MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN,
BLESS THE BED THAT I LIE ON.
ALL FOUR CORNERS ROUND ABOUT,
WHEN I GET IN, WHEN I GET OUT.
FOUR CORNERS TO MY BED,
FOUR ANGELS ROUND MY HEAD;
ONE TO WATCH AND ONE TO PRAY,
AND TWO TO BEAR MY SOUL AWAY.

Submitter comment: INFORMANT HEARD IN SCHOOL

Where learned: TOLEDO

Keyword(s): PIOUS DEATH ANGELS SLEEPING BIBLICIAL ; RHYME: AABB

Subject headings:

Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Lyrical Verse Lyrical Verse

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NO WIFE FOR REPLACEMENT

A MAN'S CAR CAUGHT FIRE AND WAS DESTROYED. IT BEING INSURED,
HE WENT AT ONCE TO THE INSURANCE OFFICE AND DEMANDED HIS MONEY.
HE WAS GIVEN A FORM TO FILL OUT, AND WAS TOLD THAT HE COULD
NOT GET THE MONEY, BUT THE CAR WOULD BE REPLACED.
"OH," SAID HE, "IF THAT'S THE WAY YOU DO BUSINESS, I WANT
TO CANCEL MY WIFE'S LIFE INSURANCE POLICY IMMEDIATELY."

Data entry tech comment: ITEM PUNCHED AS IT APPEARED ON CARD

Where learned: DETROIT ; MICHIGAN, ASSUMED

Keyword(s): HUMOR ; INSURANCE ; MARRIAGE ; NONSENSE ; PREPARATION FOR DEATH ; SURPRISE ENDING

Subject headings:

PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote

Date learned: 00-00-1964

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NO TITLE SUPPLIED

DAD: I SURE WISH YOU'D STOP REACHING FOR
THINGS. DON'T YOU HAVE A TONGUE.
SON: YES, BUT MY ARM IS LONGER.

Where learned: MICHIGAN, ASSUMED ; DEARBORN HEIGHTS

Keyword(s): ABSURD ; CHILDREN ; DIOLOGUE ; EATING ; HUMOR ; PARENTS

Subject headings:

PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote

Date learned: 10-00-1968

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STORY OF THE STORK

ONE DAY GOD GAVE A MAN A BAG TO CARRY BUT DIDN'T
TELL THE MAN WHAT WAS IN IT. HE TOLD THE MAN TO CARRY THIS BAG
TO A CERTAIN PLACE ON EARTH BUT NOT TO OPEN IT OR LOOK INSIDE.
SO THE MAN TOOK THE BAG BUT GOT CURIOUS AND OPENED IT AND OUT
CAME ALL KINDS OF SNAKES AND FROGS AND WATER ANIMALS.
GOD GOT MAD AND TURNED THE MAN INTO A STORK AND GAVE HIM A LONG
BILL AND LONG LEGS SO HE COULD GO IN SWAMPS AND
GATHER ALL THE ANIMALS HE SET FREE.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Keyword(s): CREATION ; MYTH ; STORK ; WATER ANIMALS

Subject headings:

PROSE NARRATIVE -- Creation and Order of Animal Life

Date learned: 04-07-1972

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ORANGE GROVE

A BOY AND GIRL IN FLORIDA WENT OUT PARKING IN AN ORANGE GROVE.
WHEN THEY WERE READY TO LEAVE THE BOY FOUND THAT HE WAS OUT OF
GAS. HE WAS REALLY DISGUSTED WITH HIMSELF AS HE STOMPED AWAY,
WARNING THE GIRL TO LOCK THE DOORS AND WAIT FOR HIM IN THE CAR.
HOURS PASSED AND THE GIRL WAS GETTING VERY WORRIED. IT WAS COLD
AND SHE WAS VERY TIRED SO SHE FELL ASLEEP. A TAP AT THE WINDOW
WOKE HER. A POLICEMAN TOLD HER TO GET OUT AND GO TO THE PATROL
CAR AND HE'D TAKE HER HOME. AS HE HELPED HER TO THE CAR HE WARNED
HER NOT TO LOOK BACK AT THE OTHER CAR. AS HE CLOSED THE DOOR
SHE GLANCED BACK AT THE OTHER CAR. THERE WAS HER BOYFRIEND'S
HEAD, ON THE ROOF, STREAMING BLOOD.

Data entry tech comment:

Updated by TRD

Keyword(s): Boyfriend ; DEATH ; Girlfriend ; MURDER ; PARKING ; Urban Legend ; VIOLENT

James Callow Keyword(s): DECAPITATION

Subject headings:

Favorites
PROSE NARRATIVE -- Product or activity of man or animal
BELIEF -- Human Being

