Page:The International Folk-Lore Congress of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, July, 1893.djvu/386

320 fust in de stump wid nuttin' a-stickin' out but 'e two footses.

"Den Ole Fish-Hawk, he skaddle off des ez hahd ez e'er 'e could clip, an' 'e packed up all 'e plundeh an' 'e moved clean outen de kyentry."

"And the Old Boy?"

"Him? Oh! 'e des kicked eroun' twell 'e turr shin wuz lame too, an' den 'e bust thu de bottom ob de stump an' spit out de mud an' de splintehs so's -"e could cuss free, an' den 'e swum back home. 'E wuz dat mad an' flustehed dat 'e ain't wunst thunk twell de nex day dat 'e could a-cunjered hisse'f out right off."

"And Fish-Hawk?"

"Fish-Hawk? Oh! he's a-runnin' yit. Dey wuz er heap mo' run den fun in dat Joke ob hissen."

This Old Boy, sometimes spoken of as Old Master, the husband of Old Mistis who carries the snake venom, evidently is not the Old Master, the snake-king, the Grandfather whose aid is invoked in such incantations as this:


 * {|style="font-size:smaller"


 * Hear, Old Master! hear! hear!|| Or at his victuals.
 * By the fire at night. ||Or at his work,
 * By the dead black hen, ||Or with his wife,
 * By the bloody throat. ||Or with his friends or kin.
 * By the goat in the pot. ||Or trying to take pleasure,
 * By the bleeding hand. ||Or any place he can go or hide.
 * By the whiskey on the ground, ||Slit him
 * By the bitten tongue, ||And burn him
 * By the bloody mouth. ||And waste him
 * By the black dog with his tongue ||And cut him
 * style="padding-left:2em"|pulled out. ||And wear him
 * By the black cat with her bleeding ||And tear him
 * style="padding-left:2em"|haunch skinned. ||As these creatures
 * We call, we whoop, we beg and scream ||Were slit
 * To get strength, to get power ||And burned
 * To put the trick on this man ||And wasted
 * Known by name of Kichard Roe, ||And cut
 * So that he can get no peace in his ||And worn
 * style="padding-left:2em"|bed. ||And torn.
 * }
 * style="padding-left:2em"|pulled out. ||And wear him
 * By the black cat with her bleeding ||And tear him
 * style="padding-left:2em"|haunch skinned. ||As these creatures
 * We call, we whoop, we beg and scream ||Were slit
 * To get strength, to get power ||And burned
 * To put the trick on this man ||And wasted
 * Known by name of Kichard Roe, ||And cut
 * So that he can get no peace in his ||And worn
 * style="padding-left:2em"|bed. ||And torn.
 * }
 * To put the trick on this man ||And wasted
 * Known by name of Kichard Roe, ||And cut
 * So that he can get no peace in his ||And worn
 * style="padding-left:2em"|bed. ||And torn.
 * }
 * So that he can get no peace in his ||And worn
 * style="padding-left:2em"|bed. ||And torn.
 * }
 * }

To this is sometimes added, send him sickly girl-children, double-jointed and knock-kneed; and let him not die, but live and mourn.

This invocation is said over fire and snake.

Here is another, which may be to the Old Boy. It is mumbled as a pin or honey-locust thorn is driven into a little wax