Whistling

Whistle while you work?

Boatswain's call

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Is whistling unlucky? Superstitions abound. In Russia, whistling indoors is believed to ‘whistle money away’ and, as people don’t willingly wish poverty on themselves, they don’t do it, although they’re free to whistle out of doors. It’s also considered unlucky in Romania and Lithuania for the same reason. I shall have to check with Liviu, my Romanian grandson-in-law!

Chinese and Korean people will not whistle at night because wandering spirits will follow the whistler home. That would create a problem – how does one entertain ghostly house guests? Not having any substance, they could not accept food or drink. Maybe some would be helpful and amusing, though again, having no substance, they would be no good at ‘doing things’.

Women should never whistle, not because it’s considered ill-mannered or unladylike but because it is unlucky. The legend giving rise to this says that as the crucifixion nails were being forged a woman standing by was whistling. That is strange because all sorts of things would have been happening at the same time – wearing clothes and breathing, for example. Are they considered unlucky, too?

There was one place where whistling was not encouraged and that was on a Royal Navy ship. There were several reasons for this. One ill-founded belief was that whistling challenged the wind which would be angered and create a terrible storm.

Whistling on board was forbidden on board HM ships following the Nore Mutiny of 1797, when whistling was used as a way of communicating between the mutineers.

The much more pragmatic reason for continuing the ban is that it interferes with the piping of orders. Sailors need to hear the different signals to tell them where to go and what to do. The boatswain’s (bosun’s) call (whistle) is still used to pipe various orders, such as ‘All hands on deck’ or ‘Away Boats’ as well as welcoming distinguished visitors aboard. It has a high piercing pitch that can be heard above other noises. It has various tones, from a single note to a rising and falling note, sometimes embellished with a warble or trill, depending on the order.