Subject:Tobacco
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Entry 1584
Well, yo' - jes' lak yo' had germs in dis room heah, an' yo' wants tuh git shet of de germs, yo' take some tobacco an' put it into a pan or something an' set 'em afire, a slow fiah, an' let 'em smoke yo' see, but it will kill ever'thing in de world. If yo' ain't got no tobacco, take some ole shoes an' tear 'em up an' put 'em on top of sulphur - it kills. [Tobacco usually appears in compounds - No. 1551, p.491, and Index.]
Entry 2338
Jes' lak yo' smokin' any cigars yo' kin take some of dis Hearts Cologne an' po' about nine drops in dere on dat cigar an' dry it about, say two or three hours. An' dat will give it a sweet smell an' dey say dat's lucky to yo' - yo' be lucky in gambling. (You just pour it on this cigar before you light it an' let it dry.) About a couple of hour. Den smoke it, or either de cigarette. Yo' kin do it wit cigarette if yo' wanta.
Entry 3284
Take his come [semen] an' put it in a 'bacca [tobacco] sack an' throw it up undah de house, an' he can't have nuthin tuh do wit no othah woman but 'er.
Entry 4123
A woman down in Caroline [Co., Va.] had a husband always running about and he went to West Virginia, and he wrote to her and she sent him some tobacco. She said she had a good chance to make him come home. She took of her rumning nature - that's water, urine, and washed that tobacco and sent it to him. And he chewed it and in three days he was back in the yard. She brought him back home. She told me so herself. [Fredericksburg, Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 5492
Well yo' see yo' kin take his track an' pick it up in de hollow part of 'is feet, jes' lak he make it, an' put it in a li'le ole tobacco sack. Den yo' git some gun- powdah an' also some red peppah [in the sack] an' throw it in a runnin' stream of watah, an' say, "Go, an' don't nevah return any mo'." An' dey say in nine days time he'll be missin' out de town.
(You put this other stuff in the sack with the track?)
Yes sir, mix it all tuhgethah.
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 5752
Take de dirt outa yore tracks an' put it in a tobacco sack, an' dey'll write on it an' stick it up. An' dey'll put urinate on dat, stick up dere, an' let it dry. An' dat'll cuz yo' tuh be jis' awandahin' an' leave. An' lak dat, dey could take yore tracks, take up yore tracks lak dat, an' persons dat wuz - lak two persons wuz goin' togethah. Dey ould separate two persons by takin' de dirt outa yore track lak dat.
(And what would they do with that dirt that they took up like that?)
Dey'd make watah on it an' tie it up. Let it dry an' den scattah it about. Dey would scattah an' dey would jis' leave.
Entry 6781
Makes up a salve wit it, wit some dirt daubah nest, saltpetah, chewin' tobacca an' yo' make a salve. Now yo' kin put it in a li'le - ah dunnō [don't know] how much yo' goin' make up, but put chew a li'le vine- gah in it an' it's jis' lak a mustard, yo' know, jis' lak prepared mustard. Make a li'le of dat an' put it on de place an' see whut it will do fo' yo' [recording machine stopped, see later].
(What will that cure for example?)
Well, jis' lak a lotta people - yo' know yo' got a misery in yore ankle, cain't stand up on yore ankle. Dey [person working spell against you] got chew down in yore knees. (You said before [while machine turned off] that it kills off a lot of hoodoo ousiness.) Hoodoo business.
Entry 6830
Red peppah, hot red peppah an' chamber lye an' bathe yo' laig wit it an' that would give yo' ease. Ah have tried that mahself. (If somebody has put something down for you to walk over.) Yes sir, a fortuneteller tole me someone had put sompin down fo' me to walk ovah. [Here, either while'recording ma- chine is stopped or cylinder is changed, I ask for the whole story.] Well, mah laig kep' hurtin' me an' someone come along an' tole me, say, "Miss Carter," say, "ah knows a good man 'cross town. If yo' would go, he would tell yo' sompin tuh relieve yo' of dat pain in yore knee." It nevah would swell but it jis' hurt all de time. So ah went ovah dere an' he tole me someone had hurt me in mah knee. An' he got me some green moss an' tole me tuh boil dat an' bathe in de watah hot. Put some table salt in it. An' aftah dat, den rub it wit some of dis red peppah an' dis saltpetah mixed tuhgethah. Make a salve. Put some lard wit it or some oil or sompin an' make a salve an' rub wit dat, an' hit would relieve me. An' ah did dat an' it relieved me. An' a li'le latah it commence tuh hurtin' ag'in. Well, ah went tuh anothah lady an' she tole me - least she didn't tell me but she fixed de poultice huh- self; Brown Mule chewin' 'bacca an' earth worms whut chew dig up out de ground. An' she stewed it up tuhgethah an' give me dat tuh put some meal wit it, an' make a hot poultice an' put on mah knee. An' dat relieved me.
