Subject:Teeth
Entries
Entry 823
I know a lady whose husband would fight her quite often and he was noted for biting her when he fought her. And she was told, when he bit her severely, to go to the cemetery and get some of the dirt from the graveyard, and put on this where he bit her, and it would cause all of his teeth to drop out. (Did she do it?) Well, she went out there and put it on, but whether his teeth dropped out or not I don't know.
Entry 3992
If.anybody bites chew, makes a bruise on yuh, all yuh gotta do is git some of dere own urine an' rub it on de place, an' den yo' kin wipe it off. [This is the hair of the dog that bit you!] Co'se ah'd hate tuh put mah han's in somebody else's an' rub it on dat place. Said evah tooth in dere head will fall out in de long run. (In other words, if I bit you, you'd have to get my urine and wipe it on the bite. My teeth will come out?) Rub it on. Yuh teeth will shed - rot out by degrees.
Entry 6737
If a black-gummed person bites you, put black hen manure on the bite and the biter's teeth will decay and drop out.
Entry 6790
If a person bites yo' wit blue gums, yo' kin take a li'le of yore action, yore action an' put it on dere an' rub it in dere roun' good. (Rub it into the bite?) Yeah, an' go git chew some sulphuh an' burn it an' put it on dere, an' slip tuh 'is house. When yo' git dere, an' jis' lak yo' wanta a drink of watah, say, "Git me a glass of watah - git me some watah." An' carry a li'le dat burnt sulphuh wit chew an' - now, lak yo' wan' some watah. Rub it roun' intuh dat glass an' blow yore breath in it three times an' set it down nice, an' tell 'em tuh 'ave a drink of watah. He'll take a drink of watah an' he'll start tuh sufferin' wit de pyorrhea, los' [lostl de teeth outa his haid. (That burnt sulphur that you use in putting on your arm, that is out of the same batch of stuff?) Yes.
Entry 7190
Now, ah'll tell yuh tuh show yuh dat ah kin know somepin. Ah were born in dis world feet foremost. Ah wuz wrapped in a veil three times. [This means] yuh talk tuh anyone in three tongues an' yuh kin sing ole-time songs, mah mothah said. Mah parents an' both mah gran'parents said ah had plenty hair on me befo' dey had dern [theirs]. Well, ah wuz born between de legs [of my mother] as a woman. Yes sir, ah wuz born wit mah teeth. Ah'd [I had] it [them] pulled an' nevah shed a tooth in mah life. Ah wuz de seventh chile outa seven daughtahs, born on de third day of de new moon. An' yuh know, mahself as a virgin should be wise [a woman of 55-60 years old]. Ah kin rub [you] if anybody did anythin' tuh yuh an' it'll all go away. Ah know ah wuz born tuh work [hoodoo]. No one taught me. Ah wuz born in North Carolina, in Salts- ville [lake?] where's dere nuthin but Geechees [gē'chē, singular]. Mah fathah wuz a full- blooded Geechee, mah mothah wuz a Amasha woman, black Creek Indian, etc., etc. [This woman, quite eccentric, was a professional worker and excellent. Unfortunately, except for the preceding account and No.2328, p.652, I lost all of her material. She claimed to be a Gee- chee (ge'chē), word from Ogeechee, a dialect originally of Negro slaves on the Ogeechee River, Georgia, formed of English and native African words. I found it difficult to understand either the Geechee or the Gullah, the latter along the lowlands and off-shore islands of South Carolina, Georgia and the northern coastal tip of Florida. A black man I interviewed at Ocean City, Md., in 1926, he working for his M. A. at Howard University, had spent several weeks in Charleston, S. Car. His opinion to me was: Those people down there are not Americans, they are Africans. I could scarcely understand a word they said.]
Entry 10091
That fer stealin' also. Yo' take a black cat with notta white spot on it. Yo' understand what I mean. Yo' take this black cat an' yo' have a hot boilin' pot of water. Yo' put this black cat in there. Cover him up, and let him cook all to pieces. After he cooks all to pieces, then you take him out and pour that water off of it. Dash them bones in some cold water and take a looking glass, and put that stuff before this looking glass. And take ev'y bone and pass it between yore teeth and look in this glass. An' the bone that yo' pass between your teeth and yo' can't see yourself in this glass, that's the right bone. Yo' can tote that bone and do anything you wanta.
