Duckies In The Bath

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1- 8 1s+2s+3s cross RH and set; 1s and 3s Petronella turn and set while 2s pull back RSh and cast, dance between 1st/3rd couples to original places
9-16 1s+2s+3s dance Modified Weasel reel:
 1L+3M dance part reel of 4 up/down middle (pass RSh) but when reaching either end they dance clockwise to top/bottom to re-enter reel while 2s dance clockwise to replace dancer leaving the reel and all end where they started the reel while 1M+3L dance a normal reel of 4 up/down set
17-20 1M followed by 1L casts round 2L to 3rd place own side while 3L followed by 3M casts up round 2M to 1st place own side
21-24 3s+2s+1s turn partner RH, 2s+1s finishing in centre facing up in prom hold. 321
25-32 2s+1s dance Allemande. 312

(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

Duckies In The Bath - Full Size And Key To Symbols

Dance Information

A shipment of Friendly Floatee toys, manufactured in China, embarked from Hong Kong on a container ship destined for Tacoma, Washington. On 10 January 1992, during a North Pacific Ocean storm near the International Date Line, twelve 40-foot containers were swept overboard, one of which held 28,800 Floatees - child's bath toys in various forms.

The container possibly opened due to collisions, releasing the Floatees. Despite being initially enclosed in cardboard housing attached to backing cards, subsequent tests revealed the cardboard's rapid degradation in seawater, allowing the Floatees to escape. Notably, Friendly Floatees, unique for bath toys, lack holes, preventing water absorption.

Approximately eight years later, Friendly Floatees began surfacing in the North Atlantic. Speculation suggested they drifted northward through the Bering Strait, getting trapped in Arctic pack ice. As the ice moved eastward and melted in the warmer northern Atlantic, the Floatees were released, entering European waters. Predictions indicated that fifteen years after their initial loss, Friendly Floatees would start washing up on UK shores.

Indeed, one Friendly Floatee, believed to be genuine, was discovered off the coast of Scotland.

I couldn't find any authentic images of washed-up Friendly Floatee toys for comparison, but according to the Wikipedia entry, "Bleached by sun and seawater, the ducks and beavers had faded to white". As you can see, this one has also faded. Additionally, unlike many bath toys, the Friendly Floatee toys lack holes. Apart from obvious wear and tear from the journey half way around the world, there were no manufacturing holes to be found.

(Dance information by the Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary Webmaster, L Abbott, July 2024)

Rubber Duck, Briefly Thought To Be A Friendly Floatee, Found Washed Ashore, Somerset, UK, 2024

Obviously, the one I encountered has been on a different adventure.

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