Author Archives: Aidan Bates

THE ASYLUM AND THE SHAH OF IRAN – Legend

Transcript – informant speaking
“There’s a myth that my old dorm building was an insane asylum. Also there’s a building on campus that was supposedly funded by the Shah of Iran.”

Background
This ones short, and almost like a two-in-one. It was given to me by a person who attends college in Washington D.C.. They likely heard both of these rumors from their classmates or dorm-mates. He likely would have heard them both separately. But what’s interesting is how he pairs them both together here, giving them about the same weight.

Context
This information was given out during a zoom conversation on college legends. It was given during the tail end of a conversation, almost off-handedly. He didn’t seem to take too much stock in either of them. He was just laying them out as he heard them. It should be noted that the informant is a very rationally minded person, one who would often look down on things such as ghost stories and rumors.

Thoughts
The fact that a rumor about an asylum is being put in the same vein as the notion of an Iranian funding a college campus building is interesting. Its almost as if the fear of a foreign power having a monetary stake in the U.S. is being given the same weight as the fear of the insane Might speak to some of the isolationist and nationalistic sentiments that have been spreading across the U.S.. I would like to note though that I don’t think giving these two legends the same weight was the informants doing. He was likely just telling both back as he heard them.

CSU STADIUM BELL – Legend / Ritual

Transcript – Informant Speaking
“Outside of football stadium there is a bell – I will point it out when we check out CSU – that bell is from the original campus – the oval – and what ended up happening was the original building the bell presided on was burnt down in a fire and it was lost someone took the bell…then years and years later it was returned to the school before the stadium was finished being built it is thought the people who stole it buried it…now after every win the football team gets they ring the bell!”

Background
Here my friend is telling a story about the Colorado state university Bell. Said friend is a big sports guy, and is very into football games, giving him a big attachment to this ritual. The story about the school being burned seems relatively close to the truth (I cross checked on the schools main page). I’m not sure about the bell being stolen and returned though. Seems like a good speculation though. They likely learned this story from their other college classmates.

Context
I was on a zoom call asking about college legends with some of my old high school friends. Seeing as they all go to different schools around the country, I imagined it would give a wide array of different stories to share. This one was one of the first presented to me. It should be noted that said informant is a very passionate speaker. I’m pretty sure he told this whole story in a single sentence

Thoughts
I’m not too into sports stories. I never really liked football. But I thought that the bit about the bell being mysteriously returned was interesting. Almost got a more ghostly quality to it. Of course, Cameron explained it with a more logical sports centered explanation (it was obviously just a rival team who felt guilty) but it’s easy to see how it might be construed differently if it were an object or a bell not related to sports.

LELAND CAN MAN – Legend

Transcript of recorded audio
“Um, this is actually a Leland legend, that I know you’ve heard of before, but I wanted to make sure you got this one too. Um, the Leland Can Man, you know? Who um, he clicks his fingers together, and his fingers have cans on them, and he clicks them if you’re at the school past midnight, and he clicks them like louder and louder and louder. And then when he finds you and if you like, don’t leave the school he’ll like kill you and stuff. Um, I actually kind of believe in that, I’m not gonna lie, I saw some freaky shit when I was at the school once, late at night. I’m pretty sure I saw the Leland Can Man. Um, but yeah, don’t forget the Leland Can Man.”

Background
This story is about the high school me and my friend both attended. It’s likely that it was passed along by fellow students. Although what’s interesting is that although my friend is treating it as common knowledge (which maybe it was, and I was living under a rock or something) this is genuinely the first time I’m hearing this story. I’m imagining they heard it from fellow students, but I never did. It might be because this person is far more superstitious, and into ghost stories than me. I’m usually a lot more clinical and rational, which is why it might have passed by me.

Context
This story is part of a set of voice memos, sent by a student at UCSC santa cruz. Most of them are related to UCSC folk stories; this is the only one which is not. As stated, the requirement for this supposide creature to come out is by being at the school past midnight.

