Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
Your search for B432 returned 155 results.
RELIGIOUS LEGEND
LONG AGO, THERE WAS THIS LITTLE GIRL WHO ALWAYS WORE HER SCAPULAR.
THIS ONE DAY, SHE WAS WALKING HOME FROM SCHOOL; BUT, INSTEAD OF
RETURNING HOME SHE STOPPED TO PLAY WITH HER FRIENDS. ALL THE
OTHER CHILDREN WERE HIDING, WHILE SHE WAS CLIMBING UP THIS
VERY TALL TREE. SUDDENLY, SHE SLIPPED AND LOST HER BALANCE.
HOWEVER, SHE WAS SAVED BECAUSE HER SCAPULAR REMAINED FIXED AROUND
THE BRANCH OF THE TREE.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
James Callow Keyword(s): AMULET
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero |
Date learned: 09-20-1969
LEGEND OF ST. BEATUS
IN THE MIDDLE AGES, THERE WAS A RICH YOUNG MAN WHO WENT AROUND
WITH HIS SWORD AND HELMET, LIVING AN EASY LIFE. IT IS TOLD THAT
HE CAME NEAR A BIG CAVE (AT THE BORDER OF LAKE THUN), AND HAD TO
FIGHT A BIG DRAGON. HE KILLED THE DRAGON, BUT WAS SEVERELY WOUNDED
HIMSELF. THERE WERE NO VILLAGES NEAR, AND HE TOLD HIMSELF THAT HE
WOULD BECOME A HERMIT IF HE SURVIVED. IN THIS LARGE CAVE, THERE WAS
A SPRING, AND BY DRINKING THE WATER HE BECAME WELL. HE THEN
STUCK TO HIS PROMISE, AND BECAME A HERMIT FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; TOLD AT COLLECTORS HOME ; SOUTHFIELD
Keyword(s): PLEDGE
James Callow Keyword(s): LAKE OF THUN, SWITZERLAND
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero |
Date learned: 10-28-1970
LEGEND ABOUT HOLY FAMILY
WHEN MARY, JOSEPH AND JESUS HAD TO GO TO EGYPT TO HIDE FROM HEROD,
THE SOLDIERS WERE CLOSE BEHIND THEM AND THEY WERE IN A DESERT
AREA. THERE WAS NO PLACE TO HIDE EXCEPT AN OBVIOUS CAVE BUT THEY
HID THERE ANYWAY. WHEN THE SOLDIERS CAME THEY DECIDED TO CHECK
THE CAVE BUT WHEN THEY LOOKED INSIDE A SPIDER HAD BUILT A WEB
OVER THE CAVE MOUTH TO HIDE THE FAMILY. WHEN THE SOLDIER SAW THE
WEB HE DIDN'T GO IN BECAUSE HE THOUGHT IF MARY AND JOSEPH HAD GONE I
THEY WOULD HAVE BROKEN THE WEB.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): BIBLICAL
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero |
Date learned: 01-03-1970
WHY A SHAMROCK HAS THREE LEAVES
ST. PATRICK WAS HAVING A HARD TIME CONVERTING THE PAGANS OF IRELAND
TO CATHOLICISM. NEXT HE WENT DIRECTLY TO THE KING, BUT HE FAILED
THERE TOO. ONE DAY HE WAS TELLING THEM ABOUT THE TRINITY BUT THE
PEOPLE COULDN'T CONCEIVE HOW THREE PERSONS COULD BE IN ONE. SO
ST. PATRICK TOOK A SHAMROCK AND POINTED OUT HOW THERE ARE THREE
LEAVES IN ONE ORGANISM. THE KING THOUGHT THIS A LOGICAL EXPLANATION
BECAUSE NO ONE COULD DENY IT. THUS HE WAS BAPTIZED AND HIS SUBJECTS
FOLLOWED HIM.
Where learned: UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; RENO HALL
Keyword(s): THREE AS HOLY NUMBER
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero |
Date learned: 09-29-1968
HAIR TURNED WHITE
THERE WAS A YOUNG PRIEST WHO WAS CALLED UPON TO EXORCISE THE DEVIL
FROM A MAN, WHICH HE DID. AFTERWARDS HIS HAIR TURNED WHITE AND
NEVER RETURNED TO ITS ORIGINAL COLOR.
Submitter comment: THE INFORMANT COULD NOT RECALL WHERE SHE HEARD THIS.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero |
Date learned: 08-09-1964
LEGEND OF CHRIST
ONCE OUR LORD WENT INTO A BAKERY SHOP TO SEEK SOME NOURISHMENT.
