Subject:Weed
Entries
Entry 1418
Now, ah have got de perfume weed mahself - it's home. Yeah, it's a vine grows in de woods lak dat [demonstrates]. Yo' pick it [a leaf] off at de [growing] end. De leaf on it is jis' lak a heart, yo' see. Now, ah want show yo' dis. Yes, heah 'tis in mah pocket. Ah stick it in dis pocket. Dis is a sanitary pocket han'scuff. See. An' dis pocket han'scuff is got dat perfume odor on it, don't chew see.
[Evidently I did not ask to smell it.]
(This perfume weed?) [For its possible identity, see later.]
Yeah - de vine. Well, ah carry dis, don't chew know jis' all de time. But it's must be a sanitary piece dat's not used at all - it's gota be used on me, yo' see.
(Why do you carry that?)
That keeps anyone from harmin' yo'. Dat's whut chew ast me, don't yo' see.
(Has this perfume weed any other name?)
Yeah. It's jes' call perfume weed, but yo' dress it yoreself, yo' see.
(How do you take the perfume out of that weed?)
Well, listen, it already smells sweet when yo' go an: dig it an' de little leaf is made, it jis' grows lak de shape of a heart. Yo' git that yoreself. Yo' know it grows kinda long.
(On the ground?)
Yeah, an' yo' git that an' dress that yoreself. Yo' dress that wit whiskey an'perfume.
(How do you dress it? What do you do with this weed?)
De roots, put 'em into a quart bottle - jis' as big a bottle as yo' want, if yo've got that much yo' see. An' see yo' po' jis' perfume, but de root always smells nice befo' yo' put it in dere. It smells lak perfume itself. An' yo' put whiskey an' half perfume an' jis' put dose roots - put jis as many roots in that bottle as yo' want, an' fo' two years, or twelve years it'll be jis' lak yo' fixed it there. Now, that's when yo' dressin' it.
(You just use that on your handkerchief?)
Yeah. [His perfume weed could be the heartleaf (see Index), common name for several American species of Asarum, all having aromatic roots; informant's root possibly being A. canadense, used as an aromatic bitter and flavoring agent.]
Entry 1455
"Story too long, too diffuse [to transcribe]. [This quotation is my note about it.] Make tea of St. John weed, bathe down on legs three different times - with same water - then throw towards sunrise - wood sawyers came out through toes - 'white worms with big heads' - over 50 years ago, before 1936. Cf. St. John's weed and European witchcraft." [This is a St.-John's-wort, but which plant of the genus Hypericum, I do not know.]
Entry 2217
But if yo's makin' whiskey an' yo' scared de law runnin' on yo', yo' git gueen weed root an' yo' git it near - on de low end of de mountain. Yo' cain't git it on flat country lak heah. Co'se up roun' mah home close tuh de Blue Ridge Mountains yo' kin fin' all kinda roots. Mah granddaddy, he's been huntin' those things all his life, even in slave time. Yo' git one dem queen weed roots an' yo kin take dat roots an' boil it. It got a elbow on it ovah five j'ints an' de j'ints is ovah a inch jes' lak dat - knots, all lak a rattlesnake's tail, yo' know, got dat bell on de rattle- snake tail. Well, it got lil knots on it an' yo' kin tell where dose j'ints is yo' know. Yo' take three of dem j'ints an' boil it in a lil hot watah. When dem three is boiled in hot watah, yo' put 'em down undah yore front do'step an' de law will not pass ovah there. He'll stand out an' he'll talk to yo', see - 'Well, ah heared so-an'-so 'bout chew, but ah tole 'em it warn't so." See. He'll vell fo' yo' 'fore he gittin' out de car, "Come on, buddy." Well if yo' bury down somepin an' yo' ain't dere, he won't come ovah dere. An' some of 'em do happens somehow or'nother tuh come ovah it sometime, but if dey do, dey'll git down in dey laig an' nevah will be no mo' good. But he'll go roun' tuh back, now, an' come in, if yo' don't set one at de back. If yo' set one at de back, put one or two elbow - not three. See, ah gene'lly put three at de front - one fo' yo' fren's, one fo' yo enemies, an' de othah one fo' de law. See, yore fren's will gi' yo, harm yo, see; an' yore enemies will, dey won't do anything to yo', only steal from yo', see. Dat's why yo have tuh put three.
