Lewes Bonfires

Festival:

“The Lewes Bonfire is a really interesting tradition that my uncle also told me about. There is a city called Bristol in England, Lewes is a small town near Bristol. Every year for an entire day everything gets shut down. Even the police, so there are technically no laws for that day, and you cannot enter or leave the town for the entire day. It started because in history, there were protestants murdered by catholics by burning them to death. This made people really mad and so every year they now celebrate the day with a lot of bonfires. It is so big that there are 7 committees just to organize the celebration. During the day there are floats that go through the streets and at night they all get lit in the bonfire. It is really weird because you will just wake up and there is a huge parade and no buses or trains are running.”

Context:

CD is a French woman in her early 20s. She was born and raised in Paris (and lives there now) but her family is originally from England. Many people in Europe know about the Lewes bonfires because it is such a large celebration. It is one of my British uncle’s favorite days. He grew up in England and in his youth he would go to Lewes with his friends solely to experience the celebrations. CD learned the history of this holiday from her uncle.

Analysis: 

This folk festival is cyclical as it happens once yearly. It also exhibits symbolism through the ritual of building and subsequently burning the floats and it represents the appreciation of the protestant religion and their unjust persecution. The festival is very exemplary of the country’s identity as it emphasizes the revolution and political landscape of the culture and people both in the present and in the past.

Boarding School Commencement

Folklore:

“My high school was very old and traditional. We had a lot of rituals and traditions that everyone had to do. One of the first ones was our convocation. From what I’ve heard most other like public schools don’t really do this for high school. It’s kinda more of a college thing but I guess because our school is as old as some of those universities, maybe it’s just like and old timey thing. Anyways, our convocation was like super serious. We had to wear a dress code that they called “special academic dress” which is basically just fancy clothes; suits and dresses etc. And then we lined up alphabetically and paired with a boy, and then every new student walked together to the chapel, kinda herded by the prefects of the dorms. Then in the chapel, we listen to a bunch of speeches by deans of teachers or something, and i think the choir sang. Honestly, some of these details are kinda fuzzy, it was a while ago and to be honest I was not paying the most attention lol. Anyway, I do remember the most important part which is when each student gets up and goes to the front to shake [principle]’s and then sign your name in this giant book. Apparently you’re like not an official student until you do this. Only then can you start your academic journey. “

Context:

AH is a current college student, and attended a New England preparatory boarding school for high school in the late 2010s. 

“Honestly, though looking back it was kinda pretentious, in the moment, it was really cool. We all had worked so hard to get into this school [admission to the school is similar to the college admissions process with various exams, essays, and interviews] so finally getting there and it be treated like a big deal was really nice. Looking back, nothing from high school was really that deep, but in the moment, it really did feel as important as they were making it. It felt like the beginning of something really significant y’know.”

Analysis: 

A tradition such as this is typical in many elite institutions with a long history, though the semantics differ for each school. USC for example has quite a convoluted commencement ceremony that all new students must attend, however you dress in gowns and there is no book signing. Participating in a ritual that has been done by people over and over again for years before you, is quite a unique experience. To share an experience with people across time in a similar situation as you is quintessential folklore. In this context, it connects you to the people in the past that are a part of this culture which you are now entering. This is typical of most folk festivals which often aim to commemorate events of a cyclical nature, in this case the cycle of life. This commencement celebrates the students entering into a new stage of their academic career and changes their identity from children in lower education to teenagers entering the first stage of their actionable future which will lead to college and jobs. 

Rival Bonfire

festival:

“A festival that I loved at [boarding school] was our bonfire night. It was so weird though because our grade had the absolute worst luck. For 3 out of the 4 years of high school, we weren’t able to do it. The first two years it was raining on the day the bonfire was scheduled, then we finally got to do it junior year, but then senior year COVID cancelled it. But the one year we were able to do it was really fun!

Essentially, the bonfire happens after the pep rally the night before our [rival school]’s Day, which is basically our biggest sports event of the year where we spend the entire day just doing fall sports against our rival school. Their mascot is literally a door. Which is so goofy, like they are just asking to be made fun of. Anyways, during the pep rally, our mascot breaks down the door painted in their colors, and then afterwards we all go outside and light fire to the wood from the door. Its really fun, there was music, hot chocolate, we roasted marshmallows and made s’mores. And curfew was extended which is always a plus.”

Context:

AH is a current college student, and attended a new england preparatory boarding school for high school. 

“Well, I first heard about it from all of the older students freshman year leading up to what was supposed to be our first bonfire night. They all just said it was so much fun.

To me, it’s really just about school spirit and community. That entire week there are events going on that are super fun, which just encourage us to really like the school (which is sometimes hard when you’re constantly on the grind) and just get us in the mind set for the sports day.”

