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59-505: " Yankee Doodle " is a traditional song and nursery rhyme , the early versions of which predate the Seven Years' War and American Revolutionary War . It is often sung patriotically in the United States today. It is the state song of the U.S. state of Connecticut . Its Roud Folk Song Index number is 4501. The tune of "Yankee Doodle" is thought to be much older than the lyrics, being well known across western Europe, including England, France, Netherlands, Hungary, and Spain. The melody of

118-572: A Harvard sophomore who also was a Minuteman ." He wrote a ballad with 15 verses which circulated in Boston and surrounding towns in 1775 or 1776. A bill was introduced to the House of Representatives on July 25, 1999, recognizing Billerica, Massachusetts , as "America's Yankee Doodle Town". After the Battle of Lexington and Concord , a Boston newspaper reported: Upon their return to Boston [pursued by

177-436: A child fall asleep. Lullabies can be found in every human culture. The English term lullaby is thought to come from "lu, lu" or "la la" sounds made by mothers or nurses to calm children, and "by by" or "bye bye", either another lulling sound or a term for a good night. Until the modern era, lullabies were usually recorded only incidentally in written sources. The Roman nurses' lullaby, "Lalla, Lalla, Lalla, aut dormi, aut lacta",

236-582: A doodle doo ", which date from at least the late 16th century. Nursery rhymes with 17th-century origins include, " Jack Sprat " (1639), " The Grand Old Duke of York " (1642), " Lavender's Blue " (1672) and " Rain Rain Go Away " (1687). The first English collection, Tommy Thumb's Song Book and a sequel, Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book , were published by Mary Cooper in London in 1744, with such songs becoming known as "Tommy Thumb's songs". A copy of

295-547: A feather in one's cap would transform the wearer into a noble. Peter McNeil, a professor of fashion studies, claims that the British were insinuating that the colonists were lower-class men who lacked masculinity, emphasizing that the American men were womanly. The song was a pre- Revolutionary War song originally sung by British military officers to mock the disheveled, disorganized colonial " Yankees " with whom they served in

354-401: A household in the town was $ 87,073, and the median income for a family was $ 95,128. The per capita income for the town was $ 32,517. About 2.8% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line , including 4.5% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over. Billerica was a contender for CNN Money's "Best Places to Live" in 2009 but did not make the top 100 list for

413-588: A nursery rhyme in the form of a riddle is " As I was going to St Ives ", which dates to 1730. About half of the currently recognised "traditional" English rhymes were known by the mid-18th century. More English rhymes were collected by Joseph Ritson in Gammer Gurton's Garland or The Nursery Parnassus (1784), published in London by Joseph Johnson . In the early 19th century, printed collections of rhymes began to spread to other countries, including Robert Chambers ' Popular Rhymes of Scotland (1826) and in

472-582: A tenth ( tanther ) of the grain". The term Doodle first appeared in English in the early 17th century and is thought to be derived from the Low German dudel, meaning "playing music badly", or Dödel , meaning "fool" or "simpleton". The Macaroni wig was an extreme fashion in the 1770s and became slang for being a fop . Dandies were men who placed particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisure hobbies. A self-made dandy

531-493: A winter; They have so much, that I'll be bound, They eat it when they've a mind to. [ Chorus ] And there I see a swamping gun Large as a log of maple, Upon a deuced little cart, A load for father's cattle. [ Chorus ] And every time they shoot it off, It takes a horn of powder , And makes a noise like father's gun, Only a nation louder. [ Chorus ] I went as nigh to one myself As 'Siah's underpinning; And father went as nigh again, I thought

590-645: Is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts , United States. The population was 42,119 according to the 2020 census. It takes its name from the town of Billericay in Essex , England. In the early 1630s, a Praying Indian village named Shawshin was at the current site of Billerica, commonly spelled Shawsheen today, as in the Shawsheen River . In 1638, Massachusetts Bay Governor John Winthrop and Lt. Governor Thomas Dudley were granted land along

649-431: Is headed by a Town Manager, appointed by a five-person Select Board. Since the 2020 United States Census and the redistricting process following it, the town of Billerica has been split between the 3rd and 6th Massachusetts Congressional Districts. With the northern part of the town in the 3rd Congressional District and the southern half in the 6th Congressional District . The Middlesex House of Correction and Jail