(That was the end of that?)
Yes sir, an' mah knee got bettah.
Entry 6940
(If I had these things, live things in me, now what would they give me to get rid of these - to get them out?) Dey'd [they would] give yo' vinegah fer one thing, 'twill run 'em out; an' use tobacco fer anothah. An' den de medicine dat yo' take, dat's whut dey give yo' fer tuh rub wit; but de medicine whut yo' take an' whut supposed tuh be some silvah money in it, some time might be a dime or quartah or somepin lak dat. But anyway, it supposed tuh be a big piece, so yo' could take a file or somepin-lak an' file it an' git - prob'bly git dust offa it or somepin, an' put it in some medicine an' let it set, an' drink it. Well, aftah yo' drinkin' dat, why dat supposed tuh run 'em outa yo', fix yo' so yo' kin git 'em out, if yo' are stopped up.
(What did they do with this vinegar and tobacco?)
Well, dey use dat fer tuh bathe dere body in.
(Do they use that alone or do they mix something with it?)
No, sir, mix it wit red peppah.
Entry 10597
Dry a bat heart in the sun, put in tobacco sack with cayenne pepper, and carry for luck in gambling.
Entry 11202
Git 'em out of a house. Dey got some of 'em back dere now. Yo' kin git dirt dauber nest. Yo' know whut dey call dirt daubers. Well, yo' git dat an' cayenne peppah, but yo' have tuh git in de house tuh do dat. Yo' cain't do dat on de out- side of de house. See, cayenne peppah, Epsom salts, sulphur an' powdered asafetidy. Yo' know whut dey call powder asafetidy. Well, dey mix dat tuhgether. Well, if yo' cain't git chure tobacca, yo' kin git dis scotch snuff an' yo' mix dat, but chew gotta git in de house dat yo' kin sling it back in dere. Yo' know, an' 'noint de house, an' dey'll move.
(You just throw that in the house and these people will move away.)
Yes.
Entry 13313
Git choo some chewin' tobaccah an' jis' break off fo' corners of dat 'baccah an' chew it - dem fo' corners yo' chew it. Then put de otber piece In your pocket, an' go down there wheresomever you Suppose to git a job an' he'll purtty near give yo' one. [Years ago the old plug tobacco Was cut into oblong pieces as purchased. This is an unusual four corner rite, my only example of it.]
Entry 531
If yo' be worried lak that, yo' take yore chewin' tobacco an' yo' place it undah yore pillah. Well, vo' put chure money there undah yore pillah - silver money, a dime or a quarter, ah guess. Well, dey says take a chew of tobacco an' count yore money if yo' got any change an' den dey are gone.
(The night hag?) [Informant had called the rider a hag.]
Yes. [This is a good trick if you can do it - to count your silver while chewing tobacco, despite a witch's hands about your throat. Spirits and witches dislike tobacco, detest tobacco juice: "I told my husband she had my chickens bewitched. He said, "I will fix her." So he drawed her picture with her pipe in her mouth. It sure look like she was standing right there. My husband is a witch doctor and he did not have to take her picture to a white oak tree, he just spit tobacco juice in her eyes. Several weeks after that I met my friend (the witch) and she could not see. Her eyes were all sore. I said, "What is wrong with your eyes?" But I knew it was the tobacco spit in her eyes." (Following this quotation is the word Irish - meaning informant was of Irish origin.) See FACI,2ed., p.835.]
Entry 1836
For luck in gambling, I used to buy hands.
(Yes?)
One hand I bought, it was full of charcoal - there wasn't nuthin to dat one. But the other hand, it was purtty good. Ah bought me a ring, see, and my birth- stone was in it. And I would use lodestone and I could soak dice in pepper and chamber lye - keep those dice soaked in 'em, you see. And just like I run a gam- bling house and you come dere, well, you see I'm always got two pair of dice. Well, the dice what you shoot, they're soaked in that stuff - in that lodestone and chamber lye. But now, when it come round for me to shoot the dice, I'm going to shoot that other pair. Well, you see, you losing all de time; you can't make a point on it, but I'm going make a point because I'm shooting a diff'rent pair. See.
(I see. The pair you see, you don't do anything to at all?)
No, sir. I don't do anything to hit at all. And I keep my table, just like I got this cloth on here. I take and get me some silver - 'bacco silver.
