Menagerie

Van Amburgh is the man, who goes to all the shows,
He goes into the lion's den, and tells you all he knows;
He sticks his head in the lion's mouth, and keeps it there awhile,
And when he takes it out again, he greets you with a smile.

Chorus:
The elephant now goes round, the band begins to play,
The boys around the monkey's cage had better keep away.

First comes the African polar bear, oft called the iceberg's daughter.
She's been known to eat three tubs of ice, then call for soda water.
She wades into the water up to her knees, not fearing any harm,
And you may grumble all you please, and she don't care a "darn."

That hyena in the next cafe, most wonderful to relate,
Got awful hungry the other day, and ate up his female mate;
He's a very ferocious beast, don't go near him, little boys,
For when he's mad he shakes his tail, and makes this awful noise (Imitation of growling).

Next comes the vulture, awful bird, from the mountains' highest tops.
He's been known to eat up little girls, and then to lick his chops;
Oh, the show it can't go on, there's too much noise and confusion,
Oh, ladies, stop feeding those monkeys peanuts, it'll injure their constitution.

As sung at Rochester University, and printed in S.C. Andrew, American College Songster (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Sheehan & co., 1876), pp. 129-130.

The Royal Wild Beast Show"
by Alfred Lee

Come, stand aside, good people, all, and hear what I've to say;
But let the little deers [sic] come up, what's going for to pay;
At all the courts in Europe we are reckon'd quite the go.
Then pay your six pences and see the Royal Wild Beast Show.

Chorus:
The camomiles, the crocodiles, and all that you could wish,
The mice and rats, and tabby cats, and other kinds of fish,
A dozen sphinxes upside down, and standing in a row,
It's only sixpence each to see the Royal Wild Beast Show.

The first one is the kangaroo, you'll know him by his hump;
The next's the hippopotamus, you ought to see him jump;
The third's the alligator and he's such a one to crow.
He wakes us every morning in the Royal Wild Beast Show.

That pretty thing's the oogley bird, the other one's his aunt,
The third we call the pelican, the next the pelicant:
The other one's the solon goose -- you mustn't call out bo!
Or you will hurt his feelings in the Royal Wild Beast Show.

The donkey in the corner with the tiger on his arm
Comes from Assyria, where once his father kept a farm;
That billy-goat that's dress'd in pink and walking rather slow
Is very hornimental in a Royal Wild Beast Show.

The tortoise, famous for his speed, unequal'd by a horse;
The parrot, too, who talks in polly-syllables, of course.
The raging elephants that roar when stormy winds do blow
Are also represented in the Royal Wild Beast Show.

The next one is a mighty ape, indeed, I tell you true.
It's only natural he should "go walking in the zoo;" [sic]
Our stock of monkeys, you'll observe, at present is but low.
They are so plentiful outside the Royal Wild Beast Show.

The last's the boa constrictor, who eats all he finds about --
Why, who's been fool enough to let the nasty critter out?
He's somewhere underneath the chairs, hi! mind your hullo!
He's very quick in clearing out the Royal Wild Beast Show.

-- Including in a "Miscellaneous Songs" section, pp. 185-86, of S.C. Andrew, American College Songster (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Sheehan & co., 1876).