Date learned: 00-00-1969

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YELLOW MIKE

BACK IN 1940 THERE WAS A TRAIN WHICH WAS PASSING THROUGH HASTINGS,
MICHIGAN DURING THE NIGHT. A LARGE CRATE WHICH WAS ON THIS TRAIN
FELL OUT OF THE DOOR OF ONE OF THE BOX CARS. A MAN WHO WAS KNOWN AS
MIKE WENT TO SEE WHAT WAS IN THE BOX. AS HE LIT A MATCH AND LOOKED
INSIDE THE BOX, HE SAW A CREATURE WHICH LOOKED LIKE A MAN BUT IT WAS
TOTALLY COVERED WITH LONG YELLOW HAIR. BECAUSE OF THIS IT WAS NAMED
YELLOW MIKE. THE NEXT DAY YELLOW MIKE WAS PUT IN THE HASTINGS'
INSANE ASYLUM. TWO DAYS LATER THE ASYLUM CAUGHT FIRE. SOME OF THE
PATIENTS WERE SAVED AND MANY WERE BURNED TO DEATH. NOBODY SAW
YELLOW MIKE COME OUT, SO THEY FIGURED THAT HE HAD BEEN BURNED TO
DEATH. THE NEXT MORNING FARMERS IN THE AREA REPORTED FINDING
THEIR CATTLE AND OTHER LIVESTOCK LITERALLY TORN APART AND THAT
THERE WAS YELLOW HAIR LYING AROUND. ALSO A LADY SAID THAT HER SON
AND HIS GIRLFRIEND HAD NOT YET RETURNED FROM THEIR DATE. THE TWO
WERE LATER FOUND IN AN AREA BY GUN LAKE WHICH IS CALLED DEVILS' SOUP
BOWL.(IT IS A WELL VISITED SPOT BY PARKERS). THEIR BODIES WERE
TORN APART AS IF SOME ANIMAL HAS GOTTEN AHOLD OF THEM. THERE WAS
ONLY YELLOW HAIR LYING AROUND AND UNDER THE BOY'S FINGERNAILS
THERE WAS YELLOW HAIR. IMMEDIATELY TWENTY MEN WERE STATIONED AT
DEVILS' SOUP BOWL. EIGHTEEN MEN WERE STATIONED AT THE LOW GRADED
SIDE AND THE OTHER TWO AT THE STEEP GRADED SIDE BECAUSE THEY
FIGURED IF YELLOW MIKE WAS IN THERE HE WOULD COME OUT ON THE LOW
GRADED SIDE. THEIR ORDERS WERE TO SHOOT TO KILL AND NOT WOUND
HIM. IF HE WERE TO BE WOUNDED HE WOULD BECOME WORSE THAN HE ALREADY
WAS. ONE OF THE EIGHTEEN SAW YELLOW MIKE AND FIRED BUT HE ONLY
WOUNDED HIM. ONE OF THE TWO FROM THE OTHER SIDE RAN OVER TO SEE
WHAT WAS HAPPENING. WHEN HE DIDN'T RETURN THE OTHER GUY WENT OVER
TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON. WHEN HE GOT THERE HE FOUND NINETEEN
MUTILATED BODIES. HIS FRIEND WAS JUST BARELY ALIVE AND THE LAST
THING HE SAID WAS THAT IT WAS YELLOW MIKE AND HE'S WOUNDED. ALL
NINETEEN WERE BURIED ON A HILL NEAR BY NOW CALLED GRAVES' HILL
AND THERE IS A BOULDER OVER EACH GRAVE. WELL THEY FIGURED YELLOW
MIKE WOULD DIE AS A WOUNDED SO THEY DIDN'T BOTHER TO TRACK HIM
DOWN. HASTING LATER ON STARTED GETTING REPORTS FROM JACKSON,
MICHIGAN AND EVEN FARTHER SOUTH OF ANIMALS BEING KILLED AND
FINDING YELLOW HAIR BY THEM. IT SEEMS EVEN UP TO THIS DAY THAT
YELLOW MIKE COMES NORTH FOR THE SUMMER AND GOES SOUTH DURING
MICHIGAN'S COLD SEASON. IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE THIS IS TRUE YOU
CAN GO TO HASTING'S CITY LIBRARY AND UNDER THE HISTORY OF THE
CITY OF HASTING YOU WILL FIND THIS TALE.

Where learned: LOCATION NOT RECORDED BY COLLECTOR

Keyword(s): PLACE NAMES, MURDER ; VIOLENT DEATHS

James Callow Keyword(s): DEVIL'S SOUP BOWL, MICHIGAN

Subject headings:

Favorites
PROSE NARRATIVE -- Physically handicapped Deformed

Date learned: DATE NOT RECORDED BY COLLECTOR

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THE DOG

TWO WOMEN WERE COMING HOME FROM WORK ONE NIGHT, WHEN THEY HEARD ON
THE RADIO THAT A PSYCHOPATHIC MANIAC HAD ESCAPED FROM THE STATE
MENTAL HOSPITAL. ONE OF THE WOMEN, WHO LIVED WITH HER PARENTS,
ASKED THE OTHER, WHO LIVED ALONE WITH HER GERMAN SHEPARD DOG, IF
SHE WOULD LIKE TO STAY AT HER HOUSE FOR THE NIGHT. THE WOMAN
REFUSED SAYING THAT SHE WAS SAFE WITH HER DOG. WHEN SHE ARRIVED
HOME, SHE WAS GREETED BY HER DOG AND WENT TO BED. DURING THE
NIGHT SHE HEARD HER DOG YELP SEVERAL TIMES, BUT WHEN SHE PUT HER
HAND DOWN BY THE SIDE OF THE BED, WHICH IS WHERE HER DOG USUALLY
SLEPT, SHE FOUND THAT HER DOG WAS STILL THERE. SHE REASSURED HER-
SELF BY PETTING THE DOG SEVERAL TIMES. WHEN SHE WOKE UP THE
FOLLOWING MORNING, SHE NOTICED THAT HER DOG WAS MISSING. SHE
FINALLY WENT INTO THE BATHROOM TO WASH UP, AND THERE SHE DISCOVERED
HER DOG HANGING DEAD FROM THE SHOWER. THERE WAS A SCREAM. SHE HAD
REALIZED THAT SHE HAD BEEN PETTING THE MANIAC INSTEAD OF HER DOG ALL
NIGHT.

Submitter comment: . I HEARD THIS ON A HUNTING TRIP ABOUT SEVEN YEARS AGO.

Where learned: LOCATION NOT RECORDED BY COLLECTOR

Keyword(s): VIOLENT DEATH

Subject headings:

Favorites
PROSE NARRATIVE -- Physically handicapped Deformed
PROSE NARRATIVE -- Mammal

Date learned: 00-00-1963

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AX MURDER HOLLOW, PENNSYLVANIA

THERE IS AN AREA IN PENNSYLVANIA KNOWN AS AX MURDER HOLLOW. THERE
WAS A MASS MURDER WHICH TOOK PLACE IN THE AREA AND ALL THE DEATHS
WERE THE RESULT OF AN AX. PEOPLE GO THERE NOW ON HALLOWEEN EXPECTIN
TO SEE THE MURDERER REAPPEAR.

James Callow comment: MURDERER NOT CALLED A GHOST, ONLY IMPLIED.

Where learned: LOCATION NOT RECORDED BY COLLECTOR

Keyword(s): VIOLENT DEATHS

Subject headings:

PROSE NARRATIVE -- Outlaw Criminal Bandit Pirate
PROSE NARRATIVE -- Explanation of a name
CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- October 31 Halloween
BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter

Date learned: 11-15-1968

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THE MYTH OF THE YELLING WOMAN

DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, A SPANISH SHIP,
RICHLY LADEN WITH RICHES, WAS BESET BY ENGLISH PIRATES, WHO KILLED
EVERY PERSON ON BOARD AT THE TIME OF THE CAPTURE, EXCEPT A
BEAUTIFUL LADY, A PASSENGER ON THE SHIP, WHO WAS BROUGHT ASHORE
AT NIGHT AND BRUTALLY MURDERED AT A LEDGE OF THE ROCKS. AS THE
FISHERMEN WHO LIVED NEAR WERE AWAY IN THEIR BOATS, THE WOMEN AND
CHILDREN, WHO WERE STARTLED FROM THEIR SLEEP BY HER PIERCING SHRIEKS
DARED NOT ATTEMPT A RESCUE. TAKING HER A LITTLE WAY FROM SHORE IN
THEIR BOAT, THE PIRATES FLUNG HER INTO THE SEA AND AS SHE CAME TO
THE SURFACE AND GRABBED FOR THE BOAT, THEY WHACKED AT HER HANDS
WITH CUTLASSES. SHE WAS HEARD TO CRY, LORD, SAVE ME} MERCY} O,
LORD, JESUS, SAVE ME} THE NEXT DAY THE PEOPLE FOUND HER MURDERED
MANGLED BODY ON THE ROCKS AND PREPARED IT FOR BURIAL. IT WAS
INTERRED WHERE IT WAS FOUND, BUT, ALTHOUGH IT WAS LAID IN THE EARTH
WITH CHRISTIAN FORMS, FOR ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS THE VICTIM'S
CRIES AND APPEALS WERE REPEATED, ON EACH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CRIME,
WITH SUCH DISTINCTNESS AS TO SCARE ALL WHO HEARD THEM AND MOST OF
THE CITIZENS OF THAT COMMUNITY CLAIMED TO HEAR THE CRIES AT ONE
TIME OR ANOTHER.

Submitter comment: MRS. ORESTE SAID THAT SHE HEARD ABOUT THIS MYTH FROM HER AUNT WHO
HEARD IT FROM SOMEONE ELSE. SHE FIRST HEARD ABOUT THE TALE ABOUT
THIRTY YEARS AGO AND CLAIMS THAT ANOTHER ONE OF HER RELATIVES
ACTUALLY HEARD THE SHRIEKS OF THE WOMAN.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; GRAND HAVEN

Keyword(s): VIOLENT DEATH

James Callow Keyword(s): GORE

Subject headings:

Favorites
PROSE NARRATIVE -- Myth
PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter

Date learned: 09-00-1963

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IF A CHILD CRIES CONSTANTLY, ITS MOTHER WAS HUNGRY DURING PREGNANCY
FOR SOMETHING SHE NEVER GOT.

Where learned: OHIO ; LIMA

Keyword(s): FOOD EATING

Subject headings:

BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal
BELIEF -- Birth
BELIEF -- Number Emptiness, nothingness, zero