Author Archives: Aidan Bates

THE ASYLUM AND THE SHAH OF IRAN – Legend

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Jose
Performance Date: April 29, 2021
Primary Language: English

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

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Fort Collins
Performance Date: April 29
Primary Language: English

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

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Jose
Performance Date: May 1 2021
Primary Language: English

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

Nationality: Irish
Age: 63
Occupation: Biomedical Research
Residence: San Jose
Performance Date: May 2, 2021
Primary Language: English

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:

May the road rise up to meet you: the meaning behind the traditional Irish blessing

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.

Tír Nan Óg – Tale

Nationality: Irish
Age: 59
Occupation: Court Investigator
Residence: San Jose
Performance Date: May 2, 2021
Primary Language: English

Transcript – Informant speaking
Mother: “In Ireland, there are a lot of folklore stories and there are always stories about Tír Nan Óg, the land, which basically in Irish means the land of the young, em, and the idea was that this guy, who was the son of Finn MaCool, em, fell in love with this lady from Tír Na nÓg, and was brought away to this land of eternal youth. And lived there happily for hundreds of years, em, and then kind of wanted to go back to Ireland, eh, and was sent back on a horse back to Ireland, but was told if he ever dismounted that he wouldn’t be able to come back to Tír Nan Óg again. Em, and he went back and everybody he knew had died, and he had an accident and fell off the horse and basically that was him back in Ireland. So… that was kind of one of the stories from Irish folklore.”

Background
This story came up in a call between me and my parents about irish folklore. Both of them are originally from Northern Ireland, hence their relation to the stories. I’m not entirely sure where specifically my mom learned about this one from.

Context
Again, as stated in previous pieces, it should be noted that the person speaking has a very thick Northern Irish Accent. Also, the pronunciation for Tír Nan Óg phonetically reads something like ‘Tier nan Oak.’

Thoughts
I thought this was interesting as it was very tragic. There’s a big element of loss within the story. The protagonist has everything in the beginning, but not only does he get separated from his lover, but he gets placed back in a world he doesn’t understand with all his friends gone. Irish history (especially modern history) is very violent in spite of the islands beauty, so I think the tragic relationships in their folklore is interesting.