Category Archives: Verbal Lore

Lucky 7 – Seventh Day Adventist

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Title: Lucky 7 for Seventh Day Adventist

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore: Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Religion of Origin: Christianity
  • Informant: David Ochollah
  • Date Collected: 02/23/2018

Informant Data:

  • David Ochollah is a Dartmouth sophomore from Nairobi, Kenya. He came to the in 2016 for his college studies and usually goes home once a year to visit his family. His family is religiously and they are members of the Seventh Day Adventist.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context:  Seventh Day Adventists are mainly known for observing the Sabbath day on a Saturday, as opposed to other Christianity denominations that observe the Sabbath day on Sunday.  Their name shows how much the seventh day of the week is special to them.
  • Social Context: Seventh Day Adventist members spend most of their Saturday at church because it is a day dedicated to doing only God’s work.

Item:

  • Seventh Day Adventists associate this number with good lucky because it is seen as a divine number  in the Bible and the seventh day in the week is for praising the Lord.  Because of 666 beings the Antichrist’s number, when something happens to be associated with seven it is seen as a good sign because it managed to went past 6.

Informant’s Comments:

  • David is the last born in a family with seven members therefore seven has become extra special to him. He believes there is something special about it because there are 7 continents in the world, seven colors of the rainbow, seven seas and seven days in a week.

Collector’s Name: Taringana Guranungo 

Tags/Keywords:

  • seven
  • Seventh Day Adventist
  • lucky

Miley Cyrus – “Party in the U.S.A.”

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General Information about Item:

  • Music Folklore – Song
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Ziqi Wang
  • Date Collected: 02-23-2018

Informant Data:

  • Ziqi Wang is a male student in the Dartmouth College Class of 2018.  He was born in China and emigrated to the United States when he was 9 years old; he has spent most of his life in the Hanover, NH area, having attended Hanover High School. He studies economics and environmental science at Dartmouth, and intends to pursue a career in business in Boston, MA after graduation. Ziqi has been an active member of Dartmouth’s Club Swim Team since the fall of 2014.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: In order to bolster team spirit and unity, the Dartmouth Club Swim Team has a variety of fun traditions which engage the members in play. This particular ritual has the members of the team sing an adolescent pop song, which has ironically gained fame with the college community, allowing the team to mutually engage in an absurd, almost child-like song. This bonding through humor and adolescent fun helps to solidify the team.
  • Social Context: This musical tradition was explained in a one-on-one interview with the informant at Baker-Berry Library. It is performed before meets, allowing team members to channel any anxiety they may be feeling into a care-free, child-like exercise, relaxing them.

Item:

  • Before meets, members of the Dartmouth Club Swim Team get together to sing Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.”

Music Video for “Party in the U.S.A.”:

Transcript:

  • “Before meets, people like to sing this Miley Cyrus song – ‘Party in the U.S.A.’ I forgot exactly how it goes, but it’s a fun, easy way for people to shake off the nerves. They know like, maybe half of the lyrics. It’s such a silly song.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “It’s a great song, I love it.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • This song is quite catchy

Collector’s Name: Ashwath Srikanth

Tags/Keywords: Music Folklore, Ritual, Miley Cyrus, Swimming

Polish Reception

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Title: Polish Reception

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore
  • Language: English, Polish
  • Country of Origin: Poland
  • Informant: Leona Burner
  • Date Collected: September 22, 1957

Informant Data:

  • Leona was born December 7, 1931. She was raised as a Catholic and attended a Polish Catholic school until she was in fifth grade. Leona’s ancestry is entirely Polish, and her grandparents moved to the U.S. after they got married. Leona’s Polish and Catholic upbringing affected much of her life, including her wedding traditions, current religious beliefs, and her career as an elementary teacher at a Catholic school. Her family moved around a lot because her father was a corporal in the army, and she didn’t have her first permanent home, which was in Bellwood Illinois near Niles, until she was in high school.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Vodka is a very important part of Polish weddings. Poles are generally very experienced drinkers and vodka is usually the only type of alcohol that is served because they do not like to mix alcohols. Shots are refilled immediately, which is why it is very important to eat the fatty zakąski after each shot. Poles love to dance, which is why the Polish music and dancing for hours are an important part to the reception. Having a plus one at Polish weddings is considered to not be a big deal because while everyone dances, people switch partners throughout the night. It is also customary for guests to dance with the bride once.
    Social Context: I collected this folklore by interviewing Leona over the phone. After her wedding ceremony to Jack, the reception had traditional Polish foods, drinks, and music. Leona and Jack were immediately greeted by their parents with bread and salt and two shots of vodka, which they had to drink in one gulp and then throw the empty glasses behind them. For dinner, a Polish broth called rosół was served first. The second course consisted of many types of meats, potatoes, and salads. After this, they were served Polish tapas, also called zakąski, which consists of very fatty foods. Fatty foods help guests to continue drinking vodka throughout the night. In addition to the vodka, a large variety of beer was also served, because Jack is mainly of English ancestry and part Polish. After dinner, everyone danced for hours to traditional Polish music.

Item:

  • The folklore item collected is a Polish wedding reception, with details about the food, drinks, and music. I took notes of what Leona told me during my interview with her via a phone call. These are not direct quotes from Leona but rewritten notes from our interview to provide organized content.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Now I understand why my grandmother always jokes about drinking often.

Collector’s Name: Claire Burner

Tags/Keywords:

  • Reception
  • Polish lore
  • Customary lore

Bouquet for the Blessed Mother

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Title: Bouquet for the Blessed Mother

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore
  • Language: English, Polish
  • Country of Origin: Poland
  • Informant: Leona Burner
  • Date Collected: September 22, 1957

Informant Data:

  • Leona was born December 7, 1931. She was raised as a Catholic and attended a Polish Catholic school until she was in fifth grade. Leona’s ancestry is entirely Polish, and her grandparents moved to the U.S. after they got married. Leona’s Polish and Catholic upbringing affected much of her life, including her wedding traditions, current religious beliefs, and her career as an elementary teacher at a Catholic school. Her family moved around a lot because her father was a corporal in the army, and she didn’t have her first permanent home, which was in Bellwood Illinois near Niles, until she was in high school.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Leona was raised in a very traditional Catholic household. Her parents firmly followed Catholicism and practiced Catholic traditions such as prayers.
  • Social Context: Leona was given a bouquet of flowers from her mother, which she brought to the altar of the Blessed Mother. Leona said a prayer asking for the Blessed Mother to provide guidance and her blessing for their marriage. The bride praying to the Blessed Mother is a Catholic wedding tradition that Leona’s family has done for generations. Performing this provided a sense of security for Leona and her Polish relatives.

Item:

  • The folklore item collected is the act of placing a bouquet of flowers at the altar of the Blessed Mother during a Catholic wedding ceremony. I took notes of what Leona told me during my interview with her via a phone call. These are not direct quotes from Leona but rewritten notes from our interview to provide organized content.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Leona is my grandmother. I found this Catholic tradition to be interesting because Leona became a non-denominational Christian so I rarely hear about the Catholic traditions that have affected her life.

Collector’s Name: Claire Burner

Tags/Keywords:

  • Bouquet
  • Catholic lore
  • Customary lore

“123 Dartmouth” Chant

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General Information about Item:

  • Textual Folklore – Chant
  • Poly-modal Folklore – Ritual
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Ziqi Wang
  • Date Collected: 02-23-2018

Informant Data:

  • Ziqi Wang is a male student in the Dartmouth College Class of 2018.  He was born in China and emigrated to the United States when he was 9 years old; he has spent most of his life in the Hanover, NH area, having attended Hanover High School. He studies economics and environmental science at Dartmouth, and intends to pursue a career in business in Boston, MA after graduation. Ziqi has been an active member of Dartmouth’s Club Swim Team since the fall of 2014.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The Dartmouth Club Swim Team has a variety of bonding rituals which help the team come together. This particular ritual is mandatory for all members, with the repetition helping to enforce the primacy of the team in all members heads, while establishing the hierarchy of the team, by having team leaders lead the chant in a loud, authoritative voice and having junior members echo the leaders.
  • Social Context: This chant was explained in a one-on-one interview with the informant at Baker-Berry Library. It is performed at the end of the meet, with the members all huddling up together in close contact, creating a close bond. Various team leaders then lead the chant, with the rest of the members following them in the chorus. The chant is also used to signal the end of practices, illustrating the transition from the intensity of practice to post-practice relaxation.