EACH TIME THE PROPRIETOR OF THE SHOP PUT THE DOUGH IN THE OVEN IT
GREW SO BIG THAT HE DECIDED TO GIVE IT AWAY. FOR THIS, OUR LORD
PUNISHED HIS GREED BY CHANGING HIM INTO A BIRD. THE BIRD FLEW UP
THE CHIMNEY AND BECAME A RAVEN FROM THE DUST IN THE CHIMNEY.
Where learned: UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT
Keyword(s): BIBLICAL
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero |
RELIGIOUS LEGEND
ONE DAY WHEN THE BLESSED VIRGIN WAS WALKING THROUGH THE DESERT SHE
MARVELED AT THE BEAUTY OF THE DATE TREE. SHE EXCLAIMED, "OH",
GOD WAS SO WARMED BY HER EXCLAMATION OF JOY THAT ON EVERY DATE
PIT IS IMPRINTED AN O.
Where learned: DETROIT ; TOLD AT INFORMANTS HOME
Keyword(s): BIBLICAL
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero |
Date learned: 02-18-1970
LEGENG OF POLAND
DURING WORLD WAR II THE GERMANS BOMBED THE TOWN OF CHESTOCHOWA.
THE CHURCH IN THAT TOWN WAS HIT, BUT THE STATUE OF THE BLESSED
MOTHER WAS NOT TOUCHED WHILE EVERYTHING AROUND IT WAS DEMOLISHED.
IT IS CONSIDERED A MIRACLE.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; WARREN
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero PROSE NARRATIVE -- Product or activity of man or animal |
Date learned: DATE NOT RECORDED BY COLLECTOR
JOHNNY AND JESUS
THERE WAS A SMALL LAD WHO USED TO DASH INTO CHURCH EVERY TIME HE
PASSED, KNEEL DOWN AND SAY "HELLO JESUS THIS IS JOHNNY" AND THEN
RUN ABOUT HIS PLAY. ONE DAY JOHNNY WAS HIT BY A CAR AS HE PLAYED
AND A BYSTANDER JUST BEFORE JOHNNY DIED, THOUGHT HE HEARD A LOW
VOICE SAY "HELLO JOHNNY THIS IS JESUS".
Submitter comment: ONE OF A HUGE BODY OF "SISTER SAID" AND A GOOD EXEMPLUM.
Where learned: DETROIT, ASSUMED ; SAINT MATTHEWS SCHOOL
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial BELIEF -- Prayer |
LADY SEES VISION
A MRS. MURPHY USED TO SIT IN HER YARD EVERY DAY READING HER BIBLE.
SHE WAS VERY OLD. ONE DAY SHE SAID SHE HAD A VISION OF THE VIRGIN
MARY AND EVEN DREW PICTURES OF WHAT SHE SAW. HER SON HAS BUILT A
CHAPEL THERE TO PAY TRIBUTE TO THE VIRGIN WHO APPEARED TO HIS
MOTHER. IT IS ON PURITAN AND MARLOWE, IN DETROIT.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero ART CRAFT ARCHITECTURE -- Holy placeChurchTemple BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal |
Date learned: 00001964 SUMMER
MIRACLE IN ROME
IN A CATHEDRAL IN ROME THERE WAS A PRIEST, WHO WAS NOT A FIRM
BELIEVER SAYING MASS. WHEN HE SPLIT THE HOST SOME BLOOD SPILLED
FROM IT ON TO THE CORPOREAL ON THE ALTAR. EVERY YEAR ON GOOD FRIDAY
THE BLOOD LIQUIFIES.
Where learned: HOME ; DETROIT, ASSUMED
| Subject headings: | 663 Good Friday Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero BELIEF -- Body part Senses |
Date learned: 11-23-1968
TALE: THE OLD WOMAN IN OUR PARISH
THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN WHO USED TO LIVE IN OUR PARISH WHO WOULD
NEVER MISS SUNDAY VESPERS. SHE NEVER WENT TO MASS YET EVERY SUNDAY
AFTERNOON THERE SHE WAS AT VESPERS. THIS WENT ON FOR YEARS AND IT
TOOK TO BE HABIT SEEING HER THERE, RAIN OR SHINE.
WELL ONE PARTICULARILY BAD WINTER WE HAD A BLIZZARD THAT STARTED
RIGHT AFTER THE LAST MASS WAS LETTING OUT. BOY, WHAT A BLIZZARD.
