Subject:Wishbone
Entries
Entry 2385
De breast bone - yo' know it's a little fo'ked bone, call dat a wish- bone. Yo' carry dat in yore pocketbook an' that's fo' if yo' goes somewhere an' yo' wants tuh git somepin - dere's somepin yo' want. Yo' make yore wishes befo' yo' leave home an' yo' keep dat bone oiled with lucky oil an' yo' carry dat bone in yore pocket in de day, an' at night when yo' take it out yo' lay it up somewhere where nobody kin remove it but chew. An' yo carry that in yore pocket. That's fo' something that chew haven't got but chew's expectin' to, an' it's always successful anyhow tuh carry a wishbone.
Entry 2456
You runnin' a house or whiskey or anything, to keep the law away I hear'd people say you could nail on top the door a chicken bone up with some tacks under the doorsill. They say that keep law from you an' you won't have to go to court or nuthin. (What sort of chicken bone?) It's a little bone right on the backbone-like - join on together - whut people call a luck bone. An' some people said if two people be right together an' break it, the one who had the longest bone has good luck.
[While my machine is turned off, he says something about tacks.]
I hear'd that you had to nail thirteen tacks.
Entry 8839
Then again, dey wan'a draw yuh. Say a woman likes yuh very well an' she can't git up tuh yuh. Well now, she will git a love vine [the dodder], she'll git dose little candies [used for decorating a cake], an' holy watah, an' if possible she'll git a wishbone from a turkey, if she kin git it; if not, she will use a chicken [wish] bone. She'll set in de forks of dis road an' she'll place it dere jis' as neah as dat fork an' dat wishbone will match tuhgethah. An' she'll make a wish. An' if she kin Write, well - aftah makin' dis wish in de forks of de road - while she dere, she'll write a lettah. She'll have 'er three grains of rice. She seal dat lettah wit three grains of rice. She have de rice cooked sof' an' done, an' instead of wettin' wit yore tongue, why yo'll jis' mash - yo' ought tuh have it wet enough, yuh see. Yo' jis' lay it on dere an' mash it down an' let it seal [demonstrates]: one grain on one side [of letter flap], an' one in de middle of dat part, dat part here, an' one on de othah [side]. Seal it wit dat, wit a dash of Lovers Sashay. An' believe yuh me, he gon'a come.
Entry 9023
Yo' know dere's a bone in a black hen, a right black hen. Whut's de name of it? But it in de chest heah [the wishbone]. But yo' kin take dat bone out of a black hen, see an' pull it apart, an' de biggest end yo' keep in yo' pocket. An' if yo' happen to git in jail, see, yo'll come out. [And you can keep it] fo' luck.
Entry 9900
Yo' git a frog, a toadfrog, an' yo' put 'im in a can. Yo' put some holes in de can an' yo' put 'im ovah a red ants nest, an' let de ants eat de frog. An' when de ants through wit it, yo' go dere an' gits de skeleton of de frog, an' yo'll find a bone in dere, in dis skeleton dat looks lak a fish- bone - a wishbone. [There is no bone in a frog or toad looking like the wishbone in a chicken.] An' yo' takes dis bone an' go out talk- in' wit de girl dat chure tryin' tuh git. If yo' kin hang it in 'er clothes jes' fo' two seconds, why she'll be crazy about chew. An' de only way tuh git unsundah [asunder] from 'er is take dat same bone from anothah frog, an' make a tea an' put some of de watah in sompin lak a bottle of soda watah [a sweet carbonated water of various flavors] or sompin lak dat - nine drop of dis. Den she'll git chew off 'er mind. Othah den dat, she'll stay wit chew.
(That is all she can do to get rid of that.)
Dat's all yo' kin do tuh git rid of dat girl.
(Oh! if you want to get rid of her.)
Yes, if yo' wanta keep 'er, why don't make de tea. (If you want to get rid of her, you get another frog and take it out to the ants bed.) Dat's it.
Entry 10104
(When you boil this black cat, these bones fall apart?)
All a 'em fall off [the flesh].
(Which bone do you take?)
