"Vanamburgh's Menagerie" (1865)
A comic song
Composed by Dr. W.J. Wetmore M.D.

Brooklyn, E.D.: D.S. Holmes, 67 Fourth ST.
[Source: 103/101@Levy]

1. Old Vanamburgh is the man that runs all these ere shows, 
He goes into the lion’s den and shows you all he knows, 
He sticks his head in the lion’s mouth and holds it there awhile, 
Then he pulls it out again and turns around and smiles.

CHORUS [sung after each verse]
The elephant now moves round,  the music begins to play, 
Them boys around the monkey’s cage had better keep away.

2. There’s the polar bear we sometimes call the iceberg’s daughter,
He’ll eat six tons of ice a day, and frollic in the water.
He wades the deepest rivers, which scarcely wet his knees,
And he never catches cold, for you never hear him sneeze.

3. The peacock is a pretty bird, his tail is wondrous fine.
The jay bird and the jackdaw are mad to see it shine.
The kangaroos are jumping, and rattling the cage door,
Look out ye little boys, for the lion’s going to roar.

4. The monkey in the next cage, is cuffing his little brother,
He’s not to blame for doing that, for he learned it of his mother;
The skin of his face is drawn tight, and cover’d o’er with kinks,
And when he winks, he’s sure to gape, and when he gapes he winks.

5. The last is the eagle, from the highest mountain top.
He’s been known to eat up little birds, and here his history stops;
The performance can’t go on, there is too much noise and confusion,
If the ladies give them monkeys fruit, it will injure their constitution.