IT KEPT ON SNOWING AND BLOWING ALL AFTERNOON AND AS THE TIME FOR
VESPERS APPROACHED WE BEGAN TO WONDER IF SHE'D SHOW UP. THEY
DIDN'T HAVE CARS IN THOSE DAYS AND THE PEOPLE USED TO WALK IF THEY
WANTED TO GO ANYWHERE. WELL, SINCE IT WAS MY TURN, I WENT TO THE
CHURCH AND SURE ENOUGH, THERE SHE WAS. I HAVE TO ADMIT I WAS QUITE
SURPRISED TO SEE HER AS SHE HAD QUITE A WALK.
ANYHOW, AS THE WOMAN LATER TOLD ME, WHILE SHE WAS AT VESPERS, SHE
PRAYED AND PRAYED THAT THE WIND WOULD CHANGE AND SHE'D HAVE IT AT HE
BACK ON HER WAY HOME. KNOW WHAT, SHE DID. THE WIND CHANGED
COURSE DURING VESPERS.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero PROSE NARRATIVE -- Wind Whirlwind Hurricane Cyclone Tornado CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Church |
Date learned: 06-00-1964
GRANNY BEGAN: WHEN I WAS YOUNG AND READY TO GET MARRIED I THRILLED
TO THE UTMOST. THINGS WERE GOING ALONG VERY WELL WHEN ABOUT THREE
WEEKS BEFORE MY WEDDING MY MOTHER HAD A SUDDEN STROKE. SHE WAS
CONFINED TO HER BED. IT WAS ABOUT A WEEK LATER WHEN I HAD JUST
FINISHED MY FINAL FITTING OF MY WEDDING GOWN. I WAS GOIN' BACK TO
MY ROOM AND WHEN I GOT TO THE STEPS I SAW A BRIGHT LIGHT FROM ABOVE.
I WENT UP THERE AND SAW THE BLESSED MOTHER STANDING THERE. SHE
JUST LOOKED AT ME AND THEN TO MY MOTHER'S ROOM. I WALKED INTO MY
MOTHER'S ROOM WITH MY WEDDING DRESS ON. MOTHER HAD NEVER SEEN IT
BEFORE AS I WAS GOING TO SURPRISE EVERYONE. SHE SAW ME AND GAVE A
FAINT SMILE. I TURNED AND LEFT THE ROOM. ONCE OUTSIDE, I SAW
THAT THE BLESSED VIRGIN WAS GONE. I WENT TO MY ROOM AND LATER THAT
EVENING WHEN I LOOKED IN ON MOTHER I FOUND THAT SHE HAD DIED WITH
THAT SAME FAINT SMILE ON HER FACE. IT WAS THE BLESSED MOTHER THAT
TOLD ME TO GO AND LET HER SEE ME IN MY WEDDING GOWN.
Submitter comment: TOLD TO ME DURING ONE OF GRANNY'S FRONT PORCH TALKS.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero PROSE NARRATIVE -- Product or activity of man or animal |
Date learned: DATE NOT RECORDED BY COLLECTOR
HOW MUSHROOMS STARTED
THE JESUS WENT TO SAINT PETER AND WENT TO FARM. FARM LADY BAKED
PANCAKE -- STOVE WAS LIKE PLATE. PETER SO HUNGRY, STOLE PANCAKES
AND WHEN JESUS NOT LOOKIN', PUT IT IN THE SHIRT. THEY WENT TO
WOODS, AND PETER ATE PIECE OF PANCAKE WHEN JESUS NOT LOOKIN'.
EVERYTIME HE WANT TO SWALLOW, THE JESUS STARTED TO TALK TO HIM, SO
HE GRABT FROM HIS MOUTH AND THREW IT IN THE WOODS. FINALLY, THE
JESUS TELL HIM HE KNOW HE STOLET PANCAKE, AND DID NOT SWOLLOW, BUT
THREW IT INTO THE WOODS. SO THE JESUS SAY IT WILL NOT BE WASTED,
THAT PANCAKE, BUT WILL GROW INTO THE MUSHROOMS.
Submitter comment:
COLLECTOR RECORDED THIS STORY IN THE EXACT WORDS.
MY GRANDMOTHER HAD HEARD THIS STORY FROM HER FIRST HUSBAND OVER
FORTY YEARS AGO.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; FERNDALE
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Creation and Order of Plant Life PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero PROSE NARRATIVE -- Plant |
Date learned: 04-08-1965
LEGEND OF ST. LAWRENCE
IT IS BELIEVED THAT WHILE ST. LAWRENCE WAS LITERALLY BEING BURNED ON
A RED HOT GRILL FOR HIS CHRISTIAN FAITH, HE SAID TO ONE OF THE
SOLDIERS, WHO WAS WATCHING HIM ROAST, "PLEASE, TURN ME OVER FOR I'M
DONE ON THIS SIDE."