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708-816: Is now known as) nursery rhymes, including in Scotland Sir Walter Scott and in Germany Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim in Des Knaben Wunderhorn (1806–1808). The first, and possibly the most important academic collection to focus in this area was James Halliwell-Phillipps ' The Nursery Rhymes of England (1842) and Popular Rhymes and Tales in 1849, in which he divided rhymes into antiquities (historical), fireside stories, game-rhymes, alphabet-rhymes, riddles, nature-rhymes, places and families, proverbs, superstitions, customs, and nursery songs (lullabies). By

767-435: Is recorded in a scholium on Persius and may be the oldest to survive. Many medieval English verses associated with the birth of Jesus take the form of a lullaby, including "Lullay, my liking, my dere son, my sweting" and may be versions of contemporary lullabies. However, most of those used today date from the 17th century. For example, a well-known lullaby such as " Rock-a-bye Baby ", could not be found in records until

826-496: The Battle of Bunker Hill , and Thomas Ditson, who was tarred and feathered in 1775 while on a visit to Boston after attempting to illegally purchase a musket from a British soldier. The song " Yankee Doodle " supposedly became a term of national pride instead of an insult because of this event. The town now celebrates "Yankee Doodle Weekend" every September. According to the United States Census Bureau ,

885-471: The Bodleian Library , Oxford: Yankey Doodle came to town, How do you think they serv'd him? One took his bag, another his scrip, The quicker for to starve him. The full version of the song as it is known today: Yankee Doodle went to town A-riding on a pony, Stuck a feather in his cap And called it macaroni . [ Chorus ] Yankee Doodle keep it up, Yankee Doodle dandy , Mind

944-540: The Concord River in the area, and roughly a dozen families from Cambridge and Charlestown Village had begun to occupy Shawshin by 1652. The settlers chose the name Billerica because some of the families originally came from the town of Billericay in Essex, England. The town was incorporated as Billerica in 1655, on the same day as neighboring Chelmsford and nearby Groton . The original plantation of Billerica

1003-519: The English language nursery rhymes " Simple Simon ", " Jack and Jill ", and " Lucy Locket ". It also inspired the theme tune for the children's television series, Barney & the Backyard Gang , Barney & Friends , and the 1960s US cartoon series Roger Ramjet . Danish band Toy-Box sampled the tune in their song "E.T". The American state broadcaster Voice of America (VOA) uses

1062-603: The French and Indian War . It was written at Fort Crailo around 1755 by British Army surgeon Richard Shuckburgh while campaigning in Rensselaer, New York . The British troops sang it to mock their stereotype of the American soldier as a Yankee simpleton who thought that he was stylish if he simply stuck a feather in his cap. It was also popular among the Americans as a song of defiance, and they added verses to it that mocked

1121-475: The Middlesex Turnpike . The Middlesex Canal , which flowed through Billerica between 1795 and 1852, was used to transport goods between Lowell and Boston. In the 1840s, the Boston and Lowell Railroad 's main line was built and passed through the town's villages of North Billerica and East Billerica. Stations were built in both locations and North Billerica station is still an active station on

1180-544: The census of 2000, there were 38,981 people, 12,919 households, and 10,244 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,505.9 inhabitants per square mile (581.4/km ). There were 13,071 housing units at an average density of 504.9 per square mile (194.9/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 94.68% European American , 1.11% African American , 0.10% Native American , 2.76% Asian , 0.04% Pacific Islander , 0.33% from other races , and 0.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.54% of

1239-552: The 17th and 18th centuries. The first English collections, Tommy Thumb's Song Book and a sequel, Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book , were published by Mary Cooper in 1744. Publisher John Newbery 's stepson, Thomas Carnan, was the first to use the term Mother Goose for nursery rhymes when he published a compilation of English rhymes, Mother Goose's Melody, or Sonnets for the Cradle (London, 1780). The oldest children's songs for which records exist are lullabies , intended to help

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1298-752: The Bay State." MBTA Commuter Rail provides service from Boston 's North Station with the North Billerica station on its Lowell Line . The southern portions of the town are also geographically close to the Wilmington (MBTA station) and the Anderson Regional Transportation Center in Woburn. The Lowell Regional Transit Authority provides bus service in parts of Billerica. Route #3 (South Lowell) services

1357-683: The British and hailed George Washington as the Commander of the Continental army. By 1781, "Yankee Doodle" had turned from being an insult to being a song of national pride. According to one account, Shuckburgh wrote the original lyrics after seeing the appearance of Colonial troops under Colonel Thomas Fitch , the son of Connecticut Governor Thomas Fitch . According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, "the current version seems to have been written in 1776 by Edward Bangs,

