YANKEE 



6383 



YANKTON 



part of China, entering the Yellow Sea over 

 3,000 miles from its source. This great river 

 has a drainage basin nearly 700,000 square miles 

 in area, for it has numerous tributaries. 



Various parts of its course are designated by 

 special names, but foreigners usually speak of 

 the whole river as the Yang-tse-kiang. With 

 its many tributaries it forms a waterway sys- 

 tem of vast importance one of China's three 

 greatest river systems. Large ocean steamers 

 -id the river to Hankow, 680 miles from 

 the mouth, and smaller boats can go 500 miles 

 farther, to I-chang. About half the sea com- 

 merce of China is distributed by means of the 

 Yang-tse-kiang, and the native sailing craft, 

 called junks, are found on its waters by thou- 

 sands. Millions of China's inhabitants dwell on 

 its banks. Among the great cities built on its 

 shores are Nanking, Ching-kiang and Su-chow. 

 The Yang-tse is subject to disastrous floods, 

 which on many occasions have caused great loss 

 of life and property. It frequently rises as 

 high as fifty feet. 



YANKEE, yang'ke. This name, in Europe 

 commonly applied to any inhabitant of the 

 United States, is in its narrower and more cor- 

 rect meaning limited to the people of New 

 England. It first came into general use during 

 the Revolutionary War, when the British sol- 

 diers applied it in derision to the New England 

 troops, but there is evidence that it was not 

 unknown before that time. During the War 

 of Secession any Federal soldier was called by 

 the Confederates a Yankee, who in turn called 

 the Confederates "Johnny Rebs." 



The derivation of the term remains uncer- 

 tain though there are two fairly plausible ex- 

 planations given. One is that the word is akin 

 to the Scotch word yankic, which means 

 rd, and thus agrees with the time-honored 

 conception* of New England character; the 

 other and more generally accepted theory is 

 that it was an Indian corruption of the word 

 English, or Anglois. See YANKEE DOODLE. 



YANKEE DOO'DLE, an American national 

 song. The tune is very ancient, having been 

 used in the service of the Catholic Church of 

 Italy as early as the tenth century. It was 

 popular with the common people of that t 

 and it gradually came into use as a melody for 

 a vineyard song in Sicily, Italy and other por- 

 tions of Southern Kuropc. Probably as early 

 as 1500 it had reached Holland and was sung 

 t lure by the harvesters to verses beginning 

 with the meaningless words 



Tanker dudcl doodle down. 



During Shakespeare's time it was in use in 

 England as a nursery song, and in later days 

 was the air for a doggerel beginning 



Lucy Locket lost her pocket. 



Kitty Fisher found it ; 

 Nothing: in it. nothing in it 



Save the binding round it. 



When Cromwell rode down from Canterbury 

 to take charge of the Puritan forces, the Cava- 

 liers composed and sang to the old tune the 

 derisive words 



Yankee Doodle came to town 



Upon a Kentish pony. 

 He stuck a feather in his cap 



And called him Macaroni. 



The word macaroni was a term then applied to 

 London dudes who affected ridiculous Italian 

 styles. 



The words of Yankee Doodle, as known in 

 America, were written in derision of the un- 

 trained American troops during the French and 

 Indian War in 1755 by an English army sur- 

 geon, Dr. Richard Schuckburgh. The Continen- 

 tal soldiers accepted the challenge and at once 

 took up the song; by the time of the Revolu- 

 tion it was well known in American homes. 

 The first printed notice of it in America was 

 in the New York Journal of October 13, 1768, 

 where it was spoken of as a "capital piece." 

 Throughout the Revolution it was sung and 

 played in every patriot* camp, and during Corn- 

 wallis's retreat from Concord was whistled and 

 sung so persistently by the Continentals, as 

 they fired from behind trees and walls, that the 

 British general is said to have rushed into hi- 

 camp with the exclamation, "I hope to God I 

 shall never hear that tune again." He did 

 hear it again, however, under harassing circum- 

 stances, for it was played by American bands as 

 the British soldiers marched away after tin 

 surrender of Yorktown. 



It has been said of the words to Yankee 

 Doodle that "they II suffer from edit- 



ing, as Shakespeare has, because they could not 

 be worse;" but the tune itself is so lively and 

 catchy that the song will probably never lose 

 its popularity among Americans. E.D.F. 



YANKTON, yangk'tun, S. D., a city and thr 

 county seat of Yankton County, is situated on 

 the Missouri River, sixty-five miles southwest 

 of Sioux Falls and sixty-five miles northwest of 

 Sioux City, Iowa. It is served by the Chi< 

 Milwaukee A Saint Paul, the Great Northern 

 and the Chicago A North Western railroads. 



city contains Y.mkton College ((' 

 tional), a Federal building, completed in 1903 