Entry 3280
[Three ingredients is only one of many groups of 3's in the text (pp.651-654 and elsewhere). Blackjack received it's name from the black bark of the common oak Quercus marilandica. Palmetto in the present case are the scrubby palm plants one sees in the coastal lowlands from North Carolina down into Florida. Turpentine weed can be one of several plants having an actual or a fancied odor of turpentine.] [To] fix dat up to keep de mens away from dere [his wife or woman] he'd go out in de woods an' he'd git 'im - jis' ast anybody, any of dem ole people. Dey tel] 'im right, yo' know, right where to git dat, dem kinda roots at. Yo' take a blackjack root - get de blackjack root an' a he palmetto root an' some of dis 'tentime [turpentine] weeds. Dey got some weed dey call de 'tentime weeds. An' yo' mix dat up, yo' understan', an' put it on yore private see, an' let it dry.
(You mean, you just mix the leaves up, themselves?)
Yes, jis' take nuthin but de leaves, see.
(You don't boil them, you just mix the leaves up?)
Mix de weeds [leaves] up, yo' undahstan'.: See, it'll come wit juice all ovah it. An' mix 'em up, put 'em on yore private, see, an' let it dry. Don't wash it off. An' go wit yore wife, yo' undahstan', an' go ahead on out dere an' work where yo' wanta work at. Evah time a man git ready to go wit yore wife - dey won't have it, but he'll get on her, yo' undahstan'. Well, he'll jis' straddle her an' 'is thing will fall - he can't have her.
Entry 6484
Well, it's quite natchel if a man love a woman, he wan' 'er tuh love 'im yo' know. When she rub 'er haid - when she mub 'er haid wit 'im, well she love yo' an' yo' love 'er. Well, but if yo' wanta git sho [sure] of 'er, if yo' got dat much 'er toenail yo' cut off - cut chure toenail off an' tie it tuh a string wit jis' about dat much Adam Weed Root [Adam-and-Eve?] in dat, wit dat toenail, an' let it swing off intuh runnin' watah. An' jis' as long as dat vill stay dere, she'll love yo'.
(That's her toenail you tied?)
Sho', her toenail.
Entry 6694
[The informant who gave this cure was a root doctor who is marked good. Adam weed may be Adam-and-Eve, and black jack weed may be a common oak called black jack because of its black bark (Quercus marilandica) of the eastern U. S. A. Both these plants appear frequently in Hoodoo. It is also possible this root doctor bought all his roots from a root store or mail-order firm and was unfamiliar with the growing plant. The old-time root doctor who dug all his own roots was becoming rare in the late 30's or early 40's. I met few of them (see p.1620; MY FIRST DOCTOR, p.933; etc.). Presumably these four roots or some other four roots conquered anything within the four corners of the earth (Rev. 7:1).1 Yo' kin take de root of a hick'ry tree, Adam weed root [Adam-and-Eve] an' fig tree root an' blackjack weed root [blackjack oak?] an' take it an' boil it, boil it, jes' lak if anybody would have a bad accident or somepin othah, yo' know, an' jes' lak a girl happen tuh git a case of de clapps or somepin othah.
Entry 7257
He left me once. Yes sir, mah husban', he left me once. Ah worried ovah 'im. Ah went tuh a man an' ah ast 'im. Ah went tuh a man supposed tuh be a rootman an' ah ast 'im whut would ah do. He say, " "Emily, ah tell yo' de truth." He say, "Pray." Ah said, "Ah done prayed till ah'm tyahd [tired]." Ah said, "It don't look lak tuh me de Lawd hearin' mah prayah." He said, "Yo' jis' have faith." Ah got me sompin dey calls de many fens, an' ah got mah brothah tuh go in de woods an' git me - well see, he has dat. He's got aplenty of dat. When yo' cuts dat - it's a weed grows about dat high - an' when yo' cut it, time yo' cut it half in two, it's two lettahs on it, it's a "IC" [= Jesus Christ] on dere. [The letters "I" and "J" years ago were made alike.] An' ah took dat an' ah [gotj me some of dis heah one-time droppah [eye-dropper] an' ah wrote him a lettah an' ah jis' took it an' jis' rubbed it all up on dere an' put it in de envelope an' sealed it an' sent it tuh 'im. He come on right back tuh me. He hasn't left me no mo' since.