1416-500: The German Kniereitvers , the child is put in mock peril, but the experience is a pleasurable one of care and support, which over time the child comes to command for itself. Research also supports the assertion that music and rhyme increase a child's ability in spatial reasoning , which aids mathematics skills. Sources Billerica, Massachusetts Billerica ( / b ɪ l ˈ r ɪ k ə / )

1475-485: The MBTA Commuter Rail. Trains stopped taking passengers at East Billerica in 1965 and the station was remodeled and is now a private home. Billerica has been governed through a representative town meeting since 1956, after citizens approved its adoption in 1955. In this system, 240 representatives are elected from 12 precincts to attend the town meeting, the town's legislative branch. The executive branch

1534-478: The Minutemen], one [Briton] asked his brother officer how he liked the tune now, – "Dang them", returned he, "they made us dance it till we were tired" – since which Yankee Doodle sounds less sweet to their ears. The earliest known version of the lyrics comes from 1755 or 1758 (the date of origin is disputed): Brother Ephraim sold his Cow And bought him a Commission ; And then he went to Canada To fight for

1593-630: The Nation; But when Ephraim he came home He proved an arrant Coward, He wouldn't fight the Frenchmen there For fear of being devoured. The sheet music which accompanies these lyrics reads, "The Words to be Sung through the Nose, & in the West Country drawl & dialect ." The tune also appeared in 1762 in one of America's first comic operas The Disappointment , with bawdy lyrics about

1652-910: The North Billerica MBTA station and the North Billerica Business Center. Route #13 (Billerica via Edson) services Boston Road ( Massachusetts Route 3A ) from North Billerica to Pinehurst . Stops along the way include the North Billerica MBTA Station, Pollard Street, High Street, Billerica Center and Town Hall, the Billerica Mall, and Towne Plaza, and a shopping center located in Riverdale. Route #14 ( Burlington Mall / Lahey Hospital & Medical Center ) services Route 3A until Billerica Center, where it continues onto Concord Road and

1711-467: The United States, Mother Goose's Melodies (1833). From this period, the origins and authors of rhymes are sometimes known—for instance, in " Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star " which combines the melody of an 18th-century French tune " Ah vous dirai-je, Maman " with a 19th-century English poem by Jane Taylor entitled "The Star" used as lyrics. Early folk song collectors also often collected (what

1770-405: The average family size was 3.30. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.7% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 34.6% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 8.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.2 males. As of the 2010 census, the median income for

1829-503: The deuce was in him. [ Chorus ] Cousin Simon grew so bold, I thought he would have cocked it; It scared me so I shrinked it off And hung by father's pocket. [ Chorus ] And Cap'n Davis had a gun, He kind of clapt his hand on't And stuck a crooked stabbing iron Upon the little end on't [ Chorus ] And there I see a pumpkin shell As big as mother's basin, And every time they touched it off They scampered like

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1888-482: The early and mid-20th centuries, this was a form of bowdlerisation , concerned with some of the more violent elements of nursery rhymes and led to the formation of organisations like the British "Society for Nursery Rhyme Reform". Psychoanalysts such as Bruno Bettelheim strongly criticised this revisionism, because it weakened their usefulness to both children and adults as ways of symbolically resolving issues and it has been argued that revised versions may not perform

1947-515: The following towns: Chelmsford , Lowell , Tewksbury , Wilmington , Burlington , Bedford , and Carlisle . The border with Lowell is at a point in the middle of the Concord River where Billerica, Chelmsford, Lowell and Tewksbury all meet . The Shawsheen River and Concord River are the two major waterways within the town. Nuttings Lake offers a public beach and other recreational water activities including canoeing and sailing. As of

2006-452: The functions of catharsis for children, or allow them to imaginatively deal with violence and danger. In the late 20th century, revisionism of nursery rhymes became associated with the idea of political correctness . Most attempts to reform nursery rhymes on this basis appear to be either very small scale, light-hearted updating, like Felix Dennis's When Jack Sued Jill – Nursery Rhymes for Modern Times (2006), or satires written as if from

2065-490: The ideas about the links between rhymes and historical persons, or events, can be traced back to Katherine Elwes' book The Real Personages of Mother Goose (1930), in which she linked famous nursery rhyme characters with real people, on little or no evidence. She posited that children's songs were a peculiar form of coded historical narrative, propaganda or covert protest, and did not believe that they were written simply for entertainment. There have been several attempts across

2124-399: The late-18th century when it was printed by John Newbery (c. 1765). A French poem, similar to "Thirty days hath September", numbering the days of the month, was recorded in the 13th century. From the later Middle Ages, there are records of short children's rhyming songs, often as marginalia . From the mid-16th century, they began to be recorded in English plays. " Pat-a-cake " is one of

