“To be considered a tradition, something has to be considered by the group to contain features the group identifies as essential in defining the tradition. At the same time, to remain relevant, a tradition must continually adapt as groups develop and change” (Sims and Stephens, 2005). The authors go on to identify ideas in Barre Toelken’s The Dynamics of Folklore, writing that “folklore possesses both ‘dynamic’ (changing) and ‘conservative’ (static) features” (2005). The Pope Lick Monster is no exception to these core facets of folklore: its existence has persisted due to its ability to retain the essence of the legend and adapt to newer beliefs surrounding it.
Image from Resemblances, Amazing Faces, by Charles LeBrun; courtesy of Ron Schildknecht
What has changed?
In my interview with Ron Schildknecht, I noted that he often referred to the monster as the “sheep man.” In his film, The Legend of the Pope Lick Monster, the actors did the same: when one of the characters was explaining the origin of the legend, he claimed that a farmer committed an act of bestiality with one of his sheep. This version of the legend stuck out to me, because when I first learned of the lore through a friend in high school, his version was that of a “goat man” instead. The Wikipedia article for the monster, which is where anyone would first go to research the legend, says it is known as “more commonly, colloquially, the Goat Man.” This lined up with my experiences growing up in the area, so somewhere along the line, the popularity shifted from sheep to goat.
Schildknecht could not place when this transition occurred. During the interview, however, I brought up the fact that goats in particular play an important role in modern horror media. Though the animals are similar, the way society views them as ideas are vastly different. Sheep are often linked to innocence and children, which go hand in hand. Consider, for example, William Blake’s poem “The Lamb” in Songs of Innocence (1789). They are considered docile, and lambs specifically play an important role in the context of Christianity, wherein the key figure of the religion is symbolically referred to as a lamb. Goats, on the other hand, often play a role in demonic settings: think of sacrificial themes in media. Goats’ eyes, horns, and sometimes hooves are linked to the devil. With these two animals occupying opposite roles in society, the transition between them makes sense.
Here is a short clip of the interview in which we discuss the aforementioned ideas.
What has stayed the same?
The Pope Lick Monster would not exist as it does without the Pope Lick trestle. Location is vital to this legend: the trestle poses all the real-world danger that even skeptics must respect. This danger marks an aspect of the legend that is unchanging: time and time again, the trestle has caused injuries and even deaths. A blog post by Richard Stottman from group Beargrass Thunder, titled “Legends of the deadly Pope Lick Trestle: deaths & injuries from real monsters,” lists approximately 10 victims of the trestle between the years 1984 and 2019. Stottman writes, “These are just a few examples of the very real tragedies that have taken place at the Pope Lick Trestle. Hundreds of additional anecdotal reports are shared by locals online in Reddit threads and Facebook groups” (2019).