitary rheumatism, chronical rheumatism, muscular rheumatis, tubercular rheumatism and bone fever. Well, so then they stuck needles in mah arms - all in de shoulders, you know, and they Would hurt me tuh mah heart. And ah says, "THESE THINGS BEAT LIKE SOMEPIN LIKE HEARTS ALL OVER ME." Ah had a pocket right chere [demonstrates] - it's a little bit there now - jest like somethin' in there Would beat, beat.
(There was a pocket on your right side?)
Yes.
(Right about the waist.)
Jest like there was somethin' live in there. Well, ah takes sick at night and ah vomits turrible. It near kill me - green, pale, an' it near kill me. And ah jest kept up this thing and kept up this thing until finally one of the doctors says to me, says - these needles was hurtin' me so bad ah cried. They said, "Do those needles hurt chew like that?" Ah said, "Yes." Well the doctors said don't give her nuthin tuh rub and don't give her nuthin tuh gargle with. One little doctor was West Indian [a Negro] - dis Was at de Freedman's Hospital.
(Here in Washington?)
Yeah, and he says, "Now, ah'm goin' to put dis needle in here," he says, and he didn't hurt me and ah didn't cry, and he says, "and ah'm goin' to give you somethin' to rub with." Now, other doctors said ah shouldn't rub with nuthin, see. "Ah goin' to give you this linament to rub with and then you stop in the druggist and git you something to gargle yore throat with." And he says, "If there's a reaction, let me know." Well, ah remember that - that was the first encouragement ah had, and ah says, "Now, ah'm goin' do that. That night - see, ah's be 'sleep and somepin would work up and work up and choke me, but when ah'd wake up you know it would go back. And so, that night somepin got up heah and jest choked me turrible and I was so sleepy - ah got it out and put it on a piece of paper, and started off asleep and de second one came up. Well, it jest like to me ah was in daze condition, and den ah woke up like dat and ah felt purtty good and ah remembered dis, and ah went looked at it and it was black - it was large enough to choke me. And the other one was smaller. So when ah told de doctors about it, den they commence to jab in here - like to choke me all through de body. Dey [had] to quit, but however - then, I says, "Ah'm goin' take now - go to church fo' this and ah'm goin' tuh pray - ah'm gon'a pray to get well." Ah didn't want tuh die. Well, ah thought ah would die like ah was. So it went on that-a-way until ah moved - it happened so ah jest had to move. Ah would go on tuh de back porch and would sit there all de day long, and then go back and go lay down and go to sleep. If I would eat ah would go to sleep. But night come ah'd be jest like a bird, frog or snake - ah'd be up ready to go, see, go back and go to bed. Ah couldn't sleep, so ah moved. And gittin' worse and worse, move - bearin' on de heart all de time. An' ah was taken wit chills and the lady ah lived with she was thinkin' ah'd die, so when she would come upstairs she would call me, but when dat spell go way ah'd git up and go on down. So one day ah was laying, ah was sick and ah was layin' asleep, it was in the day and I was between sleep and awake, and a black man come - a jet black man and he come in, he come jest like dis [demonstrates].
(His - with his shoulder up to his head, sort of deformed.)
[This is a usual reference to a doctor's appearance - he is a jet black man and queer in manner or physique.] [See, Doctor in Index.] Yes, he was and he was very old and he had stubble gray whiskers - they weren't longer stubble and he was very black. He says to me, he says, "You're not sick [sick in a medical doctor's way]." He says, "Ah'm from Greenville, North Carolina, and I did it," he says, "and I am dead and I can't rest." He says, "You are a good woman," he says, "but ah did this to you for" - he called the name of the man and the name of the woman. And it was - dey done it diff'rent times.
(They did it together or separately?)
One didn't know what the other did. [My only example of this!]
(People that you knew?)
Oh, ah knew both. [We now have reached the only example of bewitched feathers in my collection of Negro folklore. The accompanying psychology is also interesting. Both I will discuss at the end of the story.] And he came back. So he says, "If you look in yore pillah," he says, "you'll find out what's the trouble with you." He says, "It is to set chew insane or to kill you or to make you have enemies all yore life." He says, "You won't be any good, you'll not be able to make a livin'." An' he says, "You git into them - if you don't, ah'll never be saved." I got up and jest took de pillah - "if dat isn't de queerest thing, ah don't believe it"-dis was a hard lump in mah pillah - why there's nothing to that" ''there isn't anything to that' - "nobody kin do nuthin like that," I says. So ah went down and ah says, "Mrs. Jones" - ah tole her, jest like ah'm tell' you, what occurred while ah was 'sleep. She says, "Miz, don't chew know when you go up[stairs] to sleep in dose spells, you know, ah'd call you befo' ah'd git to de top steps 'cause ah think you're dead." Ah said, "Well, do ah look that bad?" She says, "Come on peek, come on." An' she says, "Well, if ah was you, ah would look in there and see." And ah goes to work and takes this out and it was jest about that wide and it was like that and like that [demonstrates] an' de feathers in this thing [looked] jest like dey was born and glued - was a piece of yellah looking wood, imported wood, and it was jest like real feathers and de Way it was done, it was jest streaked through. Then these feathers was pushed down in there, but it had no head but it was de shape of a hen.
(This wood was a thick thing and the wood looked like feathers.)
And so when ah rubbed across there, you know, the feathers would come out and ah said, "Ah'm goin: take this and throw it in de stove." Ah took it down and showed it to her. "Oh," she says, "Ah never saw nuthin like that." She said, "You'd better look fer some more - ah would if ah were you." Ah goes back and ah gits de rooster. De rooster was three feathers fixed together in de shape of a rooster - red. The hen was a dominicker [Dominique] and then ah gits that. Then ah gits a piece of rope out about dat long [demonstratesl, heavy cord, about [that] long, and then ah gets jest a bunch of feathers tied round jest like this, jest tied around with a string, jest like you tie 'em to make a baby doll. Well, that would go in mah face and ah would brush it - keep me awake all night long jest torturing me. Well, then after it was quill, chicken quills and in the end of 'em was powders and dey Was corked up. It make Miz Jones sick and me too, when ah got [them] out, then - that was whut this man bring in. And the next was a snake about that long [demonstrates], jest wrapped with feathers, dis ole man did - paid and did de stuff fore dese people. And he was jest grapping in dere in de shape of a snake and everything. And the other one was a -
(This snake was about a foot long?)
About like that and this here one wasn't, and it was all in reality.
(This snake was only made of feathers?)
No - yes it was - it was all feathers - if you seen it in de pillah, you'd a thought it was feathers. Everything was made absolutely like feathers. (What was the other thing after you got the snake out? What was the other thing?) It was two snakes, a hen and a rooster, and quills, and it was about that long - supposed to be a coffin, ah reckon, and the other one was jest this - like what you'd jab to make babies laugh, string with feathers, but it was tied 'round, it was feathers. It was a bunch of feathers and these feathers would come into my face, would torment me. Now, jest like you tie this [demonstrates].
(Tie your handkerchief in a knot.)
Now you see you do that [demonstrates]. (Oh, you jingle the handkerchief up and down and - like you make a baby laugh, and that kept going over your face. And this was made of feathers, too.) Yes, all of feathers. An' ah'd git up and see nothin' you know. And when daylight would come ah would git scared, ah would say, "What is the matter with the sky - ah can't tell." And finally, ah say, "Why it's daylight." Well, now ah gits everything out and I shows it to Miz Jones and she wanta keep this thing like a hen and ah says, "No, ' ah say, "Ah'm ain't goin' keep it." Ah lays down agin and he comes right straight back. He says, "Now, you've got all ought [out] that was put in there." He says, "Now, the hen is a barnyard fowl - stays in de back - so you had a room in back - that was to keep you in there and to keep you down." You see, ah was a great worker and a lecturer. And he say, "They didn't mean you to go nowheres and you couldn't go nowheres, and when you would commence to talk you'd cackle - sound jest like cackling - or crowing like a rooster, you see." And you know, dis snake - he saysi, De snake was to make people hit at cha - pick at cha - and then you'd pick back at dem. And then they would say you weren't capable of doing the things that whut you were doing. De woman did that." That was to keep me from being president of a large club. And the man he did it because ah paid him the rent. And ah couldn't git further than the back porch - ah couldn't work - ah had to git on Emergency Relief - ah had to git on de Emergencies Relief, and ah would have died if ah did that. So then this old man, after ah gits all this out - dis ole man comes back again fer the last time, and here's whut he tole me to do with it. He says, "Now, you take all dese pillahs dat's on dis bed." So Miz Jones she got excited, it scared her - it made her sick and me too. That powder got out and got on us, got out dose quills and got on us. He says tuh me, "Yo' take dose pillahs" my two nice pillahs - "you take those pillahs and you burn dem up - the tick, the feathers and all." He says, "Yo' take those four dresses you wore de most around - de everyday dresses, and burn dem up. Take those two pair of shoes that you wore when you was in that house and burn them up." He says, "You know it's written that the wicked shall become stubbed on yore feet and shall be burned root and branches and the whole thing will go back to them. If you put it on water it will come back to you." [The preceding quotation and everything she says shows a woman with an agile mind - a qreat worker and a lecturer. Her words are a conflation - two or more passages thrown together: King James Version - (1)"The day cometh...all that do wickedly, shall be stubble [[not stubbed]]...shall burn them up...leave them neither root nor branch," Mal.1:4 -(2)'Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days," Eccl.11:1 - (3) her stubbed was suggested by stubble and "Dash thy foot against a stone," Mat.4:6 & Lk.4:11.] [As I stated previously, this story is the only certain example of bewitched feathers in my Negro-folklore-collecting experience (see Feathers in Index). Not even in Quincy, Illinois - where belief in bewitched feathers survived among persons of German descent - did I ever find a colored person interested in the matter. Similarly, I found bewitched animals rare among colored people, frequent among persons of German descent. The Reason? Racial? Economic? (For bewitched feathers in Adams County Illinois and Quincy the county seat, see FACI, 2ed., Nos.16255-16323, Pp.853-873; bewitched animals, Nos.16178-16254a, pp.834-85.)] [Since some general readers may be unfamiliar with bewitched feathers, let me briefly describe them. The witchcraft spell cast upon a person is done with the feathers in the feather pillow or feather bed (feather-tick or feather mattress) on which the victim sleeps. These feathers on which the victim lies gradually weave themselves into a form: bat (animal), bird, butterfly, chicken, rooster, coffin, cross, flowers, shapes like parts of the human body, horseshoe, etc. Sometimes these forms are combined with foreign objects: piece of clothing, key, needle, ribbon, rope, spool, thread, etc. The most frequent form of all is the wreath (symbolic of the funeral wreath) - also known as a circular. This form occurs more often because the head lying on the pillow pushes feathers out into a circle. At times a person can hear, so it is said, the weaving in the pillow a ticking sound (No.16293, p.865) or music in the pillow (No.16263, p.855). As soon as the form being Woven is completed the victim dies. If you find a form uncompleted and burn it, the victim will recover. To demonstrate this belief further, I now quote two examples from FACI:]
["Now I am going to tell you a story that was told by one of my [school]
children. A baby [about 1931] was born in a family. Although it received the very best attention, it was not thriving. An old mother in the neighborhood entered the house one day and said, "There is a wreath in the baby's pillow." The mother wished to open the little pillow and take out the wreath, as had been suggested. The father scornfully laughed and forbade the mother's opening the pillow. From that moment the child grew more delicate and passed out. The old neighborhood mother entered the room and said, "Let me examine the pillow, ' which she did, and took from the pillow a perfectly formed wreath of feathers, all going in one direction. The center of the wreath was the size of the baby's head. The feathers forming the wreath were all going in one direction [see also 16277] like the down on a dress hat. I will draw you a diagram. I saw it. It was marvelous. [The informant's diagram of this wreath I have reproduced in this book.] Underneath the wreath it seemed to be flesh; like the flesh on a chicken's breast with large pores. It had no odor. Dead chicken flesh has an odor. The skin was moist as if alive. The feathers seemed to be growing. The old woman took the wreath out and burned it, and said if ever another child came to the house to give it a new pillow and it would thrive." (FACI, 2ed., No.1255, p.853; a picture of wreath drawn by informant being reproduced just before the Table of Contents.)l ["I knew a boy out here in the south part of Quincy years ago that was sick all the time. They done everything for him and try everything anyone would tell them, but it would not do him any good. Some of the neighbors thought he was bewitched, but the folks didn't. But at last they Went to looking in the bedtick and pillows to see if they could not find anything, and in one of the pillows they found a rooster all done but a little of its tail. If that tail had of been done, that boy would of died; but they took the rooster and put it in the stove to burn. and after that the bov got well." (FACI. 2ed. No.16289, p.863.)1 [To return to our informant, once again we meet an old routine - the doctor (M.D.) fails; the doctor (hoodoo) is called in. This time, however, there is an amazing difference both in doctor and doctor.] [My informant refrains from criticizing hospital doctors for their inability to cure her, though she considers them impersonal and uninvolved. Naturally, the West Indian, a man of her own race would appear in a better light; at least he permitted her to have something 'to rub and...to gargle with." But, when the woman says, "The doctors said, "Don't give her nuthin tuh rub and...tuh gargle with, '" do not believe her, though she is telling the truth from her changed point of view. After the colored doctor offered it to her, the white doctors by not offering it to her had forbidden it. This is a mere gripe. She knew the doctors had done everything medically possible; the real trouble was herself, spiritual - "Ah'm goin'...go to church fo' this and...ah'm goin' tuh pray to get well." She realizes death stared her in the face - "Ah didn't want tuh die." Two steps having been taken toward health, she then took a third - "It happened so ah jest had to move."] [Despite her changed attitude, she still refused to accept any blame for her condition - a man and woman separately would not have hoodooed her had she been all sweetness and light! She needed a scapegoat. Scapegoat also would permit her to satisfy those childhood beliefs and fears which had floated to the surface during her illness. Too intelligent to call in a hoodoo doctor, she summons the spirit of a dead hoodoo doctor. He appears not as master giving orders but as sinner seeking forgiveness - his eternal future depending upon her. She, of course, is the spirit of the dead hoodoo doctor. Thus disguised she saves the soul of a sinner (his - actually her own) and cures herself by forgiving him (finding the bewitched feathers). In forgiving him she forgives herself. If you don't forgive yourself neither God nor Church can do it for you - though either or both may smooth the way. This solution of my informant's is the brilliancy and power that comes with a dream. This is also my guess about what happened. Each reader is entitled to a similar guess.] [Washington, D. C., (629), 808:3.] [Time in hoodoo is very important and covers a wider field than it does in scientific medicine. So wide is time that many aspects of it cannot be given in this subsection - see Time in Index for a listing of separate time entries.]
