Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
Your search for VIRGINIA returned 251 results.
RED IN THE MORNING, A SAILOR'S WARNING;
RED IN THE EVENING, A SAILOR'S DELIGHT.
Where learned: VIRGINIA ; NORTH GARDEN
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Sign Color BELIEF -- Sign or prediction through Natural atmospheric phenomenon |
Date learned: 03-25-1969
IF YOU SEE A HAZY CIRCLE AROUND THE MOON, COUNT THE NUMBER
OF STARS WITHIN THE CIRCLE TO INDICATE THE NUMBER OF DAYS
UNTIL A FALLING WEATHER WILL OCCUR.
Where learned: VIRGINIA ; NORTH GARDEN
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Star BELIEF -- Sign Geometric figure Circle and other round forms BELIEF -- Number BELIEF -- Sign or prediction through Natural atmospheric phenomenon |
Date learned: 03-26-1969
THERE IS A QUILT PATTERN SHAPED LIKE A CROSS. WHEN YOU DO
SOMETHING WRONG OR SIN, YOU CAN PUT IT ON YOUR BED AND
YOUR SINS WILL BE WASHED AWAY.
Where learned: VIRGINIA ; NORTH GARDEN
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Sign Geometric figure Cross and its various modifications |
PROVERB
EASIER SAID THAN DONE.
Where learned: VIRGINIA, ASSUMED ; NORTH GARDEN
| Subject headings: | PROVERB -- Proverbial Phrase PROVERB -- Proverbial Comparison |
Date learned: 03-29-1969
IF YOU DREAM OF FIRE, YOU'RE GOING TO BE MAD. IF YOU DREAM
OF A BIRTH, IT IS A SIGN OF DEATH.
Where learned: HOME ; VIRGINIA, ASSUMED ; NORTH GARDEN
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Birth BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial BELIEF -- Dreams BELIEF -- Dreams Foretelling a death |
Date learned: 03-23-1969
A FRIDAY NIGHT DREAM TOLD BEFORE BREAKFAST ON SATURDAY WILL
COME TRUE.
Where learned: HOME ; VIRGINIA, ASSUMED ; NORTH GARDEN
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Dreams |
Date learned: 03-23-1969
PUT ST. JOHN'S WORK (WORT?) IN (A) PILLOW TO FORETELL ONE'S
FUTURE IN DREAMS.
Where learned: HOME ; VIRGINIA, ASSUMED ; NORTH GARDEN
Keyword(s): PLANT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Dreams BELIEF -- Use of Object Plant |
Date learned: 03-29-1969
THE WAY YOU ACT AND FEEL ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE NEW YEAR
IS THE WAY YOU'LL BE MOST OF THE YEAR.
Where learned: VIRGINIA, ASSUMED ; NORTH GARDEN
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- January 1 New Year's BELIEF -- Sensations and involuntary actions |
Date learned: 03-23-1969
OUR GRANDMOTHER BELIEVED THAT LIGHTED LAMPS AND CANDLES AT
NIGHT WOULD KEEP AWAY GHOSTS AND WITCHES.
Where learned: VIRGINIA, ASSUMED ; NORTH GARDEN
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Weather sign or control |
Date learned: 03-29-1969
A ROOSTER CROWING AND A NOSE ITCHING MEANS THAT COMPANY IS
COMING TO YOUR HOUSE.
Where learned: VIRGINIA, ASSUMED ; NORTH GARDEN
Date learned: 03-29-1969
A barber was giving a haircut to a minister and when he
went to pay for it, the barber said that there is no
charge for men of the cloth, so in turn the minister gave
the barber a bible. The barber gave a haircut to a priest
and told him the same so the priest gave him a rosary.
He cut the hair of a rabbi and the same applied so the
rabbi brought another rabbi.
Submitter comment: Also learned at a family reunion.