(What is the name of this weed that you get in the woods?)
IC. De time yo' cut it off dere's two lettahs on it - IC.
(And you simply rub this root over this letter.)
An' dat othah droppah, one-time droppah, yo' put it on dere an' seal de lettah up an' send it tuh 'im. (You simply put this liquid in this one-time dropper and put it over the let- ter?) Put it on de lettah. [I am unable to identify this Weed. A similar holy plant is the cross vine (Bignonia capreolata) of southern U. S. A., which shows when cut across a stem the figure of a cross. Similarly this plant, like the "IC one, keeps husband home and away from other women (see 765, p.225 and 1810, p.542).]
Entry 9172
Well, all right. Well, say fo'stance [for instance] now, yo' done some hangin' crime ovah yondah [where you came from] - done some bad crime, ah mean a hangin' crime ag'in. All right. Say fo'stance yo've did dat. Yo' say, "Well, Lawd, ah don't know whut ah'm goin' do, ah don' know whut's goin 'come [going to become] of me." Yo' come tuh me an' say, "Well, Dawson, listen, ah've did a bad crime. What's ah'm done goin' do? Ah know dey goin' hang me." [Up to this point I have done as guinea pig all sorts of crimes in the text, but this appears to be my first murders!] Ah say, "Well, ah don't believe dey will." Yo' say, "Well, whut must ah do?" [Here Dawson, one of my contact workers in Mobile, answering for me recalls Doctor Washington of Charleston, S. Car.; see No.9024, p.3660, v.4.] Ah says, "We'll go tuh de sto', yo' wait till ah come back." Ah'll go tuh de sto' den an' ah'll git me a package of red cayenne peppah. See, ah'll git dat. Ah'll walk out in de woods aftah ah git dat cayenne peppah an' ah'll go ahead an' ah'll git me a dog-brindle weed.
[My following question shows I completely misunderstood dog-brindle weed.]
(Dog brindle or dog fennel?)
Dog brinnel [dog-brindle = dog color]. [The preceding brackets were originally parentheses and the comment is not mine but my transcriber's. She Was correct. The weed had dark streaks or spots on a gray or tawny ground.]
(What does it look like?)
It's got a little - it grows tall, about dis big [demonstrates]. Got little leaves on it, no flowahs at all. Well, yo' kin call it dog fennel if yo' wanta [or] dogwood. It's a doa-fana? weed, yo' know. [The preceding question mark following dog. fang? is above fang in the tran- scription. I was unable to improve transcriber's fang part of it. Since the next sentence says wring that off, I suspected the identity of this weed as hound's-tongue, but informant's no flowahs at all eliminated the identification. Finally, could fang be bane? How about dogbane? Is our plant any species of the genus Apocynum? The latter name alludes to the poisonous milky juice, hence the bane of dogs. (A piece of poison in your pocket and shoe could be a good defense against a poisonous sentence by the judge.) Here again we are confronted by flowers. As I have said somewhere, the old-time root men who dug their own roots were fast disappearing when I began to collect back in the 30's. Most doctors in my time bought roots from a root shop, if there was one in the town, or sent away for them. We must not accept Dawson's no flowahs as the absolute truth. An ex- pert may be able to name the plant from the little information here.] Well, yo' git dat an' yo' wring dat off an' put piece of dat in yore pocket, an' yo' put tothah [the other] one in yore shoe. Put dat in yore shoe an' den dis here cayenne peppah yo' got. Now it's lak if yo' settin' an' if yo' stepped out dere an' go tuh dat toilet dere an' nurinate [urinate]. [Whereas at the beginning of this rite author was the defendant on a hangin' crime, suddenly I find myself a judge on the bench! And momentarily leaving the courtroom!] Well, ah take dat cayenne peppah an' ah sprinkle dat cayenne peppah in yore chair, where yo' was settin' at, an' jes' sprinkle it round in heah, see. Well, when yo'[author as judge] come back heah an' set down, an' yo' go tuh talkin' an' says, "Well, Dawson, ah don't see dere's nuthin in heah ag'in yo'." See, yo' say, "Go ahead up an' go on home an' don't come back heah no mo'." See, dat weed is jes' got chure mind, it's [your mind is] jes' up in a uproah [uproar]. An' dat cayenne peppah done changed yore mind all de Way round, so yo' can't do nuthin. Yo' tell me tuh go on home.
