Sword and Sheep- A Trinity Reward

Nationality: American
Age: 68
Occupation: Professor
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: March 30, 2019
Primary Language: English

Piece:

CM: “I attended Trinity College, Dublin. There was this ritual, for undergraduates only. If you took the first (which means highest score) on your exams, you had the right to wear your sword to the commencement ceremony and you could graze your sheep on the college commons. I don’t know if anyone ever did it, it was kind of antique, but it was on the books if you wanted to.”

Context:

The informant is American, and attended graduate school at Trinity in the 1980s. While he was not an undergraduate, he knew of the tradition from other students. He took the first in his exams, but specified that the tradition was specifically for undergraduates only, so he did not do it.

Analysis:

This tradition speaks both to when Trinity was founded (in 1591 by Queen Elizabeth the First) and the importance ‘land’ held at this time. The grazing of sheep shows a dominance over the land of the College, as though the student who took the first now had some ownership over College grounds. The inclusion of the sword marks the importance of appearing powerful and able to defend yourself.

How The Spider Got Its Long Legs

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Occupation: Music Industry Assistant
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 10, 2019
Primary Language: English

Piece:

JG: Want to know why a spider has long legs?

I: Sure.

JG: My dad told me this story when I was little. Here it is: Once, there was a spider named Anansi and Anansi was a greedy spider. He was about to have dinner with his wife and his wife was a great cook. But he was greedy and wanted to go out and try his friends’ food. So he leaves his wife at his house and he goes to Rabbit’s house. He is drawn in by the smell of something cooking. He finds Rabbit cooking delicious greens. “Oh rabbit,” said Anansi, “those greens look mighty fine.” “Well they are going to be really good and you can wait for them to be done,” says Rabbit. Now, Anansi knows, if he were to wait, Rabbit would just give him a lot of chores to do. Anansi hates chores. “Oh no,” says Anansi, “I got some chores to do on my own. But I don’t want to leave these greens. So I have an idea” “What’s your idea?” said Rabbit. Anansi made a string of web-material. He tied it to one of his eight legs. “Now when you are done cooking the greens, pull the web and I will know it’s done.” So he left. Down the road, Anansi smells something really good, so he goes down the path to Bear’s house. Bear is cooking some delicious looking porridge and invites Anansi to wait for it to be done. “Oh yeah bear I would love to have some, but I still got some chores to do. So why don’t I just tie this string of web around my leg. When it’s done, you just pull on it and I’ll come on back.” And on Anansi goes visiting all of his friends. In the end, Anansi ends up with a string of web tied to each of his eight legs. Anansi thinks, “Now I just need to wait for one of them to pull the string and I can have some delicious food. Then, his foot pulls. “Oh Rabbit must be done.” Then, four of the strings get pulled, and then stretch out his legs, then 5, then 6, then 7, then 8, until all 8 of his legs are being pulled at one time. And they pulled and they pulled. And Anansi finally pushes himself down to the water, which dissolves the webs. When he comes out of the water, he finds he now has 8 very, very long legs.”

Context:

The informant was told this story as a child by his father. The informant believes his father likely read it in a book of fables and used it to teach about greed as well as tell a funny story. The informant thinks of it as a silly fable, but says it stuck with him until now, so therefore it must have been entertaining enough to remember since childhood.

Analysis:

This is a classic fable that uses fairytale-like elements– for instance, talking animals and an element of suspended reality. There is no explanation for Anansi’s greed, which implies that perhaps greed is a natural “human” urge (or an urge of living beings) we all must fight. The use of animals rather than people connects the theme of the story– greed– to an element of nature outside of humans, especially as greed causes a visual result on the spider children can recognize.

Bad People Go In The Freezer

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: March 20, 2019
Primary Language: English

Piece:

My informant begins by specifying: “Also, my family’s not crazy”

JK: “I don’t know if this is a Columbian thing or just my mom, but whenever there is someone that has wronged someone in my family or is really bad for someone in my family, she will write their name on a little piece of paper and put it in the freezer. That is supposed to keep that person away from you and out of your life.”

I: “Would she take them out ever?”

JK: “No. We have a bunch of people in our freezer!”

Context:

The informant grew up in Newport Beach, CA. Her mother only started writing names for the informant after the informant started college. The practice is saved for serious offenses. The informant’s mother is 56, from Columbia, and grew up in New York. The informant learned of this practice when her mother starting writing and freezing names for the informant.

Analysis:

This is a practice of protection, with a somewhat magic-like element. Something literal (the freezer)  is used as a means of bringing about an emotional catharsis (blocking someone out of your life/ emotionally detaching) and consequence (being left alone by Person X). While the names literally get put in the freezer, the hope is that the person represented by the name will be frozen from interacting in your life. To me, this practice seems like it helps the person doing it attain an emotional state of peace rather than cause an actual result from the practice (singularly causing an actual result would be the possible magic- like element within this). It reminds me of the phrase “self-fulfilling prophecy”– if you put that person in the freezer in your mind, then they will stay out of the rest of your life, likely because your actions toward that person are reminiscent of of you putting their name in the freezer. Perhaps keeping names in the freezer is similar to holding a grudge, or it is a symbol of a betrayal of trust and therefore a reminder to not let that person back into your life!

