The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

Louie and the Ditch

When I was a little girl, all my cousins and aunts and uncles
would meet at my grandparents' house on Sundays for dinner. There
was a sandbox under a "helicopter tree" which was made for us to
play in. We also played down the hill, and rode bikes in the
driveway. The only place we were not allowed to play was in or
around "Louie's Ditch." This was a ditch by the road at the edge
of the farm which was covered by trees and would become filled with
water after the rains. Anytime we became too wild or were being
bad, Grandma or one of the aunts or uncles would remind us that
Louie comes and takes bad children into his ditch, so we had to be
good. This also worked if they wanted us to come into the house;
they would say that Louie was coming, or that they had just seen
him; this also kept us from going all the way to the back of the
field.

Submitter comment: I asked my grandma how this had started, and she said she
started saying it after a stray dog came onto the property one day
and all of us kids were afraid of it. This technique was used for
years, and is still used today with my younger cousins. But,
within the past couple years, my grandparents had to sell off much
of their property because of high taxes, and a developer bought it.
There are now separated condominiums where the field used to be,
and a driveway to access the condominiums from the road where
"Louie's Ditch" used to be, so the use of this story has been
modified to keep the kids from going around the front of the house,
by the road.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; Mount Clemens

James Callow Keyword(s): FUNCTION

Date learned: 00001970'S