WELCOME TO AN ENTERTAINMENT SITE FOR SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCERS!
Enjoy this curated selection of theme-related dances for celebrations and holidays, or find a dance associated with a special calendar day, or EVEN your own birthday!
Jun 14
Cucumber Day
Cool as a Cucumber
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"Why cucumber sandwiches? Why such reckless extravagance in one so young? Who is coming to tea?"
~Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895
Don't be reckless, Dancers! Mind those extravagant high teas and cucumber dances!
This elegant 3 couple jig devised by Priscilla Burrage consists mostly of cool promenades, up and down and around, just as if you are transporting and balancing a plate of cucumber sandwiches (or your partner). A single setting step at the end of the dance is the only additional exertion needed.
How did the humble cucumber inspire such delicate sandwiches and such a delightful and refreshing dance? One suspects that many devisors, toiling over figures and choreography, just might feel the need for something refreshing and revitalizing, explaining the incredible amount of food, beverage, and other delightful culinary diversions!
This refreshing green vegetable has a history stretching back thousands of years, finding their way into the gardens and kitchens of Persia, Greece, and Rome.
The Romans were particularly fond of cucumbers. The Emperor Tiberius reportedly insisted on having them available every day of the year.
By the Middle Ages, cucumbers had become well established throughout Europe. They arrived in Britain by the 14th century, although their popularity waxed and waned over the centuries. Some physicians even warned that cucumbers were unhealthy if eaten raw!
The cucumber also left its mark on the English language. Since the 18th century, someone who remains calm under pressure has been described as being "cool as a cucumber." The phrase may have arisen because the inside of a cucumber remains pleasantly cool even on a warm day! Stay cool dancers! 🕺 💃 💚 💚 💚 🥒 🥒 🥒 🆒 😋
Cool as a Cucumber
A vegetable with both famous historical devotees and detractors, the cooling cucumber has inspired its own phrase, "cool as a cucumber" first recorded in 1732 in John Gay's comic ballad "A New Song of New Similes" and a namesake dance.
Some interesting historical facts about cucumbers include the following:
Ancient Egyptians enjoyed a drink made from fermented cucumber.
The great mathematician Pythagoras favoured a cucumber salad with raisin-coriander vinaigrette
The Roman Emperor Tiberius grew cucumbers in carts; he used his slaves to wheel them around to catch the sun.
Ruralia Commoda, a manual written in Latin between 1304 and 1309 suggested that cucumbers shake with fear at the sound of thunder!
In 1775, Dr. Samuel Johnson published his "Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland," which recorded his visit with his friend James Boswell. A lover of good food, he claimed whilst in the Hebrides, "A cucumber should be well sliced and dressed with pepper & vinegar & then thrown out, as good for nothing."
And if like Dr. Johnson, cucumber salad (or even cucumber sandwiches) is not to your liking, click the Cucumber Mint Sparkler for a cool drink made with lime juice, Prosecco or champagne, vodka, cucumbers and mint syrup, the Cucumber-Mint Sparkler.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