Entry 10721
Ah got in a fight with a boy, an' mah grandmother - yo' know, ole fo folks dey are very active - she say, "Come here, boy, yo' got in a fight?" Say, "Yes mam." She say, "Whut chew do?" Ah say, "Ah bit dat boy plenty a place." She say, "Looky heah, come heah an'( Grandmah fix yo' up." She got a little sulphur an' a little kerosene, yo' know, an' she fixed a little bag, yo' know, an' she put it down dere undah mah bed; yo' know, up in de mattress - whut chew call a moss mat- tress [Spanish moss mattress]. Ah say, "Whut chew do dat fo'?" She say, "Don't chew know if yo' bit somebody an' yo' don't take care of yo'- self; don't chew know, dat dey will take bird manure [usually chicken manure] or some kinda manure lak dat, an' 'noint dis place lak yo' would [use] some grease on mah [your] bare face; yo' know, keep dat place [bite] 'nointed dere well, ' she say, "an' yore teeth will drop out." She tole me dat several time. Dey [person bitten] keep dat place 'nointed wit dat manure some kind. She say, every tooth in yore [biter's] head will drop out. (But she would prevent that by doing this.... [sulphur-kerosene hand in the mattress].) Put dis stuff undah mah bed an' dat will keep de othah stuff from coming back at me. [For the treatment of human bite with chicken manure, see Nos.
Entry 10726
Boil blacksnake root and lizard [a trouble combination], put under enemry's doorstep; if he walks over them, he'll have a headache and then loose teeth.
Entry 10763
Ef they git hold of somepin that yo' was eatin' off [on] see, an' tbey place it with bluestone - they have it mixed with bluestone and that [piece yoo were eating on and the bluestone] they sets up ovah yo' [so that you valk ander it] and then yore teeth miu come out. (They put it over [above] yoa, so you will walk uoder it.)
[octor Johnson in Richmond gave something similar.]
Entry 10844
Wal, dey tell me yo' kin take a feather out of a buzzard, yo' know ane dose ole bone feathers, an' keep dat an' yo' cleans yore teeth. Scrub yore teeth. Dey say dat's a perfect medicine to you. Dat's all ah evah heard. Ah don't know no hoodoo aboat a buzzard feather. (That's to preserve yoer teeth.)
Entry 11049
[All the following chicken-manure rites, not identical ones, will be found somewhere in HOODOO. They appear everywhere out in the field. If there is no preference concerning the type - color and source - of the material used, sup- pose we begin with the chicken-house itself. But sometimes for a human bite bird manure is used - see No.10721, p.4054, v.5.1 Well, if anybody bite chew like dat, yo' take an' place - go to a chicken coop an' place some chicken 'nure [manure] on dere an' make yo' [the biter] lose yore teeth.
Entry 11052
Ah heard dat if somebody bite chew dat yo' gits black chicken manure an' rub it on dere, an' it will rot all dere teeth out.
Entry 11055
They will ketch a black hen - goin' pick 'em out a black ole hen an' git de white offa dat, dey dung, de white. And if dey kin git it - maybe dey wants to do it, dey can't git to 'em. But he'll git somebody else an' put some in yore food. See. An' de minute dat yo' eat it, in nine days yore tooths will come to be slack all over everywhere - in nine days. (And your teeth will eventually drop out.) [Not eventually, but within 9 days!]
Entry 11057
If yo' bit a person, yeah, n' they git chicken manure an' anoint the place with it - if they bit 'en, an then their teeth will begin tuh rot out one by one. Of course, they all won't come out at one time, but one by one they'll eventually [come out].
(Any kind of chicken manure?) Yes, jes' so it's a chicken.
Entry 11058
You kin take manure from a chicken - has to be a black one, though - an' dat place [where you were bitten] put it on there an' tie it up, an keep it tied up for three days. Dat will take all their teeth out.
Entry 11059
De chicken stuff from a chicken an' rub it in de top of his head when he's asleep, an' all his teeth will rotten out.
