Yankee Doodle (Lord Howe Put On His Fine Red Coat)

DESCRIPTION: "Lord Howe put on his fine red coat And called or all his cronies... A-riding on their ponies." "Georgie Porgie, pumpkin pie, Georgie, he's a dandy... He's so spic and spandy." Humorous comments on the British forces in America
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1969 (Bush-FSofCentralWestVirginiaVol1)
KEYWORDS: political humorous clothes royalty animal
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Bush-FSofCentralWestVirginiaVol1, p. 29, "Yankee Doodle" (1 text, tune referenced)
Roud #4501
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Yankee Doodle" (general situation)
NOTES [161 words]: This is a bit of a conundrum. Bush's informant "Mr. Sprinston" declared that the common version of "Yankee Doodle" is British (a semi-truth; the first printing was apparently by Halliwell in a British book) and that this is the colonial version.
Certainly it is an American song referring to the Revolutionary War. Lord Howe is presumably General William Howe, who succeeded Thomas Gage as commander of British forces in America (unless the reference is to his brother, Admiral Richard). "Georgie Porgie" is surely George III.
But Sprinston's text never mentions "Yankee Doodle," is sung to the tune of "Weevily Wheat" (although it fits "Yankee Doodle," and the two melodies have similarities), and doesn't appear to be part of the standard original Yankee Doodle ("Father and I went down to camp Along with Captain Gooding..."). Combining those three facts, i'm not dead sure this is truly part of "Yankee Doodle." So I'm filing it separately, albeit hesitantly. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.0
File: BuW1029

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