Connecticut State Song

"Yankee Doodle" Lyrics: Unknown Music: Unkown Adoption: 1978 HISTORY "Yankee Doodle" is a popular traditional song synonymous with the American Revolution. The words, however, were originally written by British soldiers to mock the poorly dressed and ill-equipped Revolutionary soldiers from New England. The tune was a standard British fife-and-drum marching song. The term "Yankee" was a mispronunciation of the word "English" in the Dutch language and was used to describe American colonists. "Doodle" referred to a dumb person. British troops played the tune when they marched into the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775 and, when the British were defeated there, the Americans played the song to taunt the British for their underestimation of American strength and resolve. It later became the American colonists' distinctive rallying cry for the War of Independence. By the end of the Revolutionary War, Americans were proud to be called "yankees." The Mark Twain story "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court" reinforced the term’s connection to New Englanders in particular. Since independence, "Yankee Doodle" has been considered the quintessential American folk song and a symbol of the indomitable spirit of the American people. It was adopted as the official state song of Connecticut, one of the country’s original thirteen states, on October 8, 1978.  -World Trade Press LYRICS "Yankee Doodle" Yankee Doodle went to town A-riding on a pony, Stuck a feather in his cap And called it 'macaroni'. Chorus: Yankee Doodle keep it up, Yankee Doodle dandy, Mind the music and the step, And with the girls be handy. Fath'r and I went down to camp, Along with Captain Gooding, And there we saw the men and boys As thick as hasty puddin'. Chorus And there we saw a thousand men As rich as Squire David, And what they wasted every day, I wish it could be saved. Chorus The 'lasses they eat it every day, Would keep a house a winter; They have so much, that I'll be bound, They eat it when they've mind ter. Chorus And there I see a swamping gun Large as a log of maple, Upon a deuced little cart, A load for father's cattle. Chorus And every time they shoot it off, It takes a horn of powder, And makes a noise like father's gun, Only a nation louder. Chorus I went as nigh to one myself As 'Siah's inderpinning; And father went as nigh again, I thought the deuce was in him. Chorus Cousin Simon grew so bold, I thought he would have cocked it; It scared me so I shrinked it off And hung by father's pocket. Chorus And Cap'n Davis had a gun, He kind of clapt his hand on't And stuck a crooked stabbing iron Upon the little end on't. Chorus And there I see a pumpkin shell As big as mother's bason, And every time they touched it off They scampered like the nation. Chorus I see a little barrel too, The heads were made of leather; They knocked on it with little clubs And called the folks together. Chorus And there was Cap'n Washington, And gentle folks about him; They say he's grown so 'tarnal proud He will not ride without em'. Chorus He got him on his meeting clothes, Upon a slapping stallion; He sat the world along in rows, In hundreds and in millions. Chorus The flaming ribbons in his hat, They looked so tearing fine, ah, I wanted dreadfully to get To give to my Jemima. Chorus I see another snarl of men A digging graves they told me, So 'tarnal long, so 'tarnal deep, They 'tended they should hold me. Chorus It scared me so, I hooked it off, Nor stopped, as I remember, Nor turned about till I got home, Locked up in mother's chamber. Chorus