Patriot’s Day: Lest We Forget

Today’s post is in memory of:

Pvt. Thomas Smith, 4th (King’s Own) Regiment of Foot
Pvt. Patrick Gray, 4th (King’s Own) Regiment of Foot
Pvt. James Hall, 4th (King’s Own) Regiment of Foot

KIA at the Battle of Concord Bridge, April 19, 1775. They were the first British soldiers to die in combat during the American Revolution

Chorus:
Sheep’s head and vinegar,
Buttermilk and tansy,
Boston is a Yankee town,
Sing, “Hey, doodle dandy!”

First we’ll take a pinch of snuff
And then a drink of water,
And then we’ll say, “How do you do?”
And that’s a Yankee supper.

(Chorus)

Yankee Doodle came to town
For to buy a firelock.
We will tar and feather him,
And so we will John Hancock.

(Chorus)

As for their king, that John Hancock,
And Adams, if they’re taken,
Their heads for signs shall hang up high
Upon that hill called Beacon.

(Chorus)

Dolly Bushel let a fart,
Jenny Jones, she found it,
Ambrose carried it to the mill,
Where Doctor Warren ground it.

(Chorus)

Mistress Hancock dreamed a dream;
She dreamed she wanted something.
She dreamed she wanted a Yankee king
To crown him with a pumpkin.

(Chorus)

-Original British Lyrics to “Yankee Doodle”, as sung on the march to Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775.

…Poured here in vain;–that sturdy blood
Was meant to make the earth more green,
But in a higher, gentler mood
Than broke this April noon serene;
Two graves are here: to mark the place,
At head and foot, an unhewn stone,
O’er which the herald lichens trace
The blazon of Oblivion.

These men were brave enough, and true
To the hired soldier’s bull-dog creed;
What brought them here they never knew,
They fought as suits the English breed:
They came three thousand miles, and died,
To keep the Past upon its throne:
Unheard, beyond the ocean tide,
Their English mother made her moan.

-James Russell Lowell, “Lines”, 1846. The last four lines are graven on the stone marking the British graves near Concord Bridge.