Item:

  • At the end of every practice, the members of the Dartmouth Club Swim Team come together in a huddle and finish with the “123 Dartmouth” chant. It is led by one or more of the team’s leaders or senior members, with the rest of the team acting as a chorus. The text of the chant is shown below.
  • “Team Leader: ‘Club Swim on 3! 1, 2, 3!                                                                                         Rest of Team: ‘Club Swim!'”

Transcript:

  • “We end practice every day with a simple chant which is called 123 Dartmouth. One of the seniors or older people on the team shouts ‘Club Swim on 3!’ And then counts off “1,2,3.” Then everyone else shouts ‘Club Swim!'”

Informant’s Comments:

  • It seems kind of simple and is pretty similar to what a lot of other teams do, but it still adds a lot of excitement and energy for the team after practices.

Collector’s Comments:

  • This chant does seem similar to the huddle-ending practices of many sports teams at Dartmouth, but uniquely, it is led by senior team members, rather than the coach, like in most teams, illustrating a greater level of independence. It has a vague similarity to children’s folklore, in that as Bettelheim emphasizes, repetition is used to reinforce ideas for junior members. Also, it is composed and performed exclusively by and for students. This reflects the nature of club sports, which generally do not have formal coaching staff, requiring club athletes to learn and maintain their traditions and skills independently, much as children’s folklore is used by children to teach themselves and others, as opposed to adults teaching them.

Collector’s Name: Ashwath Srikanth

Tags/Keywords: Textual Folklore, Poly-modal Folklore, Ritual, Chants, Children’s Folklore, Swimming

Softball Injury (Rick Gangopadhyay)

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Title: Softball Injury

General Information about Item:

  • Legend, workplace folklore
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Informant #7
  • Date Collected: February 20, 2018.

Informant Data:

  • FO+M Custodian and has been working for college for three years. Has been part of the custodial department the entirety of his time at Dartmouth.  Originally from Connecticut and moved to the Upper Valley area.

Contextual Data:

  • Some of the members of the custodial department sometimes meet to play softball in their free time. The last time this occurred was three years ago as far as the informant is aware.  This is due to problems that ensued during the game that was played on this occasion.  The story describes the informant’s experience at the softball game and an accident that occurred.

Item:

    • The custodian is at the casually organized softball game among other custodians and his team is up at bat. Another custodian winds up to hit the ball and hits it as hard as he can.  The ball flies directly into the ribcage of another custodial worker on the other team and he has to go to the hospital.  As it turned out, the victim was okay but suffered a cracked rib cage.

     

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

  • “I can’t say I’m all that good at softball or other ball sports… When Jim hit that ball though I almost threw up myself, he hit it into the man- I didn’t know his name – and it looked pretty darn painful! I’ve been telling this to some of the new guys and they think it’s a shame we stopped doing it.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I used to play in casual soccer games when I was a kid and whenever someone got hurt, everyone would often stop playing altogether. It seems like this doesn’t stop as we get older.

Collector’s Name: Rick Gangopadhyay

Tags/Keywords:

  • Legend
  • FO+M
  • Narrative Folklore

Water Balloon Legend (Rick Gangopadhyay)

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Title: Water Balloon Legend

General Information about Item:

  • Legend, workplace folklore
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Informant #6
  • Date Collected: February 23, 2018

Informant Data:

  • Has been working for the custodial sector of FO+M for over five years. Is originally from Manchester, New Hampshire but more recently moved to the Upper Valley.

Contextual Data:

  • A story that has been passed down to her from her boss who heard it from her boss. The story takes place in 2007 and the story has been told by her boss that the story is true.  The story describes the experience one custodian had one afternoon when he walked up to the third floor of Topliff.

