SOLUTION.
From the Essex (Massachusetts) "Register."
Lord Byron, your riddle is dark, I confess,
But dark as it is, I will venture to guess.
Though 'tis found not in youth, nor in manhood, nor age,
Though a stranger alike to the fool and the sage,
Though earth don't contain it, the sun nor the moon.
Though in darkness 'tis absent, and also in noon;
Though 'tis not found in searching the heavens sublime;
Yet by guessing, I think I shall guess it in time.
If disease must possess it, and sickness and pain,
If suspended in air and has long lived in vain,
If in sin you can find it, I will not deny,
As you are freed from it, it must then be I.
How "Yankee Doodle Came to Town."
The Famous Air Had a Checkered Career and Hobnobbed With Some
Queer Lyrics Before a British Surgeon Unwittingly Gave to
the American Patriots a Battle Song.
An original article written for The Scrap Book.
Our oldest national nickname is "Yankee." In the early Colonial days, the Indians stumbling over the pronunciation of the language of the pale-face, called the English "Yenghies." By corruption, "Yenghies" became "Yanghies" and "Yankees." The settlers took the word "Yankees" back again from their copper-skinned neighbors, and they seem to have used it in a slangy way.
As early as 1713 Jonathan Hastings, a farmer of Cambridge, in New England, used the word as a synonym for excellence, saying of anything which he especially admired:
"It is Yankee good"—that is, probably: "It is as good as if English made."
However, it is worthy of note that Jamieson's "Scottish Dictionary" gives a Scottish word, "Yankie," with the definition: "A sharp, clever woman, at the same time including an idea of forwardness."
The modern notion of Yankee shrewdness might seem to justify the derivation from the Scottish, but, as it happens, the Yankee was not generally considered shrewd and clever until a much later period than the pre-Revolutionary days.
Perhaps, as the occasional explanation has it, the people of the other colonies got to calling New Englanders "Jonathan Yankees," after Jonathan Hastings. Also it may be true that the word has more than one derivation—a possibility which will become apparent when we consider the origin of the song "Yankee Doodle."
Everybody knows the tune of "Yankee Doodle," but few people know the words. The air has been ascribed to several different countries. Kossuth, during his visit to the United States, recognized it as Hungarian, and it has also been identified with an ancient Biscayan sword-dance. In the Netherlands there is, or used to be, a harvesting song, sung by laborers, who were paid with a tenth of the grain and all the buttermilk they could drink:
Yankerdidel doodel down,
Didel, dudel lanter,
Yanke viver, voover, vown,
Botermilk und tanther.
In other words, "buttermilk and a tenth." Old Hollanders in the United States may recall the stanza.
In the days of Cromwell, one of the nicknames which the Cavaliers bestowed upon the Puritans was "Nankee Doodle." When Cromwell entered Oxford this stanza was written:
Nankee Doodle came to town
Upon a little pony,
With a feather in his hat
Upon a macaroni.
Another and more common version was as follows:
Yankee Doodle came to town
Upon a Kentish pony;
He stuck a feather in his hat
And called him Macaroni.
In the reign of Charles II we first hear beyond any doubt the air to which "Yankee Doodle" is now sung. To it were set the following lines, which remain as a nursery rhyme:
Lucy Locket lost her pocket,
Kitty Fisher found it;
Nothing in it, nothing in it,
But the binding 'round it.
The air came to be known as "Kitty Fisher," or "Kitty Fisher's Jig."
In 1755, when the Colonial troops were joining the British regulars in the invasion of Canada, by way of Albany, Dr. Schuckburgh, a surgeon attached to Lord Amherst's forces, is said to have derisively adopted the tune for the use of the Colonials, who apparently accepted it in good faith as an established martial air.
To attribute to Dr. Schuckburgh the words which were afterward sung to the air is to disregard the internal evidence of the words themselves—unless, as is possible, though not probable, the stanzas referring to Washington were added later.
The full set of stanzas, entitled "The Yankee's Return from Camp," appear to date from the latter part of 1775, after the battle of Bunker Hill, when the Continental army, under General Washington's command, was encamped in the vicinity of Boston.
The Tories were then singing to the old tune of "Kitty Fisher" these lines:
Yankee Doodle came to town
For to buy a firelock;
We will tar and feather him,
And so we will John Hancock.
