From Wikipedia
Yankee Doodle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The term
Doodle first appeared in the early seventeenth century,
[4] 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 contemporary slang for
foppishness.
[5] Dandies were young English men who adopted feminine mannerisms and highly extravagant attire, and were deemed effeminate.[
citation needed]
They were members of the Macaroni Club
[6] in London at the height of the fashion for dandyism, so called because they wore striped silks upon their return from the Grand Tour - and a feather in their hats. They also wore two fob watches: "one to tell what time it was and the other to tell what time it was not" ran their joking explanation. Their love of horse racing at
Cheltenham and
Bibury (both in England) can still be recognised today in the names of the 18th Century Macaroni Farm and Macaroni Woods near Eastleach, Gloucestershire, UK. The verse implies that Yankees were so unsophisticated that they thought simply sticking a feather in a cap would make them the height of fashion.
[7] Peter McNeil, professor of fashion studies, claims the British were insinuating the colonists were womanish and not very masculine.
[8]"
