Ode to the Tailypo: The story behind a spooky Appalachian folktale

MARIETTA — By day, Dr. Luke Bauserman cleans teeth.

By night, preferably around the campfire on a crisp October evening, the southeast Ohio native tells stories.

And it's at this time of year that Bauserman — who hosts a YouTube channel called American Mythology, dedicated to "folklore, history and the stories we tell" — loves to share about the Tailypo, a unique tale to Appalachian folklore.

The legend of the critter with red, glistening eyes, matted black fur and a stumpy hairless tail has captivated Bauserman's attention for decades and has haunted the hearts and minds of Appalachian children for generations.

More:Ode to the Tailypo: The story behind a spooky Appalachian folktale

The legend of the Tailypo

Bauserman first heard the story of the Tailypo (pronounced TAIL-E-POE) at Adamsville Elementary School outside Zanesville, back in 1999 when he was in fourth grade.

A substitute teacher promised Bauserman's class that he would tell them a story if they finished their classwork, he recalled.

"It was one of those great days where a sub comes in and we don't have to do a lot of work," he said. "I can't, for the life of me, remember what his name was, but (the sub) had white hair and a long beard and sat down to tell us about the Tailypo."

The folktale features a few notable main characters: Old Man Fletcher, a hermit living deep in the hills of West Virginia; his trio of dogs; and, of course, the Tailypo.

As the legend goes: Old Man Fletcher is hungry, and with only a handful of beans to his name, he daydreams about a more savory meal while boiling the beans over the fire.

All of a sudden, a black paw scratches through floorboards. A critter emerges through a hole in the floor with a head as big as a fist, a body as long as weasel and a tail — thick and meaty. Upon seeing Old Man Fletcher, the creature hisses and bares a row of sharp, white teeth.

Old Man Fletcher quickly brings his hatchet down on the creature's tail as it dives back into the hole. The hungry man decides to cook the tail in his pot of beans, but it's not too long before the critter comes crawling back, demanding revenge.

"Tailypo! Tailypo! Where is my Tailypo?" the creature screeches.

And before too long, there's not much of Old Man Fletcher or his dogs left.

Influences on the Tailypo's origins

The story is a parable of caution that serves as a warning to kids not to abuse animals or take something that isn't theirs, Bauserman explained.

The earliest written version dates back to a 1918 story by Uncle Remus (a.k.a. 19th century American writer Joel Chandler Harris) featuring Br'er Rabbit, a trickster rabbit originally from African folklore, Bauserman explained.

It also bears some resemblance, he said, to the famous 1902 horror short story "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs, which features a mummified paw and three wishes with hellish consequences

"The Tailypo is just a great example of how much of a melting pot American culture is," Bauserman said. "It has some relation to the 'The Golden Arm,' too. And in that, there is a person with a golden arm, they die, a robber or loved one steals the arm and the corpse comes back to life to steal it back."

That story's origins date back at least 200 years, Bauserman said, but has been told orally for much longer.

"Mark Twain," he added, "was even known to tell ('The Golden Arm')."

Bauserman credits the Tailypo's staying power to its unique name and the power of spoken word.

"It's got just some of the basic human storytelling ingredients," he said. "It builds, repeats itself and when you trace it back you see themes baked into the human psyche, like, don't take things that don't belong to you."

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Preserving folklore from Appalachia for the masses

Inside his Washington County home, the 33-year-old dentist has a den-turned-studio where he records videos for his YouTube channel.

A 1932 U.S. wall map — rescued from a sale at the University of Pennsylvania — decorates one side of the room while the other side features a bookshelf housing first-edition copies of America's oldest stories. In the center, a painting of an Appalachian elder inside a hollow tree rests above a fireplace built out of metal from Bauserman's great-great-great grandfather's house.

"It's genealogy meets Indiana Jones," he said with a laugh.

Bauserman, the oldest of 10 kids from Zanesville, has been surrounded by stories for as long as he can remember, and believes in their importance.

"We celebrate where we came from, and we keep traditions alive," he said. "Storytelling is part of what it means to be human and to share deeper truths about the human condition."

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Pride in folklore: What does storytelling mean to Appalachia?

In Appalachia, history is not written but told, according to Trevor McKenzie, director of the Center for Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University in North Carolina.

"It's all part of this idea of placemaking and placekeeping," he said.

A long-time archivist, Appalachian native and historian by trade, McKenzie explained that oral storytelling traditions give folks a sense of pride — not always inherent in a region that has been historically exploited and stereotyped by outsiders.

"In a tale like Tailypo, these very complex stories take a lot of creativity and ability to riff upon in a moment's notice," he said. "There's a type of literacy in telling (that story) in our dialect and celebrating the way people talk here — I think that's a laudable thing."

The Tailypo really resonates around this time of year, McKenzie said. It's one of many spooky Appalachian haints (otherwise known as haunts) that always attract the curious— from the Tailypo to Sasquatch to the snaily-ghaster, a leech-like critter that roams the river.

"Academics are usually out to kill the magic and challenge things," McKenzie said. "But when it comes to Appalachia, for me, (stories) heighten the perception of the place and combat the othering of the area as a region filled with people that are expendable."

That magic is alive and well in Bauserman, who told his three children about the Tailypo earlier this month — prompting his daughter to lament, "I'm not gonna be able to sleep again!"

Just a few days later, inside his studio, Bauserman steadied his gaze at a camera before beginning his retelling of the Tailypo.

"Old Man Fletcher lived way back in the mountains of West Virginia. He lived back in a holler so deep they said he had to pump in the sunshine ... and he had no one out there to keep them company except his three dogs: I-Know, You-Know and Calico ...."

Céilí Doyle is a Report for America corps member and covers rural issues in Ohio for The Dispatch. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift at https://bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.

You can reach her via email at cdoyle@dispatch.com or follow her on Twitter at @cadoyle_18

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Tailypo: Appalachian Ohio native shares spooky folktale this Halloween