Yankee Doodle
n.
A Yankee.
[From the title of a song popular during the Revolutionary War.]
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A Yankee.
[From the title of a song popular during the Revolutionary War.]
A song composed in the 1750s during the French and Indian War (1754-63), and one of the most popular during the Revolutionary War. The lyrics are of British origin and were written to ridicule American colonists and the attire of American soldiers. The Americans adopted the song as one of their own, which led to the development of many different versions and parodies, both British and American. It is believed the Americans played it when the British surrendered at Yorktown (1781). The tune is believed to be of American origin.
See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.
"Yankee Doodle" was a popular march in its day—easy to remember, adaptable to fife and drum, and appealing to the sense of humor. The origin of the tune, like that of the words, is uncertain; it probably was derived from an old English or Dutch folk song and was likely introduced to the American colonies by an English fife major of the Grenadier Guards about 1750. It was played in a Philadelphia ballad opera in 1767 and by English bands in America as early as 1768. It appeared in print first in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1782 and was published in the United States in 1794. The words assumed their present form about 1775. From the sarcastic tone, the author was surely a Tory or a Briton:
Yankee Doodle came to town,
Riding on a pony,
Stuck a feather in his cap
And called him [or "it"] Macaroni.
Early versions of the song included numerous verses. The origin of these may have been a satirical ballad, "The Yankee's Return From Camp," printed between 1810 and 1813. The verses were obviously written by Americans. In the twentieth century, "Yankee Doodle" became something of a patriotic cliché. Variations of its melody and lyrics could be heard in numerous popular tunes, musical theatre scores, and movie sound tracks.
Bibliography
Fedor, Ferenz. The Birth of Yankee Doodle. New York: Vantage Press, 1976.
A popular American song, dating from the eighteenth century. The early settlers of New York were Dutch, and the Dutch name for Johnny is Janke, pronounced “Yankee.” This is the most likely origin of the term Yankee. Doodle meant “simpleton” in seventeenth-century English. First sung during the American Revolutionary War by the British troops to poke fun at the strange ways of the Americans (Yankees), the song was soon adopted by American troops themselves. Since then, the song has been considered an expression of American patriotism. The popular version of the first stanza is:
Yankee Doodle came to town
Riding on a pony;
He stuck a feather in his hat
And called it macaroni.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up,
Yankee Doodle dandy;
Mind the music and the step,
And with the girls be handy.
"Yankee Doodle" is a well-known American song, often sung patriotically today . It is the state anthem of Connecticut.[1]
The first verse and refrain, as often sung today, run thus:
The tune has become synonymous with the United States. The Voice of America begins and ends all broadcasts with the interval signal of "Yankee Doodle".
The song's origins were in a pre-Revolutionary War song originally sung by British military officers to mock the disheveled, disorganized colonial "Yankees" with whom they served in the French and Indian War. At the time, the most common meaning of the word doodle was that of "simpleton" or "fool". It is believed that the tune comes from the nursery rhyme Lucy Locket. One version of the Yankee Doodle lyrics is attributed to Doctor Richard Shuckburgh, a British Army surgeon.
The Boston Journal of the Times wrote about a British band declaring "that Yankee Doodle song was the Capital Piece of their band music."
The earliest known version of the lyrics comes from 1775:
(Note that the sheet music which accompanies these lyrics reads, "The Words to be Sung through the Nose, & in the West Country drawl & dialect.")
The Ephraim referenced here was Ephraim Williams, a popularly known Colonel in the Massachusetts militia who was killed in the Battle of Lake George. He left his land and property to the founding of a school in Western Massachusetts, now known as Williams College.
During the Revolutionary War, the Americans embraced the song and made it their own, turning it back on those who had used it to mock them. A newspaper account after the Battle of Lexington and Concord, a Boston newspaper reported: "Upon their return to Boston [pursued by the Minutemen], one [Briton] asked his brother officer how he liked the tune now, — 'Damn them,' returned he, 'they made us dance it till we were tired' — since which Yankee Doodle sounds less sweet to their ears."
The British responded with another set of lyrics following the Battle of Bunker Hill:
Also on February 6, 1788. Massachusetts ratified the Constitution by a vote of 186 to 168. To the ringing of bells and the booming of cannons, the delegates trooped out of Brattle Street Church. Before many days had passed, the citizens sang their convention song to the tune of "Yankee Doodle." Here are the lyrics to their song...
A full version of the song, as it is known today, goes:
During the American Civil War, Southerners added some new lines of their own:
Also popular in the South was a further customized version called "Dixie Doodle":
Many other variations and parodies have since arisen, including the one taught to schoolchildren today:
Some believe that these were alternative lyrics used by the British army during the revolutionary war. A "macaroni", in mid-18th-century England, was a dandyish young man with affected Continental mannerisms; the joke being that the Yankees believed that a feather in the hat was sufficient to make them the height of fashion. Whether or not these were alternative lyrics sung in the British army, they were enthusiastically taken up by the Yanks themselves.
In the 1930's jazz vocalist Billie Holiday sung her own parodical version of the song, which began:
The song Laal jhuti kakatua, set to the Yankee Doodle/Lucy Locket melody, is a favorite among the Bengali people. It goes:
| Bengali lyrics | English translation |
|---|---|
|
Laal jhuti kakatua |
A red-tufted cockatoo |
The Bengali Version of Yankee Doodle was composed for the Film "Badshah" in the year 1964. The song was sang By Ranu Mukherjee,daughter of famous Bengali singer Hemanta Mukherjee.
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