Entry 652
Ah heard that if a person bit chew that had them blue gums, you would spread that [see later] over it an' it would kill de sore, but yore [the biter's] teeth would drop out or something of that kind like that.
(Well, what do the blue gums have to do with it?)
Well, dey claim that would poison yo'. (The person with the blue gums would poison you. And this chicken manure will take it off. What kind of chicken manure?) Black.
Entry 1213
De dirt dauber nest - if a chile teethin' or anythin' lak dat, take de dirt dauber nest an' rub its gum all kind [ways] lak dat yo' know. It's one de best teethin' medicines yo' kin git in de country. Yo' can't git nuthin out de drug store to beat dat.
Entry 1337
Well, dere somethin' de woman gits out his [horse's] laig called dat night-eye [see following rite], an' yo' take some of that, if a man or a woman is perishin' with de toothache an' dey can't git ease. Take a leetle bit of dat, take an' pound it up an' git it in de hollow of de tooth, an' yo' won't have any mo' toothache an' yo' won't have any trouble wit none of yore teeth.
Entry 1683
A tree whut's struck by lightnin', yo' kin git dat an' make toothpicks tuh use fo' yore teeth an' yo'll nevah have the toothache.
Entry 11051
If anybody bite chew or anything like dat, see, jes' git dis where de chicken has been, yo' know, an' put it on dat place. Dat will rot all dey teeth out.
Entry 1194
If yo' happen to kiss her - if you kiss a woman and she happen to love you so hard and another woman got de best right of her, she [first woman] kin take and kiss you and den go and take a black hen egg and wash her mouth wit it and you kiss again and yo' lose yore teeth.
(Take a black hen egg and wash her mouth with it. You mean with that yolk?)
No, de white.
(Oh, the white of the egg. And you kiss her again, you'll lose your teeth.)
You'll lose all your teeth - they will rot down all one by one.
Entry 1167
Yo' kin take a chicken aig - if yo' have a young child born, take a fresh chicken aig an' tie it up ovah de do' an' he cut all his teeth an' yo' won't know when he cut 'em.
Entry 1189
Chicken manure? They use that to rot people teeth out.
(How would they do it?)
Well if, a person bite another person, they get just enough for 'em to do that.
(What do they do?)
Rub 'em - like chicken manure and sugar. You burn that sugar till it turn a dark brown, mix it with that chicken manure and rub it on that sore, and it rot that person's teeth out sure as hell.
(You mean. if they bite you?)
If they bite you. [The story told by Vander's wife is surely an unsurpassable account for this rite - see No. 888, p.319.]
Entry 1192
Dey say dey take chicken manure. Dey take it and dey mix some of it with anything dat chew drink - take and mix it up and you drink it. If you ever drink any of it all yore teeth will fall out chure haid. A lotta people do's it fer revenge.
Entry 1193
[The preceding teeth rites using chicken manure are usual; not so usual are teeth rites using chicken eggs that follow:] A black hen egg is for to rot your teeth out, something like that if a person bites cha.
(How would you do that?)
Well, if I'd bite you and put a bad bite on you, you would take a black hen's egg: You'd take that egg and break the egg and rubs it on this place. When this place gets well your teeth gon'a fall out. But you gotta shorely get a black hen's egg.
Entry 1320
Now, dis thing, when yo' go to this cemetery an' git this dirt, if a person happen tuh bite chew or anything, jes' take dis dirt an' put it on dis place an' it will rot out dere teeth. [The usual rite to rot teeth of a person biting you demands chicken manure (No. 1189f., p.428); less usual, chicken egg, No.1193f., p.429.]
The informant describes cemetery dirt and a claimed effect on a biter's teeth. Hyatt's following comparison with chicken manure and egg rites is separate editorial commentary, not a statement by the informant.
Entry 1665
Git de willow tree bark off de sunrise, an' den go round to de back where de sun go down an' cut dat off, an' he took de piece of splinter off dat an' pick de tooth until it bleed. An' jes' take dat stick an' carry it an' wrahp it an' put it ovah yore do'. Yo'll nevah have no toothache any mo'.
(Which side do you get that splinter from? The sunrise side or sundown side?)
