Whistling at night
Whistling at night is frowned on in places from Japan to Cornwall, for fear of what the sound might call. Sound really does travel farther on still nights, and people have long whistled in the dark to keep their courage up.
What it may mean
On a calm, clear night the air near the ground cools faster than the air above it, and that layer bends sound back down toward the earth. A whistle that would fade within yards at noon can carry across a valley after dark. Small wonder that so many cultures heard night whistling as a call to unseen listeners: snakes in Japan, winds off the Cornish coast, ghosts in Madagascar. There is a braver side to it too. An English poem quoted by the antiquary John Brand shows a schoolboy crossing a churchyard at night, "whistling aloud to bear his courage up." A whistle in the dark is often a small act of courage. So the custom points two ways at once: toward what you send out into the stillness without thinking, and toward the small tricks that keep you going when you walk alone.
Depending on how you saw it
Whistling on the walk home in the dark
Plenty of walkers whistle or hum on the way home late, partly to feel braver and partly to let others know they are coming. It is noise as company. What small habit keeps your spirits up when you face something alone?
Hearing someone whistle outside at night
A whistle from the street at night can sound close and pointed, though it may come from far away, carried by the still air. Distance is hard to judge after dark. Which sound or message seemed aimed at you, when it was really just traveling well?
A parent who forbids whistling indoors
Some families treat whistling inside the house at night as a firm rule, passed down without explanation. Rules like this often carry the worries of the generation that made them. Which inherited rule in your family would be worth asking an older relative about?
Whistling at sea or on the shore
Sailors and fishermen long avoided whistling, especially at night, for fear of raising a wind. At sea, a sudden squall was a real danger. Which of your superstitions grew out of a danger that was once very real?
Why it happens in nature
On calm, clear nights the ground cools quickly and the air just above it becomes colder than the air higher up. This temperature inversion bends sound waves back toward the ground, so whistles, voices and distant trains carry much farther than in the day. Still surroundings make them even easier to hear.
What folk beliefs say
Japan
In Japan, it was said that if you whistled at night, snakes would follow you.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 1 (1903), vol. 1, p. 344. View the page
St. Ives, Cornwall
The fishermen of St. Ives in Cornwall never whistled at night, because it was believed to raise strong winds.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 2 (1903), vol. 2, p. 1080. View the page
Madagascar
In Madagascar, shouting, whistling or carrying mutton at night was thought to make ghosts follow you.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 3 (1903), vol. 3, p. 1207. View the page
To reflect on
What do you do to keep your courage up when you have to walk through something alone?