Entry 1359
Take any ole snake dust that is dry or lizard dust or any kinda ole creeping, yo' know, a snake lak that. Take that dust an' place it up undah the lettah an' as yo' open that lettah an' git that on yore han's, natch'ral yo' rub it on yore skin an' it will create. It take yo' in yore han's right immediately. May be a little while befo' those han's goes tuh eetchin' but it will go through an' through. Dose are black art works.
(What happens to my hands?)
Whut happens tuh yore han's? Yore han's start tuh eetching an' burnin' an' if yo' don't take care of 'em with that snake dust or that lizard dust, those bumps will fin'lly graj'ly grow, an' aftah while why that snake or that ole scorpion will grow roun', yo' know, in yore skin. Yo' see people dat have snakes in dey laigs. Dey eithah gits it from sweepin' or not takin' a bath when de had things lak that. Dat whut it comes from. If yo' git it in yore laigs, yo' be sweepin' yore flo' - dat's when it gits on yore laigs, yo' see. Dat rattlesnake dust is on de flo' an' when yo' sweep it gits in de pores of yore skin an' by not takin' an' washin' it off, it'll jis' grow an' graj'ly that little bump will come an' that snake will fin'lly grow.
(Is there any way of getting them out?)
Yes, dere's a way tuh git it out, but yo' have tuh take herbs. Yo' have tuh take jimson weeds an' John de Conker, lodestones. Either git John de Conker an' give it to yo' three times a day in a pint of boilin' watah - a teaspoonful, or a tablespoonful is bettah, an' he will gradually die.
Entry 1529
I remember one time of a gentleman in our home taken violently sick and what was the ailment nobody knowed. They had the medical doctors to come to him and they seemed to do him no good - the medicine they gave him put him in a rage. So then they decided to go and get some root doctor and see if they could do any good. So at last one day they found a man named Doc F., who came to see this man how he was. And after getting there he walked into the room of this sick man and asked his wife, "How's his urine?" And she told him the best she knew how. So he asked her did she have a Canadian piece of money. She told him yes. So he asked her for a dime of Canadian money. She got it and gave it to him. And he compound this piece of Canadian money into dust, mixed it with whiskey and gin and vaseline, and gave it to this man to drink. He dranked it. He stayed with the man all night. And during the night he gave the man two doses of purgative medicine, and the next morning the man was under complusion to have a discharge; and after having this discharge, they found ground puppies, frogs and snakes, and everything of this kind in his urine pot. [Old Point Comfort, Va., (27), Ed.; Dinwiddie Co., Va.,1916.]
Entry 1841
You know what they make that out of?
(No.)
Well, I'll tell you what they make that out of - that's made out of snake- hides. That's what they make that out of - they make that out of snakehides. What's sewed inside of it is ordinary sawdust - sawdust and brown sugar. And you can keep that under a person's bed and a man' 11 never have no nature for his wife. [While machine is off we talk about another hand.]
(Well, what shape would they fix it up?)
Fix it up just the shape of a person - two arms and two legs with the body made to it. And if you put that under a woman's bed, she ain't going to be much service to her husband - her and her husband be fussful all the time. (What did you say they make that out of?) [I am trying to pick up what was lost while machine silent.l Sawdust - take sawdust and alum. Take you a piece of alum, powdered alum. Take you a little piece of bluestone and powder it. Take a piece of garlic and tie the garlic around it. Understand? And put it under a woman's bed.
(Well, what do you use for the outside cover?)
Outside cover on it? Just tie it around with a string, you don't have to wrap it in anything - just put in, open her mattress and put it in a mattress.
(What did you say about a snakehide a moment ago?)
A snakehide? You could take a snakehide and use that - just clip a person's, a piece of a person's hair and burn it. You understand?
(In fixing this doll baby - how was that made, did you say?)
You takes ordinary sawdust - just take ordinary sawdust. If you want to make a woman disagreeable - things disagreeable in a home for a woman and her husband, take ordinary sawdust, a piece of garlic, a piece of alum and a piece of blue- stone, and powder that. And mix it in that sawdust and sew it up in that form of a person - see, like - just like a little small doll baby - a small piece of it.
(What kind of material would you use for that form?)
For Wrapping that in?
(Yes.)
Bed ticking.
(Any kind?)
No, not any kind, bed ticking - something that a mattress or pillow is made out of, not any kind of material.
(Oh, I see. Well, why is that?)
Because you wants to lay the stripes according to the rise and fall of the sun. That's why we do that. You want to make the stripes so that on the shape of that thing like a person it lays with the rise and fall of the sun. You lays it like you take a dead person is buried with their head to the east - I mean to the west and their feet to the east. You lay that thing with the head to the east and the feet to the west. That's against the life of any person it's under.
(Now, where do you put this little doll?)
You put it in - you put it under or in a mattress. But the best way you do, if you can open the mattress and put it in there, sew it in the mattress. Just know how you got it - lay it in the position and lay it right in that mattress where they lay on that. And that woman'll have trouble in her house with her husband as long as she sleeps on it.
Entry 2746
Well, the trouble I had - first, the misery started in the thigh, the left, and this moved around to the right; then, something came on up and stopped in my throat. It choked me a great deal. I was troubled with that for about eighteen months. I couldn't lay on neither side. I could only lay flat on my back for eighteen months. There wasn't a doctor in Fredericksburg that could do me any good. So I met a fellow from Washington, [D. C.] and he was telling me how it was with him. From his talk he had the same complaint I had. He talked it in me for to go to Washington and see an old lady. So finally I decided to go. He taken me up there for to see this woman. When I got there now, this woman she came to the window and she says to this man, "You got Jim O. [informant] with you." She'd never seen me before. She says to me, "I know what you come for." She says, "Come on in and look around. I haven't got time to do any readin' for you today [magic delay]." So she says to Henry M. [man who took him to Washing- ton], "Bring him back Friday. So he taken me back. When I walked in she says to me, she says, "You've got a snake in your belly." She says, "Take a seat over there," and commenced then to read. When she commenced to read she brought out several people - she brought their photographs out. She showed me these pictures - she named them, she knowed them [see later]. The old lady had a glass of water in her hand and she passed me this glass of water. So I drank this glass of water. Then after awhile she passed me another glass of water - so I drank that. She said she [some woman in Fredericksburg] gave me something in a glass of water, that's why she [doctor] gave me a glass of water. And right from that I commenced to feeling bad. So she says to me, "You got a snake in you - I can't draw it from you alive." I says to her, "No, I wouldn't like to see it." So she gave me a certain glass of medicine to pass that snake the other way. She gave me a treatment in the hair [scalp treatment], then she put me in a tub of something that was black. She gave me a good bath, and while she was bathing me a lot of smoke came out of my flesh, and right from that I commenced getting better. "You is all right now - you can go back home now and do anything you are big enough to do." And while I was there she showed me a lizard in a jar that she took out of a girl's throat. She had that setting on the shelf in alcohol. It looked just like a lizard you see crawling up a log. She told me she had drawn several snakes from different people. The snake pass from me after I left there - I never did see it. I finally got better. I only spent ten days with her - she charged me $12. John N., he was tricked the very same way, so he came to me and I was telling him about this woman. Then I got it for him to go up and see her. And she cured him the same way. Her name was Mother Jones. She came from North Carolina. [These pictures - she named them - she knew them - were a new device to me; an effective one, more so than the similar and impersonal device of a deck of photographs rather than of cards. These pictures were supposedly photographs of persons she had brought out while reading the cards. Informant could not have known any of them; he was not expected to identify any of them. Henry M., man who took informant to Washington, looks like a man out in the bushes beating up trade for Mother Jones. She could not have known Jim O's name without a letter from Fredericksburg or a telephone call after his arrival in Washington. Her words look around are a most important part of the atmosphere - she wanted him to see her medical museum (see in Index).]
Entry 3070
[Fortunately I am able to introduce to you the fabulous Doctor Buzzard of Beaufort (Bu'fert) in the words of another gifted doctor - a man I call CoURT- ROOM SPECIALIST in INTERVIEWS section. Beaufort, yo' know. See, Doctor Buzzard at Beaufort. OF Dat's a fairy tale. Yo' know, once dey had a story down at Beaufort dere an' dey [story] has de fishermen go down to de sea. All right, de boat'll capsize wit de mens an' some of de men goin' drown. Dey had de boats [one boat] full of fishes. Well, about three or fo' days whut de [they] find - de boat, when dey see de boat, de boat come drifting up to de dock wit fish in dat boat, an' dey [the story says a buzzard] come steering it on up an' de buzzard eatin' de fish when de boat comin' up to de dock. When de boat come up.to de dock, de buzzard done eatin' de fish. Ever since dat, dey say [a] buzzard done rowed de boat - he rowed de boat to Beaufort.
(Well, about that man, the root doctor down there?)
He done - listen, de mens was drown-ded, de fishermens. Dey had a boat fulla fish, and right down - when de fishermen out to sea dere, an' dey rotten on de boat, de buzzard settin' on de boat eatin' de fish, an' de blood drippin' on de watah. Dey see buzzard, an' de buzzard rowin' de boat.
(So the buzzard rows the boat?)
No, de buzzard wasn't rowin' de boat, but dat is a tale, yo' know. (What was that tale about old man Buzzard rowing the boat though, didn't they tell something to you about that?) That's the same tale.
(Tell me that story, so that I can get it straight.)
Anyone go to his house.
(This old man Buzzard?)
Yeah, to his house. He stay on one side of de water and yo' be on de nex' side. Well, yo' come down to de boat to go cross to him, he'll send a buzzard ovah to row yo' in de boat. An' aftah yo' git in de boat, de buzzard row 'cross to de othah side. Now, if yo' come down an' git in de boat and de buzzard start rowin' yo' off an' come back, dey say yo' bettah git off, 'cause yo' de wrong man - de buzzard gotta tuh drown yo'. He row off a piece an' come back, yo' bettah git off. But aftah, yo' see - aftah yo' git on de boat, de buzzard he row yo' on 'cross to de ole man. Yo' git to de house an' git to de do', de buzzard he'll invite chew in de house. Den he'll go fust to give yo' a seat. Den Doctor Buzzard he goin' talk with yo' den.
(The old man Buzzard, did you see him - the old man?)
Yessuh, ah done see him. Ah saw him heah.
(How long has be been dead?)
He been daid 'bout 'leven yeahs.
(There really was a man named Doctor Buzzard?)
Name Buzzard. Dere wus a man name Buzzard. Stayed in a hut-house cross heah to Lady's Islan' - in a hut-house to Lady's Islan'.
(He was a colored man, wasn't he?) [Leading questionl]
Yessuh.
(What did he look like?)
Was a ole man, gray haired man wit a long beard - a ole man. (Do you know any other stories that they tell about Buzzard? Are there any other stories that you know about him? They used to tell a lot of stories about him.) Dere one story 'bout he make a snake walk in de co'thouse yo' know, where a case is goin' on an' de judge dismiss de case. [See snake sent to courthouse, 248, p.70.] An' he make a lil bird fly right in de co'thouse an' dey dismiss de case.
[See magic BIRDS, Pp.56-59.]
An' he make a buzzard fly roun' in de co'thouse an' dey dismiss de case. [For trained buzzards, see 203-204, p.57f.] Yo' wouldn't have tuh go dere [to him], yo' jes' [write] to 'im an' pay him yore money an' go on 'bout chure business an' still he'd be dere. Dat day yo' go dere an' see a snake crawlin' round de co' thouse - or a buzzard flyin' round de co'thouse - [or] a lil white bird would come an' fly roun' de judge an' sit on de judge shoulder - an' de judge would dismiss the case. (Did you ever hear of another fellow down there on the Islands named Jones? Was there another fellow named Jones - an old man?) [Leading question but with a special purpose.] Yeah, I heard about him, too. An' ah heard about Jones an' ah heard about Robinson - Robinson down dere now.
[For Robinson, also called Robertson, see later in this margin-title.]
(Is he the undertaker - is he the man that has a store down there?) [For my visit to Beaufort, see later.] No, Willie Wright got de store near de schoolhouse.
(Wright?)
Yeah, Willie Wright, near de fillin' station.
(Did you ever hear of Kid Wade?)
Kid Wade? He's daid. Yes, he died long heah in - his daughter run his place now.
(Well, he's only been dead in the last year or so hasn't he?)
He ain't dead a yeah yet. (Well, two years ago I went down there and stopped off and saw him, but he had had a stroke or something. So he's dead now?) Dat's correct.
(His daughter is carrying on his business?)
Yeah. (Could I get much of this stuff down at Beaufort - things along this line? They tell me that it is dying out down around Beaufort.) They're still gittin' the stuff down dere - dey still do dat stuff down dere.
(What was Doctor Buzzard's real name? Have you any idea?)
Dat's all ah really know - Doctor Buzzard.
[I must have asked about men elsewhere.]
Dere Doctor Harrison. [See margin-title later in this subsection.]
(Where is that?)
Dat in Florence [S. Car.]. Well see, he died about ten yeahs ago. He was ovah there. Ah know him from 1908.
[We talk while my machine was stopped, and then.]
(And he was the real Doctor Buzzard?) [I repeat him.]
De - he de real Doctor Buzzard. [Most people went to.]
(At Florence?)
Yessuh. (I talked with one of the men that worked for Harrison.) [Where this is I do not know at the moment.] Yeah, he was de real Doctor Buzzard, in Florence, yo' know.
(He was a white man?) [Again I repeat what he said while machine stopped.]
A white man - a white man lived three mile outa Florence. (Have you talked with many white people who do this kind of work - round in this part of the country - doing this sort of thing, rootworking and things of that sort?) A good many - a good many. A good many won't tell it, yo' know. [While I was in Waycross, Ga., a white doctor wanted to see me. This occured elsewhere.]
