The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-02-16

old papal chant fills your soul all your
doubts Will vanish away.
Several hundred years ago the good
people OF Holland thought SO much of
Yankee Doodle that they adopted the
tune for a harvest song and made up
new words for II. Mary Mapcs Dodge
glves one Of The verses in Hans Brin-
kod:"
Yankor didee dudle down
Ddcc dudel launter.
Yankee ViVer voOVer VoWn,
Botermelt und taunter.
Nobody knows exactly what this
verso meant. but the lines are interest
ing. because they are primarily respoh-
sibIe for tho word Yankee and Tor
the familiar English version Of yam
kee Doodle
soon after being first sung this dualht
verse became so popular uhiohk "'
classes i'm Holland that IL pecahe q
truly national song. Ii was sung III
liveiier time than the old chant winch
it supplanted ,ett,
While the great naval war OF liie io,"
century was In progress the Enslish'
Much 10 the surprise OF eNefypouS,
England broke the mighty sea power vi
HoIland. ana when the ighting was
oyer the English people sang lhochiis
parodies OF the old song against IL,
hated authors. Yankee was unue.s,oou
TO mean a Dutchman. since ihe Duteh
were sharp traders the popular nleah-
ing of the word came To pe shrewu'
ard-headed, ungracious sort Oh lsi-
low Holland then tried TO forget the
cong. and IL thus passed into the hahus
OF another nation.
AN England sang varying words To
Il i'm Oliver Cromwells s time. but oho
day-the day that The great reioriner
rode into oxford at the head OF the
rebels To battle with the King s army
be wore an immense ostrich feather 10
his hat by n band of heavy SILK mac
caroni'' cord, Yankee Doodle then be-
ing n term OF contemptuous ridicule,
one Of the courtiers of the boasttul
King composed the famous refrain;
Yankee Doodle came to town
Riding ON n pony.
stuck a feather in his hat
And called it maccaroni.
The rhyme did not hold its first popu-
larity very long, because the rebels
were successful. and probably IL
would have been forgotten entirely had
not the old Kings son returned 10
mower "A few years later. MeanWhiie
| the reformers had sung the tune To
many nonsense verses, which soon
spread TO America.
The best known of these was LYDIA
! Fishers lib" which made its appear
/ ance i'm New England about the year
| iIl3, and became famous as dance
4 cnnp The words ran:
Lucy Locket lost her pocket:
| Lydia Fisher found IL.
| Not a bit of money in II.
only binding round 1t.
| Lucy Locket" was very popular TIL
! 1775 when British regulars were en-
| camped on Boston Common. and the
natives OF the city and surrounding
towns were organizing into companies
| OF minute men" under John Hancock
While as yet there had been no open
| war, the feeling was very bitter amone
| the colonists, who were held in sucl
| contempt by the soldiers that they were
taunted with the familiar tune 10 tho
| words:
| Yankee Doodle came TO town
For to buy firelock.
We will tar and feather him.
And so we will John Hancock
| This made the colonists so angry tina
they declined any longer TO sing an al
put To such contemptuous Word
| against themselves. a few weeks late
something happened that changed thei
| minds, for il was the destiny of fanke
Doodle to become. apparently forever
| the undsputed property OF America
In April 1775. Lord Percy marched
| out of Boston with brigade OF BritisI
| regulars TO disperse the rebels assem-
| bled at Lexington and Concord. Ami
cheering and dying ilags, the band
| played Yankee Doodle and the red
coated soldiers sang boastfulv the oil
words which had vainly ridiculed Olive
| Cromwell over a hundred years before
| Perhaps, when they began to sing, the
| had forgotten how. even before Crom
wells time. the tune had been turne
against it's very authors. He mus
have remembered before returning
Boston. for at Lexington the vaunte
soldiers of King George were routed u
"A handful of patriots, who. when the
saw how things were going. went vii
with iov. and taking the words rigl
out of the mouths Of their edversarie
| shouted I'm eXulta tion tive song whic
| had been aimed at them i'm contempt.
During the FIGHT bnck to camp a
regulars were perp'red with shot fro
behind stone walls and trecs. so nluc
20 their own discomfort that Lord Per6
! I'm ht OF disgust next morning Coz
tossed that after marching ont 90 u
tune Of Yankee Doodle they Ia
: dpuced to " AZ tho wav home.
Yankee Doodle has already belong,
to ihe three great families 81 the CA
p casian race--tho Latin the Teuton
and he An"lo-SsNop. w seven cent
y itos ~ has boon carried into th" hea
n Of four ~ tho greatest political DoN
e-s Of history. Now that expansion
. am accomnllshcd fact WIN cpn ten wh
Z new freaks destiny viii play with it?
= CHARACTER IN THE NOSE.