The Dickinson press., 1888-06-02
YANKEE DOODLE.
HISTORICAL FACTS IN REGARD TO
THE ANCIENT TUNE.

of an Essay Read Before the
Historic Genealogical Society of Bos-
ton-s;ri,in of the Word 'iami,cc."
The i':i,nary Expression.
AT Il recent meeting of the Historic Gene
Illogical society DIR. George III. Moore. of
New Work. was introduced To lead an essay
on Tho Origin of Yankee Doodle" The
tune. he said. is familiar all over thu known
world. and the phrase Yankee Doodle" il son
tn" lips one ti!nc or another of all English
speaking people: hut of the origin of it few
Eno" anything.
lin considering the question it is manifest
that there are two elements in it, one being
til" meaning and derivation of the word
Yankee, and the other of the song and tune.
One explanation given of the word Yankee
dates back us far as lil3, when there was Il
farmer living at Cambridge named Jonathan
Hastings. He was II familiar acquaintance
OF the college students of that period, and it
was lrputed that H. invented the word.
.At amy rate he used it constantly in the
presence Of students and other, as an atvcrb
To signify Il high degree of cxcellcncr-f"r
example, "A Yankee good horse Yankee
good cider This use, it is said, the students
adopted, and after leaving college spread the
knowledge of it in places near and distant.
1t, first appearance" on record. sn far us the
csSavist knew, is Of date li2.5. when an adj
Nrrti.".nr.It nppral"lo of the Sulcnf the effect,
of an English gentleman in M"rlpth, Eng
lalnl. tnr itcin Of the list WAS. Ono negro.
NAMED Yankee" .,lany plausible s,,..cs-
ti"ns have been made. some in carnrs, anil
SOM" apparently in Il frnlics"lnc spirit. tina,
thu word i,"f Indian ORIGIN. by some il has
been traced to the Cherokee Indians and hv
others to those of New England. Among
tlrr,' who manifest sincerity in this way the
cs;,>i>t mentioned the author of Il history uf
TIL, A.oinviau missionaries i'm ISIS. Il writer
in the North American Review about the
same timr, and of more recent date, DIR.
Trum,l,lll. the philoloyiSt.
The theory is that "Nankcc' is nu uttcmp,
of til" Indians I" pronounce TN" word ENG
]i,l,." The c>s;,yist held that tllrs.. arr. mis-.
taken judgments ON the case and that the
writers have been mislcl by Il resemblance,
real ol' lanri"1, in the sound of certain In
tlinn words. He held it to lie impossible To
believe tia. the word is of Indian origin,
when it is considered that none of the early
accounts "f the dealing of white lncn with
Indians, from the Fifteenth century forward,
make amy mention OF it. Neither Capt.
John Smith. nor the father of New England,
nor Roger Williams, nor John Eliot, nor
Hutchinson, nor Bclknap ever appear to
haze heard If such a suggestion.
The cSsiNist found IL perfectly Ineligible
anil natural explanation of the origin and
PRIMARY Significance Of the word in the
Dutch word. of which the substantive form is
",ia!ikcl'" and the form of the verb ''Jianken.'
The meaning of the verb is to glumlblc, to
smart, To quarrel, To scold; the meaning of
TN" noun is Il bowler, IL rricr, Il wceper, II
barker. As USE! it is expressive of contempt,
d., ION, on obiurgation. To call IL man II
li!i'.."r or bowler is equivalent or is exactly
til . same as 4" call him IL dog, and in almost
nj. languages and among all nnti"ns such an
Appreciation is one of diSpalugcinent and
abuse.
The cssayist gives n luminous account of
til" rivalrieS. ,icalousieS. controversies, and
clasllings which occurred in early times he
tween the Dutch settlers of New Netherlands
and tin" English wln inhabited New England
and had any occasion tn deal with the Dutch
in amy form. The feeling of antagonisln and
contempt for the English c~olumists continued
long after tile territory of New Netherlands
had come under English dominion. and, the
cssayisi added, that to this day in some of
tlm families of New York of ancient Dutch
origin. the Yankee is regarded with Il feeling
al least of distrllst.
Tic word ''iallkcr' and other words de
rived from it are not, the essayist said. any
part Of the language of refinement among
the Dutch. The primary word is Il low word,
used by til" mob; it is slang of rather IL vile
sort. y. gentleman might think himself JUS
titled in using it under great %plovorntion, OF
amid very exciting circumstances, but il
would not be ordinarily Il part of his speech
Various facts were given in thecssay going
L" show that in its early use, whether 10y til,
Dutch or others. including the English al
home. the word Yankee was expressive d
contempt. Accordingly it came very natul.
ally into service when. upon the occasion o
the assembling of an army near Albany fol
IL campaign against the French and Indians
the New England contingent of troops up
pearrl, and the New York troops and British
regulars felt disposed to ridiculc these Nev
Englanlers.
AS the ~rSsayist described the New Englan,
troops they were indeed IL ridiculous lot, 81
far as look. went. y. little later, when the,
bore the brunt of battle and struck the Ell
envy his ,leallicst blows. that appearance di
iOU III w tbNill iill NlNN NalllN w III
rendezvous without uniforms, wearing al
sorts of outer garments, dyed of vario,l
hucs. They We're comparable only to til
army of Falstatf as to outside Appearances.
DR.. Richard Shuckburgh, then resident i
Albany and later in New York. gave voic
to the camp feeling of contempt for the Ne,
England contingent. He composed crrtai
verses of drri>ion and adapted the air know
:. in England as 'l'iShcr's Jig" This tune wa
printed i'll England for the first time, so ia
:, as known, in l,5n. The verses of the origin;
song are now unknown, but there can he II
doubt that they We're the mcrcst doggcre
They have been superseded and their su,
ccssors have been superseded by others /,
various merit. more than 100 in all, it
shd. But there is no particular set wllic
: can lie called distinctivcly the song
' "Yankcc Doodle"
The word Yankee was a nickname of d
4, rision for q New Englander long before IL
. revolution. The tune and the original wore
:, antedatc that period, and they were intelldt
u for ridiculr. 1t is not probable that in IL
{ Continental armies the tune was ever Il pop
I lar one with the troops. a collection of ii
), music used in that army does not contain
y 1t was IL tune of British origin, and for a lol
y while played only by BRUSH bands. Wht
!, the Second brigade marched out of Bost,
Q on the day of the battle Of Lexington to Il
. relief of the First brigade Of British troop
v they played Yankee Doodle rs tn
' marched.
Z The American musicians used 1t only a
porently by way Of retaliation. When t
y British troops surrendered at Yorktown til
:. turned their faces away from the America
II and looked toward the French troops. /
fayette observing this. ordered all the Con
mental bands in his command to pl
y "Yankec Doodle which WIS lone With So
II will and as q note of triumph. But after t
y final victory the popularity Of the tune as
1T American national air steadily increased.
r The essavist found in the word 'doodl
le something of d~isparase:nent rather than
Is compliment, and rs the compound VOL
n .sal. iaodl, a.,d srl,ann.d doc.