Under the storm superstitions of late February Hone tells of a Turkish bey becalmed off Alexandria who threw a flask of oil overboard to float to Mecca and bring a fair wind. He adds that English sailors had their own credulity: in a flat calm they whistled for a wind, and expected it to come as surely as the boatswain expects the crew when he pipes all hands.
Whistling for a Wind
25 February
Lore and belief
they whistle for a wind in a perfect calm, and many seem as certainly to expect its appearance, as a boatswain calculates on the appearance of his crew when he pipes all hands.
From Hone's Every-Day Book, vol. 2, col. 255. Read the original
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