Entry 8527
All right, if yo' wanta separate a person - ah mean, yo' undahstan', if yo' wanta break 'em up, too. Yo' drain de watah out de coconut. Yo' know, dey have a li'le hole an' yo' git a li'le cork, a perfume [bot- tle] cork. An' yo' git: devil war watah, dat same ingrediment, chew remembah dat in- grediment, double- strength war watah; rattlesnake dust; double-strength wal- wal powdah [used a number of times in text]; an' de strong-strong cayenne peppah.* Let it be red- hot fresh. An' strong-strong white peppah. Yo' know whut dat is, dat [is] strong, strong. An' Epsom salts, cookin' salts, soda an' lemon. Den nine steel needles across dat. name. An' yo'[ [also] stickin' intuh dere nine pins. An' yo' put it, an' yo' roll it, an' yo' shake it, an' yo' roll it. Yo' keep it rollin' an' yo' nevah raise it, an' yo' jes' keep it rollin'. BUT BE SHURE WHEN YO' GIT THROUGH, YO' KNOW HOW TUH DO WIT CHURE HAN'; DAT CHEW WASH YORE HAN' TUH GIT TUH DO YORE GOOD WORKS. [AFTER YOU DO EVIL WORKS LIKE THIS, YOU MUST WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE ATTEMPTING GOOD WORKS.]
(What do you do with that coconut after you roll it then?)
WELL, YO' PUT IT OUTA DE WAY. IF YO' WANTA GIVE IT TO ONE OF YORE CUSTOMERS [INFORMANT, WOMAN, PROFESSIONAL WORKER] TO HELP THEM, BUT BE SHURE THAT THEY NEVAH KNOW WHUT'S INTO IT. YO' see.
(What will this do?)
Aw, it'll break 'em up, oh yeah.
Entry 11747
Dey tell me dey will git some graveyard dirt an' go tuh a wasp where wasps make a nest at - an' aggravate some of 'em an' kill dem. Den dey go an' git de frog an' aggra- vate de frog an' kill him. Den dey go an' git a snake an' aggravate a snake an kill him. An' den dey would take de head offa all of "em an' burn 'em. An' aftah burnin' it, mash it on up into a dust an' mix dat graveyard dirt wit it. An' if yo' go dere an' have yore hat wit chew or anything lak dat, an' dey kin git a little of it in yore hat. Aftah puttin' yore hat on, dat's all dey have tuh do tuh git it in yore clothes somehow or 'nothah, an' it'll be in yo'. Weah dat in yore clothes. An' at de young moon, dat's de time dey have tuh do it, on de young moon, an' as de growin' of de moon, why it will grow in yo'.
(What will grow in you?)
Dat wasp an' dat snake an' dat toadfrog.
(That puts live things in you?)
Dat put live things in yo'.
Entry 4
There was an old woman who went for a cunjure. She lived in King George and she must have been a good cunjure because she made her living in that way, putting on spells and taking them off. A neighbor lived not far from her house Was hunting squirrels in the squirrel season and he passed near her home in the Woods, and he saw she had a snake tied by the tail hanging up the tree, and she had cut its throat and catching the blood in a small bucket. She wasn't: there. And he said to himself, "Damn you! I always heard you was a cunjure and now I know it." That was about forty years ago. She was a real cunjure. Everybody. Was afraid of that woman, both white and colored. If she came to your house and asked you for anything, it paid you to give it to her. She said, "You're going to lose ten times more than that." [This is called "putting a bad mouth on you."] She went to a neighbor one day and asked for a watermelon and he did not believe in cunjuring. So he didn't give her the watermelon and lost his horse that night. And then on he took off his hat to this woman. I knew both of them.
[Fredericksburg, Va., (71), Ed.; King George Co., Va.,1896.]
Entry 394
When they go to diggin' they say there's always something in the hole, a snake or a scorpion or something in there to try to scare them away; but if you keep on diggin' they'll go away and leave you be and you can continue to get the money.
Entry 646
[Out of many persons speaking against doctor and his medicine (see Doctor, not Doctor, in Index) - one person, the only one, spoke favorably:] I know a woman right here in Northampton, she was sick and swoll up for at least eight years, and she accused her next door neighbor. This other woman told the whole general public she had never done nothing to her. She [the sick woman] went to Berkley and got a fortune teller. When she came back she found a bottle down under her door. This bottle was full of little snakes. Then she moved. And she began to take doctor's medicine and it wasn't long before she was on her feet again.
Entry 668
They claim they take serpents heads and grind them up and powder them up and they supposed to bury that under your doorstep. That's goofer dust. That's supposed to cunjure you. You're supposed to walk over that.
Entry 670
(Goofer dust - what is goofer, what is that?)
Goofer dust is snake haid, scorpion haid, lizard haid - listen, snake haid dust, scorpion dust an' lizard dust. Dat's whut yo' call goofer dust. Yo' git them things an' yo' kill 'em an' yo' cut de haids off an' yo' dry that. After yo' dry that, yo' powder that up. That's whut dey call goofer dust.
(Do the people around here talk about putting the goofer on you?)
Yes.
(What do they mean by that?)
Well, dey mean do yo' harm - when de say goofer dey mean do yo' harm. Dey don' mean tuh do nuthin' good to yo'.
(That's just doing you harm; they want to goofer you?)
Yeah, dat's jes' doin' yo' any kinda harm.
Entry 671
Ah have heard that goofer dust is jes' diff'rent roots for whatevah kinda work it is yo' wanted tuh do or anything bad; dat's de kind of roots dat chew would git. Dere's some kinda root - devil grass root.
(It has no other name?)
No othah name. Take devil grass an' snake's head an' grind it up togethah an' make a powder out of it. See, fo' instance, if yo' wanted tuh hurt someone or somepin othah lak dat, an' sprinkle it in dey hat, de bandin' of dey hat. It Would run 'em blind. Do different things with it.
Entry 698
I'll tell you whut I heard by mah gran'mama. She wus hurt an' she wus hurt in peas an' rice. An' she started jis' as she got this, you know two or three days after, she started to swellin' all up in her laig, all up in her hips an' all. An' there's a ole root doctor came aroun' an' he tole 'em, he said, "If you git a root doctor," he say, "he kin fix you up" - to my gran'mama. An' so he said that he knowed whut wus de matter with her. An' so he give her two doses of sulphur. An' after that he got some whiskey an' sulphur an' a root dey call John de Conker, an' take an' boil this John de Conker in this whiskey an' add this sulphur to it an' he give this three times a day. About the fifth day or the sixth day she got deathly sick. Well, they got scared then an' stop givin' it to her, but the root doctor came back by to see 'em an' tol' 'em, "No, don't stop." He say that was workin' on her. An' so, after she went on an' took it, after she got deathly sick, a snake, a little green snake, an' a scorpion - I don't know whut that is, I've never seen one, but this is my gran'mama that's tellin' us - an' so this came from her. An' so she got all right for three months. She was all right, walkin' aroun' jis' like you or I, all right. An' so roun' 'bout two months later this swellin' started again. They went an' got this ole root doctor an' he give her the same medicine agin. Told 'em continue to give to her. In jis' about two or three more months she got all right.
Entry 702
Old Miss J. was mad at me one time and she said, someone overheard her, she was going to fix me. So she got a bottle and she placed a snake and a little frog all in this one bottle and buried it under my doorstep. Lucky for me a man told me it was there. And I know what to do for that. I went out into the woods and got me some old black oak tree bark and turpentine and came back to the house step and placed it on the step. Next morning when I woke up and that bottle was right on the ground. There was a snake in there, a frog in there. [This must have been powerful drawing medicine to draw a buried bottle out of the ground.] And I said, "Mercy, what can that be?" Then I took some salt and turpentine and put it on the bottle to keep from being cunjured with those germs. So I took the bottle and shook it and out came the snake and frog. And I said, "That won't do. I don't know they might come back." So I put this salt and turpentine on the frog and he curled up, and I put the salt and turpentine on the snake and he died. So that stop that cunjure. [In case the reader was a little sleepy during this remarkable rite or awed by the powerful drawing medicine, may I point out there was no buried bottle under the doorstep; the man-told-me-it-was-there threw the bottle under the door- step during the night. The powerful drowing medicine was suggestion and a trick. We will come to a small collection of tricks later.]
Entry 708
Well, jes' lak if ah wants tuh hurt chew - put a snake in yo'. Well, yo' kin go out - yo' know in de fall of de year snakes shed, yo' know. Yo' go out an' git de snake hide. Well, dey don't call it hide but ah call it. De snake he comes out of it - he leaves it. Yo' take dat an' yo' pound it up lak a powder. Well, yo' take dat powder an' yo' put it in a bottle of heart's perfume an' ah'll go tuh yo' ah'll have dis perfume an' ah'll put it on mah han'ke'chief - put nine drops an' ah'll be jes' playin' with yo'. Well, when dat perfume dry in yo', dat's de snake is gone in yo'. Now, if ah want tuh heal yo' an' git that snake out of yo', ah'll take nine dimes an' take a file an' file off every one of the nine dimes an' put it in sweet milk an' dat'll kill de snake an' run him out of yo'.
(What do you do with that sweet milk then?)
Yo' drinks de sweet milk - dat's in order fo' de snake tuh pass from de body. He can't stand milk.
Entry 709
The shed from a snake, a woman taken that an' - a woman right across from the neighborhood and she didn't like her, jealousy - an' she taken that snake shed an' takes it the month of May, an' powders it, ground it. An' this woman, that she wanted to give it to, was crazy about clabber, but she didn't have no clabber. An' that woman put this here snake shed in that clabber and that woman drinked it. She didn't think there wus nuthin': to it because she'd been drinkin' it all the time. An' in about two months that woman was full of snakes. An' the woman said the way was to git them out of her, after they got this man. They sent an' git this man after the medical doctors couldn't do her any good. They sent an' get this two-head man that know all about it. An' he said she so far gone that he don't know if he could do her any good or not, but he d git the snakes out of her. So they taken that woman an' tied her like a yoke sort-a-like, a block an' tackle like, at the head of the bed - put her feet up, put her haid down, with a cup of milk under her haid. An' those snakes fallen down. I think he said it was twenty-five of 'em about six inches long jis' drop out of her in that cup of milk. But they couldn't save the woman. She died from it.
Entry 711
Jes' lak somebody's got a snake or a frog in dey foot, somepin lak dat, yo' go to a stockyard an' yo' git chew a cow dat's jes' dropped manure. Pick it up in a shovel an' carry it home an' git chew fo'teen pods of red peppah - red peppah. Then yo' git chew thirteen pods of green peppah befo' it turns red. Yo' set down an' cut it up in round pieces in dat fertilizer. Yo' put three han'ful of table salt in dere - cookin' salt. Yo' put it on a fiah an' put yo' a quart, from a quart to a half a gallon of watah in dere an' boil it. Yo' git yo' a fiannel rag an' place dat roun' dat person's foot an' whut's in dat feet is comin' out in two day's time. But chew must put it on there hot an' yo' change it three times a day - mawnin', noon an' night. An' if it's a frog in dere or snake, it's comin' out.
[Informant now tells how the snake or frog was put in the person's foot.]
When yo' git 'em that way, ah tell yo' whut chew do. Say, fo' instance, yo' take a person's name an' yo' take de size - de numbah of de shoe dat he wears an' yo' write that on a aig, a fresh yard aig - it matters [not] whut kinda aig it is, jes' so it's fresh. It's got'a be a yard aig, though. Write that on there. Yo' take that an' carry it an' bury it undah dere front steps. If dey got a front po'ch, bury it undah de front po'ch, if dey ain't got no steps. An' when that begin tuh form in that aig - when that aig begin tuh form, den it will begin tuh form in yore instep or your feet. Dat de onliest place it's gon'a be, is right on de instep right in heah. It'll begin tuh form there. When it grows tuh be de full length of that aig, it's in yore feet de same way.
(You put something in that egg did you say?)
Jes' write dey name on dere, whut chew want, an' yo' must bury dat aig - bury it in somepin that it ain't gon'a rotten, lak a fruit jar. Yo' see, yo' take a rubbah - same lak yore wife put up fruit, put rubbers on the jars. Yo' put that aig down in there. See, it don't break it - put it down in there nice an' put the name on there whut chew want. See. Then yo' put the top on it an' go to these person's house - if yo' cain't git in there, pay somebody to do it - an' dig a hole an' put dat down dere an' cover it up an' level it off good. An' when dat frog or dat snake begins tuh form in dat aig, it will form in yore foot, de same way. Well now, de onliest way dat chew kin git rid of that, if de doctah don't operate on yo', is to take dat fertilizer - dat cow fertilizer. (What would you write on that egg, for example? Suppose you wanted to do that to me. What would you write on that egg?) Well, ah would try an' git chure name - jes' git chure name an' says, "Perform in his instep, right or left feet, frog or snake or lizard." See, den ah plant it down dere. But it's got'a be a fresh aig - matters [not] whut kinda hen it come from, but it's got'a be a fresh yard aig.
Entry 816
A white fellow came to me and asked me to go with him down to one of these double-head doctors. He made a deal with a party and he [party] wasn't satisfied and was going to law. He wanted to know if he couldn't stop his ideas of going to court. We goes down and she fixed him. She told his fortune and told him what to do and stopped him from going to court. That was down in Caroline [County, Virginia]. I heard of taking hair out of people's head and cut it up and put it in a bottle and put in a little water and seal it up tight and it will make snakes. They put it under the door [for you to walk over] and they tell me as long as that is there you will have misery in the head. You get one of these double-head doctors to find it.
Entry 1198
Well, ah've heard of 'em gittin' de blood of a snake, a poison snake, an' put it into whiskey an' give a person an' that will grow snakes in them, so ah've heard. When the snakes grow in a person, they kin take sweet milk an' mix it with the grease, which would be lard or somethin' - make a salve an' grease the intestines wit dat chew know, with this grease an' it will draw the snakes because milk will draw a snake, an' it will draw dem from 'em.
(What do you mean grease the intestines?)
Ah don't mean de intestines, ah mean de rectum.
(And the snake would come out that way?)
He come tuh git dat milk - vo' see, he git de scent of dat milk an' he'll gradually git so far he has tuh come on out.
Entry 1293
If yo' wanta put a snake in anybody, yo' kin take a snake an' yo' dry him up an' they put him in whiskey aftah they dry up, an' yo' give it to 'em in their glass tuh drink. An' den it's parsley. Yo' let chure parsley set, yo' know, lak if yo' would let somethin' set. Yo' let it set about three days an' den yo' give it to whosomevah yo' wanta give it to tuh drink. An' den in three days dat dust form aigs, an' den in nine days aftah dey become a snake in yo'. Now if yo' wants tuh take dat snake out chew, yo' take garlic an' yo' take parsley an' yo' take peppah - yo' know this horseshoe peppah. Yo' evah saw dat horseshoe peppah? Dey would call it a cayenne. It's in a powder, beat up.
(It has a horseshoe on the box?)
Yeah. [That was a lucky guess!] Yo' would take that parsley an' take de garlic an' cut it up an' yo' boil it - boil all that together an' when it git cold yo' add the peppah into it, an' yo' give it to an individual tuh drink, an' den yo' make 'em pass it up. The live things will come out.