De sunrise an' dey go round to de sundown an' cut it de same way, but dey git de splinter from de sunrise.
(But they only get one splinter?)
One splinter - dat's all.
(Well, what do they do at the sundown side then?)
Yo' jes' cut dat de same direction - de same way.
(You don't do anything though?)
Yo' don't do anything. Jes' cut it de same way, de same direction - cut it lak dat. But yo' git dat splinter out de sunrise an' go down round de sunset an' do de same thing - lak ah tell yo' 'bout dis tidewater.
(What did you say before? Did you say something that you pick your teeth?)
Pick yore tooth till it bleeds, den spit it out an' yo' take dat splinter an' carry it an' tie it up in a rag an' put it ovah de do'.
Entry 1682
Well, dey say fo' n'instance now, if a oak tree wus right out dere an' de lightnin' strike it an' which an' it kill de part it strikes, well dat makes dat wood turn brown. Well, yo' jes' go dere an' take yore axe an' cut yo' a piece of dat oak bark an' bring it home an' chip it up fine jes' like yo' would Irish potatoes an' put it into a pot an' boil it - make a tea off it an' drink it, an' yo' hol' it on dat tooth. It'll shore stop de toothache - ah know dat.
Entry 1686
Ah heard whut hit about but hit will do yo' good. Yo' take a splinter from a tree whut struck by lightnin' an' trim it off clean an' pick yore teeth wit it, an' go to a 'simmon tree an' cut it off 'bout dat long an' split de 'simmon tree an' drive it in - drive de splinter in dere where yo' pick yore teeth with it for de toothache. An' drive dat splinter in dere an' tie a string around it an' let it stay dere, an' dat stop yore teeth from achin'. Dat's all ah heered about it.
Entry 1687
It's fine fo' toothaches.
(That wood from a tree struck by lightning?)
Yes.
(What do you do at first, now?)
Yo' git that piece of that timber that's been struck by de lightnin' an' git de blood from round de tooth, somewhere near de tooth dat aches, an' carry that to a tree, a oak tree, de no'th side of it, an' pull de bark down an' put that blood in there an' shove it back up, an' that kills yore toothache.
Entry 6739
Ah've heard people say that if anybody bite chew, yo' could take brown chicken manure an' use it on it as a salve, an' it would rot dere teeth out.
Entry 6742
Soak black manure from a hen about three days in whiskey; give to per- son to make loose teeth.
Entry 6826
Now, suppose dat chew would git in a fight wit a pusun [person] an' dat dey bit chah. Why yo' go tuh de grave- yard fer nine mawnin's an' put a li'le graveyard dirt on dat, an' it'll rot dere teeth out.
Entry 10095
Dey take de cat an' boil it till all de bones come apart, an' yo' take an' git dat lil' bone. An' yo' take an' cross it an' wrap it up in flannel. An' dey take dat bone an' sell it tuh somebody, an' whatsom- evah dey got intuh...
[Here I turn off machine not expecting much, then start it again.]
(You say the person who buys this bone puts it in a red flannel bag. Then ohatdotheydo?) He takes it an' - lak if de law gits aftah dem or sompin lak dat, he takes dat bone an' gits befo' a mirror; an' rubs it cross his teeth an' goes on off 'bout his business. An' walk all roun' de law an' dey don' seem tuh know 'im or don' bothah 'em [him].
Entry 11053
Now, dey tell me yo' kin take a black hen's dung - a black hen's dung. In de places where he bit chew, anoint dat place wit dat, an' it will cause all dere teeth tuh come out.
Entry 12311
Well, dat's de greates' ah evah heah about. Dey said dat if yo' take de lightnin'-wood an' go in a crowd of mens, yo' know rowdies, yo' take de splinters of a lightnin' tree. Git de splinters an' stick 'em an' yore teeth swell up: An' yo' go dere an' everybody will fear yo'. Yo' kin rampage an' nobody won' say nuthin to yo'. Dey scared of yo'. [These splinters are also a protection, see following rite.]
(Just take these two splinters from a tree that is struck by lightning.)
Take de splinters an' put 'em in yore teeth. [This means that the two ends of the splinters are sticking out of his mouth.]