Category Archives: Legends

Narratives about belief.

Haunted Middle School

Nationality: Mexican, Scandinavian, French Canadian
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Beaumont, California
Performance Date: March 28, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Informant: “I know in the town next to us, there is a middle school and there is a legend that this boy fell into a hole in like the thirties or something and they were pouring cement and he got trapped under the cement and there was like somehow an air passage that he was able to breathe through, through the cement that they poured on top of him. But then he died there, and so now this ghost haunts the school and if you knock on the principal’s door three times, he’ll knock back.”

 

The informant comes from a small town in California. The informant states “there is nothing to do there, it is just a small town and the biggest thing we have is a Walmart.” She said that because the town is small “everybody knows each other, and we kind of grew up together.”

The middle school from the tale is located in Redlands. The informant learned this tale as a child from her mother. The informant’s mother used to live in Redlands and attended this middle school. The informant remembers this tale because “Its just one of things you’re told that you remember when you are a little kid just because it is interesting.”

The informant does believe in ghosts and has had a personal experience with a ghost. When asked, the informant recalled that “the house I grew up in until I was seven was definitely haunted, I saw his ghost multiple times, and it wasn’t just me, my parents saw him. We would go to bed with all of the windows and doors shut and we would wake up and they would all be wide open, you would hear banging on the pipes and whatnot. We found out that the person who lived there before us died in the house. So the ghost was of the guy that died there.” Thus, ghosts are very real to the informant.

According to the informant, some kids will try to knock on the principal’s door to see if they can get the ghost to knock back. Thus, some kids use this legend to go on a legend quest. The story is also rather morbid and represents a fear of death, especially a slow painful death.

The Naming of Cú Chulainn

Nationality: Mexican, Scandinavian, French Canadian
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Beaumont, California
Performance Date: March 28, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Informant: “I heard an Irish legend, it was the story of a guy named Cú Chulainn. He wasn’t originally called Cú Chulainn because Cú means dog. But, he was the most fearsome warrior in all the land. But I am getting ahead of myself; sorry I am a horrible story teller. Ok so, he grew up as a farm boy and there was an elite group of warriors and he ran all the way across Ireland to try out for them and he blew everybody out of the water and he was this super feared warrior and whatnot and people would just surrender if they knew he was coming. But he was invited to a party for one of the lords and his military general or whatever was there and asked him to grab somebody so he left on a quest, and when he came back the lord had the most feared dogs in the land and the dogs attacked him and he killed the dogs, but they were these prized dogs. So, in order to make amends for him killing his hosts dogs, he told him I’ll be your dog, and so he was the lords dog in the sense that he would stand out and guard the place and that’s how he became called Cú Chulainn.”

The informant comes from a very small town in California. The informant states that “there is nothing to do there, it is just a small town and the biggest thing we have is a Walmart.” The informant first heard this tale when she went to Ireland on a school trip last spring break and it was told to her by one of the people she met in her group. This other member told the informant many different stories, but she remembers this one “because I had the song on my Ipod and they were telling the story of it” and she was very excited that she had heard a reference to the tale before.

The song “Blood of Cú Chulainn” was used as the theme of a movie known as “The Boondock Saints” (1999) by Troy Duffy. A picture of the movie is attached. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1IVZpk_rVo is a link to the song.

 

After looking up Cú Chulainn, I found that his name was originally Sentanta, and there are many stories and legends associated with this epic Irish hero that extend far beyond how he received his name. Cú Chulainn is part of a series of legends and stories that span his life, somewhat similar to Greek heroes like Achilles. He noted in Irish mythical sagas for his superhuman strength and amazing deeds on the battlefield. From what I could find, his story was originally passed down by word of mouth, until it was written down more than 800 years ago in the Táin Bó Cúailnge.

In fact, the story is so popular that it was drafted into a five, short animated, bilingual series on BBC (and thus a folk-loreisthmus): http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/4_11/cuchulainn/.  This series follows the hero and tells the tales of some of his deeds as he grows up. Apparently, this tale is used in Irish schools to teach language and literacy.

This BBC series tells a variant of the naming of Cú Chulainn which states:

“Setanta is invited with his friends to a great feast but he starts to daydream and is left behind. By the time he arrives the feast has begun, the gates are locked and worse, the guard dog attacks him. Setanta kills the dog by driving a hurley ball (sliotar) down its throat. The host, Culann, the blacksmith is furious at the loss of the fiercest dog in Ireland. Setanta offers his services as replacement and is duly renamed, Cú Chulainn, Culann’s Hound.”

 

Another longer variant of this story states that:

“While at home with his parents at Murtheimne Plain, the five-year-old Setanta heard exciting rumours about a school in Armagh called the Macra. It was run by the King Conchobhar of Armagh to train the best young boys of the day to be great warriors for Ulster, called the Red Branch Knights. Setanta made a big impression at the Macra. One day in particular, he was down at the playing field, playing a game called Shoot-the-Goal against 150 of his classmates. All 150 of them together couldn’t stop any of his shots into the goal with his sliotar, nor could they score a goal against him.