Where learned: LOCATION NOT RECORDED BY COLLECTOR
James Callow Keyword(s): BRAVERY ; ENDURANCE
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero |
Date learned: DATE NOT RECORDED BY COLLECTOR
OUR LADY OF CHASTOHOVA
ONCE UPON A TIME A HEATHEN SOLDIER SLASHED A PICTURE OF MARY IN
IRREVERENCE. THE PICTURE IMMEDIATELY BEGAN TO BLEED. THE POLISH HAVE
SINCE VENERETED HER AS OUR LADY OF CHASTOHOVA.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): NATIONALITY ; RELIGION
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero |
Date learned: DATE NOT RECORDED BY COLLECTOR
LEGEND
"LEGEND HAS IT THAT ON ONE OCCASION, WHEN FATHER SORIN WAS RECALLED
TO EUROPE, POSSIBLY TO BE REPLACED HERE AT NOTRE DAME BECAUSE OF SOM
DECISIONS HE HAD MADE WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF AUTHORITIES IN EUROPE,
HE HAD HIMSELF ARRESTED--AND FORBIDDEN TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY."
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; BIRMINGHAM
Keyword(s): RELIGION
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero |
Date learned: 01-22-1968
SAINT PATRICK'S PURGATORY
IN IRELAND THERE IS A LAKE CALLED LOUGH DEAGH WITH AN ISLAND IN THE
CENTER OF IT. THE ISLAND IS CALLED ST. PATRICK'S PURGATORY. IT IS
SAID THAT ST. PATRICK SPENT THREE DAYS ON THE ISLAND WITHOUT EATING
FOR PENANCE.
Submitter comment:
PEOPLE GO THERE NOW AND SPEND THREE DAYS THERE WITHOUT EATING LIKE
ST. PATRICK.
Where learned: OHIO
Keyword(s): PLACE NAMES ; RELIGION
| Subject headings: | 686 Thirds / Thrice / Three / Triple PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero PROSE NARRATIVE -- Explanation of a name |
Date learned: 12-01-1969
SAINT SANGENNARO
THE ROCK, ON WHICH ST. SANGENNARO WAS BEHEADED, IS KEPT IN A GLASS
CASE IN THE CHURCH NAMED AFTER HIM IN NAPLES, ITALY. EVERY SPRING AN
AUTUMN THE BLOOD ON THE ROCK LIQUIFIES. IF IT FAILS TO LIQUIFY IT
PORTENDS A DISASTER. IT FAILED TO LIQUIFY BEFORE WORLD WAR 1 ,
WORLD WAR 2, AND THE KOREAN WAR. IT ALSO DIDN'T LIQUIFY IN 1963, THE
YEAR THAT THE INFORMANT SAW IT.
Data entry tech comment:
Updated by TRD
Where learned: HOME
Keyword(s): BLOOD ; HISTORICAL ; OMEN ; Portent ; RELIGION ; Rock ; Saint Sangennaro ; SIGN ; SYMBOL
| Subject headings: | Observation Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero |
Date learned: 11-23-1968 ; 00-00-1963
SAINT BRENDON OF IRELAND
A SAINT MENTIONED IN THE SAGAS OF VIKINGS THIS LEGENDARY CHARACTER
SAILED TO THE NEW WORLD ON THREE OCCASIONS IN THE SIXTH CENTURY.
HE IS MENTIONED IN SPANISH MAPS (THE GREAT NAVIGATOR OF THE TIME )
WHERE HE IS CREDITED WITH THE DISCOVERY OF MANY ISLANDS. ON HIS
FIRST TRY, HE TRAVELED TO GREENLAND (WHERE THE REMAINS OF A CHURCH
IS STILL IN EXISTENCE.) HIS SECOND TRIP TOOK HIM TO NOVA SCOTIA
AND ON HIS FINAL TRIP, HE JOURNEYED TO THE MAINLAND ALL THE WAY DOWN
TO FLORIDA, WHERE HE FOUND ANOTHER IRISHMAN.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): HISTORICAL ; RELIGION
James Callow Keyword(s): BRENDAN ; IRONY ; SURPRISE ENDING
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Religious hero |
Date learned: 02-01-1968