Analysis:

This is a celebration of community. It is a cyclical folk festival as it happens once a year in the Fall athletic season. It is really interesting to see miscellaneous events such as these at schools because they don’t have much to do with education, and instead are solely focused on interpersonal life and relationships. This event is also essentially a celebration of the athletes in the community, and their accomplishments. It is a notable pattern that many communities, regardless of original or main intent, always resort to celebration of athleticism. At jobs there are often recreational sports leagues and even countries play sports against each other. All typically culminating, with celebration. This is a phenomenon of folk all around the world, and it is interesting to see it on even such a small scale as an academic institution with a supposed focus on education.

The Ghost of Lib

Folklore:

“So basically, at our highschool [elite new england boarding prep school) there’s this dorm that is above the library. The library is 3 floors and then the dorm rooms are a floor above that and there are NO ELEVATORS, so everyone has to walk up about a billion stairs to get to their bedrooms. Not only is this dorm, which is colloquially referred to as ‘lib’, is one of the tallest buildings on campus, but is also one of the oldest. Because of that there’s no ac, and since heat rises it gets really hot to the point where they’ll get these giant fans from the gym, or some people will have to sleep in another dorm or the health center during the hottest days of summer. That’s kinda irrelevant to the sorry but i said it to set the stage of how old this dorm is. The pipes creak, the windows barely open, and the doors creak. So its basically just the building being old, however any time anything weird happens, people in the dorm blame it on the ‘lib ghost’. Essentially, there’s this story that there’s a ghost who lives in the lib attic. I think she used to be a student that lived in the dorm but she got so tired of the stairs that she just never came down. So now, anytime things go mysteriously missing, or strange noises late at night, or a light flickering. Or this one dorm door that notoriously opens by itself (probably just a faulty hinge or weird airflow) everyone just says “oh, it’s just the lib ghost.”

Context:

IL is a current college student who attended a boarding prepatory highschool in the late 2010s. She first heard this story from the prefects in her dorm during her sophomore year when complaining about a creaky door that sometimes randomly opens.

Interviewer: “Is the ghost evil? are students scared of it?”

IL: “No, not really. Think kinda like Casper the Friendly Ghost. But honestly not really because it’s not exactly friendly just kinda… ambivalent. Like just sorta coexisting with the students. We don’t bother it, it doesn’t bother us. We just sorta accept and acknowledge that it’s there and go about with our day.”

Analysis:

Ghost stories are a norm when it comes to folklore, particularly in the west. There is a fascination with the unknown, of what happens to the intangible thing we call a soul once we die. It is something that happens to everyone, yet we know so little about it. That, in addition to the American view of time (how it is finite, and we always want more) lends itself to this common acceptance of the supernatural. Additionally, in this instance, students cannot explore many places where the ghost supposedly resides, therefore it creates an enticing mystery ripe for storytelling and myth. That’s where this ghost story was formed, from the unexplainable being blamed on the unknown. We accept anyone as driven as a student would stay after death if their life was cut short, because we understand that time is a precious commodity and conversely know nothing about life when it ends.

Pet a Pig for Good Grades

Myth:

“Well, Another legend from [boarding school] was about the statue of the boar outside of our school library. Basically, our school mascot is the wild boar, and there is this really big, really iconic statue of a boar (which is basically just a hairy pig haha) outside of the library which is basically the center of campus at the top of the hill and right next to the dining hall. The legend goes that if you have a really big test or exam that you’re worried about, if you rub the boar’s snout before, it will give you good luck and you will pass all of your exams.”

Context:

IL was a highschool student in the late 2010s attending a New England preparatory boarding school.

IL: “I’m not sure if I actually believe that it works. To be fair, I never majorly failed any tests or exams or whatever in highschool [laughs]. And I think it’s probably just a placebo effect, like if you’re that worried about the assessment that you’re willing to turn to superstition then you probably put in at least some work to prepare or study, and I think that probably has more to do with the result than the statue of a pig. But if it helps it helps, y’know.

I first heard it on my first day of school freshman year. I was on the international student program so we arrived a bit earlier and got a bunch of tours and stuff with and without our parents and I think on one of the tours the guide mentioned it as we entered the library. I also heard it reiterated among students over that year when they were stressed they would mention that they tried the boar. It kinda became less prevalent as the years went on I think. I think it’s more so new students that enjoy the novelty of legends and traditions like that”

Analysis:

This legend is one of hope. Perhaps it is a placebo effect, however, that is the joy of folklore. It takes the hopes and aspirations of a group (in this case students desiring a good grade) combined with genuine world occurrences (perhaps a few students did get a high score after petting the boar) and transforms it into myth and legend. It is perhaps a bit less exciting that the more commonly known legends of objects or certain actions causing supernatural events or powers, nonetheless, it is passed down between people and the myth lives on, true or not.