The king was going to a special feast that night, organised for only the most important warriors in Ulster by the blacksmith Culann. On his way, he passed the field and watched the boys playing. He was so impressed with Setanta’s domination of the other boys that he decided to invite him to the feast too. But Setanta was completely caught up in the game and replied, ‘I haven’t had my fill of play yet, friend Conchobhar. I’ll follow you on.’ The king agreed and went on his way. When the king arrived at the feast, the host welcomed him and asked whether there was anyone to come after him. King Conchobhar forgot that he had invited Setanta and replied that there was no one else. So Culann released his savage hound to guard the premises from attackers while the guests feasted. This was no ordinary dog. Three chains were needed to hold it, with three men on each chain.

Soon Setanta arrived, playing with his hurley and sliotar as he travelled. On seeing him, the hound ran out with his ferocious teeth shining in the dark. At this stage, the men feasting could hear what was happening, but they could only watch from the door because the dog was too fast to stop. They were sure this was the end for Setanta. However, in a flash, Setanta raised his hurley and thwacked his sliotar with great force at the dog. His aim was perfect, as the ball ripped into its mouth and through its body, killing it instantly. Culann was relieved that Setanta had survived the encounter, but sad to have lost such a great guard dog. To make up for killing him, young Setanta promised to guard Culann’s land until a new puppy had been reared. Impressed with this promise, those at the feast agreed that Setanta should be given a new name. They called him Cúchulainn, which means ‘the Hound of Culan’. Still only a young boy, Setanta was known by this name from then onwards. Cúchulainn had numerous adventures after that. He became the best Red Branch Knight and did King Conchobhar proud.”

( For more information visit this website: http://www.askaboutireland.ie/learning-zone/primary-students/looking-at-places/louth/cuchulainn/setanta/)

Although the informant says that she is not experienced story teller and thus would be considered a passive folklore bearer. It is interesting to see what parts of the tale she remembers and why she remembers it, especially the version that she gives in relation to the versions that can be found online because this tale is widely drafted and has many different variations. This story and the one that the informant told share many similarities; although, the informant’s story is not set when Cú Chulainn is a young man, but after he has already received much recognition and no mention is made regarding the duration Cú Chulainn is to serve the lord. In addition, the informant includes more than one dog, although the other versions have only one.

Picture of a young Cu Chulainn

"The Boondock Saints" Movie Cover

 The Boondock Saints. Dir. Troy Duffy. Perf. Willem Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flanery, and Norman Reedus. Franchise Pictures, Brood Syndicate, Fried Films, 1999. Film.

Image of the website containng the BBC TV series

Cú Chulainn. BBC. November 2012. Television.

Le Bonhomme Sept-heures (The French Canadian Boogeyman)

Nationality: French Canadian, Lithuanian
Age: 50
Occupation: Vice President of Marketing and Product Planning
Residence: Tarzana, California
Performance Date: March 31, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: French, Spanish

Informant: “The French Canadian boogeyman, they call him, up there they say, le bonhomme sept-heures. Now, le bonhomme is like a guy and sept-heures is seven o’clock. So, you know, the best translation probably for that is the boogeyman of seven o’clock. Now um it’s a story that goes back a long ways, I don’t know how far back, but it goes back to trying to get kids to come in the house at night when the sun went down. So, they would talk about how le bonhomme sept-heures would come out there, and the legend is that he was this old man that had like a big hat and like a big coat cause its cold up there, and he’d carry a sack. Sometimes little kids would end up in the sack apparently is how it went, but the legend goes back to very old times, I don’t know exactly when probably sometime in the 1800s or before, when French Canadian French speakers were second class citizens. They were laborers and trades-people, and the moneyed class of course was English, so doctors and magistrates and local politicians and whatnot were all English speaking, so the higher class was English and the lower class was French. And so, the doctor would come to set broken bones and of course that was usually accompanied by lots of screaming and you know uh crying and whatnot because setting broken bones is really painful. So, the bonesetter as they say in English became loosely translated to le bonhomme sept-heures.”

 

Interviewer: “Because he would come at 7:00?”

 

Informant: “No not necessarily because he would come at seven o’clock , its just the parents would say the bonesetter is coming, that’s a bad thing, cause its gonna be pain and suffering and just sort of morphed into le bonhomme sept-heures, and now the legend is beware of le bonhomme sept-heures, so you need to be inside doing your homework at 7:00 so that you don’t have to fear for le bonhomme sept-heures.”

 

Interviewer: “Why was it important that the French speakers were of a lower class versus upper class?”

 

Informant: “Well because the lower class weren’t educated so when the doctor came, cause there are French words for doctor and French words for, you know, but these are not educated people so they would tend to use the Anglicized words. So, that’s where the legend of the “bone setteur,” or le bonhomme sept-heures comes from. Its not a play on words, its just a bad translation.”

 

The informant is a middle-aged man, who lived in France for about a year and then in Montreal for about two years. He speaks French fluently and has French Canadian heritage, as his family traveled from French Canada in the 40s and 50s to Maine and Connecticut. He appreciates and enjoys learning about history and French Canadian culture.