The original Tory quatrain referred to the smuggling of muskets into the country by the patriots. The stanzas substituted by some unknown Colonial rimester run as follows:
Father and I went down to camp,
Along with Captain Gooding,
And there we seed the men and boys
As thick as hasty pudding.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up,
Yankee Doodle Dandy;
Mind the music and the step,
And with the girls be handy.
And there we seed a thousand men,
As rich as 'Squire David;
And what they wasted ev'ry day,
I wish'd it could be savéd.
Yankee Doodle, etc.
The 'lasses they eat ev'ry day
Would keep a house in winter;
They have so much that I be bound,
They eat it when they're amind ter.
Yankee Doodle, etc.
And there we see a swamping gun,
Large as a log of maple,
Upon a deuced little cart,
A load for father's cattle.
Yankee Doodle, etc.
And ev'ry time they shoot it off
It takes a horn of powder;
It makes a noise like father's gun,
Only a nation louder.
Yankee Doodle, etc.
I went as nigh to one myself
As 'Siah's underpinning;
And father went as nigh again—
I thought the deuce was in him.
Yankee Doodle, etc.
Cousin Simon was so 'tarnal bold,
I thought he would have cocked it;
It scar'd me so, I streak'd it off,
And hung by father's pocket.
Yankee Doodle, etc.
And Captain Davis had a gun,
He kind of clapp'd his hand on't.
And stuck a crooked stabbing iron
Upon the little end on't.
Yankee Doodle, etc.
And there I see a pumpkin shell
As big as mother's basin,
And ev'ry time they touched it off
They scamper'd like the nation.
Yankee Doodle, etc.
I see a little barrel, too,
The heads were made of leather;
They knock'd upon't with little clubs,
And call'd the folks together.
Yankee Doodle, etc.
And there was Captain Washington,
And gentlefolks about him;
They say he's grown so 'tarnal proud
He will not ride without 'em.
Yankee Doodle, etc.
He got him on his meeting-clothes,
Upon a slapping stallion;
He set the world along in rows,
In hundreds or a million.
Yankee Doodle, etc.
I see another snarl of men
A-digging graves, that told me,
So 'tarnal long, so 'tarnal deep,
They 'tended they should hold me.
Yankee Doodle, etc.
It scar'd me so I hooked it off,
Nor stopped, as I remember,
Nor turned about till I got home,
Clear up in mother's chamber.
Yankee Doodle, etc.
THE AMERICAN FLAG.
Joseph Rodman Drake (1795-1820) wrote "The American Flag" as a mere fugitive contribution to the Evening Post when he was little more than twenty-one. It belonged to a series of hastily written verses to which the author attached no value. Long afterward a friend of his—a Dr. DeKay—carefully gathered together these stray poems, and showed them to Drake, who said:
"Oh, burn them up! They are worthless."
Fortunately, his friend refused to burn them; and thus one of the finest gems of our national poetry was rescued. Tradition tells us that the last eight lines of "The American Flag" were added to the original draft by Drake's friend and fellow poet, Fitz-Greene Halleck.
By JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE.
When Freedom from her mountain height
Unfurled her standard to the air,
She tore the azure robe of night
And set the stars of glory there!
She mingled with its gorgeous dyes
The milky baldric of the skies
And striped its pure celestial white
With streakings of the morning light;
Then, from his mansion in the sun,
She called her eagle bearer down
And gave into his mighty hand
The symbol of her chosen land!
Majestic monarch of the cloud,
Who rear'st aloft thy regal form,
To hear the tempest trumpings loud
And see the lightning lances driven,
When strive the warrior of the storm
And rolls the thunder drum of heaven—
Child of the sun, to thee 'tis given
To guard the banner of the free,
To hover in the sulphur smoke,
To ward away the battle stroke
And bid its blending shine afar,
Like rainbows on the cloud of war,
The harbingers of victory!
Flag of the brave, thy folds shall fly
The sign of hope and triumph high!
When speaks the signal trumpet tone
And the long line comes gleaming on,
Ere yet the lifeblood, warm and wet,
Has dimmed the glistening bayonet,
Each soldier eye shall brightly turn
To where the sky-born glories burn
And as his springing steps advance
Catch war and vengeance from the glance,
And when the cannon mouthings loud
Heave in wild wreaths the battle shroud.
