The colonial music was mostly borrowed and adapted to the occasion. The
Pilgrims had more important duties to perform and in those years of
stirring events no one was in a mood to write music.
The first song to be used was that old and familiar one, “Yankee
Doodle.” It made a powerful rallying cry in calling to arms against
England. It is so old that it is impossible to decide just where the
term came from.
It has been traced back to Greece—“Iankhe Doule,” meaning “Rejoice, O
Slave,” and to the Chinese—“Yong Kee,” meaning “Flag of the Ocean.” It
is said the Persians called Americans “Yanki Doon’iah,” “Inhabitants of
the New World.” The Indians too, come in for their share of the credit
of originating the term, as the Cherokee word “Eankke,” which means
“coward” and “slave,” was often bestowed upon the inhabitants of New
England.
At the time of the uprising against Charles the First, Oliver Cromwell
rode into Oxford, on an insignificant little horse, wearing a single
plume in a knot called a “macaroni.” The song was sung derisively by
the cavaliers at that time. The tune is said to have come from Spain or
France, there being several versions of the words.
It came into play when our ancestors flocked into Ticonderoga in answer
to the call of Abercrombie. At that early day no one refused, but all
answered the call and came equipped as best they could, but hardly any
two alike, and to the trained English regulars must have presented a
ridiculous appearance. Dr. Shamburg changed the words of the old satire
to fit the new occasion. But in less than a year it was turned by the
Yankees against the English in the form of a rallying cry and possessed
new meaning.
History had emphasized it, and with the accompaniment of the shrill
pipe and half worn drum calling the simple cottagers together, it must
have aroused all their noble and sturdy patriotism.
Who that has viewed that stirring picture in the Corcoran Art Gallery
at Washington, “Yankee Doodle,” could fail to catch the inspiration of
the scene. The old man with his thin grey locks, but head erect and
face glowing with enthusiasm as he keeps time to the old tune, followed
by the small boy with his drum. One scarcely knows whether humor or
pathos predominates: but certain we are that all alike stepped to its
chords; it found an answering echo in each heart and led them on to
glory.