2183-578: The latter is held in the British Library . John Newbery 's stepson, Thomas Carnan, was the first to use the term Mother Goose for nursery rhymes when he published a compilation of English rhymes, Mother Goose 's Melody, or, Sonnets for the Cradle (London, 1780). These rhymes seem to have come from a variety of sources, including traditional riddles , proverbs , ballads , lines of Mummers ' plays, drinking songs, historical events, and, it has been suggested, ancient pagan rituals. One example of

2242-456: The music and the step, And with the girls be handy. Father and I went down to camp, Along with Captain Gooding, And there we saw the men and boys As thick as hasty pudding . [ Chorus ] And there we saw a thousand men As rich as Squire David, And what they wasted every day, I wish it could be savèd. [ Chorus ] The 'lasses they eat every day, Would keep a house

2301-408: The nation. [ Chorus ] I see a little barrel too, The heads were made of leather; They knocked on it with little clubs And called the folks together. [ Chorus ] And there was Cap'n Washington , And gentle folks about him; They say he's grown so 'tarnal proud He will not ride without 'em. [ Chorus ] He got him on his meeting clothes, Upon a slapping stallion; He sat

2360-481: The nation. In 2016, Billerica was on the NeighborhoodScout 's "America's Top 100 Safest Cities" list. Billerica Public Schools operate primary and secondary schools. The Billerica public school system consists of five elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school. A sixth elementary school, Eugene C. Vining Elementary, closed permanently at the end of the 2019 school year. In addition,

2419-654: The north. The town is also situated less than 3 miles (5 km) from the Massachusetts Route 128 /Interstate 95 High-Technology belt to the south and less than 2 miles (3 km) from the Interstate 495 (Massachusetts) outer belt highway to the north. Billerica has several small neighborhoods that form villages (or sections) of town. Those villages are Billerica Center, East Billerica, North Billerica , Nutting Lake, Pinehurst , West Billerica, River Pines, Riverdale, and South Billerica. Billerica borders

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2478-478: The oldest surviving English nursery rhymes. The earliest recorded version of the rhyme appears in Thomas d'Urfey 's play The Campaigners from 1698. Most nursery rhymes were not written down until the 18th century when the publishing of children's books began to move from polemic and education towards entertainment, but there is evidence for many rhymes existing before this, including " To market, to market " and " Cock

2537-480: The point of view of political correctness to condemn reform. The controversy in Britain in 1986 over changing the language of " Baa, Baa, Black Sheep " because it was alleged in the popular press, that it was seen as racially dubious, was based only on a rewriting of the rhyme in one private nursery, as an exercise for the children. It has been argued that nursery rhymes set to music aid in a child's development. In

2596-409: The population. There were 12,919 households, out of which 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.1% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.7% were non-families. 16.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.92 and

2655-505: The search for Blackbeard 's buried treasure by a team from Philadelphia. An alternate verse that the British are said to have marched to is attributed to an incident involving Thomas Ditson of Billerica, Massachusetts . Ditson attempted to purchase a Brown Bess musket from a British soldier in the 47th Regiment of Foot in Boston in March 1775; after a group of the soldier's comrades spotted

2714-661: The song may have originated from an Irish tune "All the way to Galway" in which the second strain is identical to Yankee Doodle. There are rumors that the earliest words of "Yankee Doodle" came from a Middle Dutch harvest song which is thought to have followed the same tune, supposedly dating back as far as 15th-century Holland. It supposedly contained mostly nonsense words in English and Dutch: "Yanker, didel, doodle down, Diddle, dudel, lanther, Yanke viver, voover vown, Botermilk und tanther ." Farm laborers in Holland were paid "as much buttermilk ( Botermelk ) as they could drink, and

2773-492: The time of Sabine Baring-Gould 's A Book of Nursery Songs (1895), folklore was an academic study full of comments and footnotes. A professional anthropologist, Andrew Lang (1844–1912) produced The Nursery Rhyme Book in 1897. The early years of the 20th century are notable for the illustrations of children's books, including Randolph Caldecott 's Hey Diddle Diddle Picture Book (1909) and Arthur Rackham 's Mother Goose (1913). The definitive study of English rhymes remains

2832-543: The town has a total area of 26.4 square miles (68 km ), of which 25.9 square miles (67 km ) are land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km ) (1.90%) is water. Billerica is located 20 miles (32 km) north-northwest of Boston along the Northwest Expressway portion of U.S. Route 3 , positioning it as the border between Boston’s inner suburbs to the south and the Merrimack Valley region to

