--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Anonymous collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 3 number: 1 published: 1899-11 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Anonymous, "“Yankee Doodle”," *Improvement Era* 3, no. 1 (November 1899): 34.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera31unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera31unse start_page: 34 end_page: 34 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1899-11) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera31unse publication_year: 1899 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1899, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # “Yankee Doodle” YANKEE DOODLE." "Yankee Doodle," called our national air, is a musical vaga- bond, a literary Bohemian. The words are older than our Revolu- tion, for they date back to the time of Charles the Second. It was also a satire on Cromwell. It cannot be called a national song, although national property, and it is not a treasure of high value. It now exists only as instrumental. It has not a national charac- ter and must be silent when serious purposes are desired, and men's hearts are moved to high effort and great sacrifice, but as a quick- step it is always inspiriting. Whence its' name or how it originated is not clearly known. Tradition affirms that with slight variations known from time immemorial in Spain, Italy, France, it has been Hungary and Germany. It was introduced into America in 1755 by Dr. Schuckburgh, of Albany, N. Y. When the British advanced in triumph on Lexington and Concord, their band played "God Save the King." On their disastrous retreat the Americans played "Yankee Doodle."