

War and is now often sung by children: Yankee Doodle went to town. So our Yankee Doodle is a fool who sticks a feather in his hat and thinks it’s the height of fashion Uses During the War As British troops marched to Lexington on Ap(the shot heard ’round the world) they sang a version of Yankee Doodle as a rallying song and to insult the locals as they passed. of the British men-of-war in the Charles River Basin. Yankee Doodle meaning, definition, what is Yankee Doodle: a US song which first. The song mocks the Yankees for being ignorant and unsophisticated enough to believe that a feather in the hat was a sufficient indicator of a macaroni style. extant evidence suggests just the opposite: Yankee Doodle is an American. When Yankee Doodle is said to have "stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni," he is referring to a popular men's fashion style at the time known as "a macaroni." For example, the curly white hair seen in pictures of George Washington was actually a macaroni style wig worn by men to denote his high social rank. A Doodle was also a term for a "fool" or someone who was easily duped.
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According to Mitford M Mathews' "A Dictionary of Americanism of Historical Principles," the colonists were viewed as disorganized and hence branded a Yankee. Morris discussed the original form in his 1941 book "The Original Yankee Words."ĭuring the French and Indian War in the 18th century, the British used the name "Yankee" to refer to American colonists who served alongside British troops. Morris thought was the original song, written in the 1770s. The 'macaroni' mentioned in the chorus isn't pasta, but rather 18th century slang for the. Here are the lyrics to what journalist George P. But the original 'Yankee Doodle' was sung by British troops during the Revolutionary War to suggest American soldiers were, in Segal's words, 'gay and bumbling.' It's a play on the word 'dandy,' referring to a fop or self-absorbed, overly stylish man. The lyrics to the original version of "Yankee Doodle" have been dramatically abridged throughout time. However, after the American soldiers led by commander in chief General George Washington caused Great Britain to surrender at the battle of Yorktown in 1781, and effectively end the Revolutionary War, Yankee Doodle quickly became a form of prideful boasting, according to the Library of Congress.

Yankee Doodle is thought to have originated by British soldiers during the Revolutionary War era as a response to these songs as a way to mock colonists. Despite being generally linked in modern times with honoring the American patriot soldiers of the Revolutionary War, the tune "Yankee Doodle" was written in the 1770s by a British doctor to humiliate the American colonists.ĭuring the American Revolutionary War, colonists frequently went around town singing songs that celebrated the American colonies while mocking their British motherland.