Entry 1334
They tell me you can take a frog, catch a frog alive, and you put him into any kind of a pot or skillet and you parch it until it come to a dust, and you sprinkle this over the food - you know, just parch it until you can just make a dust out of it and put it in the food. And when they eat it it become live again in 'em. They do the same thing wit a snake or scorpion.
(How do they get those things out of them?)
How do you get 'em out? You takes sweet milk and something they call hog hoof - that's a powder you get it down here at the Cracker Jack Drug Store and you put it in there and you boils it. See, get fresh sweet milk. Well, you put it in there [the hog hoof powder] and you boils it up. Well, you drink that and you vomit it up.
Entry 1335
Ah know a man right in heah, in Jacksonville, that had caught a spell and he told me that he was slobbering - took dat additional spell. And he tole me - said a man [doctor] give him a horsehair that he had pulled it out of de horse's tail, not at de tip end of de horse's tail [but] up heah some- wheres close to his back. And he put de horsehair into a bottle and he told him to let it stay in there nine days. And de horsehair, he told me, turned to a snake. And he said, he told him den, to take that water and bath his head with it and his eyes. And he [doctor] said after den, he said after den he never would have de spell. Now, that man is right here right now.
(You say he was slobbering.)
He was slobbering at de mouth. Ah know dat to be true - he was slobbering, he'd shake his head like dat and slobber-slobber go all over him.
Entry 1593
A fellow once, named Brown, a root doctor - me and my wife was on de outs. Course I caught her wrong and I went away from her. So he [Brown] was working in the shipyards. He say, "I found a shoe." So I say, "All right, I'll take it." He said it was a right shoe - brand new shoe - just had a little - and he had got that snake's blood and put all on de inside of it. And I put dat shoe on. In nine days time my ankle give away and commence to hurt me and so I says, "Mother, since I been wearing dat shoe Mr. Brown give me," I said, "I been having trouble with my ankle. I think I'll go to de doctor." So she looked at de shoe. So then I went to Dr. Willis and took dat shoe and cut de top off it - the entire top and give it to him and he took it and put it in something and sterilized it and found out it was snake blood. That's Dr. Willis dere - chemistry.
(Dr. Woodard?)
Willis - in the drug store.
(I see - from the drug store and he found it was snake blood?)
Yeah - what he told me.
(What did he put that in to sterilize it, I wonder.)
I don't know. He used a lot of chemistry - you know how dey have chemistry, and it all up-separated off the leather, come off the sweat and ev'rything else. And he said, "That's snake's blood, boy." I said, "It look peculiar cause ev'ry time it rained it would freshen up just like fresh paint, red paint, but when the sun was shining it was dry and looked kind of scaley, you know, kind of brownish looking.
(How did you get rid of that then - from that snake blood?)
Well, I tell you, I got rid of it. My mother took 'bacco. She turned around and took a chicken and she put a chicken poultice on there first. And then she took tobacco and my water and boil it hot and let me put my feet right down in de hot water.
(Did she boil that tobacco and your water together?)
Yes, and put my feet in there. I put it in there ever' night and put salt brine in there and it came all right.
Entry 1705
A wood rat. You can take that rat's skin and dry it and make him eat it and that'll stop him from wetting the bed. [The more usual folklore remedy is eating a mouse prepared many ways (Nos. 6308-6309); similar cures being a head louse eaten (No. 6306), or drinking tea from "white droppings of a dog" (No. 6302) - FACI,2ed., 1965, p.289.] [New Orleans, La., (855), 1352:6.] [What is a hand? A hand is a magic helper, an object or act, which aids a person in obtaining a desire. Aladdin's lamp was not a hand because anyone could rub it to activate the indwelling spirit. Quite otherwise a hand concerns known user - it being dressed, powered for him alone, usually toward a single purpose.] [We have already examined many hands: the Black Cat Lucky Bone (pp.74-97); healing hands in Cure and Protection (pp.4lO-519); divining hands in Diagnosis (pp.165-217), particularly the talking hand, Jack (pp.190-193). Talking hand reminds me that hand has other names, among them - toby, guide, shield, roots, mojo, jomo (transposition of syllables in mojo), and hoodoo bag.] [Of interest are what I name battery hands - those that lose strength and must be recharged or they weaken and die. Recharging is called feeding and substances fed are whiskey, perfumes, urine and other liquids. Spirits do not eat solid food. A spirit of course never dies; it merely deserts its temporary dwelling place. Similarly, desertion happens to a lost hand - some informants believing the hand returns to its maker!] [A hand can become a fetish, even a part of oneself. Most instructive here are living hands - the unfortunate chicken (No. 205, p.58), and the two wandering snakes (No. 239, p.66.]
Entry 2307
Dey kin take dis heah bone, snake bone an' plant 'em an' put 'em down fo' people tuh walk on top of 'em unbeknownst to 'em - dey goin' walk, see. An' den dey go ahead on an' dey'll ketch dose poison bones into 'em an' dey'll swell up, 'cause dey're poisoned.
Entry 2308
Kin get snake bones and tote them and that makes 'em be lucky. And I hear that people totes some root called black marster and that would be lucky and make'em get jobs.
Entry 2388
Always some old man or some old woman, they would study what they call cunjuration and, taking a cat's tail, the bone of a cat, or a snake bone, roll it up and put it in your pocket and [you] keep it. Then you are sup- posed to go anywhere and nobody will bother you. They call that a Witch hand. An old man back yonder [years ago] he would make that for his [your] reg'lar steady [companion or guide] and you pay him something.
[Informant born before Civil War.]
Entry 3099
[Pauline lived on an island 6 miles from Brunswick, Georgia, where I Was then working. What an opportunity to have explored that marvelous coastline as I had done at Beaufortl But I resisted the tempta- tion, refusing to break my rule - not to interview white doctors. I have two accounts of Pauline, both taken from broken interviews. In the first, we had been talking about Pauline - I am unable to find this - and then later I ask the following question.]
(Are there any white people that work here now?)
[Informant returns to Pauline.]
She lives on Bly's Island.
(Oh! She is still here. I don't want to talk to her but I just wondered.)
[Brunswick, Ga., (1201), C400:7 = 2017:7.]
iTne second account of Pauline comes from a man who has already given us in- formation about Doctor Buzzard - see 3071, p.893.] A white woman.
(What was her name?)
Miss Pauline.
(Where does she live?)
She lives heah at Bly's Island, a large island right cross tuh de rivah on de road to Jacksonville.
(Oh, just near Brunswick?)
Yes sir - six miles out chere [on the road] tuh Jacksonville. Well, mah mother done taken me out dere. Well, soon as ah got dere she set down an' talk tuh me. She asked me if ah evah worked any place an' ah tole her where ah worked. She asked me, "Did yo' have any enemies round dere?" Ah said, one woman wus a cook dere an' she wanted concernin' me tuh have somepin tuh do wit her - me an' her had tuh make beds in dis, yo' know, to dis home ever' mawnin' together. Ah wouldn't say nuthin to her. She said ah tried tuh play cute. She de one dat put down de stuff at de back gate of dis white tourist home where we were workin', an' ah step on it wit mah right fut gettin' ovah de fence. She done put it right whar ah got ovah de fence at ever' mawnin'. Me an' her wus de first ones dere. So after she seen me - see, ah tried to step on mah left fut, if it done kilt me. See, after two yeahs an' a half ah wus dried up to 135 pounds. She [Pauline] tole mama tuh let me come dere an' she would give me medicine. She taken sulphur, turpentine an' some kinda cocklespur weed - cocklebur weed - taken de cocklebur weed an' made a medicine out of it. [Three ingredients.] So she made a medicine an' ah started to taken dat cocklebur weeds an' sulphur an' turpentine. An' tole me tuh wear three pieces of Irish potatoes - white potatoes in each one of my shoes. So after dey figured - it came on to 'fect mah othah fut an' mah hips, yo' see, an' ah wus dead from heah down [demonstrates].
(From your hips down.)
Yeah, from de hips down. So after dat ah wore de Irish potato an' thing. an' ah begin tuh git bettah. So she tole me not tuh drink no whiskey. So ah stop off from drinkin' some whiskey an' got tuh walkin' an' ah put down de crutches. Yo' know, ah could walk wit de walkin' cane. Ah put down de crutches. So ah begin tuh drink whiskey at night wit de othah boys roun' heah. So dat throw me agin. Dey had tuh take me dere agin. She tole me ah had been drinkin'. Well, when ah got dere dat time, it had done came up into mah shoulders heah - see [demonstrates], it had me, ah'm daid in mah left ahrm - come up mah left side. So she had tuh work fast. Dey had tuh keep me out dere tuh her house fo' three days. So we had tuh pay her wit three pieces of silver money - ah had tuh find three silver dollahs somewhere. She charge only three dollahs - don't care how big de case wus - had tuh pay her wit three silver pieces of money. That concernin' de three links of chain also.
(Of Mary - that Mary wore around her neck?)
["Dat concerning de three linked chain dat Mary wore pertaining tuh de Bible" - from his interview in INTERVIEWS.] Yes sir, dat [represents] three silver dollahs dat ah had tuh pay her wit. De firs' time paid her wit a silver dollah, an' after ah went three times, had tuh pay her de three silver dollahs. So dat's de whole case of it, until ah taken up dis last bottle of medicine. Ah didn't drink any mo' an' dey said ah wus cured of it. Den ah had a fren'. He wus poison by a girl on a piece of cake. But he wus crowin' lak a rooster - jumpin' up an' down. An' ah tole him concernin' dis same lady - tole his mothah. An' she taken him out dere an' she pay her with three silver piece of money - carried him three times. See, each time it wus a dollah. When she carried him de last time, dat's when she gave him some kinda medicine an' out of his throat came a frog, little small wiggle-tail, little small snake. [Three things came out of his throat.]
Entry 5108
Ah've did it mahself. Yo' take a ole shoe an' yo' burn it. Dat's tuh keep snakes away from de house. Burn de ole shoes wit sulphuh.
Entry 5810
[I have included this margin title because LIVE THINGS IN YOU (Section 8) is based upon the theory that some animals are reproduced through their blood. Our informant evidently confines the word animal to horse, cow, dog, cat, etc.; a lizard or a snake being an insect.] Yo' kin take yore hair an' put nine drops of any- thing's blood on it - yo' know, insects - an' put it in runnin' water an' run yo' crazy. (You take nine drops of any kind of blood from an animal or insect or any- thing?) Insect - not a animal, a insect.
(Any kind of an insect?)
Yes suh, a lizard or a snake, an' put it in runnin' water an' dey say dat will nmn yo' crazy.
Entry 6539
Yo' kin go tuh work an' take de chicken haid. Dry it intuh a powdah, crumble it up an' make a lotta things jis' lak peppah outa it. Place it intuh anyone's food, an' when yo' place it intuh dere food, dey person eat it, amn' nine days aftah - nine days, dey'll fumilate [formulate], dey body will be full of small ones.
(Small what?)
De li'le chickens, or li'le snakes, or ll'le frogs, or li'le bugs - jis' whut- somevah one [animal] dat chew use.
Entry 6552
Take a frog or a lizard. Yo' know a frog is spawned with a little egg. Yo' kin take dat. It will more or less go to de bottom. If dere anybody yo' wants hurt, yo' kin take it [frog egg] an' dey'll drink it, an' dey'll form an' dey'll grow in 'em - grow in dat person. Ah have seen 'em. An' yo' kin take snakes' eggs an' do de same thing, an' dey'll crawl aroun' in a human bein's body.
Entry 6601
(Tell me the story just how you heard it.)
Said dat dis woman had been tuh church an' she come back an' she had a woman stayin' in de same house, undahstan', an' dere wus section [partition] in between duh two rooms. Well, yo' see de brick wus on de side in de back, an' dis othah woman she hollered in dere an' ast dis othah lady did she got some coffee made. She said, "Yes, ah got some jis' 'bout ready." An' dis othah woman tole her, all right, said she'd be in dere to git a cupa coffee. So she'd taken a cup fo' herself an' fixed a cupa coffee down dere fo' - she reach up de chimley an' got de snake haid an' beat it up an' put some in de bot- tom de cup fo' dis othah lady, an' put de sugah on topa it. An' dis othah woman, she settin' in dere lookin', peekin' through de crack at 'er. An' she didn't put nuthin in dis cup ovah dere but sugah. Dat was fo' herself, see. An' so she po'd up de coffee an' called dis womah tuh come on an' git 'er coffee. It wus ready. So dis othah woman she jis' come in dere an' lif' dis cup from heah - whilst dis othah woman turn aroun' - an' she jis' changed it right quick. Took dis cupa coffee an' sot [sat] dat one ovah dere. An' so did othah woman [intended victim] drinked dat cup of coffee; an' dis othah woman, she whut fixed it, she drinked dat whut she had fo' de woman. De woman jis' switched de cups don't chew know. So she say, "Ah'm a dead woman right now." She ast 'er why she's a dead woman. An' [she] say, she went on tuh tell 'er, jis' tell 'er she know she goin' die. An' so dat thin' jis' created young snakes in 'er. An' she died at de [some- thing] plaCe an' DEY SAY DE BUZZARDS WENT DERE AT 'ER 'FO' SHE DIED, SHE WUS STINKIN' SO BAD. AN' ATTAH [AFTER] SHE DIED, DE LI'LE SNAKES ALL CRAWLED OUT "ER NOSE AN' OUT 'ER MOUTH.
(You said something about how she got that snake, how she got that.)
[I] said she took - cut de snake head off right at Holt Place an' hung it up de chimley an' let it dry, an' beat it up intuh a powdah. Dat's whut dey say. Ah didn't see it. [This switching of drinks is surely a folktale theme localized; not by inform- ant, but by a predecessor.]
(This happened up in Georgia? Holt, Georgia?)
At de Holt Place.
(Near what town?)
Near Perry, Georgia.
Entry 6616
I know of a man who used to kill snakes and bleed them. He cut them under the throat and let them bleed in a can and he would take that blood and get one drop in anyone's food and that would kill them.[Fredericksburg, Va., (67), happened years before 1936 (date of collecting) near Woodford, Caroline Co., Va.)
Entry 6617
Ketch a small snake 'live an' put 'im in some whiskey - cut 'im an' let de blood, a couple-a drops of blood drop intuh dat whiskey, an' give it tuh a person dat chew wanta have 'em. An' dere. will grow in 'em live snakes, in de person. (How do they get those snakes out?) Well, now, how dey would git de snakes out. Co'se dey would have tuh be got out by some othah person.
