If a clock, long motionless, suddenly begins to tick or strike, it is a sign of approaching death or misfortune.
Newark, N. J., Virginia, and North Carolina.

If a clock, long motionless, suddenly begins to tick or strike, it is a sign of approaching death or misfortune.
Source: Current Superstitions (1896), entry 1175.
Fanny D. Bergen, editor.
New Jersey · North Carolina · Virginia
Modern normalized navigation; the historical attribution above remains unchanged.