Title: Hair caught on fire

Informant info: Fred Kim is a member of the Class of 2017. He was born in South Korea but has lived in Seattle for most of his teenage years. He plays the flute and is very involved in music in Dartmouth. He is a member of the Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity for men. He has participated in Homecoming three times, one for each of his years at Dartmouth.

Type of lore: Urban Legend

Language: English

Country of Origin: US

Social/cultural context: Fred was interviewed in one-on-one situation and he was recorded. He has participated in the bonfire and remembers hearing of several stories about the bonfire.

Item: There is an urban legend that a girl running around the bonfire a few years ago had her hair catch on fire even though she was not that close to the fire.

Associated file: Interview audio

Transcript:

Interviewer: Fred, do you know any stories, legends, myths about Homecoming?

Fred: Yeah, um, a couple of years ago, I heard that there was a girl that was running around the bonfire and even though she wasn’t that close to the fire, her hair caught on fire. I don’t know what happened after though.

Informant’s comments: None

Collector’s comments: Fred could not remember much about Homecoming because he was not prepared to be asked such questions. Also, he was not very talkative and only spoke for a short period of time before asking to leave.

Tags/Keywords: bonfire, Homecoming, fire, hair