Entry 6622
Ah nevah tried it but dey tell me yo' kin take a snake aig. When yo' find a snake aig, break it intuh likkah or somepin. Whutevah a man drinks or a Woman drinks, an' put dat aig in dat likkah. An' if he evah drinks dat likkah dat will cuz a live snake tuh come in 'is body. But whethah it's true or not, ah don't know.
[After I turned off recording machine, informant added lizard.]
(They do the same thing with a lizard egg?)
Yes.
human body as the alleged destination of a live snake after drinking. Retain both nonperformance and uncertainty, without upgrading either to confirmed disbelief or confirmed fact. conditional drinking as the delivery route in an untried snake-egg report. Keep never tried and whether true I do not know with the whole selected claim. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 6623
How tuh put things in a person. Say yo' wanta put a snake intuh a per- son or dese ole red-haid scorpions. Gits dose things. An' kill 'em an' git dere haids off an' den hang 'em. Put 'em on a string an' put 'em somewhere until dey jis' git perfectly dry. An' den take 'em down an' put 'em intuh somepin where dat dust can't git up yore nostrils. Put 'em in.somepin an' beat 'em up, an' den take dat dust an' put it intuh some watah or a person's food. An' let 'em eat or drink 'em an' dat'll create live things in 'em.
Entry 6630
If dey want tuh kill anybody, so ah learnt - dat's how mah fathah wuz killed. Now, dey kin git a snake of any kin' yo' want. Ketch im, yo' know, 'live. An' say yo' take him an' put 'im in de stove an' bake him brown - yo' know, till he's crisp up. An' dey say yo' kin take a li'le bit of dat dust, an' dust it in watah, milk or coffee - anythin' yo' wanta dust it in. An' dey tell me it will kill a person.
Entry 6631
Ah've heard about de way people, yo' know, make live things git inyo', yo' know. Dey tell me dat ef ah kill a serpent, a snake yo' see, an' lay himout, yo' see, an' let 'im dry real dry, yo' see. An' den yo' go git 'im, yo' know, an' grind 'im up yo' see. An' it be jis' kinda lak a powdah, yo' see. An' dey tell me dat yo' could put it in whiskey. An' de person will drink it yo' see, an' dat'll make live snakes come in 'im.
Entry 6632
Ah've heard talk dat chew kin take like a snake or somepin othah like dat. Somebody dat's not 'fraid of a snake. Well, we say - wouldn't say it wus 'is blood, but say dat 'it would be like he's [his] flesh, yo' undahstan', jes' a li'le some of 'im. Jis' like he's killed an' yo' git a chance tuh put dat in 'im [enemy]. Sew dat up an' bake dat in a stove an' den powdah it. Aftah yo' bake it in de stove, powdah it up fine. An' den yo' kin put it in some whiskey or watah or wine.
Entry 6633
Dey say yo' take a snake an' kill 'im. Ah think yo' kill 'im, but any- how yo' dry him up an' make a powder outa dis snake. Well, now, if yore fond of drinkin' whiskey or coffee or anything, dat ah could git dis in fo' yo' tuh drink, why dat will bring live things in yo'. Eithah dey will use a scorpion or eithah a snake, an' dat will make dem things come in yo' 'live.
Entry 6635
Take a snake and kill him and dry him and powder him up. Put it in something you eat or drink. They claim that snake will come alive again.
Entry 6636
I've heard you go to the woods, kill a snake, dry this snake up, beat it up into a powder, and give it to a person in his eats, and in two months time a snake will form in their stomach.
Entry 6648
A rattlesnake, well yo' know he has dose rattles on. Well dey carries a dust. Dere's dust in 'em. An' den yo' know a granddaddy. Well dere's dust in 'im. An' dey mixes it tuhgethah. An' dey tell me dat dey kin rub dat on yo' an' dat makes yo' paralyzed. An' dey take dat grand- daddy laigs or any part of 'is body an' dat creates live granddaddies. Dat's all ah've heard of dat. (You say they mix this dust from the rattlesnake [rattle] an' de granddaddy together?) Yes, it would simply put chure eyes out.
(How would it get into your eyes?)
Well, jis' have it on yore han'ke'chuf [for handkerchief trick, see 6642].
Entry 6654
Take a snake shed, see, most any kinda snake shed, an' beat dat snake- shed up real fine, an' puts it in a 'bacca [tobacco] sack an' go tuh mos' any man. Lak yo' go tuh a person an' yo' don' wanta [do nuthin] kill 'im - mean, he done hurt chew. Well, he take dat snakeshed an' go dere an' put it in 'is coffee, or any meal, or anythin' he kin git it in sompin tuh eat, an' name him, say, "Jim, John" - de one he name he wanta kill.
(Well, what will that snakeshed do to them?)
It'll swell yo' an' keep swellin' yo' till yo' start tuh - snakes start growin' in yo' till yo' die.
Entry 6655
Now, yo' take de blood from a animal - jis' lak if yo' got a stud now an' a person begrudge yore stud or dey wanta git tuh yo' some way 'nothah an' dey can't do it. [Begrudger] say, "Well, ah know whut ah'll do, ah'll kill dis mule." Go tuh work yo' see, an' he'll take de mule an' he'll cut jis' a place - enough on 'im, jis' about tuh git three drops of blood. Dey take dat blood den an' dey'll 中 carry it home an' dey'll take some of heah - jis' take a snake shed an' pound 'it up an' put it in dat blood. Well, aftah dey put it in dat blood, dey'll take it an' carry it tuh yore trough, yore watah trough an' put it in de trough. Well, now dat'll create any kinda germ in 'im an' he'll soon die.
(If the animal drinks this water.)
Yes sir.
Entry 6656
Whilst doin' dat, somebody gota go tuh de country an' git a he an' a she moccasin snake.
(Moccasin snake?)
Moccasin snake an' lays 'em head tuh tails, puts 'em down undah - buries 'em in de north cornah.
(North corner of what?)
Of de fence - right down undah de fence, undah a sill lak dis an' den...:
(Do they bury this under a sill or under a fence out in the yard?)
Out in de yard. It's nobody dat knows it dere but dem. It lays dere nine mawnin's an' dey'll begin to molt. Yo' go dere de nex' nine mawnin's an' turn 'em ovah, an' let 'em lay dere anothah nine mawnin's. After dat is ovah, dem nine maw- nin's, evah time dey touch 'em dey makes a oath. Dey goes dere den an' gits de snakes an' cuts de head off an' puts dem heads tuhgethah an' put 'em up ovah de do'sill an' let 'em dry - make an oath - lay 'em up there an' let 'em dry. Then they gets dry good, they crumbles them up right fine an' gets a powder - beats 'em up fine. Then they take 'em an' put 'em in a bag. Well, enybody they want, they go an' gets de dust of de snake head an' sprinkle it in whatever they gives 'em - they gives a party of some kind, an' they wants to go tuh, they gives it to 'em in somethin' to drink.
(What will that do to them then?)
Kill'em. [Richmond, Va., (?), 380:2. A similar method for killing with graveyard dirt is given by same informant in 300: l&3.]
Entry 6660
Sleepin' on a feathah mattress. Yo' kin take snake eggs an' put 'em in a chicken - [I mean] in a mattress where de feathahs is, yo' undahstan'. An' dem feathahs goin' birth dem eggs. Yo' undahstan'. See, dey got li'le bits of eggs an' dey'll birth dem eggs. An dem feathahs birth dem eggs. An' long as dem - aftah dem eggs hatched, dem snakes'll be in dere, yo' undahstan'. An' yo' sleep on dere an' it'll dry yo' up, jis' lak if yo' had consumption. An' yore lungs will be jis'as solid as dey is right now. [Solid lungs right now I do not understand.]
Entry 7176
Yo' know de time de snake's sheddin', yo' know, well yo' kin take an' use his shed an' grind it up into powdahs - right fine powdah-lak dust an' sprinkle it roun' in yore hat. He'll jis' make yo' sleep all de time.
Entry 7229
My grandmother lived across the road from my father and mother, and they found this old woman [Millie, the Witch] burying things under my father's house. And my grand- mother saw her doing it and she went over, and she must of got it, for she got sick and she stayed sick for six months. And someone told my father about a man. They called him a hoodoo doctor I think. Be went to see my grandmother and he told her Millie had planted something under my father's house. He went and dug under the house and found something in a little bag. The bag was about two inches square. My father said it had a draw string. She called it powder, some called it roots. It must grow somewhere. It looked like snuff. Then he fixed some medicine for my grandmother. It was liquid. And real snakes came out of her. [This happened near Gaston, N. Car., in 1890, and concerns the witch previously mentioned in rite No.l, p.1, from informant Julia, collected by hand,1936, in New York City. Did her parents use the term hoodoo doctor as early as 1890? Julia undoubtedly picked up the expression at a much later date.]
Entry 12004
If you put hair and snake blood in a bottle and add wine, it will poison the person who drinks it. [Baltimore, but information from Charlotte Co., Va., 60:1.]
Entry 12177
Yo' kin take a horsehair an' take it an' put it in a bottle of watah an' let it stay fo' a couple of weeks, an' she'll turn to a live little snake. fFlorence, S. Car., (1310), 2220:3.]
Entry 13096
They take that bow outa your hat and burn it up in ashes, burn it in a plate and get the ashes, and then take some snake's head, any kind of snake's head, and just powder it up together, and put that in your hatband, and when you sueat, why that just run down, you know, in your forehead, and it finally get in your eyes and you go blind.
Entry 13097
Jes' lak dere lotsa stuff we got down heah [in this part of the country] eah now. Yo' call dese rattlesnakes, ah guess yo' know whut dey are. Jes take de head of dem an' powdah it up, an' even ah could send it tuh yo' in a lettah, an' time yo' open de lettah, soon as it hit yore eyeballs, yo' lose yore sight. Dat's whut dey do tuh blind people - rattlesnake dust. Yo' nevah vill receive yore sight any mo'.
Entry 13102
Well, yo' see a snake. Well yo' git de shed of a snake, when he shed it, an' jes' pound dat shed up. Beat it up fine an' take an' sprinkle it in yore [victim's] hat, in de rim of y re [his] hat.
(Sprinkle it under the hatband - under the sweatband?)
Yes, right round in dere. Put it where he kin git it an' it will run him jes' as blind as... [a bat or something else].
Entry 13105
Dey put dust in your hat so you'll go blind. Accordin' you'll lose your hair. (What would they do? How would they use the dust that way? Have you any idea?) Well, they'll go ahead and, you know, dere's somepin dey calls dragon's blood dat you get from de drug store. You kin get dat ole dragon's blood from de drug store. You kin get dat ole dra- gon's blood from de drug store and you sprinkle it on de inside of your hat, an' a little small piece of dis ole snake's shed. Or place it in de binding of your cap or hat, somepin like dat. And when you begin to sweat den de effect will take on you, sometimes you'll go blind from it an' you taken wit de headache.
(It runs down into your eyes?)
Dat's de idea and cause you to go blind and you are taken wit de headache.
Entry 13110
Dry a rattlesnake head, powder it, sprinkle the dust in the 4 corners of a house, and it will cause confusion between man and wife. [Charleston 623:10.]
Entry 13111
If a person rubs a snake shed in the seams of a person's clothes, 'he stay chilly all de time jes' like dat snake. [Mobile 959:6.]
Entry 13113
If someone sprinkles snake dust in your shoes, in 9 days your feet will swell and you can't walk. [Norfolk 515:3.]
Entry 13116
Kill a snake, he has one straight bone in him under his ribs, let dry, powder; give to anyone in water he comes alive in 18 days, in whiskey in 7 days.
Entry 13118
Dey says dat yo' kin take dat blood from snake an' put it in whiskey an' cause live things, yo' know, tuh be inside of anyone. [Fayetteville 2535:15.]
Entry 13121
Beat up a dried rattlesnake head to a dust and scatter this in a dusty road your enemy walks. This dust will blow up into his eyes or get into some way and blind him. [Wilmington 225:1+85.]
Entry 13122
The dust from a snake shed or liquid dust sent to a person in a let- ter will blind him. [Richmond 300:7.]
Entry 13124
On receiving a letter, burn the handwriting and put in envelope, add rattlesnake powder, and mail back to person. Opening this letter will blind the person. [Charleston 556:4.]
Entry 13127
Pound up a snake shed, especially that of a rattlesnake, and put this in a person's hat to blind him. [Wilmington 102:6+85.]
Entry 13129
If you mix rattlesnake-shed powder with graveyard dirt and put it in person's hat, he or she will never get over headaches unless hat is undressed.
[The latter word heard only several times.] [Mobile 875:8.]
Entry 1541
I heard of a lady - she wusn't none of mah people - an' she got tricked choo see by a snake. And they said this woman had got some ole snake sheds, joo know, an' throwed it into her water bucket. An' she drank water off it an' that create snakes in her flesh. Well, she goes to someone an' they tole her about it - told her whut it wus, an' told whut to get to cure her. An' she went an' got it. She told her to get three pieces of silver money - fifty cents, twenty- five cent, an' ten cent, an' some silkroot an' boil it. Put it in a quart of water an' boil it down to a pint an', you know, jis' keep doin' that an' drink off it. An' that cured it.
Entry 1570
Yo' take sulphur an' black gunshell powder an' yo' put dem in a bottle, a pint bottle of watah, an' drink dat watah till yo' draw dat up. If dere snakes or anything live into you, take dat gunpowder an' kill all of it.
Entry 13295
Yeah, jes' lak if yo' wanted tuh poison anybody. Jes' lak now, it lak dis, if yo' wanted tuh poison anybody yo' kin put 9 turtles in 'em. Yo' git 9 drops of dis turtle blood - or even 9 drops of snake's blood - of dis tur- tle befo' it die; after yo' kill it yo' know, whilst it warm. An' yo' put dat in whiskey - in a half pint of whiskey an' dey drink it. Dey'll [be] 9 of dem [live turtles in them] in 9 day's time.
Entries from source headings
These entries are listed under the following headings in the source volume:
- Snake — Volume 1, entries 239–250. Source context: SPIRITS → SPIRITS AND ANIMALS.
- Snake — Volume 1, entries 620. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → DIAGNOSIS.
- A Snake Trick — Volume 1, entries 794. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → Tricks.
- At 1 P.M. See Snakes Running — Volume 1, entries 932. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → TIME AND HOODOO SPELL → Time (1) Psychological.
- Snake — Volume 1, entries 1564. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → FOLK MEDICINE → CURE AND PROTECTION.
