The Washington herald., 1909-08-22

70 the officers OF the militia. The
joke succeeded and ETAOINNNNN
was hailed as their own march.
The British regulars are said 10
have sung verses to the same air in
Eoston in 1775 and 1875, among
which was:
Yankee Doodle came to town.
For 70 buy q hreiock;
We VIII tar and feather him.
And 50 we VIII John Hancoar.
The manner in which the tune
came 70 be adopted by the Ameri-
cans is shown in the following let
ter Of Rev ". Gordon. who. IN
describing the battles OF Lexington
and Concord. says:
"The brigade under Lord Percy
marched out OF Boston. playing by
way OF contempt. Yankee Doodle
after they returned to Boston they
were told they had been made 10
dance 10 IT,"
It IS further located IN the score
OF DR.. Samuel Arnolds opera en-
titled 1.-TWO TO One" which was pro
duced in London in 1884. the words
being by George Colman. the elder.
In the ccore OF the opera the tune is
called Yankee Doodle" There IS a
copy OF the original words OF
Yankee Doodle" or The Yankees
Return from Carp" in the British
Museum. on a single sheet ouarto.
There are fifteen stanzas and 2
chorus to each succeeding stanza.
and these are the words printed
above.
And vet. earlier than the Arnold
opera there is reference TO the song
IN a comic opera, The Disappoint-
ment: Or. The Force Of Credulitv.~
by Andrew Barton. in which one OF
the airs IS Yankee Doodle" The
book was published in New York.
in 1857. and copy Of II is IN the
Ridgway branch Of the Philadelphia
Library.
In 1861 the legislature OF south
Carolina forbade the tune 10 be
played within the State. and in the
same year appeared a new set OF
words, which were popular in the
South during the civil war. They
began:
Yankee Doodle fare you well.
Rice and cotton fout you
once they liked you ve7y vel.
Now they'll DO without you.
George P. Norris undertook to
write words 10 the music. which
were printed in 1858. although they
never attained much popularity.
Buckingham Smith. while secre-
tary OF the American Legation az
Madrid in 1855. wrote 70 an Ameri-
can gentleman that Yankee Doodle"
music bore a strong resemblance 10
a popular air of Biscay. and that a
professor from Northern Spain had
recognized Il as being much like
the ancient sword-daEce played on
solemn occasions by the people OF
san Sebastian.
When Louis Kossuth visited this
country In the early part of the
nineteenth century he noted the Pc
culiqr behaviour Of his countrymen
when travelling with him on the
Mississippi. they first heard Ameri-
cans sing Yankee Doodle"
Ny companions straightaway fell
20 capering and dancing he saws.
for they had recognized an air "a
miliar In our native land one played
In the dances Of old Hungary
4
oany, \. y, on the opposite bank
Of the Hudson River Is situated the
Yankee Doodle House" SO named
as being the house in which DR..
Shuchburg wrote the American
words This house was purchased
and placed in good condition BY
the Daughters OF the American Rev
olution TO be preserved along with
other historic places I'm the country.
The nrst or at least one Of the
nrst genuinely humorous American
poems was written 10 the tune OF
Yankee Doodle" by Francis Hop
RinsOn. the author Of Hail COnfnl-
eia." IL was called THE Battle OF
the Kegs" which has for its foun-
dation the attempt Of David Bush
nell. a Connecticut Yankee. in ITTT
20 blow up the British fleet then "
ing 81 Philadelphia. he flOated
kegs down tie river filled with pow
der and fitted with spring locks.
one Of them exploded prem8turely.
but the venture was unsuccessful
This burlesQue song Is rapidly
passing into oblivion though its tune
shall live as long as the Stars and
Stripes shall wave. It's verses are
certainly not OF any literary merit.
but they refer to times which tried
mems souls and Il is interesting in
this day OF the popular song 10 read
verses which We're on every tongue
considerably more than a century
ago. no matter who may claim its
origin. OF what NAV be said against
IT, there Us no doubt Of ore thing
beyond all Question-it belongs 10
America and The Americans By right
OF long possession