(What's that?)
Silver off of tobacco, you know, chewing tobacco.
(Silver paper off of tobacco [tin foil], I see.)
Yassuh, take that silver and I pad it under this here tablecloth, see. I keep a shooting on de cloth all the time. Well, I pad that under there and I get me some - some pound - you see, it's pound lodestone, pound lodestone.
(You mean like powder?)
Yes, it's made up like dust. Well, I get some of that and I put dat silver down and I sprinkle dat lodestone under dat silver and put dat silver over it.
(I see.)
I put dat cloth over dat. See. Well, you don't know what's under dat. But it's all in my favor, none in yours - it's coming in my favor all the time but it's none in yours.
(I see - in shooting the dice.)
In shooting de dice. And you shoot dem dice on dat table, you kill 'em; you'll get a point, but it's three to one that you make that point. See, I can give you - ah'd give you odd bets on it. Why? Because I know ah'm got cinches on you, you ain't got none on me; but ah'm got cinches on you because I just natch'ly know. Then, after I give you odds on it, I kin turn in and switch dem dere - ketch dem dice and throw dat - send another pair out - the same dice but not the same dice what you got the points with. See.
(I see.)
And you going miss. (That silver [tin foil] under the table[cloth] then makes the fellow you are playing against - makes him miss?) Yes, sir.
Entry 13027
If person is poisoned, boil Brown Mule chewing tobacco with grated silver dime, boil teaspoonful twice a day. [Memphis 1569:7.]
Entry 13314
You knows tobacco. Well, yo' kin pull de 'bacco off de stems an' git a bunch of stems an' whup [whip] 'em [a child who wets the bed] jes' whup 'em with it 9 times.
Entry 13315
To get a job, chew tobacco and spit some of it into the back of the boss's automobile. [Presumably a part of you, saliva, rides with him constantly as a reminder. This sort of thing I have considered individual rather than gen- erally used rites.]
Entry 1246
My ole grandmother wus poisoned an' dey take elder [leaves] an' sulphur an' put it together [by boiling] an' [take] a feather an' an'inted her laig an' worms wus in her laig. [Wilmington, N. Car., (232), 156:3+85.] [An ointment is also made of 'elder, tobacco and lard to take out live things" - Wilmington, N. Car., (?), 234:1.]
Entry 603
Now, ah had dat done tuh me. Now, ah'll tell yo' de truth. In Alexan- dria, Virginia, mah privates used to ache when mah wife would go off or somepin lak dat - be off any length of time. An' ah couldn't even bothah wit nobody but her, an' ah couldn't do so much tuh her. So, we separated an' dey jis' went tuh swellin' up on me down dere. Ah called de doctah an' de doctah ast me did ah evah had a cramps or anythin' lak dat. Ah tole him, "No suh." So he give me a suscription [prescription] for a suspensor bag [suspensory] an' some medicine. An' jis' [it] ordinarily leave, yo' know - it didn't las long. So, ah wus on mah way tuh hunt mah wife - yo' know, ah had tuh go fin her. She wus in South Ca'lina down heah an' ah wus in Marylan'. So ah stop in Virginia an' someone tole me 'bout a ole woman named Stu-art ovah on de Canal in Alexandria - it's right dere [near] Washington. So, ah went ovah tuh see her - ole woman. Ah reckon she wus roun' 75 or 80 yeahs ole. She say, "Come in, son, ah know why yo' come." Say, "Sit down." An' she took a rock an' put it in mah han' jis' lak dat, an' say, "Yo' shet it tight an' think about yore trouble an' make some wishes." Ah think 'bout mah trouble an' take it out. Ah've nevah seen a rock look lak dat. An' she took it off an' she went tuh readin' dis rock.
(What color was the rock she put in your hand?)
"Bout a dove colored rock.
(Did it change while it was in your hand?)