Take...izza [it's a] bone shape lak de wishbone in de chicken. Yo' call it de night bone. [As I have explained elsewhere, there is no black cat bone the shape of a chicken wishbone: "One informant said the black cat bone was 'made lak de breast of a chicken' (No.316, p.94), meaning the furculum or wishbone in front of but not a part of the chicken breast- bone. Similarly, another informant de- scribed black cat bone as 'gon'a have three forks [prongs or tines]...two long forks an' a little small fork' (No.299, p.88). I suggested this three-pronged fork could have been a 'devil's trident.' Actually the 'little small fork' could have been the hypocleidium - the end adhering to the winning half of the broken wishbone. Despite informants, wishbone appears only in most birds; it appears in black cats only by the grace of hoodoo merchants (Vol.1, No.1732, p.527, lines 15-23).]
[We now return to the preceding night-bone.]
(The ninth bone or the night?)
De night, n-i-g-h-t.
(The night bone?)
Yes, sir.
[It is called night bone because it makes you invisible.]
An' yo' keep dat in yuh pocket, an' wherevah yo' go de people don't [see you]. Yo' kin do anything dey want lak a majjint [magician].
(They can't see you?)
Dey can't see yuh.
Entry 10105
Well, you could take a cat - some people say a black cat, but it don't have to be a black cat. Take any kinda cat. Understand? Take this cat. You put you on some water - a big pot of water - boils it up good. When that water gets to boiling good, get you a can of lye. You empty about half of it in that water, as it boils, you see. You takes this cat and tie all four of his feet togeth- er like that, see [demon- strates]. Tie all four of his feet together, but don't kill him - let him be alive. You takes him - but you'll have to have a top over him, you understand. You takes him and you slams him down in that water while it's boilin', see. Set your top down good so he can't get out. You let him boil in there awhile. Well, it's natchal that lye is going to cut all the meat off the bones, you see. As soon as you've boiled all them bones clean and everything, it's a certain bone that you get. It comes from right under here [demonstrates].
(Right from the throat?)
Right under the throat chere.
(Right under the throat.)
It's a forked bone and it's got a piece cross it like that [demonstrates]. Lays jest like that right under his throat chere. You gits that bone out.
(Like the yoke of an ox, like a wishbone?)
Yes, sir. Yes, sir, it is. [A chicken-wishbone shape in a cat is impossi- ble.] You gets that bone out. After you take that bone out, you get you some salt.] Put it in some water. You soak that bone in there for nine mornings - about an hour every morning. That salt water will harden it. See. Then it will petrify, so it won't spoil. [This is curing the bone as you would a ham.] After you soaks it in that, then you take it and you lay it in the rays of the sun, for three mornings. Let the sun dry it, petrify it. After then, take you a piece of white silk linen [silk or linen?] and you sew it up in that, and wear that bone on you.
(What will that do then?)
Well, you'll be invisible then - can't see you.
Entry 10112
They claim you go into a graveyard about midnight. The first black cat that crosses in the graveyard, you ketch it and kill it and get the main bone. The main bone will be a knuckle bone called the black cat wishbone. [All black cat bones are wishbones but they never look like a chicken wishbone - see No.10104, p.3939.] [Fredericks- burg, Va., Ediphone cyl.47.
Entry 13133
Ah heard dat they have, that they sell hands. They go out and the git - they go out and they git - jest like a man - ah don't know if you have seen dem aroun' dis part of de country, but dey go out and dey git a root dey calls snipe root. Dey git dis snipe root. (Snipe root?) Snipe root. A snipe is a long thing like a crane [bird]. Well, you take this snipe, de snipe w'at flies. Take dis snipe and cut de snipe neck off and dey pick it - jes' like, most like a crow or somepin like that. And dey pick dis snipe and dey cut dat bone out of it. De bone is somepin like a fork, jes' like a chicken bone. Den dey take dat bone and dey let dat bone set for awhile, and after settin' for awhile, dey take some sulphur. Take dat sulphur and place it on top of dat bone. After taking dat sulphur, take a little bit of red pep- pah and put on dat sulphur, a little gunpowdah and put on sulphur. Rub dat bone in dere. Then they will take a saw or sompin an' cut half that bone off. Then take that sulphur an' red peppah and combine it together and sew a little sack around it. Wear it. Don't wear it around de neck, let it drop between yore laigs. That supposed to keep de law away from de home. [Not every bird has a chicken wishbone; better check about snipe.]
Entry 13457
Dis pullin' bone in a chicken, yo' take dat bone an' yo' do a lotta different things wit dis bone. Yo' take dis pullin' bone an' keep it in yore pocket an' it gives yo' good luck. Sometimes yo' git a job or yo' find money. An' yo' take dis pullin' bone again an' break it an' stick it through de do' at de first man dat come in. Dat'll be yore husband.