Where learned: VIRGINIA ; NORFOLK
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote |
Date learned: 00001980S
A minister, a priest and a rabbi were talking of how they
split the money between God and themselves from the
collection plate and the minister said that he would draw
a circle, throw up the money, and whatever landed in the
circle God would get and what was outside he would get.
The priest said that he drew a line, threw up the money
and what went on one side God got and the other side he
got. The rabbi said that he just threw the collection
plate in the air and whatever God caught that was God's.
Submitter comment: Told at a family reunion by my uncle.
Where learned: VIRGINIA ; NORFOLK
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote |
Date learned: 00001980S
"DOLLAR DANCE"
WHEN A SPANISH COUPLE GETS MARRIED, THEY DO A SPECIAL
DANCE CALLED THE "DOLLAR DANCE." IN THE MIDDLE OF THE
WEDDING RECEPTION, THE BRIDE AND GROOM, THE ONLY COUPLE
ON THE FLOOR, START DANCING. AFTER THEY'VE DANCED A FEW
MINUTES, ANYONE WHO WANTS TO DANCE WITH EITHER THE BRIDE
OR THE GROOM, MUST FIRST PIN AT LEAST ONE DOLLAR ON THEIR
CLOTHES BEFORE THEY START DANCING. SOMETIMES MEN DANCE
WITH THE GROOM AND WOMEN DANCE WITH THE BRIDE INSTEAD OF
DANCING WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX. THE MONEY FROM THE DANCE
IS USED TO PAY FOR THE COUPLE'S HONEYMOON OR TO HELP THE
COUPLE GET STARTED IN THEIR NEW LIFE.
Submitter comment:
FIVE YEARS AGO, MY BROTHER AND HIS WIFE HAD A "DOLLAR
DANCE" IN THEIR WEDDING RECEPTION.
THE "DOLLAR DANCE" WAS IN HOLLAND, MICHIGAN.
THE DANCE IS AN ENJOYABLE THING TO WATCH.
Where learned: VIRGINIA ; NORFOLK
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Crucial moment of life Life cycle Crucial Moment in Life CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Marriage |
NEVER KILL A CRICKET IN THE HOUSE, BECAUSE IF YOU DO, YOU WILL
BE SURE TO HAVE BAD LUCK.
Where learned: SALEM ; WEST VIRGINIA, ASSUMED
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Bad luck Animals |
Date learned: NOT GIVEN
FRIDAY 13TH IS A DAY OF BAD LUCK.
Where learned: SALEM ; WEST VIRGINIA, ASSUMED
| Subject headings: | 686 Specific number by specific number being described BELIEF -- Bad luck Friday the Thirteenth |
Date learned: NOT GIVEN
NAMING
WHORE'S BATH: NAME GIVEN TO A SUPERFICIAL CLEANING OF LABORATORY
EQUIPMENT INSTEAD OF A THOROUGH CLEANING.
Where learned: VIRGINIA ; PORTSMOUTH
| Subject headings: | SPEECH -- Trade & commerce |
THIS WAS COLLECTED WHILE AT VIRGINIA BEACH IN THE SUMMER
OF 1966. UPON LOOKING AT SEVERAL PEOPLE'S FEET,
MRS. SWEROCK MADE THE FOLLOWING REMARK; WHICH SHE HAD
HEARD WHEN A LITTLE GIRL:
IF A WIFE'S TOE NEXT TO THE BIG TOE IS TALLER THAN THE
BIG TOE, SHE WILL DIE BEFORE HER HUSBAND.