The informant heard this lore from a French-Canadian friend while he lived in Montreal when they were travelling home from work, “there, I learned all kinds of neat things about the French Canadian culture and that was one of them.” As the sun was setting, the friend jokingly warned the informant that he should make sure he was inside before seven o’clock lest le bonhomme sept-heures take him away. The friend then explained the story of le bonhomme sept-heures to the informant.

The informant stated that in French-Canada le bonhomme sept-heures is still used, “Apparently they still use it, but it’s basically the boogeyman. The legend of the boogeyman in English culture or well American culture is that the boogeyman comes at night, after dark, so you need to go in the house, so you don’t get taken by the boogeyman.”

When asked what the informant liked about the story and why he remembered it, the informant said he liked the story and thought is was interesting, especially because “a lot has happened in Quebec since the 1800s,” “I mean it wasn’t before the 60s that there was a French speaking college, so you couldn’t even go to college.” The informant found additional meaning in the legend because its background is representative of a very different period of Quebec history and culture than is seen in Quebec today. In addition, this legend is popular in French-Canada which is part of the informant’s heritage.

While researching the tale, I found that there are children’s books, horror-movie adaptations, and even clocks which feature le bonhomme sept-heure (See below). I think this is an intriguing legend because it has a historical past, which is based on an misinterpretation of an English word, and was transformed into a legend to make sure that children would behave and come home before it was dark. This is also an age-graded legend and children stop believing in it as they get older.

Apparently, in the legend of the le bonhomme sept-heure, he would steal children away forever, eat them in his lair, or various other frights depending on the version heard.

Picture of someone dressed as Le bonhomme sept-heure

Children's Book concerning Le Bonhomme Sept-heure

Latulippe, Martine. Julie et le Bonhomme Sept Heures. Québec: Québec Amérique, 2010. Print.

English Movie translation of a French Canadian film about Le Bonhomme Sept-heure

The Bonesetter. Dir. Brett Kelly. Perf. Brett Kelly, Sherry Thurig, and Anne-Marie Frigon. Dudez Productions, 2003. Film.

Le Bonhomme Sept-heure in the form of a clock

Mysterious Green Slime

Nationality: American
Age: 25
Occupation: Teacher
Residence: Nashville, TN
Performance Date: 3/20/2013
Primary Language: English

“This has to do with KFC and umm for a long time, I never knew why my parents never went to KFC cause my family likes fried chicken, and I remember that I asked my mom one day.

She told me a story about when she was kid. Her and her sister would be walking to school.  On the side of the road, there would always be this green slime.  They didn’t know where it came from.  It was weird. They never knew where it came from. They were from New York, but still it was just weird.

One day they were walking home from school, and her sister had a ball she was playing with and it rolled into the alley next to KFC.  They went over to get it.  While they were back there, a guy came out of the back of the KFC, and he had this big bucket.  He dumped the stuff in the bucket out and it was the green slime.  They didn’t know what chicken or process it came from, but they knew it was from KFC.”

The informant’s family has never gone to KFC.  The informant says that she believes the story is true, but when she introduced the story, she said it was something that she wasn’t sure about.  This could be since the legend came from the close source of her mother.  Legends like this one about fast food restaurants with tainted food and mysterious chemicals have been very popular on the internet in particular, not necessarily because they are true but because they address the fear of what people are really eating and putting into their bodies.  As people started to move away from cooking their own food, they no longer have the ability of watching their food be prepared, and especially at fast food restaurants where they get their food in such a short time, people start to become suspicious and worried.  The informant, however, goes to other fast food restaurant, but she will never break her rule about KFC.

 

Beware the Parking Garage

Nationality: American
Age: 55
Occupation: Asset Manager
Residence: Nashville, TN
Performance Date: 3/20/2013
Primary Language: English

“Whenever your car has been parked and you haven’t been right next to it. Before you get closed to your car, you need to kneel down and look under the car to make sure there is no one underneath it.”

The informant interrupted herself saying:

“That does sound crazy doesn’t it. (laughs) But it isn’t crazy.  I really believe it.  I think its true”

The informant continued.

“You do this because there have been cases of people hiding under people’s cars, slashing their Achilles tendon with a knife and then robbing them or sometimes doing harm like raping them or grand theft auto. And you have to be especially careful as a woman.”

The informant learned this from a friend who had heard of real cases in Memphis, TN.  She asserted the truth of her friend because “she’s a real attorney.”  Her friend had told her that it happened in enclosed parking or high rise parking, not so much out in the open.  The informant said that she would tell this to my daughters and anyone really going into an underground parking structure with their car.  They really need to be careful.   “I always park in an open area because it’s harder to hide in an open area.  I don’t want anything to happen to anyone but especially my daughters.  I find women more vulnerable than men.”

I think the legend, regardless of how true it may be, arose from people’s fear of being trapped alone and defenseless in a parking structure.  Under the car is dark just like under a bed.  This fear of someone hiding under a car is the grown up version of fearing monsters under the bed.