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FAMOUS SONGS
entertained and men's hearts are moved to high efforts and great sacrifices)'
According to the " Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians" published by Messrs. Scribner in New York, the piece is " a national air of American origin unknown. The trivial words of the original song, in derision of the ill-assorted provincial troops, are said to have been written by Dr. Shuckburgh, who served as surgeon under General Amherst during the French and Indian war. Several versions of the song, the original of which was 'The Yankee's Return from Camp,' are extant. The tune, always called 'Yankee Doodle/ from the chorus or refrain, has passed through various changes. The his-torical associations connecting the air with the American Revolution, when it was universally played, have prevented criticism of the melody, which is simple and incisive, but shrill and shallow. It is almost certainly of English origin, though it has been ascribed to various countries and probably dates from the eighteenth cen-tury." I can supplement this by adding that the tune of " Yankee Doodle" appears in Dr. Samuel Arnold's comic opera, " Two to One," written by George Colman the elder, which was produced " with universal applause" (as the title page tells) at the Theatre Royal in the
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