Where learned: MICHIGAN, ASSUMED ; WYANDOTTE ; VIRGINIA BEACH ; VIRGINIA, ASSUMED
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Date learned: NOT GIVEN ; 00-00-1966
THE LEGEND OF MCCULLOCH'S LEAP
A BAND OF INDIANS WERE CHASING A FRONTIERSMAN NAMED MCCULLOCH WHO
WAS TRYING TO ESCAPE WITH HIS LIFE. DURNG THE CHASE HE FOUND HIM-
SELF ON THE RIDGE OF A STEEP HILL WHICH WAS ABOUT FIVE HUNDRED
FEET HIGH, AND THERE WAS NO PATH OF ESCAPE OPEN TO HIM. AS THE
INDIANS CLOSED IN, HE AND HIS HORSE JUMPED FROM THE RIDGE, AND
BOTH LANDED SAFELY AT THE BOTTOM AND ESCAPED. THE INDIANS WERE
SO ASTONISHED THAT THEY LEFT HIM ALONE FROM THEN ON. TODAY A
BRONZE STATUE OF AN INDIAN STANDS POINTING TO THE BOTTOM OF THE
HILL WHERE MCCULLOCH JUMPED, AND THIS HILL IS KNOWN AS MCCULLOCH'S
LEAP.
Submitter comment:
THE INFORMANT HEARD THIS LEGEND FROM HER FATHER IN WHEELING, WEST
VIRGINIA, WHERE THE STATUE OF THE INDIAN IS LOCATED. SHE AND HER
FAMILY LIVE JUST ACROSS THE RIVER FROM WHEELING IN MARTIN'S FERRY,
OHIO. SHE SAID THAT THE STORY WAS TOLD TO HER WHEN SHE WAS "VERY
YOUNG."
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT ; WEST VIRGINIA ; INSTITUTE OF ARTS ; WHEELING
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Explanation of a name |
SONG PARODY (RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER)
RANDOLPH THE SHINEY-GUN COWBOY
HAD A PAIR OF SHINEY GUNS
AND IF YOU EVER SAW THEM
YOU WOULD TURN AROUND AND RUN.
ALL OF THE OTHER COWBOYS
USED TO LAUGH AND CALL HIM NAMES.
THEY NEVER LET POOR RANDOLPH
JOIN IN ANY POKER GAMES.
THEN ONE FOGGY COWBOY EVE
THE SHERIFF CAME TO SAY:
"RANDOLPH WITH YOUR GUN SO BRIGHT
WON'T YOU SHOOT MY WIFE TONIGHT."
THEN ALL THE COWBOYS LIKED HIM
AS THEY SHOUTED OUT WITH GLEE
RANDOLPH THE SHINEY GUN COWBOY
YOU'LL HANG ON A TREE.
Where learned: VIRGINIA ; WOODBRIDGE ; INFORMANT'S HOME ; 2 MAPLE LEAF LANE
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Good humor Jest |
Date learned: 03-25-1970
IN MT. CRAWFORD, VIRGINIA, THIS STORY IS OFTEN TOLD. THERE
WAS A REAL OLD LADY THAT LIVED IN A LOG CABIN. SHE WAS VERY
SUPERSTITIOUS AND EVERYONE AROUND THOUGHT THAT SHE WAS A WITCH.
SHE HAD A CAT THAT WOULD CLIMB ON TOP OF AN OLD BOARD FENCE
EVERY NIGHT AND WOULD MAKE A WHOLE LOT OF NOISE.
SO ONE NIGHT, THESE BOYS TOOK THE CAT AND CUT OFF HIS CLAWS,
SO THAT HE WOULDN'T CLIMB THE FENCE.
THEY DIDN'T HEAR ANYMORE ABOUT THE CAT. HOWEVER, WHEN SOMEONE
WENT TO VISIT THE OLD LADY, SHE WAS SITTING IN HER ROCKING
CHAIR. ALL OF HER FINGERS WERE CUT OFF AT THE ENDS AND SHE
HAD RAGS WRAPPED AROUND THEM.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; VIRGINIA ; PEABODY COLLEGE ; NASHVILLE ; MOUNT CRAWFORD ; COLLEGE ASSIGNMENT
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Angel PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter PROSE NARRATIVE -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Angel BELIEF -- Witch Shaman |
Date learned: 03-07-1969