The Seven Whistlers
In 1874, coal miners in Warwickshire refused to go down the pit because they had heard the Seven Whistlers in the night.
What was reported
In English folklore, the Seven Whistlers were seven mysterious birds, or spirits, whose shrill whistling at night foretold disaster. Sailors and especially miners feared them. Six were said to be flying in search of the seventh, and when they found it, the world would end.
In 1874, newspapers reported that colliers at Bedworth, in Warwickshire, had refused to go down the mine for a day after hearing the whistlers pass over, believing an accident would follow.
Explanations offered
The whistling is usually put down to flocks of migrating birds calling at night, especially whimbrels, a kind of curlew whose call is a run of about seven whistled notes. For people whose work was dangerous, a strange sound in the dark could feel like a warning.
- When
- Recorded in 1874
- Where
- Bedworth, Warwickshire, England, UK
- Witnesses
- Coal miners and English folklore
- Status
- Probably birds
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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