Subject:Snuffbox
Entries
Entry 1907
Dey kin take dis ole dust, frog dust [toadfrog-bread dust], dat in de Woods an' git it an' sprinkle it in a person hat an' dat will run 'em blind. It's little ole stuff dat come up in de groun' - yo' know, We call it toadfrog bread. It's a little white thing [mushroom] dat grows up an' after which it die an' it goes to a dust. [This is the devil's-snuffbox or puffball - various fungi which discharge ripe spores in smokelike cloud when pressed.] Git dat an' put in yore hat dey say - sprinkle it in a person hat an' dey say dey will go blind, or in dey han'cheff er somepin. [For frog bread, see No. 250, p.72.]
Entry 5516
People wan's people tuh move out of a house, why dey gits de drop on dat fellah when he's walkin' an' watch 'im, yo' see. An' prob'ly [they] take a bottle or maybe tobacco can or snuff- box or somepin an' git de dust out of 'is lef'-foot track dere. Prob'ly walk aroun' dat house an' throw it across it. An' well, dey can't live dere no more.
(Where do they throw it across?)
Throw it across de eaves.
(Right across the roof of the house?)
Yes, sir. As it go ovah, he leaves it open so dat it might scattah as it go across, yo' know. (I see, leave that bottle or can open as you throw it over the house, and scatter the dust over the roof. That will make them leave the house.) Well, dey becomes tuh be dissatisfied wit de house, won' be satisfied until dey move. An' it ain't goin' be very long befo' dey moves.
Entry 5595
If yo' love a man an' a man don' care very much about chew an' he, yo know, come tuh yore house sometime an' sometime he doesn't. Well, yo' take a snuffbox an' [put] evah othah one of 'is tracks in dis snuffbox. Yo' put a li'le pinch of dirt in dis snuffbox out of evah one of 'is track - evah othah one.
(How many?)
Nine - till yo' git tuh nine. An' when yo' git tuh nine, yo' take dis snuff- box an' shet it up. An' yo' shet it up an' tote it fo' nine days in yore pocket. An' when yo' tote it fo' nine days in yore pocket, yo' come tuh yore step an' po' de dirt out intuh yore step. An' ah'll guarantee dat'll make him love yo'.
(You pour this track dirt of his under your step then?)
Yes.
Entry 5648
If yo' have somebody nex' do' tuh yo' an' yo' wanted 'em tuh move. An' dey wuz 'sturbin' de neighborhood, yo' know, an' yo' wanted 'em tuh move. Why yo' jis' take some of de dirt outa dere right foot, an' put it in a snuffbox an' carry it tuh de rivah. An' throw it intuh de rivah 'not look back an' go on home. Dey'd move. [Waycross, Ga., (1121), 1802:5.] ap'
Entry 5687
Ah wuz stayin' by a wumum one time. She wuz a disappeahed [dissipated] sumum.
(What kind of woman?)
A bad wumum. She wuz a mighty bad neighbah. An' ah didn't lak 'er. Ah thought ah would try whut wuz tole tuh me tuh try on 'er. Ah got some of 'er track, her lef' feet, put it in a snuffbox. Go tuh de rivah, calls de Lord's Name three times: By de Name of de Lord: By de Name of de Lord: By de Name of de Lord: Throw it right ovah de lef' shouldah, don't look back, keep right straight on in front of yo'. She lef' dere.
Entry 5704
Foot track - jis' lak yo' make a track out heah in de soil. Yo' know uhat yo' could do wit dat? Take it an' put it in a snuffbox an' put it in a boxcar, in de shoe of a box- car, an' yo' be travelin' all de time, goin' an' yo' don' gor where yo' goin' at. Yo'll nevah stay one place.
(Either track?)
Either one, put it in a snuffbox.
Entry 6055
Yo' take a little hair out de mole of yore haid an' take a little strand from heah.
(Down below?)
Yeah, yo' take dose two an' yo' cross 'em ovah, jes' lak dat yo' see [demon- strates].