- SNAKE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME — Volume 4, entries 6597. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → FOLK MEDICINE → LIVE THINGS IN YOU.
- PUTTING SNAKE IN PERSON CALLED A TRICK — Volume 4, entries 6600. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → FOLK MEDICINE → LIVE THINGS IN YOU.
- YO' COULD SEE DE SNAKES — Volume 4, entries 6603. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → FOLK MEDICINE → LIVE THINGS IN YOU.
- WOOD SAWYER - SNAKE - FROG; 3 LIVE THINGS AT SAME TIME — Volume 4, entries 6681. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → FOLK MEDICINE → LIVE THINGS IN YOU.
- BUTTERFLY FLEW ABOUT JUDGE IN COURTROOM; OUTSIDE SNAKES CRAWLED ON THE WIRES; BOTH SENT BY ROOTMAN WORKING ON CASE — Volume 4, entries 8998. Source context: ADDITIONAL RITES AND BELIEFS → COURT CASES.
- SNAKES - TO KEEP THEM FROM EATING BIDDIES; BOIL HEN'S EGG AND PUT IN THE NEST — Volume 4, entries 9372. Source context: ADDITIONAL RITES AND BELIEFS → THE AMAZING CHICKEN EGG.
- TO REMOVE LIVE LIZARD OR SNAKE OR FROG FROM PATIENT; WITH A NEW FILE SMOOTH MILLED EDGES OF SILVER COIN; ADMINISTER EDGES IN FOOD OR DRINK - STERILIZE COIN — Volume 5, entries 12988. Source context: "CHANNEL DE WORLD".
- KILL AND DRY A SNAKE TO ASHES - PUT IN BOTTLE; BLOW CIGARETTE SMOKE INTO BOTTLE - STOP UP - EVERY; TIME YOU OPEN BOTTLE - LITTLE SNAKE [OF SMOKE? COMES; OUT - WEAR IN POCKET UPSIDE DOWN AND ASK FOR A JOB — Volume 5, entries 13077. Source context: "CHANNEL DE WORLD".
- SNAKES 5 IN A BOTTLE - ROOT DOCTOR HANDLES THIS CASE — Volume 5, entries 13076. Source context: "CHANNEL DE WORLD".
Entry 239
There was a woman that died - the night before she died, we was crossing Gilmore and Moore Street, going to church and her snake got away.
(Her snake?) Her snake got away from her. (Did she have a snake?)
Yes, kept two snakes in de house - say she could send 'em anywhere/ she wanted to.
(Oh, I see.)
And those snakes got away and come out and one run down de culver' [one ran into a culvert and was lost] and a man killed one, and when the one he killed - when he killed that snake she drahpped [dropped] sick in de chair. So I went around next morning to see her and she made me open de drawers. I was about twenty-nine years old then. And she had a drawer on side of de wall there - settin' up in a rack - and she made me open that drawer and pull out about half a dozen socks, tied in a knot in the middle and pins were up in de toes. And then she had pieces belongs to diff'rent women, and one of the women that the pieces belonged to lived right up in the square, and she got that when she give birth to a baby, and she was ridden down, but she didn't die till recently because somebody - they cleaned the place up and burnt up all them rags. She had rags - she had hair - she had pieces cut out the seat of a person's pants - oh, she had everything, in a jar about that tall. (Well, why did she die when these snakes were killed - what did she say about that?) [He doesn't understand me. He would have, had he known the answer.] She takes the snakes - she say she could take them snakes and. make 'em go anywhere she wanted 'em and sprinkle the dust.
(Well, that's what she did - but she died when those snakes were killed?)
She died - well, they say that that was all her company. [He almost has the answer. She and the snakes are really one spirit; her life being magically bound up with the lives of the snakes.]
(Well now, this woman you say, that was going to have a baby or something?)
She had a baby. And she paid five dollars for somebody to get one of her sanitary pieces and she had that stopped up there in a box.
(Trying to harm her or something?)
Harm her, which she did harm her. Whatever she did, now, I didn't know; but whatever she did it jest rid her down.
Entry 240
These two brother had get married. An' so one of the brother wife got sick, an' so he thought he would get his sister-in-law to vait on 'er. An' So ev'ry time she seem like she wus gettin' a little bettah, they would try to do somepin else to 'er. It seemed like a snake - they had a snake up in the loft [of the sick woman's cabin]. An' so one day she [the nurse] vent home to git huh husband dinnah, an' so this snake he come down while she wus 'vay [away]. An' so aftah the snake come down, he [the patient's husband] killed the snake. An' she [the nurse] come runnin' an' hollerin' an' tole 'im that he would kill 'er. An' so, fin'lly, she [the nurse] died. An' the woman whut they had been hurtin' by this snake, she lived a good while - but aftah while she did die.
Entry 241
Once upon a time a lady brought a friend of her a pot of rice and tomatoes, and the neighbor, not wanting to eat it, she gave it to her little girl. And the little girl ate some of it and it made her sick. After that the little girl would always go out into the woods to drink her milk. Her parents didn't know what the child was doing with this milk. Later her brother followed her to find out what was happening with this milk and he found the little girl Was giving this milk to a snake. Her brother told her father. Her father and the neighbors set out to find the snake. After they found the snake and killed it, the little girl passed away. [For snake eating or drinking child's food, see FACI,2ed., pp.62-63, Nos.1571-1573.] [New York City, (?), 370A:1; near Charleston, S. Car.,1922.1
Entry 242
If people keep coming there and you don't want 'em there, well, you kin go to a hoodoo. Miss Young, this lady I know.
(You go to Miss Young, you say?)
Yes.
(What does she do, you say?) [I am asking him to repeat.]
Say, she sit you down and have a long snake. Well, dis isn't much about it what I know about it. See, that snake have - talk like a human, and she say [to the snake], "What he ask you, you tell it to him." And so then she give you a little bag. And she say, "You go there and whilst they setting down, ' say, "you just take this little powder out of this and just sprinkle on their back behind." And she say, "They'll stay away from your house." (You said, when you go to see this Miss Young, you see a snake - you say a large snake?) Yes, a large snake.
(Well now, a large or a live one?)
A large and a live one - he's large and he's alive.
(And you say that snake talks?)
Yes sir.
(What did he talk about?)
Well, they never told me that.
(You said, it told you [not my informant] what to do.)
Whatever you tell - whatever that snake tell you, you tell dem.
(Tell whom?)
Tell de people you wanta stay away from your house.
(I see.)
[The client asks Miss Young's snake a question. The snake answers. Ventril- oquism? I doubt it. The snake talks into Miss Young's ear and she repeats what the snake says to her. A good example of the routine will be found under the margin-title Earphone in subsection Diagnosis.]
Entry 243
That's what she told me [this woman who had gone down to New Orleans to consult Madam (Somebody).]
(What did she have - a snake, you say?)
A big snake, and they say that she'd meet you at the door and turn you in that room. And she would go on out and directly that big snake come crawling out. And they say, if you didn't get frightened and could stand that snake - and she'd come back after awhile. And that snake would just crawl and look at you. I know - I heard. (She has a fit of laughing [comment by transcriber].) A man told me that he went after a gambling hand and he say, he got that hand and he just won money, and she [preceding Madam] didn't trust him. "Now, you ain't got the money [to pay me now]." Say, "When you make your first $200, you send me $100," and he didn't do it. And he just make money hand over fist and say, after about six months he was taken deathly sick. And they couldn't do nothing with him - he stayed here in the city [Vicksburg] - and they sent him down to New Orleans [seeking a cure]. And he say, one day she came in the room, Madam [Somebody], and sit down at his bedside and says, "Do you remember you came down to a woman at such-and-such a time about six months ago?" He said, "Yes." "And you know what you promised her?" 'Yes." "And didn't you have luck?" "Yes." And he said he cried and carried on, told her to release him. She say, "That's cause you are thief. I'll release you and God knows what you do then." So she released him, say, "I'm going to let you get well this time, and now, you send me $200." And he say when he went back he made it and he sent her $200.
Entry 244
If a person is possessed of certain spells, they have a peculiar treatment for them. In fact, my uncle told me this story. He told me that he went down to South Carolina with a man several years ago and he said this man Was possessed with a certain spell, a spell that would worry him. I think he couldn't eat and he couldn't - he was erristable all the time, couldn't hardly keep still. And so he went to some doctor who deals with serpents. And he took this serpent and he asked him, he told this man rather, to take hold of this serpent. So he took hold of the serpent. The serpent was stretched out across the top of the ceiling - near the ceiling, rather, he had a rack full of 'em. It looked similar to a fish[ingl pole I should have said. And so he took a hold of this pole, he said - and he thought it was a fish pole, so he told me. And so after having grasped this fish pole, seeming it was a fish pole, why this fish pole turned into a serpent. Well, this man became frightened and he began to scream. And after having screamed for a long time, why this man spoke to this serpent. And it curled back and went back up to this rack and became a pole again. And so this man walked on out and he charged him five dollars. But he said he never had no more trouble with that spell.
Entry 245
(All right - suppose you tell me that?)
See, year before last, I had a fence round my house and I had vent cross to the store, and when I come back and I put my hand on the gate. Well something hit me in that finger [demonstrates] just like it was a - had stuck it with a pin or something.
(The little finger of the left hand.)
The little finger. So, I didn't pay no attention, and the next day I looked on my arm, right along up there and it was a long black mark like that and like a cross. Well, when I seen it, I know it was something wrong. Well, I got up and went got me some of this fish brine; you know, what come off a mackerel fish. I put me some saltpeter in it and I put me some salt in it and heated it, and I put some soda in it - heated it right hot and I bathed in it. Well, then after I bathed it, in a day or so it was gone off - I bathed it but once or twice, but- it left a little sign of it there. So I went to a kind of a fortune teller woman when I was here in town and she told me just what I used was the right thing. Well, I told her I sure was glad, I didn't know that because, I said, if anything else happened to me I'd know exactly what to do. So she told me that it was where somebody had had a painted snake and dressed my gate with it.
(What kind of a snake?)
A painted - some kind of a painted snake.
(A painted snake?)
Yes sir.
(Well, what do you mean - was it a live snake? What kind of a snake?)
I guess it was. And they must have painted him with something what they had, and just laid it on the gate, and I caught it on my hand and arm.
(You mean they painted the paint on the snake?)
Yes sir - some kind of old poison stuff. See. And see, when I went to the gate and caught holt of it, it got on my hand. (I see.) [This snake was dressed with a poison and sent out to smear it on the gate.]
Entry 246
When I was five years old, my mother got hurt in her knee and she called the hoodoo, and my grandfather - was living at that time. And her knee came to be swelled larger than my head, and my grandfather had taken this mackerel fish brine and he'd taken a nickel's worth of Brown Mule tobacco - puts it in a quart of water and boiled it down to a pint, and he'd taken red peppah and put in there and vinegar, and he continued to rub and rub her knee with that until she got rid of it.
(Can you tell me how she got hurt down there?)
Well, she told me that she - it was a mark across the road, you know, and she stepped cross this mark and when she stepped cross this mark, not thinkin', the pain struck her in her knee.
(What kind of a mark was it, do you know?)
Just like you would - she said, just like a snake would cross the road, she say, that's the way the mark look to be. [Either her enemy drew a zigzag mark across the road - intended for the victim only - or her hoodoo man sent a dressed snake to do the work. Had she crossed a normal snake track, she would not have had the pain. The zigzag track of a snake across path or road - zigzag being a lightning symbol - is a sign of rain; see FACI,2ed., p.20, Nos. 535-537. No wonder, "when she stepped cross this mark... the pain struck her in her knee."]
(I see, I see. How many years ago did that happen?)
That happened when I was five years old and now I'm forty-three - will be forty-four on my next birthday.
(About forty years ago. I see. Where did this happen, around here?)
Out chere about eighteen miles from here.
(About eighteen miles from Vicksburg?)
Yes sir.
Entry 247
I got in a little trouble in 1912, for cutting a fellow, and a lady over in South Richmond, by the name of Mrs. Bright, she told me, she says, "Now" when I went over there she says - she told me my name, the first thing. She told me what I was in trouble about and all that. She says, "Now," says, "now, I will tell you what you do, '' say, "you bring me five brand new one-dollar bills the day of your trial, and a brand new pocket handkerchief, and wear a black hat," she says, "and I will tell you just what the judge is gon'a do with you." And in each corner of the room - she had a black snake in this corner and a black pne in that corner.
(In opposite corners?)
In the opposite corners, and each one of 'em came and put their heads - each head on each one of my legs and ah kinda got frightened. She says, "Don't bother, they won't hurt you." So they laid there. Then she read the cards. She said to me, she said, You are in trouble for cuttin'a man." She says, "You cut this man about a girl." She says, "The man's name is Rueben Johnson and the girls name is Hazel Taylor." She says, Now, the man that arrested you is named Mr. Fred Kringle"-he's a detective on the Richmond City Police Depart- ment. I says, That's right." She says, Well, all right, on the day of your trial you come back." Well, I was running a cleaning and pressing shop at that time at Mayo and Franklin. So on the day of my trial, I carried her five brand new one-dollar bills and I carried her a brand new pocket handkerchief, and I bought me a black hat, and I went over there, and she was running the cards around - she didn't tell me anything. She'd taken my hat and this handkerchief and those five one- dollar bills and went out and carried one of these snakes. The other one stayed in there, but he crawled up under my chair and curled right up under de chair and stayed there until she returned. When she returned she gave me the hat and the handkerchief but not the money. She says, "Now," says, "you go on to court." Says, "When you get to court, just pull off your hat"-which you have to do - "and wipe your face with this hand- kerchief as often as possible, and get as close to the front of the judge as you possibly can." Says, "There's nobody goin' be in court but you, the judge, and the prosecutor, and the clerk of the court." Says, "The judge is going to try you without the defendants being there," said, "they going to fine you $lo and costs which will be $18.97." Say, "You pay that and when you start down the steps, you'll meet the defendants and the detectives coming up the steps," said, "but you'll be tried it'll be too late." Just as she said just as it happened. There was no one in court but just she said, and I goes sittin' direct in front of the judge. I used this hand- kerchief constantly. See. And so the judge didn't call no other case but mine own, and so the judge says, "Well," says, "nobody here to prosecute it, so I'll just fine him ten dollars." So I paid eighteen dollars and something and walked on out of court.
Entry 248
(You go to the root man and get this bag [hand] from him, and then what does he say to the man?) He be there. He won't be there only if his work be there - that snake, a big rattlesnake. See, it gets down right in de front [of the courtroom]. And when you go dere and when dat gentleman talk, de snake stare in your face; and while the judge talking, de snake jes' licking his tongue. "Well, gentlemens, it's up to you - go upstairs and bring him down, guilty or not guilty." And when dey come back down, he not guilty. By dat snake, you see.
