Yankee Doodle Story
 Tar
& Feathering
The True Yankee Doodle Account of Billerica’s Thomas
Ditson
True account by Lt Mackenzie who was there in 1775; a history of
tar & feathering; The Yankee Doodle Story & words from Yankee
Doodle
 An Authentic
Account by a British Officer
Yankee Doodle the Song
Tar & Feathering
The Thomas
Ditson story
An Authentic Account by a British Officer
Lieutenant Frederick Mackenzie, 23rd (Royal Welch Fusiliers)
Regiment of Foot:
"8th [March, 1775.] A Country fellow was detected this day in
buying arms from a soldier of the 47th Regt. The men of that
Regiment
immediately secured him, and having provided the proper
materials, they
stripped, and then tarred & feathered him, and setting him upon
a Truck, in
that
manner paraded him, in the afternoon, through most parts of the
town, to
The neck. This matter was done with the knowledge of the
Officers of the
regiment, altho they did not appear in it, and it gave great
Offence to the
people of the town, and was much disapproved of by General Gage.
Arms of
all
kinds are so much sought after by the Country people, that they
use every
means of procuring them; and have been successful amongst the
Soldiers,
several of whom have been induced to dispose of Arms, or such
parts of
Arms,
as they could come at. Perhaps this transaction may deter the
Country
fellows from the like practices in future.
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Yankee Doodle the Song
The origins of the tune Yankee Doodle are lost to history now
but by the middle of the 18th century the melody was being sung
to words ridiculing American colonial soldiers particularly
during the French & Indian Wars. Billerica’s Thomas Ditson had a
verse attributed to him:
Yankee Doodle came to town,
For to buy a firelock,
We will tar & feather him,
And so we will John Hancock
Of course Yankee Doodle was soon adopted by the American
revolutionary soldiers with words more to the liking of the
American patriot many of which are still sung by American school
children today.
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Tar & Feathering
Tar & Feathering accounts go as far back as Richard the
Lionhearted and the 3rd Crusade where it is reported that the
king ordered any robber traveling with the crusade “shall first
be shaved, then boiling pitch shall be poured upon his head, and
a cushion of feathers shook over it”
The are few accounts of this practice in actual use until the
American revolutionaries and port mobs revived it. Tar was in
ready supply in the port cities and pillows of the day were
feather pillows. Although the practice could be sent as a
warning by the application of tar & feathers on the victims
clothes the fervor of the mob often resulted in painful
application to the ‘tax collector’ or other ‘Tory sympathizers’
skin. Occasionally it resulted in death.
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The Thomas Ditson story
By Dick Hawes and Bill Brimer
March 1775 – Animosity between the citizens of
Massachusetts and the British forces occupying Boston
had steadily escalated since the troops landed in 1768.
The growing tension had manifested itself in several
incidents both political and social. Some were
permanently etched in America’s history and folklore
such as the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre.
Still others are relatively unknown, like the Thomas
Ditson incident.
A young farmer named Thomas Ditson Jr., age 33, who was
eager to become a minute man for the town of Billerica,
decided to better arm himself for whatever duties lie
ahead. On March 7th, leaving his farm and family, he
traveled to Boston hoping to find a firelock for sale.
While Ditson inquired of townsmen who had guns for sale,
he was directed to a man who “appeared to be a soldier”.
Ditson went with the soldier, Sgt. John Clancy of the
47th Regiment of Foot, to a “house” which turned out to
be a barracks for members of the 47th.
After entering the house, Ditson bargained for a
greatcoat in which he paid a sum of 2 pistareen, a small
silver coin used in America at that time. He placed the
coat in a bag and began the process of dickering for a
firelock.
What happened next largely depends on whose side of the
story you believe, Ditson’s or Sergeant Clancey’s.
Ditson said he offered four dollars for a, “very fine
piece” and would also pay one dollar and a half for an
“old rusty piece”. Clancey assured Ditson he would have
no problem carrying the firelocks past the sentry at the
ferry because they were friends.
Clancy claims he and Ditson began drinking while
discussing the firelocks for sale. He said Ditson
offered to buy as many firelocks as the sergeant could
gather. He went on to state Ditson also made an offer of
“any sum of money” if he would desert the army and come
with him to the country. At any rate, Ditson was seized
by a group of soldiers and carried off to the guard
house on Foster’s Wharf at approximately 6 or 7 o’clock
that evening.
The next morning, a sergeant appeared and told Ditson to
strip to his breeches. More men followed carrying a
bucket of tar and a “pillow-bear of feathers.” An
officer standing in the doorway ordered the men to tar
and feather Ditson from head to toe, including the
breeches. A paper was read to Ditson and then hung
around his neck, which proclaimed; “American or
Democracy exemplified in a villain who attempted to
incite one of the soldiers of his Majesty’s 47th
Regiment to desert and take up arms with rebels against
his King and country”.
Ditson was then ordered to sit upon a chair which had
been fastened to a two wheeled donkey cart. About 40 to
50 regulars with muskets and fixed bayonets, led by Lt.
Col. Nestbit, pushed Ditson through the streets of
Boston all the while jeering and singing insults.
The fife and drums of the 47th played the tune of Yankee
Doodle as the soldiers sang an original verse:
Yankee Doodle came to town,
For to buy a firelock,
We will tar and feather him,
And so we will John Hancock.
As a crowd grew and pressed closer to the soldiers, the
order was given to load firelock, which was done.
Perhaps wanting to avoid another massacre, the officer
stopped the procession and told Ditson he was free to
go.
In the days following the incident of March 7th and 8th,
a letter of protest was written to General Gage by the
selectmen of Billerica. Samuel Adams referred to the
incident in a letter he wrote, “General Gage has lost
command over his officers”.
Thomas Ditson survived the ordeal in good health and
joined the minute company in Billerica. A little more
than a month later Ditson and other men of the Billerica
Minute Men Company answered the alarm of April 19th. One
must wonder what was going through Ditson’s mind as he
marched towards Concord and then opened fire on the
regulars at Meriams Corner. The Billerica Minutemen were
also active in the Battle of Bennington, Vermont, at
Bunker Hill in Charlestown, MA., and in the Rhode Island
Campaign.
Since 1990 the town of Billerica has honored Thomas
Ditson with the Yankee Doodle Homecoming. It is held on
the third weekend of September. The Billerica Colonial
Minute Men re-enact the tar and feathering of Mr. Ditson
during the weekend.
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