(Cross one over the other in the shape of a cross.)
An' yo' git chew a brass-eyed needle an' yo' run it right through dere - one of dose strands, yo' see [demonstrates], right through dere. Den yo' put it in 1 snuffbox an' take it out to yore front po'ch an' bury it right undah yore do'- steps, right undah yore do'steps. (What will that do?) Dat will make 'em come all de time. (You take one of the hairs and thread a needle with it? The other [six] hairs you just leave them as they are?) Dat's right. Put 'em in de snuffbox. (YOU HAVE THREE HAIRS CROSSING THREE HAIRS AND THE SEVENTH HAIR YOU PUT IN THE NEEDLE?) Dat's right.
Entry 6345
Dey take de hair an' put it in a snuffbox, an' goes tuh de rivah when de tide's goin' out an' throw it ovahbo'd. Evah time de tide go an' come, why dey - don't care where dey is, an' whut kinda job dey got, why dey jis' driftin' from place tuh place.
(They are drifting all the time.)
Entry 6451
(What do they do with those fingernails and toenails?)
Ah hear'd 'em say dat dey cut 'em an' put 'em in a snuffbox, an' go tuh de cemetery an' take a dime, an' reach yore han' as fer as yo' kin in de centah - ah mean in de centah of de grave - an' take jis' as much of dat dust as dat dime kin hold. An' ah hear 'em say yo' kin put it in a snuffbox an' throw it in a runnin' stream. An' dat's all ah know about it.
(What will that do to you then?)
Run yo' away, dat's whut dey tell me.
Entry 8562
Now, jis'lak yo' goin' ast me mah name. Yo' know, ah gotta give yo' mah right name, yo' see. Well, yo' take mah name, lak ah says ah'm named Mary. Now yo' take dat name - gimne dat piece papah an' lemme show yo'.
[I PASS MY NUMBERS BOOK TO INFORMANT, WHO BEGINS TO DEMONSTRATE.]
(Cut it square?)
Yes. Look, see heah. Yo' write Mary right 'cross heah, see. (Diagonally across that square [oblong] piece of paper [in my Numbers Book]. Then you fold it in a triangle. Then you fold it in a triangle again.) Yo' see dat. Yo' know whut them ten-cent snuffboxes is. Well, yo' don' want a little nickel box, yo' wants a ten-cents box, an' yo' have me. NOW, YO' woRKIN FO'ME, DON'T CHEW SEE. WELL, YO' HAVE ME TUH BRING YO' DAT OLE SNUFFBOX, YO' SEE. Bog, yo' take this name an' put it in that snuffbox, see. Aftah yo' put this name in the snuffbox, yo' says three words, Father, Son an' Holy Ghost. See! Den yo put it in de box, put it in dat snuffbox, see. An' when yo' put it in that snuff- box - now, yo' know whut white lodestone is, don't yo'? Sprinkle on it. [During the Great Depression these little boxes, frequently used as snuff- boxes, could be bought in the Five and Ten Cent Store.]
(Sprinkle some of that white lodestone on it?)
Yeah, yeah, sprinkle it on there and shet [shut] it up an' yo' give it to me yo' see. Shet de box. YO' GIVE IT TO ME, yo' see, 'CUZ AH'M DE ONE GIVIN' YO TUH DO DE WORK, don't chew see? An' yo' carry it on to de rivah or where it's a runnin' stream. AH GOTTA CARRY IT MAHSELF, See, 'CUZ YO' DOIN' DE WORK FO' ME.
(You are my client?)
[OR SHOULD I HAVE SAID PATIENT?]
Yeah. Throw it in an' go on back home. An' in five or six or seven, eight, days, dey'll [I'll] go.
(Drive them away. You will come to me and say, "I want to drive Mary away?")
Dat's right. (And I would do this, and you would throw that into running water. Any special way?) Yeah, now listen. When yo' throw it in, see, jis' lak ah'd walk to de rivah, ah jis' throw it in an' come on back home.
(That sends Mary away?)