Naw suh, it didn't change. She say, "Yo's a long way from home." Ah say, "Yes'm. She say, "Ah'm goin' stop yo' heah, now [ambiguous]. An' she say, "Yore mothah's uneasy 'bout chew." ' Say, "Dere she is - can't yo' see her? She got a big white apern [apron] on." Ah couldn't see nuthin' [on the stone]. Say, "Can't yo' see her dere?" Say, "Yo' got somebody daid in yore family?" Say, "Yes'm, mah sistah wus." Say, "Can't yo' see her dere?" Say, "She dressed all in white." Den she come down heah to de bottom of de rock an' she say, "Think now - yo' evah seen anythin' lak dat befo' in yore life?" Ah say, "No-mam." She say, "Think." Ah say, "No'm, ah can't think." "A ole rock," she say, "dat's yore wife pussy." She say, "Didn't she play deceitful wit chew when yo' git ready tuh have sexual interco'se with her? She had tuh go out in anothah room or somepin lak dat?" Says, "Well, she dressed herself fo' yuh" - she didn't tell whut she dressed it wit but she dressed her- self wit somepin - an' she say, "Yore dragged in dat while yo' wus havin' her." An' she say, "She didn't intend tuh kill yo' but in othah words, her intention wus fo' yo' tuh follow wit her wherevah she go. She's a woman wants tuh have her way." Say, "But it would event'ly [eventually] killed yo' if yo' have nevah gone back to her an' hadn't seen me. She say, "Ah'll take yore case fo' $41.50." An' ah paid her whut ah had an' she tole me, say, "Now, yo' may have tuh go tuh Baltimore" - yo' might know it - say, "Yo' go tuh Washington tuh de ole Dutch Center Market an' yo' git chew a package of mayapple root. [I interviewed a Washington root seller, also one in Mobile - see Root seller in Index.] Yo' boil it down - put it in a quart of watah an' boil it down to a pint" [diminishing amount magic - opposite of increasing amount]. An' said, "Yo' take a" - think she said it wus a tablespoonful de first night. She said, "De next night yo' git chew a package of pure apple vinegar - boil a quart of pure apple vinegar an' a package of Sensation tubacca."
(Sensation tobacco - what is that, smoking or chewing?)
Well, yo' kin chew or either smoke it. An' say, "Yo' shave yore hair off easy on yore han'." Say, "Make a syrup out dat. [You have] a syrup out dis Sensation tobacca an' de vinegar. Put it [the two syrups] togethah an' boil it an' make a syrup an' see, yo' 'noint chure haid good wit it - all yore privates an' ever'thing wit it." An' say, "De next night, see, yo' git yo' a bottle of sweet oil an' yo' drink ever' bit of it." Ah did jes' lak she said. So one day, 'bout de last day dem pains, de pains got on top me an' ah went tuh hollerin' upstairs. Mah cousin came up an' she say, "Whut's de mattah?" When she came upstairs ah wus down - ah had de foot of de bed jes' lak dis - she say, "Whut's de mattah?"
(Hanging onto the bed.)
Hangin' on de bed jes' lak dat - wit de suspensor bag on me.
(What kind of a bag on?)
Had on de suspensor bag - ah still had on dat suspensor bag de doctah had give me in Baltimore.
(What's that?)
Dat's tuh hol' dem balls up - dat's a truss, dey call it. So ah look roun' after her lak dat an' ah said, "Dat woman tole me dat mah haid wus damn big an' all - dat ah couldn't hear but ah'd feel somepin dere - somepin dere - an' maybe ah ain't feelin' it now." She laughed an' says, "Ef yo' don' treat dese wimmin right, dey'll kill yo'." So she rushed dis one man next do' to dis wumman cross de Canal dat had give me dat suscription tuh use an' tole her whut a fix ah wus in an' he said she laughed at him when he got dere an' tole him, "He'd be all right when yo' go back." An' sho' 'nuff when he came back ah wus all right. An' de next day ah went tuh work at de shop fo' five hours, an' ah throw 'way dat suspensor bag or dem trusses an' ah nevah had dem pains any mo' since. Naw suh. An' jes' mah ordinary nature came back to me an' ah could go wit any woman ah wanted, an' befo' ah could hardly rear it up an' anothah woman seem jes' lak a man. Dat de truth.
(What kind of a iob did you have with the Southern Railroad - firing?)
Firelighter in de roun'house.
(Oh, you were lighting the fires in the engines.)
In de engines.
Entry 612
I know a lady in Baltimore, she was taken to the asylum. She was hurt with some kind of white stuff. Someone next door throwed it in her hair. She Was crazy. A man told us he could cure her. The day she was to be taken away he came to see her. He put a Bible under her head and told us to wash her head with tobacco and we did so. Before he did that he taken a glass of milk, he taken a silver ring off of his finger and let it stood in this milk, and give it to her to drink. It [milk left in glass after the drink] didn't turn black, so he said she wasn't hurt inside. He said let her go on to the asylum and he guaranteed in four weeks time she'll be out. So we did. He give me a [dressed] handkerchief, a brand-new one. He told me don't let my hands touch it, carry it to the asylum and give it to her to wipe her face. And I did. I could tell a diff'rence in her before I left. In four weeks time she was at home.
Entry 1933
That's used for gambling.
(How do they handle that?)
