Yankee Doodle

American patriotic song of mysterious origin. A reference to the title is found in a LIBRETTO to an American BALLAD OPERA produced in 1767. The earliest printing of the tune itself was in 1794.

During the American Revolution the song was already popular. For a long time the British believed that the tune was sung to mock the ragged American revolutionists, but Americans themselves played it as an expression of a certain swaggering confidence in their cause. Because the meaning of the word doodle in this context cannot be deciphered, the puzzle of the song's origin is fated to remain unsolved.