Entry 10837
Yes, sir, a butterfly root. And you take that - yo' know dere's milk in it. Yo' kin bring it to yere house. Jest dig it up and break that up - break it, jest pull de leave on it an' see de milk drop. An' yo' [take] that and it stings jest like de house is become yore [word or several words dropped = bete noire, obsession, hoosoo, etc.]. Yo' kin [take] that and bury it right out yonder to them steps an' yo' ain't nevah goin' come no further. You wanta come in de house but you cain't go [in]. You keep agoin' by. Yo' be comin' by but yo' cain't come in.
(You just bury it out in front of the steps?)
Yeah, jest take it and bury it there jest somewhere front of de steps or any- where where yo' know he ain't nevah goin' to raise his foot up to come in. [This is the common butterfly weed, a milkweed with showy orange flowers (Asclepias tuberosa) common to the eastern U. S. A.]
Entry 11026
You kin get a black hen's feather, git chew a little black molasses, and take you a little of dis ole card weed, they use to call it - grow in de fields. (Card weed?) Dat's right. It bears a long seed-like along in de fall of de year, and it's a lot of yellow dust on dat. You git chew one of dem, git de longest one yo' kin find. If yo' go to a bush, git de longest one yo' kin find. You take dis chicken feather and dis black molasses and you boil it like a tea- like. And you kin slip some of dat to a fellow and it ain't very long 'fore dat Weed will sprout into his veins. [At one time I thought this weed might be the card teasel or cardthistle. I'll leave this for the expert in folk names for plants.]
(You boil this weed and the molasses and the feather all together?)
Yes.
(And how do you give to him?)
Well you gotta slip it in somepin dat he eats.
(Oh I see, and this weed will sprout in him. What will that do?)
It don't sprout into his system, it forms into his veins; just cripples hi up, bad laigs.
Entry 11142
They use a kind of a weed - jis' like a ole weed, yo' know, jis' growin' around. Well, they'll take this weed an' they cut this weed down. Well, they take that stick an' make a little cross like that. An' then about time that it git about just dark, they'll take that [cross] an' plant it to your back door; set it right up at chore back door. An' then at night round about twelve o'clock, they'd come back an' git it an' pick that stick [cross] up an' turn it over [turn it upside down], an' leave it there to daybreak. An' then they'll come back an' take it. An' then tomorrow you'll be arguin' all day long wit chore wife.
Entry 11725
They claim they get a whole lot of stuff and put in there, High John the Conqueror, nimphel[?] weed [etc.]. Put all of them weeds together and beat them up good, and call that goofer dust. You are walking along in the mud and you put your whole footprint down there. They claim they can sprinkle that dust in there and make you butt your brains out. [Fredericksburg, Va., by Ediphone 39.]
Entry 12373
Hit's in de country though, whut ah did. Hit's a weed in de country, yo' call de love tangler. [Is this a dodder?]
(What does it look like?)
It's jes' - it's a bush dat grows flat chew know, an' it jes' tangles all up yo' know - jes' lak yo' cain't see where de root of it. It jes' tangled an' twisted all up. (Is it a flower? Does it have any bloom on it?) No, it don't have no bloom. It's jes' a pretty green glat weed dat be's tangled up. An' yo' dig up some of that - yo' jes' dig up one bush of that an' carry it an' throw it under de per- son's house whut's devilin' yo' up wit chure husband.
(What will that do?)
Dat puts yo' all back together an' breaks him an' dis woman up. Dat's whut ah did fo' mah sister.