They take graveyard dust and white sand and put it in a tobacco sack. Take a tobacco sack and wash it out in clear water and turn it wrong side out. And [take] two teaspoonful of graveyard dust and two teaspoonful of salt and a silver dime. And tie 'em nine knots - tie it nine times, which would make 81 knots in de sack and wear it in yore pocket.
(What do you do with that white sand?)
The white sand - that's a - they use that in place of steel dust.
(Well, do you put it in that sack, too?)
Yes, sir.
(How much?)
About a teaspoon and a half of white sand. (I see. What do you mean by tying nine knots? How could you tie nine knots in that sack?) Well, you see, there's two strings to it.
(Oh, yes.)
And you take and every time you tie a knot, you.tie it to you, you know. You see, tie nine knots in it, see. And after you tie the ninth knot, you see, well then you turn that sack like this.
(How do you mean, you turn the sack? How do you mean?)
Just take the sack like that and hold the strings - hold one string in this hand and one string in this hand and turn the sack over to you [demonstrates].
(You swing the sack over toward you. I see.)
Yes. Then you tie nine more, you see. Nine times nine is 81. (I see. You have to swing the sack at the end of each nine knots. You pre- pare that for what? Gambling you say?) Yes, sir.
Entry 2674
You know, that's a special way they do that. It's this. You take one woman - she can walk right before us right now. Now, if you don't believe that, you ask people have done tried it and done it. You can take one woman right now and let her walk downstairs and there be fifteen men - she don't necessarily have to be the prettiest woman round here. You all [the southern you all] see this stuff that they call snuff? Take that same stuff, that snuff, but it must be burned. And sit on a man and drink with him and drop it in his drink, and from time to time get up to each one she can and drop it in the drink. And then she get her house advertised from them, them same men that she get, ev'ry time a cus- tomer come in her house. After she drop the snuff in that building, she can just continue from cup to cup, and they say they'll always come back to her house. Only use nothing but ordinary snuff, that people use in the form of tobacco. (Well, she just drops that. But you say she had to burn that first. The snuff should be burnt?) She has to burn it first. The snuff should be burnt.
(And she uses the ashes?)
Use the ashes. You just burn it and use the ashes.
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 1929
If yo' wanta be lucky, if yo' is a gambler. If yo' know of some drunk- ard that's dead, see, an' yo' go there to his grave at midnight, yo' call his name twice. Dig, jest keep digging until you git to that clay - yo' know de stuff like clay - jest dig, dig, till yo' git to that clay, an' git chew a han'- ful an' put in one of dese tobacco sacks. Ah don't know whut's de name of de tobacco - yo' kin git 'em sacks, cloth sacks. Go on back to any gambling room. Ever' time yo' start tuh losin' jest touch that graveyard dirt lightly with yore hands.
The informant describes clay collected from a deceased drunkard's grave and calls it graveyard dirt in this account. This occurrence does not establish a global equivalence between clay and graveyard dirt.
Entry 13316
Take tobaccah an' put it in a pint of whiskey an' let it stay in dere till dat pint of whiskey eat up dat tobaccah. Den take it down tuh give to 'em, dey'll stop.
(To stop somebody from drinking [alcohol].)
Entry 1551
Well, they give her, made her use 'bacco [tobacco], money [silver], mullein and fish oil - that was all in it. She use it but all that had to be mixed together, but she would bathe her leg down in de mullein, money and 'bacco, and after using that, why she would - they called it eel-fish oil and it was eel- fish oil. Well, she'd have to get that and she been using that pract'ly up to now sometime. So we never did get her straight, but she went to diff'rent people and all, and they told her the cause of it, the woman that did it - why, had her tricked that way and why. She died from that. (And somebody down below Natchez told her to use this remedy.)
The eligible source wording is 'bacco; the earlier tobacco expansion is bracketed editorial matter.
Entry 9158
Yo' take some ashes [coal or wood or back-yard trash] an' put it in a li'le tobacco bag [holding a cigarette mixture back in the days when a smoker rolled his own]. An' den yo' git a ole cigah butt, an' yo' kin git some peanuts an' put in dere. An' jis' befo' yo' git ready, jis' when dey git ready tuh call 'em [you], all dey [you] have tuh do is, drop dat on de flo' [of the courtroom] an' dey'll [you will] git a light sentent [sentence]. [Here is the symbolism to help defendant: ashes (the power of the court has been burned out), cigar butt (something thrown away), and peanuts (scattered about are unlucky for the place- See No.2574, p.710, v.1).]
Tobacco retrieves the named tobacco bag and cigar butt; the passage does not say loose tobacco was added.