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.]