Whalers and woggins: a new vocabulary for interpreting some early accounts of the great auk and penguins

The overlooked word “woggin”, with many variants, was widely used by Yankee whalers for both the great auk (Pinguinus impennis) and for penguins (Spheniscidae), as documented in numerous logbooks and journals and at least two published sources. Although in use from at least 1762 until the 1860s, thi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives of Natural History
Main Authors: Olson, Storrs L., Lund, Judith N.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Edinburgh University Press 2007
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/anh.2007.34.1.69
Description
Summary:The overlooked word “woggin”, with many variants, was widely used by Yankee whalers for both the great auk (Pinguinus impennis) and for penguins (Spheniscidae), as documented in numerous logbooks and journals and at least two published sources. Although in use from at least 1762 until the 1860s, this word appears to be entirely unknown in scholarly literature and merits wider recognition both for understanding early accounts and for its potential for revealing new information about the extinct great auk.