(How does that snake get into the courtroom?)
Aw, he get through a little crack anywhere.
(How does that root doctor get that snake there?)
He send it by de air.
Entry 249
Ah haven't heard 'em say nuthin' much about it, but ah has understandin' in dis way. Ah've been travelin' wit roots purtty good fo' awhile [for a pretty good while]. Ah'm twenty-eight years old an' ah had about eighteen years in it. See. An' ah went tuh a root man an' he explained it tuh me in dis way: Jes'if yo'wanta have luck yo' kin tote some de roots, dey say, "De Lawd is mah green pasture - -ah shall not want. He'p me to de green pasture." An' walk around de house three times befo' goin' tuh bed. Seven steps from de do' walk in back- wards, an' den he give de stuff to rub ovah yo' - yore han's, an' den yo' go to bed. De next mornin' yo' go roun' one time - dat's fo' luck.
[I did not record his story; now I want him to repeat it.]
(What kind of luck?)
Well, fo'gambling.
(You went to this fellow to get this luck?)
Ah went tuh him fo' two kinda lucks. Ah went to him fo' gamblin' an' ah went to him 'cause ah wus runnin' a business.
(This is what he did for you - told you what to do?)
Yes sir.
[Cylinder changed - I talk while changing.]
(You went to this root man for luck in gambling and luck in business. Now, just what did he do when you went there? Tell me the whole story.) When ah went dere, it was a good while befo' ah could see 'im, an' after ah went in an' tole mah position an' tole him whut ah needed an' everythin', he grabbed me in de pam of mah hand an' when he grabbed me in de pam of mah han' he tole - tole me de history of mah life an' tole me whut kind of shape ah was in - whut wus gon'a come an' whut was gon'a be happen, an' he say it'd [it would] take twenty dollahs tuh stop it. So after ah paid him, he fixed up de little bag of roots an' give 'em tuh me, an' ah left. An'befo' ah left he wrote me a story tuh tell [Psalm 23?] an' so after ah left den, he wrote me den fo' tuh come back up dere an' ah went back up dere an' ah tole him dat de officers wus givin' me right smart of trouble. An' he tole me, said, "Well, it will cost yo' eight dollahs to stop it." An' he wrapped me up a bag of dat tuh stop de officers, an' dey did stop. Dey stopped botherin' me any atall, after ah used it, an' he tole me how to use it. Drink three glasses of watah.
(Well now, wait a minute - the story. I want to straighten it out.)
The whole limit [?] of it?
(That's right.)
Well, mah uncle come from Florida an' he wus goin' down dere an' he tole me, said, "Come on, git in de car an' let's go down dere." So ah went down dere wit 'im. He went in dere first an' he give me twenty dollahs tuh go in dere. So after [afterward], ah went in dere an' explained it to de fellah an' he explain it back tuh me 'bout how much it cost.'Well," he say, "yo' be fixed up an' ah guarantee it - if yo' don't, yo' git chure money back." So after he [doctor] went in dere, him an' his wife fix up de stuff, a snake - whut ah mean, he brung a cup in dere but it turn into a snake an' it crawled through mah han'. An' he said, "Don't git nervous - if yo' do, it won't work so good." An' after ah did it, did whut he say, ah wus a little nervous; but ah kinda changed it when he brung de second snake in, an' ah got brave an' ah left. So dat worked pretty good. (Forget what you told me before. I want to begin right at the beginning and tell the whole thing. I don't know a thing about it, now. Now, tell me right from the beginning, all the details, the whole story. First, why did you go down to see this man? Tell me from there.) ['My voice a little exasperated" - this is my notation when I listened to the cylinder to check the transcriber's tran- scription.] Well, ah wus in bad luck, an' mah uncle come by an' ah told him 'bout it. An' he say, "Well, ah'm goin' tuh see a man to he'p me out on mah bolito in Florida. An' us went down dere an' after us got to de man, he [uncle] went in first. An' he give me twenty dollahs fo' me tuh go in. An' ah went in dere an' den de man commenced tuh workin' on me an' tole me how much he would charge. An' after he tole me how much he charge an' ah tole him it would be all right, he got de Bible an'read a verse in it. An' he went back an' got his wife. She brung a cup in dere an' it turnt into a snake or de snake wus in de cup. De snake crawled through mah han' an' he tole me not to git nervous. Well, ah did got nervous.
(Why did he tell you not to get nervous?)
Well, he said it wouldn't work, if ah got nervous - dat it wouldn't work. So de second time ah did not git nervous of de snake. So he fixed up fo' de gambling an' ah come on out.
(What did he give you?)
He give me a little root - a little bag full.
(Well, didn't he tell you how to use this stuff - or something?)
Yes sir.
(Well, tell me what you told me before - how you were to use this stuff.)
Well, yo' take it an' yo' walk around de house three times, walk seven steps away from de steps an' walk in backwards an' go in an' lay down. De next mawnin' vo' hol' a quarter up to de sun or a dollah - either one, it don't make not much diff'rent. An' after you hold dat quarter up dere yo' say, "Lawd he'p me through de green pastur [pasture]." An' after yo' say dat, yo' walk around de house one time - yo' say, "Lawd is mah shepherd, ah shall not want." Den run yore han' an' take some of dat stuff - yo' put it [the root bag] in whiskey [this is feeding the hand] an' den yo' rub it ovah yore face, yore arms. An' dat's for de luck in gamb ling.
(Then what happened - you said you went back the second time?)
Yes sir.
(What happened - you had a little trouble again?)
Yes sir - de polices wus givin' me trouble 'bout selling whiskey an' gambling. Well, ah went to him de second time an' ah told him. He wrote to me an' ah wrote him dat ah would be up dere on a Wednesday. Ah went up dere on a Wednesday an he tole me - ah tole him dat ah wus havin' bad luck from de polices runnin' me an' getting me fo' whiskey. An' he say, "Well, ah got a idea fo' dat." An' so ah went on in den - went in dis little room an' he got a room to tell yo' every diff'rent thing in. So ah went in one room an' ah tole him how de polices did tuh ketch me, an' so he tole me, say, "Well, it take eight dollahs to stop it." An' after he tole me it would take eight dollahs to stop it ah paid him, an' he give me a little hand to tote in mah right pocket all de time, an' when de polices - during de time dey supposed to travel dat beat, jes' roll mah jomoo an' dey'd pass on by. Well, ah tried it an' it worked. So ah left.
Entry 250
Ah had a cousin dat wus hurt like dat - mah first experience to it. They taken some of her hair an' dey put it in de back of a frog, an' her finger- nails an' toenails, an' they got that frog an' put him into a 'bacco sack an' dey put a piece of frog bread - dere's de stuff whut chew call frog bread.
(Frog bread - what is that?)
It's somethin' grows in de woods - jest comes up jest like a sprout. Yo' ever seen celery grow? Well, yo' know how when celery come up outa de ground it's right white. Well, dat's de way dat frog bread comes up but it spreads yo' know, as it gits up outa de ground - it spread kind round like a parasol [a mushroom, always called toadstool in folklore]. Dey put a portion of dat in dat. An' afterward dey taken dat frog to mah cousin house an' dey sewed it up in de bed mattress an' dey had some pins in dat frog - [pins in dat] frog bread, tacked down. An' as dat frog - after it got in action - after dey sewed dis up in mah cousin bed - dis frog de longer it go - after it was fixed - an' as dis frog would Jump, she would fits right after one another. An' she wus jest wizlin' away to nothin'. Well, we could take her 'way from home, we could take her 'way from there an' she would git along pretty well, an' we thought she wus well enough to take back home; we'd taken her back dere an' no quicker'n she hit dat bed, she begin havin' dose fits. Dere wus a ole doctor, Mr. Marlborough.
(White or colored?)
Colored - we'd taken her tuh him. So he sont us back an' he tole her he'd be to her house de next day. Well, on de same day dat he promised us dat he would be dere, he wus dere on de noonsday hour. He goes [in] dere - he wouldn't let her see him take it out - he'd taken mah mother an' aunt an' also her husband. He went into de mattress an' he cut dat frog outa dere which dey had - dey says dey had examined it but dey refused [failed] tuh find [anything] but he went in dere an' seem to let 'em see it. So he bring it from de middle room back tuh where mah mother lived an' he'd taken it out an' he cut dat sack open an' out come de [live] frog: He tole us, says - before he ever did it - he said, "When ah open dis sack - de direction dat de ones who done it, dat direction dat dis frog gon'a try tuh go." An' sure 'nuff jest lak he did - it wus true. So he'd taken it out an' [there was] stuck in dere bluestone, stuff de color of graveyard dirt, her hair, fingernails an' all - I'll never forgit it - he po'red it down in de yard. An' he said, "Now, when ah burn dis stuff, when ah say, "strike a match to it, '" say, "hit gon'a burn like fire in all colors it gon'a be." Ah nevah see nuthin' like it befo' or since. He said, "It gon'a be a snake come heah an' dis snake he is gon'a venture to bit her" - a great long black one. He sot dat stuff afire an' it wus a long blacksnake come runnin' up an' he did his best tuh make it tuh her but he kilt it - ah reckon he jest didn't even know whut he wus doin' an' he kilt it. So he burnt dat up. He say, "In three days' time from dis day, de ones who done it, dey will leave outen de roof of dat house." De ole lady name Charlotte an' her daughter wus named Mamie, an' dey would be wanderin' from place tuh place. Course ah nevah - ah wus young den - ah nevah did learn how he done it, understand - dey have been wandering. But ah do - ah take a man oath - ah know dat's true.
Source passage
continuous interview · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
editorial speaker label; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4493
MIFFIN
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4493
This is about two good frien's. An' mah cousin sta'ted co'tin'
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4493
[started courting]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4493
this lady's husban'. An' this lady fin' out tuo ont's later tha' she
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4493
[cousin]
informant · Current interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4493
wus co'tin"er husban' an' she had dis spell put on 'er. An de spell wus dese snakes an' some othah insex. Dat whut de doctor says.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4493
(How many years ago did this happen?)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4493
Ooooh, Miz Carrie been dead - been about six yeahs now. No, it hasn't...yeah, about six.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(I see. Where did this happen, by the way?)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
This happen in Savannah, Georgia.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(Oh, in Savannah, Georgia.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
She came down
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
[to Florida]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
when she got sick. Dey sent 'er down here to see 'er brothah.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(I see.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
Den 'er brothah taken 'er from here to a root doctor.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(Where did he go to, do you know?)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
I don't know where dey went - some part o' Florida.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(Some part of Florida.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
Uh huh. An' this main
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
[man]
informant · Current interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
worked on 'er an' she went back 3 or 4 times an' dey got some snakes an' a lotta insex. An' 'er skin it turnt as black as de snake, as rough as de snake hide. An' all 'er hair, bald, completely bald.
editorial recording or production note; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
[Children can be heard in background.]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
An' den she got so desp'rate an' less den two mont's time she died.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(I see.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
But dey did git dese snakes an' things out, 'cause her brothah brought de jars back wid dese things, yo' know, in it.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(I see. Then what happened to the woman who put this...)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
Well, de woman taken sick two mont's later an' she died.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(Now this is the woman who put this spell on this other woman?)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
Uh huh. She got sick an' died sho'tly aftah mah cousin Carrie died.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(I see. Well when the brother took this woman there - this woman was your cousin wasn't she?)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
Uh huh.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(When he took her there, did the root doctor say anything when she came in or what?)
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
[
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
What some doctors say on first seeing you can be interesting: see CONSULTA- TION TECHNIQUE, pp.307-321, v.1.1
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
Well she went back 2 or 3 times an' he had to keep workin' on 'er. Yo' know, to try to git it all out of 'er. But when they fin'ly didn' git it all out of 'er she had turnt so black an' it had poisoned her through an' through. An' so he tol' 'er he couldn't do her any mo' good an' she died sho'tly aftah.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(I see. And what did you say about her skin?)
informant · Current interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
Her skin turnt as black an' rough, jis' like a snake. He said she had some- thin' like snakes, somethin' out of a poison snake into her system.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(I see.)
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(Who turned the spell back on the woman?)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
My cousin
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
[husband of cousin, Carrie]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
did, he had it turnt back on 'er.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(Did the same root doctor do that or...)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
No, not de same one, but de one she wus goin' to down here gave her de stuff dey put back on 'er up dere.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(Oh, I see.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
She had to go back to Savannah but after dey taken her back up to Savannah, dey brought 'er back down here an' she got so sick an' den dey took 'er from here back up to dere an' she died.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(I see.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
But now de woman did confess dat she had 'er fixed by
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
[for]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
botherin' wid 'er husban' - bein' a good frien' to 'er now, she confessed dat.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
(I see.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 5, p. 4494
Yes, she did.
Nested source context: reported doctor treatment and statement · Vol. 5, p. 4494
Well she went back 2 or 3 times an' he had to keep workin' on 'er. Yo' know, to try to git it all out of 'er. But when they fin'ly didn' git it all out of 'er she had turnt so black an' it had poisoned her through an' through. An' so he tol' 'er he couldn't do her any mo' good an' she died sho'tly aftah.
locally coherent subpassage
The editorial comment on printed page 4494 has an unclear closing mark. The following answer belongs to the interviewee.
Miffin’s self-correction about six years remains unresolved.
Doctor diagnoses, cousin relationships, return of the spell and confession are narrated claims, not additional live voices or established facts.
The editorial CONSULTATION TECHNIQUE bracket retains its printed closing glyph.
