




WELCOME TO An Entertainment Site for Scottish Country Dancers - Enjoy the 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!
Visit the Zoo Day
Dec 27
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"There are lions and roaring tigers, and enormous camels and things,
There are biffalo-buffalo-bisons, and a great big bear with wings.
There's a sort of a tiny potamus, and a tiny nosserus too -
But I gave buns to the elephant when I went down to the Zoo!"
~ At the Zoo, A.A. Milne (1882-1956)
This lively and favourite jig, ends with an animal figure, naturally. However, instead of the classic "Snake Pass" the devisor has noted that the turns should form sharp angles, forming the letter “Z” for "Zoologist" or perhaps for a "Zebra Pass"! Modern zoos have their origins in the menagerie, a animal collection concept that stretches back to ancient times. The earliest known example, from 3500 BCE, was uncovered at Hierakonpolis, Egypt, featuring hippopotami, hartebeest, elephants, baboons, and wildcats! Today’s zoos and wildlife sanctuaries focus on education and conservation, working to protect species and habitats. But if you’re a Google Docs user, you’ve probably noticed a fun nod to the animal kingdom in the form of their fascinating sharing icons. When viewing a shared file, you may be given an extinct, rare, or even mythical animal designation for your file editing amusement, showing up as "Anonymous Mammth, Quagga, Dodo, or Saber-Toothed Cat! Share those dance descriptions, dancers! 🤪 🦁 🐯 🐘 🦓 🦒 🐅 🦄 🐫 🐼 🐻 🐨 🦔 🦥 🦦 🐿️ 🐸 🐧 🐦 🦢 🦩 🐝 🦋 🐌 🐙 🦑 🦞 🦈
The Zoologist
The predecessor of the modern zoological garden is the menagerie, which has a long history from the ancient world to modern times. The oldest known zoological collection was revealed during excavations at Hierakonpolis, Egypt, of a 3500 BCE menagerie. The exotic animals included hippopotami, hartebeest, elephants, baboons and wildcats.
Until the early 19th century, the function of a zoo was often to symbolize royal power, like King Louis XIV's menagerie at Versailles. The modern zoo, focussing on providing educational exhibits to the public for entertainment and inspiration, emerged in the early 19th century at London, Paris and Dublin.
Many of today's zoos hope to stop or slow the decline of many endangered species, using zoo resources to breeding endangered species in captivity and reintroduce them into the wild. Modern zoos also aim to help educate visitors on the importance of animal conservation.
For a list of some unusual zoos, click the toy animals. And to see the dance performed at the St. Andrew's Summer School 2013 (showing the "Snake Pass" figure), see below.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!