She gotta go.
Entry 9155
Ah seen a fellah do dis one time, an' it come out - it come out really true, right heah on de corner of [some street]. It wuz heah in dis town, mah home town. He tuk, he went tuh anothah fellah dat stayed up heah along de road, supposed tuh be a kind of a root doctah. He went tuh dis fellah. He had called him a...or sompin othah, a purtty bad man. He went up tuh dis fellah an' dis fellah wuz standin' round, say, "Yo' boys come in dis room." Told 'im, "All right." Ah'd gone up dere wit 'im. Ah went on in de room wit 'im. He gave dis boy an' he say, "Yo' do jes' lak ah tell yo' when yo' go in de co't." De boy tole 'im, "Yessuh." He give dis boy somepin - he mixed somepin, said it wuz a salve, sulphuh wit black peppah an' he got, ah think some sage tea. Den he went got him a whole lotta snails. Not no whole lotta snails but li'le articles of sands. An' he tuk [took] an' put dem in a snuffbox an' stirred it up. Aftah he put it in dis snuffbox he stirred it up an' he tole dis boy, says, "Will yo'all step out in dis othah room?" So we stepped out intuh de othah room. We didn't know what exactly [what to expect]. So we stepped out intuh de othah room, an' he tole dis boy, said, "Now yo' take dis stuff an' has de box right in yore han', jes' about lak yo' hold de palm of yore hand, an' put it in yore right-hand pocket; an' when yo' go up dere in de co'troom an' when dey call yo', yo' called up on de stand, an' when yo' go on dere, yo' take dis stuff. Don' let nobody see it. Jes' lak yo' got chure han' in yore pocket, an' jes' take some of dis stuff an don't be watchin' whut chew doin'. An' take it as yo' goin' up dere on de stand an' jes' sprinkle it round lak yo' brushin' dis hand right down de side of de judge." An' he said, "Ah'll guarantee yo' dey won't do anything 'bout chw - guarantee yo'll git out, won't go no time." (Well, what about this other stuff, this salt and sand that was sprinkled around. He put this salt and stuff with this sand and sprinkled it around?) Yessuh, mixed it all up tuhgethah.
Entry 9829
Dey put nine needles, dey say, in a snuffbox an' bury 'em at a do'step. Dat'll make de person be painful as long as dey cross 'em.
Entry 9905
Tell yo' about frogs. Take a frog an' put 'im in a snuffbox an' punch holes in it, an' ca' it down tuh de fo'ks of de road. An' at de twil of day go back fo' nine mawnin's, an' de las' mawnin' he'll be et up by de antses. An' take him den an' take de bone outa his haid, an' keep it in yuh pockit. An' if yo' wan' someone tuh do whut chew ast 'im [ask him] take an' put dat somewheah neah dem, an' dey'll do anything yo' as'cum [ask them].
(When do you take that frog down there to the road?)
At de 'twill of day - yes sir, jis' befo' daylight. (The twill of day, that means just before daylight.) [This last remark of mine is merely an editorial comment for the future. I may have another example of twil but I am not sure. Does it mean at the twilight of day? Somewhere in HOODOO I think we have the expression first Light. Does the latter equal dawn?]
Entry 11564
Yo' write chure name in it 'cordin' to whut chew want done. (In this foot track. AND TALK LOUDER.) Yo' write chure name in de foot track an' stop it up. Put in a snuffbox an' stop it up an' go throw it in a run- nin' stream of water. An' it's 'cordin' to whut chew wanta do, run 'em off or...
(Yes, what will that do, if you do that?)
That will run 'em off.
(Well, what do you write this name on?)
On the track.
(How do you write it on there?)
Write chure name on dere...
(With what?)
Lak ah'm goin' write mah name, ah start wit a "D"...
(I mean do you write it with pen and ink? Or do you write it with a stick?)
No sir, write it wit yore finger. (If you want to send me away, you write my name in my foot track, take it up and throw it in running water to send me away. I want you to give me all those details. I cannot read your mind!)