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| Painting of an Eastern Whippoorwill. |
(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator
George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere
in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Legend of whippoorwill storm” was
originally published in the April 20, 1972 edition of The Monroe Journal in
Monroeville, Ala.)
During the last days of April, according to an old, old
legend, we will have a spring storm in this area. The strong winds of this
storm are supposed to bring with them the whippoorwills back to the surrounding
countryside.
This old legend has been handed down through the years by
older generations whose ancestors came into the country and settled. It does
not specify the exact time the storm is due, other than it is to take place
during the last days of April. It does state, however, that it will come in the
nighttime, when all is still.
As of this writing, I have not heard the sound of the
whippoorwills in the wooded areas surrounding the county. I have listened, to
no avail, for their wailing calls during the twilight hours.
The whippoorwill is a small, brownish colored bird with
small white spots mingled in no certain pattern, along the back and breast.
This bird is only heard during the late evening hours just before darkness, and
during the late evening hours after darkness has fallen. It can be found nested
around the edges of the fields, in the thick underbrush bordering the clearings
and pastures.
Many stories and songs have been written about the
whippoorwill. Usually most of these are sad tales of broken loves and-or
tragedies, when the whippoorwill is part of the lyrics. It is probably because
of the wailing call of this bird and the hours in which it is heard that people
associate it with sadness. Also, the first hours of darkness have always been
linked with the passing from this life, just as the dawn has been compared to
the beginning.
I have never ceased to be amazed at the closeness of the
human race to our surroundings, and most of the time without anyone ever being
aware of it.
As the legend has it, soon the whippoorwill storm will come,
and upon the winds will ride the sad sounding little birds that have become as
much a part of spring as love and flowers. And before you know it the lonesome
cry will be heard during the quiet hours of the evening, when work is done and
shadows fall.
(Singleton, the author
of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of
79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime
resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances
Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in
Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a
U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand,
lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964
and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from
June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks
to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe
County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe
Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that
appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared
in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He is buried in Pineville
Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns
are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County
Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week
for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work
and memory alive.)
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