t. He see me
walkin' along crooked and he say: 'Auntie, what's de matter?' I told
him. He say: 'Now, I'll tell you what cure me. I was off in a furn
(foreign) country, and a man say; me walking cripple, and he told me to
steal two Irish potatoes and wear 'em, and when dey git hard you burn
'em up.' I specked I bin crooked up all kind of fashion if I ain't done
dat: I always bind a piece of brass around my leg. Das' good like gold."

The eager grandchild was hanging over Nancy's shoulder, listening and
smiling. The white boy edged up, and Nancy laughed. "Hunh! I spects dese
chillun kin 'member tomorrow every word I tells you today. Dey knows
everything." Her bony arm encircled the Negro child. "Jooroosalom
oak--we got some and give it to dis lil' thing for worms. She went off
in a trance and never come out until 2 o'clock nex' day. I think we got
de wrong thing and give her root instead of seed. I never fool wid it no
more it skeered me so. Thought we had killed de child."

Nancy was asked what her methods were in raising children.

"Bin so long I mos' forgot," she said. "All my babies growed straight
'cause I swep' 'em 9 times for 9 mornings from de knees down on out,
dataway, and bathed 'em wid pot liquor and dish water. I ain' nused no
root cep' sassafax roots to make tea outten das good to purge your blood
in de spring of de year. Drinkin' water from a horse trough, I hearn'
tell das good for whoopin' cough and all lika-dat."

"Dat daughter of mine, she had a wen on her neck big as a apple. An old
lady come to me. 'I come to git my child today,' she say, 'a lady died
dis morning and I wants to take her dere.' Well I didn' want my child
gwine to de death house but she take her. De corpse ain' cold yit. She
put her 9 times across, nine times straight, and dat child was cured.
Yas'm, she got jus' as pretty face now! Ain' no use talkin', she
straighten my child, her and de Lord! De wen went and jus' pass away.
You got to do it before de corpse git cold, jus' after de breaf' pass
out of de body."

"I done mark three of my chillun. Yas'm, I ruin't three of 'em. I was
een de country and I was gwine thoo' de orchard, and de cherries was
scarce. I looked up in de man's cherry tree, and one tree was full of
fruit. Dey jus' as pretty! I say: 'Jim, please sir, give me one of dem
cherries.' Jim say: 'No!' I stood dere wishin' for dem cherries,
scratchin' my wrist, and my child born wid cherry on his wrist, right
where I scra