Thoughts
There was only one incident during high school I can remember where I found myself there past midnight. It was after getting dropped off at 2A.M. back at the school after a competition. The teacher parked us at the back and I had to walk towards the front to meet my dad. And strangely enough… I do actually remember hearing some noises. While walking the corridors, I remember hearing metallic clicking that caused me to stop and turn around. I highly doubt it was related to the strange creature, but its interesting that even without knowing it, I actually did find myself having an experience centered to this legend.

“Let the road rise to meet you. Let the wind be always at your back.” – Proverb

Background
This quote was given to me by my dad in a conversation about Irish folklore. He’s from Northern Ireland, hence the connection. He doesn’t seem to have a particularly strong connection to it though. It seemed to be something he remembered offhand. I’m not sure if he even remember when he first heard it, except that it was just an old Irish blessing.

Context
This is often seen to be one of Ireland’s most famous blessings, but the context is hard to pin down. It was originally part of a larger piece, involving additional lines on the sun and rain, in addition to the wind. In full, his was largely interpreted to be a reference to the holy trinity, as described here:
https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/road-rise-meet-you-irish-blessing-meaning
However, others point out the frequent mistranslations when moving the phrase from its original Gaelic language into English. They also point out how the Celts would often use nature to form godly connections, which illustrates the often difficult relationship irish folklore has when it comes to navigating its celtic origins with christianity:
https://www.irelandbeforeyoudie.com/may-the-road-rise-up-to-meet-you-the-meaning-behind-the-blessing/#:~:text=This%20blessing%20was%20originally%20an,should%20really%20be%20%E2%80%9Csucceed%E2%80%9D.

Thoughts
I’d definitely heard this saying before. I think the idea of the road rising to meet you is very interesting. Not only is Ireland full of grassy hills (i.e., the rising of the road) but this sentimentality also reflects the strong emphasis on luck the society has. It’s not you going out to walk on the road; it’s the road rising up so that you may walk on it. In this sense, you have no control over the path you take, or over the wind guiding you forward. It’s all a matter of chance, and this prayer simply seems to ask that chance be on your side.

ST. PATRICK – Myth / Legend

Transcript – Informant speaking
Mother: “It was supposed to be that he, Saint Patrick’s the reason that there’s no snakes in Ireland, that he banished all the snakes from Ireland… There’s a lot of kind of, of the Irish stories that kind of have a mixture of kind of the old paganism and then the Christianity thing coming in.”
Me: “So is there anything like how he did it?”
Mother: “No, I’ve never. I never, ever (laughs) I never figured out how he was supposed to have done it, but basic- you might want to google that and see if you can get more information on that. But that was always what we heard, and right enough, I’ve never seen a snake in Ireland.”
Father: “Well… I actually read somewhere that there were never any snakes in Ireland. Because-”
Mother: “(laughs) which is probably the case-”
Father “-because its an island and they never got there.”

Background
This quote was given to me by my parents in a conversation about Irish folklore. They’re from Northern Ireland, hence the connection. And St. Patrick being a big irish figure, they obviously have a big connection to him, as he was brought up frequently in schooling and in church. But it should also be noted that (due to a lot of the trauma going on in Northern Ireland while growing up) my parents both hold a very shaky relationship with the religion they were brought up on.

Context
Obviously St. Patricks Day is a big thing in America, but not so much in Ireland. That being said, if you’re christian (which most of everyone in Northern Ireland is) then you’ve probably heard of St. Patrick. He was a big influence on the adoption of Christianity on the island. And… he’s also said to have banished the snakes from Ireland (snakes in christianity are associated with the devil, so this holds a lot of weight). However, as seen by my dad (who isn’t religious at all) this is also said to be a known fabrication. So while it can kind of be construed as a creation story for Ireland, it’s also heavily questioned. And either way, you get the sense that a lot of this knowledge here has been imposed by the religion.

Thoughts
The idea that Ireland needed to be fixed by a christian is something that I find interesting (and a little bit troubling). More so, the idea of a myth (a sacred story of creation for Ireland) to explain a situation that was likely a constant for Ireland, is something very unusual. More-so, it illustrates the clear transformation of Ireland from a Celtic to a Christian society, and the fact that the myth is upheld primarily by the Irish says it all.