Col. Fitch (1725-1795) of Norwich, Connecticut, was, according to local tradition, saying goodbye to his sister, Elizabeth Fitch, before riding off with his shabbily dressed troops to take part in the French and Indian War.
Colonel Fitch’s Sister Put Chicken Feathers in Soldiers’ Hats
Elizabeth Fitch, taking a last look at her brother and his men, was so dismayed at the ill-assorted costumes of this cavalry that she reportedly exclaimed “You must have uniformsof some kind.” Well, “some kind” they were. She ran to the chicken yard, returned with feathers and, allegedly announcing “Soldiers should wear plumes,” she told each soldier to stick a feather in his hat.
Was Elizabeth making fun of the soldiers, teasing her brother, or dead serious?
British Army’s Dr. Shuckburgh Called Soldiers “Macaronis” in His Song
When Dr. Richard Shuckburgh saw Col. Fitch’s men arriving in the British Army’s fort at Rennselaer, New York, he is said to have sarcastically exclaimed “They’re macaronis!” The word “macaronis was slang of that day for fop, or dandy, meaning either a foolish or silly person, or a man who was vain about his appearance, or devoted to fancy clothes bedecked with plumes and lace, often made of satin or velvet and trimmed with ornate buttons and fur. “Doodle” was a 17th century word for a fool or simpleton
The name “dandy” stuck and Dr. Shuckburgh promptly wrote the song:
Yankee Doodle went to town,
A-Riding on a pony;
He stuck a feather in his cap,
And called it macaroni.
Yankee Doodle Was Immediately Popular
The song immediately became popular. So did caricature drawings of this “Yankee Doodle Dandy”. Although fighting on the same side in this pre-revolutionary era, many British soldiers considered American pioneer settlers inferior rejects from their native England. Indeed, some of America’s early colonists had renounced England’s official church and others had been deported from England’s prisons and poor houses, but some also came from old, respected British families.
Col. Fitch, who was Thomas Fitch V, descended from Thomas Fitch I, a founder of Norwalk, and was the son of Connecticut Colony Governor Thomas Fitch IV. Gov. Fitch, a Yale graduate, married Hannah Hall.
Today, “Yankee Doodle” is the state anthem of Connecticut. It is also considered a patriotic American song.
SOURCES: Botkin, B. A., Historical Traditions – A Treasury of New England Folklore (1989 edition).
“Hear-Saye, newsletter of the Saybrook (CT) Colony Founders Association (Fall, 1995)
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