A quadrille is a poem of exactly 44 words, written today to a brief set by De aka WhimseyGismo at dVerse. We are to include a word derived from jar, and although I entered through a door left ajar, as in one of De’s examples, I was drawn into a haunting by the mysterious European bird the Nightjar – Caprimulgus europaeus.

Under the heading Nightjar myths (also the title of my quadrille) the Royal Society for the Preservation of Birds tells us:

The Nightjar is known by many names – the Fern Owl, the Wheeler, the Nightchurr and the Dor-Hawk. But the oddest is surely the Goatsucker. Long ago it was thought Nightjars would drink milk directly from goats, poisoning them so their udders wasted away and they went blind. The myth was once common in many countries all over Europe, not just in the UK.

The truth is less dramatic. Nightjars were probably coming close to the livestock because they were hunting the many insects close by.  

I sought to refer, slant-wise, to many of these names. For the word ‘Door’ in my quadrille, you can read about dor beetles, a favouite food for nightjars.

Nightjar portrait taken by Mike Toms for British Trust for Ornithology

Nightjar myths

leaving ajar the Dor that Hawk-Wheels
twilight madness in the Fern-Owl wood,
hark the ghostly Caprimulgus,
mother-sucker bird, who should
be cautioned not to scare our nights
with churrrring call among the goats
browsing, milk-suckled, on delights 
along the hedge that yields wild oats 

© Kathy Labrum McVittie 6 August 2024

PS So you can read my process rather than product, I’m adding here my first – 49-worded – attempt, in which I overlooked the fact that Caprimulgus translates as goat-sucker, and became temporarily fixated on cows instead. It is the Badger Meles meles who has been accused of suckling at cows’ udders, in an barely attested rural myth.

draft freeflow version of Nightjar Quadrille (+ 5!)

keeping ajar the door that leads
to twilight madness in the scaly wood
to hear the ghostly caprimulgus
mother-sucker bird who should
be cautioned not to scare our nights
with jarring note among the cows,
that lean, milk-suckled, on the hedge –
scratching their flanks on old Oak boughs

(49 words)