Item:

    • This custodian walks into his assigned dormitory, which he was assigned that day. Walking up to the third floor, he hears loud yelling and the sound of splashing water.  Entering the floor, he finds that there is a water balloon fight going on in the third-floor hallway with the walls soaked as well as the floors.  Students escape through the fire escape and the custodian cannot catch a glimpse of them of whether they live on the floor.  No one was ever found accountable for the incident.

     

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

  • “I can’t complain these days about students, they’ve been great to me.  This story I told you though makes me wonder what got into those kids.  To be honest though, I probably would have joined in if I were one of the students.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I’ve seen custodians deal with a lot of cases of disregard for the dorms we live in.  It’s amazing to me how much work they put in.  I myself have never heard of the water balloon story but it does not surprise me at all.

Collector’s Name: Rick Gangopadhyay

Tags/Keywords:

  • Legend
  • FO+M
  • Narrative Folklore

Union Negotiation Views (Jacob Cruger)

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Title: Union Negotiation Views

General Information About this Item:

  • Workplace folklore
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Informant #2
  • Date Collected: 2/20/2018

Informant Data:

  • FO+M administrative worker, started working for the college within the last ten years. Has played a role in initiatives intended to change the workplace culture of FO+M.

Contextual Data:

  • Many workers on campus are covered by a union, Local 560 of the Service Employees’ International Union. Employees hold varying opinions on what the Union’s negotiation strategy and practices should be. These beliefs tend to depend on how long an employee has worked at the college.

Item:

  • There is a shared belief among a cohort of mostly older employees that the Union’s shift toward a more diplomatic negotiation strategy has weakened it. Many younger workers disagree, believing the more diplomatic approach makes for a better and more productive workplace.

Transcript:

  • “I see it [rivalry between union and management]… but it’s shifted to a more healthy debate, it’s not as much adversarial. And I think some of the people who have been here a long time are used to the more old style of union negotiation, they view the way it’s currently done as not being strong enough or powerful enough… because now it’s a discussion, there are regular meetings on a weekly basis, everybody gets together over lunch, talks about the needs that are being brought up by the union and the needs that are being brought up from higher up in management… some people don’t view that diplomacy as being the right way for that relationship to be.”

Collector Comments:

This item, like the “acceptance in the workplace” item, is closely connected with the notion of “Old Dartmouth v. New Dartmouth,” a topic multiple informants touched on.

Collector’s Name: Jacob Cruger

Tags/Keywords:

  • Union
  • FO+M

Image Credit

Ghost of Carter Notch Hut

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Genre Verbal Lore, Legend

Language English

Country of Origin United States

Informant James E. Esdon

Date Collected February 26, 2018

Collected by Daniel McClafferty

 

Informant Data

The informant is a 54-year-old employee at Eastern Mountain Sports in Lebanon, NH.

Contextual Data

At Carter Notch Hut at Wildcat Mountain, there has been rumors of a ghost for years. This ghost is of a caretaker, and the informant had an encounter with it. He was coming up the trail to the Carter Notch Hut on Mile Brook trail, and there was a little bit of mist and it was kind of foggy. He came up to a pond, and saw something out of the corner of his eye. He was talking to someone at the hut, and asked if her boyfriend was there, but she said that was not her boyfriend, so they figured they saw the ghost.

Item

Ghost of Carter Notch Hut

http://hikethewhites.com/carter_hut.html

Buried Treasure in Charles, New Hampshire

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Genre Verbal Lore, Legend

Language English

Country of Origin United States

Informant James E. Esdon

Date Collected March 8, 2018

Collected by Daniel McClafferty

Informant Data

The informant is a 54-year-old employee at Eastern Mountain Sports in Lebanon, NH.

Contextual Data

During the St. Francis Raid during the French and Indian War, some of Roger’s Rangers returned with some gold and other valuables.

Item

The informant has heard rumors that the rangers buried this treasure in Charles, New Hampshire.

http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/military-history/the-white-devil-robert-rogers-and-the-st-francis-raid/