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!
Golden Eagle
Mar 18
World Eagle Day
The Golden Eagle
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls."
~ "The Eagle", Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
Happy Eagle Day! Celebrate with a namesake strathspey for three couples that captures the majesty of one of the largest and strikingly colored birds of prey, the Golden Eagle!
This dance begins with easy figures, mimicking the flying eagle surveying his domain, before finishing with a circle and the slightly trickier diamond poussette, perhaps suggesting an eagle steering clear of those craggy Highland cliffs!
The golden eagle has an mpressive wingspan of about 1.8–2.3 meters (6–7.5 feet)! Their dark brown feathers are crowned with a distinctive golden glow on the head and neck, which gives them their name.
In Scotland, golden eagles reign over the wild landscapes of the Highlands and Islands, soaring above mountains, moorlands, and peatlands. From these lofty perches they hunt hares, grouse, and other birds!
These magnificent birds are fiercely territorial. A breeding pair may patrol a hunting range of up to 200 square kilometers, making them true monarchs of the sky. Soar and dance free, eagles! 🤎 💛 🤎 🦅 🦅 🦅
The Golden Eagle
A day for raising awareness for protecting the eagle, Eagle Day promotes educational outreach and assistance in recovery of their natural environments.
The golden eagle breeds primarily in Scotland, where there are open, treeless areas down to sea level. Adult golden eagles are famous for the light golden brown colouring on their head, neck and shoulders. Their bodies are mostly a medium brown colour with lighter mottling. Golden eagles are rarely heard and adults generally only call when agitated. Hungry young birds make a loud 'yip-yip' sound that can be heard from some distance.
The white-tailed eagle, found in Shetland and parts of mainland Scotland has the Gaelic name of "Iolaire suile na grein," 'the eagle with the sunlit eye' for its striking, pale eyes.
Ancient peoples in Scotland would leave their dead in the open to be scavenged by birds of prey such as eagles.
"Eagle", in golf refers to a score of two under par for a given hole, and is an extension of the bird theme of good scores, such as "birdie."
Click the golden eagle for some Celtic eagle lore.
And to see the dance performed by RSCDS Edinburgh, at the City Chambers, Edinburgh, 2018, scroll down.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
