Lament Of The Nightingale

- Paul Evans

A ‘watch’ is the collective noun for nightingales. The term derives from the way nightingales sing from dawn until dusk and into the hours of darkness, keeping watch. The birds arrive in spring from West Africa, bringing with them a beautiful song that has inspired poets and musicians from the many cultures that the birds have serenaded over the centuries.

Up this green woodland ride let’s softly rove And list the nightingale – she dwelleth here Hush! Let the woodgate softly clap – for fear The noise might drive her from her home of love John Clare The Nightingale’s Nest, 1835

John Clare may have been wrong about the sex of the singing nightingale but he was right about the bird’s habitat and its fealty to place.

These two characteristics are putting this iconic bird at risk in England – and now its last watch is under threat.

A SONG OF SOUL

Nightingales start to return to Britain from Africa in mid April, with most back by early mid May. The males start singing as soon as they return and continue into early June. Brown as brogues, lodged in the undergrowth, male nightingales remain inconspicuous while their song or gale – galan is Old English for ‘sing’ and galinn is Old Norse for ‘bewitch’ – ventures into darkness as a sonic beacon to enchant female nightingales and, indirectly, human listeners. This combination of performance, beauty, romantic love and nocturnal vigil creates a mythic power that makes nightingales unique among songbirds.