Children heard in the background are recording context, not participating testimony.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 5, p. 4492 · Vol. 5, p. 4493 · Vol. 5, p. 4494 · Vol. 5, p. 4495 · Vol. 5, p. 4496
Source passage
continuous interview or recording context · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1389
The nature of me picking it on out
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1389
[how I learned hoodoo]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1389
- I was holding a position and to the position I was holding there was an old man, and my sisters, all of 'em, was scared of him. Well, I did all his readin' and writin' fer him.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1389
[Compare this with how Zorro began his career with Mysterious Parker - p.1166, line 38f.]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1389
So, during the period of time he
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1389
[did so many things]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1389
like that I didn't know, the old man he had so much diff'rent magic he could
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1389
[do]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1389
. So the first thing he would do, he would take my hat - take my hat and spit in it and tell me to go out on de corner. I'd go out on de corner and I'd tip to some young girl. Now, the girl may be going to the store for her people or some- thing. When she come back I could have an interview with her. And when I'd have my interview, her people could never keep her away from me. As in a period of time - he died somewheres in 1918.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1389
(What do you mean by interview with a lady?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1389
Had to go right home to do conversation with her - never seed her before.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1390
(At her home?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1390
To her home - right dere at her home. She would invite me. The way she talked - I'd tell her - she'd tell me to come in in the presence of her people. I met her just like that - meet her on the corner there and tipped my hat. Then off from that time she'd never be satisfied. This old man - his name was - I never learned any more - his name was Uncle Charlie Jackson.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1390
(Where did he come from by the way? What part of the country did he come from?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1390
Oh, he was down in Alabama. And he had three very large snakes. And if a person would come to him for to kill a person, the largest snake what he had would come out and crawl up in de door. That was his magic - that was the agree- ment what he made, you see, with the devil in selling hisself to the devil. Then he had another one what would remove evil spirits from a person. If you came in- to his place, while sittin' down into the chair, this snake would crawl all around you, all through the chair. You get up, you go by God. If you come for a gambling hand - his gambling hand was guaranteed fer one year.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1390
[See HAND, TIME LIMIT FOR, p.577.]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1390
He would take you into a little room and set you in there and when he get ready fer you, he would tell you - he would send fer yuh. Well, if he couldn't stand - the same way, if a person would come by for to kill a person. If you could jump over de snake what would coil up into the door, when you git back home he would be done kilt - this person. If you wanted a gambting hand - if you wanted to get that from him, when he get ready, then he send this other medium-sized snake in there. If you could stand fer him to come there and crawl around and you follow him back into the room, he would give you the gambling hand.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1390
(How did he make his gambling hand? Did he ever tell you?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1390
Oh, he - makes 'em very diff'rent simple ways.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1390
(What was his way? Did he tell you that way?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1390
The way he made 'em, he did. They was made out of little children's finger.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1390
(Oh, the baby fingers?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1390
Baby finger j'ints - the j'ints of baby fingers and what we call the corime, the red corime seed.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1390
(Red corimee seed.)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1390
The red corimee seed. And he would use this here devil's-shoestring, and he would use this here Sampson snakeroot. Into these fixin' - when he would fix them - would be under the new moon. After he would fix them then, he would give them to you on the 15th of the month of the full moon. He would either wait till the moon be in full expanse of the earth, then he would give that to you.
locally coherent printed subpassage
The current speaker remains unnamed. Statements about Charlie Jackson, his alleged acts and the death date are reported in the source.
The printed account does not establish the identity of the unnamed speaker.
Snake behavior, agreement with the devil and contents of hands remain that speaker’s account.
Zorro and time-limit cross-references are editorial; they do not establish that the narrated people or practices are the same.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 2, p. 1387 · Vol. 2, p. 1388 · Vol. 2, p. 1389 · Vol. 2, p. 1390 · Vol. 2, p. 1391
Source passage
continuous interview or recording context · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
Well, now, ah know - AH REMEMBAH A WOMAN, A NICE LOOKIN' GIRL WUZ CO'TIN'
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
[COURTING]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
A PREACHAH, an' he had a li'le money an' a home, yo' know, but he quz a li'le bit too ole fo' 'er. See. So she tole 'im dat she didn't believe she cared fo 'im, he wuz a li'le bit too ole. He say,
reported or enacted speech · Current unnamed interviewee · Preacher represented in the account; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
"Well, if yo' don' do me no good, yo' won' do nobody else no good."
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
An' he took an' hit 'er in de face wit 'is pocket han'ke'chuf, an' somepin fell outa de top of 'er haid lak wood lice 'bout two hours aftah he had hit 'er.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
[A handkerchief tossed or waved about is usually dressed; in this case perhaps with wood-lice powder.]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
Aftah he hit 'er, he disappeahed, went on somewhere, yo' see. An' she jis' stan'in' talkin' tuh some of er schoolmates, an' somepin fell outa her haid lak wood lice. An' dey fell all down aroun' on de groun', an' she commence tuh fightin' 'em, frightened aftah 'em, yo' know. All right, SHE COMMENCED TUH HOWL. COMMENCE TUH HOWLIN' LAK A DOG; SHE COMMENCE TUH MAKIN' FUSS LAK A COW, AN' SHE COMMENCE TUH CARR'IN' ON LAK A GOAT. Well, dey'd taken 'er an' carr'in' 'er home an' laid 'er in de baid an' yo' know she couldn't rest. Well she, dat nex' mawnin' - co'se she suffahed all dat night - got up de nex' mawnin' an' LOOKED AT 'ER THIGH. SHE SAID 'ER THIGH HURT 'ER. DERE WUZ A SMALL COOTAH
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
[TURTLE]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
ON 'ER, LAYIN' RIGHT HEAH. DERE WUZ THREE SCORPIONS LAYIN' DOWN ON 'ER THIGH. AN' DERE WUZ A BLUNT- TAIL MOUSE OVAH ON DIS HIP.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
(What kind of a tail?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
A blunt-tail mouse.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
(Blunt-tail?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
Yes, sir, BLUNT-TAIL MOUSE AN' SNAKE layin' ovah on dis side of de hip. Well, evahbody kinda doubted 'er. Yo' see she wuz hurt. DERE WUZ ANOTHAH OLE FELLAH STAYIN' ABOUT 25 MILES FROM DERE. HE COULD DO DAT KIND OF WORK. DEY WENT AN' GOT 'IM AN' HE COME AN' LOOKED AT 'ER. AN' HE SAID DAT HER CASE WUZ PURTTY SERIOUS
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
[for this type of judgment, see CONSULTATION TECHNIQUE, p.307f.]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
, but he could do her good inside of eleven hours.
editorial recording or production note; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
[A stoppage of recording shows he also lived eleven miles from somewbere.]
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
(About eleven miles?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
On dis side of Greenville, Mississippi.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
(Greenville, Mississippi. How many years ago?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
Oh, dat been now about 28 years
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
[about 1910]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
(All right, go ahead with the story.)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
An' aftah he looked at - he'd taken 'er up an' laid 'er in de baid - caken 'er outa de baid she wuz in an' laid 'er in de
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
[another]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
baid. An' he saw dat cooth an' dat lizard an' dat mouse. An' he had a kinda grease. He jis'greaseder all ovah, yo' know. An' den he'd taken some kind of a ole funny sosepin look lak a blade an' he marked - he didn't cut 'er skin but he jis', yo' mog, belt
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
[held]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
dat blade right ovah dem things, jis' drawed it across dem but not on de aldn.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
(What kind of blade?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2337
A Kisah blade.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
(A Kiser?)
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[This could be spelled Kaiser.]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
Yeah, a kisah blade whu' choo cut bushes wit whut men use tuh work in de right of way.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
(Oh, I see. All right.)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
An' he'd taken dat an' he jis' draw it across dat cootah
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[cooter or turtle]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
. An' he come up on dis side an' he draw it across dat blunt-tail mouse an' right ovah 'er. An' draw it across dem lizards. Well, all right. IN ABOUT ELEVEN HOURS TIME DEY GIVE HER UP TUH DIE, AN' DEM THINGS COME JIS' A-CRAWLIN' OUT OF "ER. AN' WHEN DEM THINGS CRAWLED OUTA 'ER, SHE GOT RIGHT UP AN' LOOKED AT US, AN' DEY WUZ CRAWLIN' ALL AROUND ON DE FLOOR.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[I have no doubt about a Small co0- ter, three lizards and blunt-tail mouse crawling on the floor. There is too much evidence in HOODOO for this sort of thing. THE DOCTOR HAD A FAST HAND! IN THE STORY FOLLOWING THIS ONE WE WILL AGAIN MEET DOCTOR MARTIN, ANOTHER HEALER QUICK WITH HIS HAND.]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
An' he tole 'er, say,
reported or enacted speech · Current unnamed interviewee · Healer represented in the account; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
"Ah'm goin' make yo' do dat."
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
She got a stick an' she kilt 'em all. An' de cootah she couldn't ketch. He runned on outa dere. Now, dese three lizards dey wuz so stiff - scorpions rathah, dey couldn't git nowhere. She caught 'em an' kilt dem. So dat woman got all right.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
(WAS THAT ALL HE DID?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
Yes, sir.
Nested source context: nested reported speech · Vol. 3, p. 2337
He say, "Well, if yo' don' do me no good, yo' won' do nobody else no good."
Nested source context: claimed presence not independent event verification · Vol. 3, p. 2338
SHE GOT RIGHT UP AN' LOOKED AT US, AN' DEY WUZ CRAWLIN' ALL AROUND ON DE FLOOR.
locally closed printed account with recording gap
The printed account includes an explicit recording interruption. Eleven hours and miles remain unreconciled.
The recording-stoppage note signals unavailable material; distance and events during the gap cannot be reconstructed.
Scorpions or lizards, blade spelling and other uncertain terms remain as printed.
Wood-lice powder, fast hand and the comparison to Doctor Martin are editorial interpretations.
The healer’s and preacher’s words are reported by the current interviewee. They are not additional live participants, and the editor’s skepticism remains separate.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 3, p. 2336 · Vol. 3, p. 2337 · Vol. 3, p. 2338 · Vol. 3, p. 2339 · Vol. 3, p. 2341
Source passage
continuous interview or recording context · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
SO NOW, DERE WUZ ANOTHAH WOMAN AN' SHE WENT TUH A DANCE ONE NIGHT, an' he wuz a real dancah
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[dancer]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
. An' 'er fellah didn't wan' 'er tuh dance wit nobody, an' he hauled off an' pushed 'er. Well, heah come anothah fellah wuz likin' 'er, yo' undahstan'. BE TOOK AN' LAID 'IS HAND ON DIS FELLAH'S SHOULDAH AN' DIS FELLAH FELL. AN' WHEN HE FELL HE COMMENCE TUH HOWLIN' LAK A COLLIE. Well, dey'd taken ' im an' carried 'im home. An' aftah dey carried 'im home, dey ran an' got de doctor. Well, he begin tuh retch very bad, yo' see. Oh! he jis' got restless as if he possessed. An' aftah 'im doin' dat, AFTAH DE DOCTOR COME, DE DOCTOR LOOKED AT 'IM AN' HE SAY,
reported or enacted speech · Current unnamed interviewee · Medical doctor represented in the account; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
"AH CAN'T DO HIM NO GOOD. AH DON'T KNOW"
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
- A MEDICAL DOCTOR, YO' KNOW -
reported or enacted speech · Current unnamed interviewee · Medical doctor represented in the account; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
"AH DON' KNOW WHUT'S DE MATTAH WIT 'IM. AH NEVAH SEED A MAN ACT LAK DAT BEFO'."
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
DIS FELLAH YET HOWLIN' LAK DAT COLLIE. AN' SO, DEY TURNED DAT MAN OVAH TUH LOOK AT 'IS BACK, THINKIN' YO' KNOW HE HAD A FEVAH. DERE WUZ THREE SNAKES: A RATTLESNAKE AN' A GARTAH SNAKE AN' A CHICKEN SNAKE IN 'IS BACK. BUT YO' COULD SEE DEY WUZ SNAKES BY DERE SKIN - jis' right In 'is skin in 'is back. Well, dis same fellah dat ah'm tellin' yo 'bout - ah think yo' heard me speak of Doctor Martin - he come.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[For Doctor Martin, see p.2327, line 15.]
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
(Where is he from?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
HE'S AT AVON, MISSISSIPPI.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
(Avon, Mississippi.)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
DOCTOR MARTIN COME AN' GOT DEM SNAKES OUTA DAT FELLAH'S BACK AN' HE GOT WELL.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
(Do you know how he got them out? What he did to get them out?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
YES, SIR.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
(What did he do to get them out?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
WHEN HE GOT READY TUH GIT 'EM OUT, HE PUT 'IM IN A BATHTUB AN' HE WENT TUH DE SOUTH SIDE OF A HILL AN' HE GOT SIX DIFF'REN' KINDA ROOTS, an' he Say One of de roots wuz de Queen Elizabeth root an' de othah root wuz de shargrass root
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[?]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
(What kind?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
Shargrass
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[?]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
root. Shargrass root an' de Queen of Elizabeth root. An' de othah
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[4 of the 6]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
wuz de blacksnake root, an' de ginseng root, an' de beechluck
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[beechnut = beech]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
root, an' de sippahred
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[?]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
root.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
(Sipper?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
Sippah-red
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[?]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
root. Well, he'd taken dat an' he boiled it. Den aftah he
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
boiled dat, he dropped a KNO4 tablet in it.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
(What KNO?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
KNO4 tablet an' de watah turnt as red - well, it turnt as red as dat, as dat spot in dere.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
[He may have pointed to something red in the room; carpet or window curtain.]
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
(I see.)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
AN' HE LAID "IM IN DAT WATAH AN' BATH-ED
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
[NOT BATHED]
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
"IM. AN' WHEN HE GOT THROUGH BATHIN' 'IM, HE TOLE 'IM, LOOK BACK BEHIND IM. AN' WHEN HE LOOKED BACK, WELL DERE DEM SNAKES WUZ IN DE BATHTUB! BUT DEY WUZ DAID. YO' SEE. DEY WUZ DAID, BUT HE
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
[DOCTOR]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
KILLED DEM. HE PUT 'EM IN DAT WATAH. YO' SEE, NOW, WHOT WUZ GIVIN' IM DE TROUBLE, DEY WUZ ALIVE, SEE. SEE, WHEN DEY WUZ MOVIN' ABOUT
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
[IN HIM]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
DEY WUZ HURTIN' 'IM.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
[My informant doctor is saying Dootor Martin killed the snakes with the red bath water. I say a good trick!]
Nested source context: nested reported medical doctor speech · Vol. 3, p. 2338
HE SAY, "AH CAN'T DO HIM NO GOOD. AH DON'T KNOW" - A MEDICAL DOCTOR, YO' KNOW - "AH DON' KNOW WHUT'S DE MATTAH WIT 'IM. AH NEVAH SEED A MAN ACT LAK DAT BEFO'."
locally coherent printed subpassage
A local printed ending does not establish unabridged recording coverage.
The medical doctor’s quoted speech is narrated, not a live clinician in the room.
Root names, KNO4 and the uncertain gesture remain literal; no chemical or plant identity is resolved.
He may have pointed is the editor’s conjecture, not a confirmed interview demonstration.
The good trick conclusion is the editor’s competing interpretation.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 3, p. 2336 · Vol. 3, p. 2337 · Vol. 3, p. 2338 · Vol. 3, p. 2339 · Vol. 3, p. 2341