And so we will John Hancock, &c.
The manner in which the tune came to be adopted by the Americans, is shown in the following letter of the Rev. W. Gordon. Describing the battles of Lexington and Concord, before alluded to, he says:—
The brigade under Lord Percy marched out (of Boston) playing, by way of contempt, Yankee Doodle: they were afterwards told that they had been made to dance to it.
It is most likely that Yankee Doodle was originally derived from Holland. A song with the following burden has long been in use among the laborers who, in the time of harvest, migrate from Germany to the Low Countries, where they receive for their work as much buttermilk as they can drink, and a tenth of the grain secured by their exertions:—
Yanker didel, doodel down,
Didel, dudel lauter,
Yanke viver, voover vown,
Botermilk und Tanther.
That is, buttermilk and a tenth.