The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

Wart Cure

At midnight on a moonless night, take a dead cat to the cemetery. This must be the first moonless night after a very bad person has died. At exactly midnight, the devil will come to claim the soul of the person who has died, so you have to throw the cat in the direction of the grave and say, "Devil take soul, soul take cat, cat fetch warts and let that be that." The warts disappear shortly afterwards.

Submitter comment:

From Mark Twain.

Data entry tech comment:

Informant and collector are the same person.
Informant was born and raised in Pensacola, Florida, where he probably learned this.

Where learned: TENNESSEE ; FLORIDA ; NASHVILLE ; PENSACOLA