2891-405: The town is home to a regional technical high school. Shawsheen Valley Technical Highschool. There are no parochial or private schools in the town of Billerica. However, there are several in neighboring towns including: In celebrating Sports Illustrated 's 50th anniversary, the magazine named Billerica one of the nation's top fifty towns for sports and recreation and the "Sportstown for

2950-555: The transaction as it was occurring, they tarred and feathered Ditson in order to prevent any such illegal purchases from happening in the future. Ditson eventually managed to secure a musket and fought at the Battles of Lexington and Concord. For this reason, the town of Billerica is called the home of "Yankee Doodle": Yankee Doodle came to town, For to buy a firelock, We will tar and feather him, And so we will John Hancock . Another pro-British set of lyrics believed to have used

3009-589: The tune of Yankee Doodle as their interval signal . There is uncertainty over the origin of the VOA's decision to use the tune. In his 1990 memoir Being Red , Howard Fast claimed that while working as the VOA's chief news writer and news director in 1943, he selected "as a joke" Yankee Doodle for the broadcaster's interval signal. I established contact at the Soviet embassy with people who spoke English and were willing to feed me important bits and pieces from their side of

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3068-549: The tune was published in June 1775 following the Battle of Bunker Hill : The seventeen of June, at Break of Day, The Rebels they supriz'd us, With their strong Works, which they'd thrown up, To burn the Town and drive us. "Yankee Doodle" was played at the British surrender at Saratoga in 1777. A variant is preserved in the 1810 edition of Gammer Gurton's Garland : Or, The Nursery Parnassus , collected by Francis Douce , now in

3127-538: The wire. I had long ago, somewhat facetiously, suggested “Yankee Doodle” as our musical signal, and now that silly little jingle was a power cue, a note of hope everywhere on earth, conveyed by short wave as well as by our four-hour American BBC. When I sat down to write “Good morning, this is the Voice of America,” I now has a grasp of things. Nursery rhyme From the mid-16th century nursery rhymes began to be recorded in English plays, and most popular rhymes date from

3186-405: The work of Iona and Peter Opie . Many nursery rhymes have been argued to have hidden meanings and origins. John Bellenden Ker Gawler (1764–1842), for example, wrote four volumes arguing that English nursery rhymes were written in "Low Saxon", a hypothetical early form of Dutch. He then "translated" them back into English, revealing in particular a strong tendency to anti-clericalism . Many of

3245-536: The world along in rows, In hundreds and in millions. [ Chorus ] The flaming ribbons in his hat, They looked so tearing fine, ah, I wanted dreadfully to get To give to my Jemima. [ Chorus ] I see another snarl of men A-digging graves, they told me, So 'tarnal long, so 'tarnal deep, They 'tended they should hold me. [ Chorus ] It scared me so, I hooked it off, Nor stopped, as I remember, Nor turned about till I got home, Locked up in mother's chamber. [ Chorus ] The tune shares with

3304-479: The world to revise nursery rhymes (along with fairy tales and popular songs). As recently as the late 18th century, rhymes like " Little Robin Redbreast " were occasionally cleaned up for a young audience. In the late 19th century, the major concern seems to have been violence and crime, which led some children's publishers in the United States like Jacob Abbot and Samuel Goodrich to change Mother Goose rhymes. In

3363-488: Was a British middle-class man who impersonated an aristocratic lifestyle. They notably wore silk strip cloth, stuck feathers in their hats, and carried two pocket watches with chains—"one to tell what time it was and the other to tell what time it was not". The macaroni wig was an example of such Rococo dandy fashion, popular in elite circles in Western Europe and much mocked in the London press. The term macaroni

3422-488: Was divided during the colonial period into the towns of Billerica, Bedford , Wilmington , and Tewksbury . The oldest remaining homestead in the town is the Manning Manse built in 1696, which was also the residence of William Manning (1747–1814), the author of The Key of Liberty, a critique of Federalist policies. Other notable Revolutionary War–era residents included Asa Pollard , the first soldier killed at

3481-400: Was used to describe a fashionable man who dressed and spoke in an outlandishly affected and effeminate manner. The term pejoratively referred to a man who "exceeded the ordinary bounds of fashion" in terms of clothes, fastidious eating, and gambling. In British conversation, the term "Yankee doodle dandy" implied unsophisticated misappropriation of upper-class fashion, as though simply sticking

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