And gory sabers rise and fall
Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall;
Then shall thy meteor glances glow,
And cowering foes shall shrink beneath
Each gallant arm that strikes below
That lovely messenger of death.
Flag of the seas, on ocean wave
Thy stars shall glitter o'er the brave!
When death, careering on the gale,
Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail
And frighted waves rush wildly back
Before the broadside's reeling rack,
Each dying wanderer of the sea
Shall look at once to heaven and thee
And smile to see the splendors fly
In triumph o'er his closing eye.
Flag of the free heart's hope and home,
By angel hands to valor given,
Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,
And all thy hues were born in heaven!
Forever float that standard sheet!
Where breathes the foe but falls before us,
With freedom's soil beneath our feet
And freedom's banner streaming o'er us?
A HOROSCOPE OF THE MONTHS.
By MARION Y. BUNNER.
What the Old Astrological Traditions Say as to the Destiny of Those Born Under the Sign
"Cancer," Representing the Period Between June 19 and July 23.
Compiled and edited for The Scrap Book.
CANCER: THE CRAB.
JUNE 19 to JULY 23.
CUSP: JUNE 21 to JULY 27.
The constellation Cancer—the fourth sign of the zodiac—is the positive pole of the Water Triplicity, governing the breast. It is a cardinal, feminine, movable, watery, phlegmatic, nocturnal sign. The higher attributes are feeling and sympathy.
A person born in the period of the Cusp, when the sun is on the edge of the sign, will be endowed with the characteristics of both Cancer and Gemini.
Cancer subjects will have taciturn dispositions, searching minds, and good morals. The principal characteristic of these people is their sympathetic and emotional love-nature. They make excellent nurses. They are model housewives and husbands, and are economical, industrious, and provident.
They are quick in mind and body, clever in business matters, independent, open-minded, and versatile. They are also very determined; are not easily forced out of a conclusion they have reached, and their opinions are usually respected. They have mechanical ability, are very executive, and they like responsibility. They can easily be ruled by kindness, but resent the least semblance of compulsion.
The Cancer people—women especially—have great talent for music, and are well adapted to study instrumental music as a profession.
They are usually of medium stature, large in the upper portion of the body, with round face, pale complexion, small features, full forehead, and light or grayish eyes. The physical temperament of the subject will be lymphatic-bilious in a Southern climate, and a lymphatic-nervous disposition in a Northern latitude.
Their most congenial companions will be found among those born in Scorpio and Pisces.
The faults of the Cancer people are jealousy, vanity, and love of money for money's sake. The women of this sign are fond of dress, and are also fickle and inconstant. Cancer is the only sign of the zodiac governed by the moon, and the changeable qualities of the people are attributed to its influence.
The most harmonious marriages are found when a Cancer and a Pisces person are united. The offspring will be strong and physically fine. Cancer children are hard to manage on account of their extreme sensitiveness. The greatest care should be taken with them. Their training cannot commence too early.
The governing planet is the moon, and the gems are emerald and black onyx. The astral colors are green and russet brown, and the emblematic flower is the poppy.
February and September are the lucky months, and Monday is the fortunate day for a Cancer subject.
The ancient Hebrew tribe to which this sign corresponds is that of Zebulon. The ruling angel of the sign is Muriel.
July, the seventh month in our calendar, was originally the fifth month of the year, and as such was called by the Romans Quinctilis. The Latin name of Julius was given in honor of Julius Cæsar (who was born in this month), and was adopted in the year of his death.
The Anglo-Saxons called July the "mead month," for the meadows were then in their bloom, and "the latter wild month," in contradistinction to June, which they named "the former wild month."
The principal days are: July 3, when Dog Days begin; July 4, Independence Day; July 15, St. Swithin; and July 25, St. James. The tradition runs that if it should rain on St. Swithin's Day, it will rain steadily for the following forty days.
General Garibaldi was born under this sign. Henry Ward Beecher was a striking example of the power, earnestness, and pathos of the Cancer people, and John D. Rockefeller and John Jacob Astor are excellent illustrations of the business genius of the sign.