tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post3956773484802886356..comments2024-03-28T05:28:46.610-04:00Comments on NEW ENGLAND FOLKLORE: Ominous Lore About the WhippoorwillPeter Muisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05939949561996555115noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post-71397807154246895152023-01-03T01:27:27.413-05:002023-01-03T01:27:27.413-05:00Apologies for typos but it's early and I didn&...Apologies for typos but it's early and I didn't have my glasses Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post-51605942638869915142023-01-03T01:25:25.773-05:002023-01-03T01:25:25.773-05:00In England these are called Nightjars and are incr...In England these are called Nightjars and are increasingly rare due to their love of heathland. I'm unaware of any local folklore about but they are beautiful and odd. That said our species may have no well known folklore as their song is not easy vto turn in to a phrase like their US relatives, it's much stranger and is often described as sounding like a tiny motorbike engine. Which is strange when heard unexpectedly at night but not mournful oor spoky, more like something from a 40s sci-fi film. I only mention this because I almost never remember dreams but last night dreamed of very lovely Nightjars in my garden.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post-63244971686727521462022-06-12T10:33:13.508-04:002022-06-12T10:33:13.508-04:00Thanks for the comment, Anonymous. I hope your son...Thanks for the comment, Anonymous. I hope your son had a full recovery and is now healthy!Peter Muisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05939949561996555115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post-80102985987946552992022-05-28T08:22:24.193-04:002022-05-28T08:22:24.193-04:00Ok, so this is freaking me out a bit! I just Googl...Ok, so this is freaking me out a bit! I just Googled Whippoorwill at my door and found this. I've had one sitting on the ground in front of my door "Whippoorwilling" the past 2 nights. I thought it was odd but was cool to see him. Now I'm not so sure it was cool, yet rather scary. My son's been really sick. And this is making me nervous now! 😳😱Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post-90069470289785423662021-08-12T02:41:20.237-04:002021-08-12T02:41:20.237-04:00We have their close reletive the Common...We have their close reletive the Common Nighthawk and then there is the Poorwill that will Hibernate when the weather is too coldBird of Paradisenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post-83953291285859720842021-07-08T15:12:20.368-04:002021-07-08T15:12:20.368-04:00I was camping with young children as their amateur...I was camping with young children as their amateur astronomer in residence. I was out of phone contact. When i went to my tent for a night's sleep, i felt very restless without the company of my husband with whom I normally shared the tent. I pulled my sleeping gear outside to stargaze some more. A whippoorwill started calling & continued into the night as i was in & out of sleep. My husband died of cardiomyopathy during the call of the bird & star gazing. Folk singer - Laurelyn Dossett has written and sings of a whipoorwill. "Remember You Calling" - uncanny lyris to go along with the happening. I'm a possibilitarian by spiritual belief. Kathleen<br />Kathleenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08994512707324541731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post-42399714947617021182020-11-16T12:47:05.284-05:002020-11-16T12:47:05.284-05:00Thank you to all the commenters leaving your exper...Thank you to all the commenters leaving your experiences with the whippoorwill. I'm also sorry for your families losses. Peter Muisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05939949561996555115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post-52728549435457284872020-11-01T16:43:28.924-05:002020-11-01T16:43:28.924-05:00There was a whippoorwill that was outside my siste...There was a whippoorwill that was outside my sister's house one night in September of 1969 she was to go to the hospital the next day to see why she was having headaches, she died the next day.The whippoorwill never came back. <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15616136228039986513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post-64012470908665590472019-06-25T07:36:39.284-04:002019-06-25T07:36:39.284-04:00My brother was recently murdered and around 1am, (...My brother was recently murdered and around 1am, (the morning of his funeral) I heard a whippoorwill singing in the woods while I was alone outside.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02750711584955192863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post-23494438542714497932019-06-22T08:40:54.991-04:002019-06-22T08:40:54.991-04:00Early this morning at around 1:40 a.m. I heard the...Early this morning at around 1:40 a.m. I heard the Whippoorwill. I'm 62 and haven't heard that sound since I was 13. Took pics of the moon while standing on the bridge,just the Whippoorwill, the moon, myself. Such peace.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01748184951500402261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post-50498971094041644052017-03-19T00:57:18.875-04:002017-03-19T00:57:18.875-04:00We have their close reletives the Common Nighthawk...We have their close reletives the Common Nighthawk i have seen these birds flying over the town of Etna,CA where i live during the summer i can reconize them by their callSpurwing Plovernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post-48274613112420115992015-09-30T20:57:49.192-04:002015-09-30T20:57:49.192-04:00Hi Wade!
Thanks for the comment. I have read tha...Hi Wade! <br /><br />Thanks for the comment. I have read that the simultaneous urbanization AND reforestation of parts of New England have reduced the whippoorwill population. It's too bad. On the other hand, we have a lot more coyotes, bear and deer than we did when I was a kid. There's not quite as much lore about those big mammals, though, maybe because they were less common during the two centuries when this area was agricultural?Peter Muisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05939949561996555115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post-4790340853014024242015-09-30T20:54:37.278-04:002015-09-30T20:54:37.278-04:00Hi Bret,
Thanks for your comment! Your blog is g...Hi Bret, <br /><br />Thanks for your comment! Your blog is great. We all probably wouldn't care so much about whippoorwills if it weren't for Lovecraft!Peter Muisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05939949561996555115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post-3365383272378855402015-09-29T13:52:55.575-04:002015-09-29T13:52:55.575-04:00Interesting essay. I am also reminded of Robert E...Interesting essay. I am also reminded of Robert E. Howard's (corresponded with HPL) story, "Pigeons from Hell" wherein the birds were said to have similar properties in southern US folklore (Howard was exposed to both White and African American (from a nanny in his Texas house) folklore as a child. I forget if he ever mentioned whippoorwills.<br /><br />At my house in the countryside of Massachusetts I always heard these birds on hot summer nights as I lay awake sweating in the New England humidity. They seemed at once both lonely out there in the dark but also satisfied, and I also enjoyed listening to them. (I recall they like semi-open settings, woods abutting fields, of which we had a few). As fields grew in or were built upon, the birds went away. Haven't heard one now since my late teens, I think (~40 years!). Wade Tarziahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02876387351164907807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885320105550742793.post-63605117739421727152015-09-29T12:48:29.982-04:002015-09-29T12:48:29.982-04:00Always a fun topic; I'd not see that last inte...Always a fun topic; I'd not see that last interpretation before.<br /><br />I found a few other references to whippoorwills when I talked about them in relation to Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror"<br />https://sentinelhillpress.wordpress.com/2014/10/12/october-ganza-12-dunwichs-whippoorwills/Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08220389503423266463noreply@blogger.com