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Mar. 12th, 2009

To Keep From Being Evicted

Here is a sampling of Hyatt material on the subject:
(Thanks to the Hyatt Yahoo group for all the spells out of the volumes i don't currently own)

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9727. Whenevah yo' be rid [writ?] out, dey done be rid yo' out - yo'
know, outdo's an' yo' gotta move. Dey done rid yo' out, yo' know - de
officah rids yo' out an' yo' gotta move. [Evidently your few possessions
are on the sidewalk out in the street.] Yo' take three nails an' yo' go
tuh de do' lak dat an' nail 'em down [demonstrates] right in de middle
of de do'. (Right underneath the saddle that goes across the door.) Yes,
an' nail 'em down in dere an' call De Name of de Fathah an' let chew
stay on dere. Yo' won't have tuh move. Ah know dat fo' a fac' 'cuz I did
dat mahself. (You put them right down [I demonstrate] where that board
goes over - over that saddle of the door.) Yes.
[Memphis, Tenn., (1541), 2787:12.]

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Whenevah yo' git into a home dat have fireplaces - sometimes yo' livin' in a room an' dey wanta make yo' move out of it. Yo' go dere an' yo' scratch all in der wit a dry stick one day, an' yo' thresh in dere de next day wit a green stick - in back of dat [fire]place. Den de third day yo' take up dat sut [soot]. De ole people used to do dat, dake dat smut an' jes' add a teaspoonful of cookin' salt to, say, a big spoonful of smut out de back of dat chimley, but try tuh git a big spoonful out of dere. An' dey used tuh claim dat dey couldn't make yo' move. Well, ah knows in dem days dey did make yo' move. But every time dat dey'd go out dey'd hide dat bottle somewhere in de room, an' long as dat sut would stay dere, dey'd nevah make yo' move. But it must be threshed by a green stick an' a dry stick

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ON A PIECE OF BROWN PAPER,
WRITE YOUR LANDLORD'S NAME AND YOUR NAME
THREE TIMES EACH, IN EACH CORNER OF THE PAPER,
SLANTING TOWARDS THE CENTER.
PUT SOME SUGAR AND SOME CINNAMON INTO THE PAPER,
AND FOLD IT, CORNERS FIRST, TOWARDS YOU.
AS YOU FOLD THE PAPER, PROCLAIM THAT YOU DO SO
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY GHOST.

OBTAIN FOUR BRICKS.
ON THESE BRICKS, WRITE YOUR OWN NAME IN THE SAME WAY,
THREE TIMES IN EACH CORNER, SLANTING TOWARDS THE CENTER.
PREPARE A PIECE OF PAPER
BY ROLLING IT WITH A LITTLE SUGAR AND STUFF.
MAKE FOUR OF THESE PREPARED PAPERS.
PUT ONE ON EACH BRICK,
AND SEW THEM BRICKS INTO A CLOTH COVERING.
PLACE ONE BRICK IN EACH CORNER OF YOUR HOUSE.
- TO PREVENT BEING EVICTED

(I'm in a house and they want to move me out of there. Is there something I can do so that they can't move me out of there?)
Yes...let it be that square.
[What happened?]
(I didn't understand. You write those three names on each brick or just one brick? You said you were using these red bricks, weren't you?)
No, ah'll tell yo' 'bout de bricks. Yo' write dat papah lak ah'm tellin' yo'.
(Let's begin at the beginning. You get that piece of brown paper, you say?)
Yes, an' write dey name three times. Write yorn three times.
(Write your own name?)
Three times heah, three times dere an' three times dere. An' yo' git some granulated sugah.
(You write the name three times from each corner down into the center. All right.)
An' yo' git chew some pulverize, granulated sugah an' yo' put jis' a little bit in dere wit cinnamon an' yo' fold dat papah [demonstrates], "In the Name of de Father' - see, dat's good, good fo' yo'self, yo' wouldn't do good fo' anybody else. Yo' fold dat papah, "In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost."
(While you are folding each of these corners into the center, you say, "In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.")
Yes. An' aftah yo' git it folded up nice - yo' kin fold it in de cornahs, but chew kin fold it small lak dis aftah yo' git de cornahs folded. Now, yo' turn it roun' small as yo' want, yo' see. Now, yo' git these fo' bricks.
(You get four red bricks.)
(You write your own name in the same manner, that is three times in each corner to the center, and write it on each of the four bricks.)
Now, yo' don't have tuh put no sugah on de bricks cuz it ain't gon'a stay on de bricks, yo' see. Den yo' take dis little bit of sugah an' stuff an' yo' roll it in a small piece of papah, an' yo' git chew a piece of newspapah or any othah kind of papah an' aftah yo' fix dem, yo' sew 'em in a cloth. Yo' evah seed a place wit a brick behin' de do' sewed in a nice silk cloth? Yo' sew dem bricks up in a nice piece of cloth an' yo' put one in each corner of yore building, inside of de house.
(Like a doorstop.)
Yeah, jis' lak a do'stop. Yo' kin git a beautiful piece of cloth an' jis' sew dat up in each corner an' set dat in de corner. Wit dat brick dere yo'll sho' not be moved.
(That brick is that you won't be moved out of that house, but you have to put this package on each one of those bricks?)
Put dat package on each one dem bricks.
(And the landlord can't move out yout or no one can move you out.)
No one cain't come an' move yo' out dat house.
[Algiers, LA; Informant #1598; E171:3-E182:9 = 3004-3015.]