s lore represents the sort of
thing that their parents and grandparents believed in and at various
times they have been heard to tell about these beliefs.

VOODOO AND CONJURE

Mr. Leonard says: "In dem days de old folks b'lieved in witch-craft and
conjure and sicha stuff like dat. Dey b'lieved dat an old person could
punish anybody by taking a piece of chip and spitting on it and den dey
would throw it on 'em. Dey said dat in two weeks time maggots would be
in 'em."

"I have seen 'em take a black cat an' put 'im in a sack an' den dey took
'im an' put 'im in a pot of boiling hot water alive. Man de cat would
almos' tear dat pot up tryin' to git out. After dey had cooked all de
meat off de cat dey took one of his bones (I don't know which one of
'em) and put it crossways in their front teeth while dey mumbled
somethin' under their breath an' den dey took dis bone an' throwed it
'cross de right shoulder an' when dey went an' picked it up an' put it
in their pocket it was supposed to give 'em de bes' kind of luck. Dey
could say or do anything dey wanted to an' ole marster couldn't hit
'em."

Regarding the Black cat's bone Mr. Strickland told the following story
which he says he once heard an old man tell his father:

"You goes out in de valley in de woods an' you takes a live black cat
an' throws 'im in a pot of boiling water. You boils 'im 'till he gits
done all to pieces an' den you takes all de bones an' throws 'em in de
creek an' de one dat floats up de creek is de one to use. You takes dis
bone an' draws it through your teech an' gits all de meat off an' den
you can take dat bone an' do all kinds of majic. You can talk to folks
an' dey can't see you. You can even disappear an' come right back. It
takes a good 'un to do dat (get a black cat's bone). While you's boilin'
de cat dat thunder an' lightnin' look like it goin' tear up de face of
de earth--you can even see de wind which is like a red blaze of fire."

Continuing Mr. Strickland says: "Some of de roots dat dey used to bring
'im luck an' to trick folks wid wuz Rattle-Snake Marster, and John de
Conquerer. John de Conquerer is supposed to conquer any kind of trouble
you gits intuh. Some folks says dat you can tote it in your pocket an'
have good luck.

"I once knowed a woman who had some lodestone dat she uster work. She
could take men an' dere wives apart an' den put 'em back together again.
She say dat she had killed so many folks (by the use of conjure a