I once had a disc from my local library with Revolutionary era songs on it, and there was a big book with it that gave the lyrics. The last verse of ‘yankee doodle’ went like this:
Here I end my song composed of thirteen verses
May agriculture flourish long
and commerce fill our purses.
I can’t seem to locate this verse in any of the online lyrics, and no one I know seems to have ever heard of it. I couldn’t possibly have imagined that verse, right? Has anyone else ever seen it or know where it comes from?
The words you’ve quoted seem very appropriate for that time. 13 verses = 13 colonies. Agriculture and commerce were obviously matters foremost in the colonists minds.
I’d vote for it being accurate and original.
I thought the same thing, but I can’t seem to locate any other source for those words other than my memory.
that explains why I couldn’t find it under “Yankee doodle” lyrics. Perhaps my memory is just faulty, but I’d have sworn it was listed as Yankee Doodle on the disc I had.