 

The Witch of Yazoo

Nationality: American
Age: 38
Occupation: Writer
Residence: LA
Performance Date: 4/21/19
Primary Language: English

(Setup)

Storyteller:

“On my dad’s side of the family…he grew up in a town called Yazoo City, Mississippi. And did you ever see a movie called My Dog Skip?”

Me: “No”

Storyteller: “Okay, so it’s a movie..based on a book about an author who grew up in the same town as my dad did. A white author who grew up there. And in the movie, they portray this legend which is the Witch of Yazoo. And supposedly, people are like ‘well he invented that for the book.’ On the black side of town…because it is Mississippi so there is still a very distinct black side of town. On the black side of town, the Witch of Yazoo was a preexisting legend. And again, whether it was a story he coopted or whatever, I don’t know. But I know that I heard about this form my aunt and uncle before I ever heard of this author or My Dog Skip or anything.”

(Here is the chunk of the story)

Storyteller: “And so, basically the story is that there was this woman and she was…and I’m going to try to remember it as accurately  as I can. I believe she was having… an affair with a man in town and it was either an affair…or some sort of family drama. I don’t remember specifically that part of it. But she ends up being murdered essentially by the man in her life in a fire. And then they bury her and everyone forgets about it. And then at a certain point fairly soon after…or it may have bene close to the anniversary of the death, half the town burnt down. And everyone was like wtf, like what happened. And her grave had been dug up.”

Me: “Oh My God!”

Storyteller: “And so people were like…’It was her! She came back and she did it’. And of course people were like ‘that’s crazy.’ But also people were like ‘um maybe?’ So they built a chain that goes around her grave that is supposed to keep her inside.”

Me: “Oh My God, that’s terrifying”

Storyteller: “And in the movie, if you see the movie My Dog Skip, it’s like a crypt that’s there…but in the black cemetery there was a grave because we went to see my grandmothers grave and I asked about it and my aunt was like ‘oh girl lemme tell you this story.’ So either there is one for the black side of town…because you know it used to be very segregated. Or it was a thing that happened on the black side of town originally and it just got coopted on the other side of town…I have NO idea. But it is this hilarious thing because it was this chain with GIANT weights and I was like ‘what the hell is that?!’ And yeah, so the inspect the chain…or at least they used to supposedly…they inspect it so she couldn’t come back.”

Me: “So this was true and it became a movie? Or what?”

Storyteller: “The thing is I have no idea…my aunt tells that story as if it is gospel truth right? But then when the movie came out and I looked it up, all this stuff online said it came from the book. But my aunt told me that story without ever having read that book. Because I asked her and she was like ‘what are you talking about?’ And she knew the guy (the author) but she had never read the book. So I don’t…I have no idea if it’s just one of those local stories that people know so he used it in the book or what…But it’s the south and it’s full of ridiculous scary stories. Really I think all these stories are made to just keep us from doing bad stuff or whatever.”

 

Background: The storyteller is form the south and her dad’s side of the family is from the city where this legend takes place. After listening to her other story that she shared with me, it is clear that her family has passed down many stories that are unique to the south. The storyteller is a professional writer and has used some of these stories and filled in the gaps to write short stories upon the narrative.

Context: I asked her if I could interview her for this project. I knew that she was from the south and after collecting a couple stories from people who grew up in the south, I was fascinated with them and wanted to hear more. She gave me three stories…a couple were stories from New Orleans and the other was this one. Both occurring in the south. I drove back home to meet her for some coffee before diving into the interview (along with another storyteller who is in a different post)

Thoughts:  I think that the stories that come from the south are fascinating. I don’t know what it is that draws me and so many other people to them. Perhaps it’s because the stories are incredibly rich or perhaps it’s the stories’ attention to details that make the stories so real. There are a lot of stories about revenge in the south and once again, I believe that this is the case because there is a lot of unsettled business. There have been a lot of wrong done in the south and the only way for people to cope with what happened may be to create stories that serve a small percentage of justice to those that were killed or unfairly harmed.

 

 

Demon Baby of Hull House

Nationality: American
Age: 33
Occupation: Restaurant Manager
Residence: Chicago, Illinois
Performance Date: March 24, 2019
Primary Language: English

Storyteller:

“Do you know about the demon baby of Hull House? Hull House was a settlement home developed by Jane Adams, the godmother of social work. And in 1902 a baby was born outside of Chicago, outside of wedlock, where it was born with horns and a tail, and cloven feet. Unable to keep the baby, they brought it to Hull House where it could be cared for and most importantly prayed for…but nothing could fix it. They kept it away as it started to become a draw. And so they kept that baby up in the attic where it wouldn’t bother anyone or be bothered by them. And it’s said that still today, you can see that baby up in the window…”

Background Info: The storyteller lives in Chicago and it is a story that buddies of the storyteller had been telling while living in the city.

Context: I was with my family and I was telling them that I had this project coming up and told them some of the stories people had told me for it. That spurred a conversation where everyone started sharing their pieces of folklore and this was one of them.

Thoughts: I was immediately captured by the title of this story. When the storyteller asked me if I had heard of a demon baby I was intrigued. The storyteller’s performance was captivating because the storyteller used a tone of voice that many use when telling creepy stories. I read up on the story after it was told and I discovered that some people refer to the baby as a “devil baby” and there are many different versions including an Italian version and a Jewish version which can be found here:

Addams, Jane. “The Devil-Baby at Hull House.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 1 Oct. 1916, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1916/10/the-devil-baby-at-hull-house/305428/.