Well, I don't know which explanation to believe here! Though I like your Dad's angle I think the macaroni-as-slang-for-fashion may be the answer here if we're going the Ockham's Razor route (i.e. the shortest route from a to b). I'm always puzzled (but delighted) to learn what a well known folk song Waltzing Matilda is - seeing half of Australians probably understand its storyline little more than anyone from overseas. I guess ballads, stories told in song, will never go out of style. Camille verona_beach@geocities.com @ THE ARTS HOLE http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6442 @ THE INVERTED FOREST http://www.angelfire.com/pa/invertedforest > Camille's recent posts on Waltzing Matilda were of great interest to me, the > daughter of the man who sings only rarely, and when he does sing, he sings > but three songs in the rumbling voice of my dreams: Amazing Grace, > Edelweiss, and Waltzing Matilda. > > American that I am, I never knew, and neither did my father, what Waltzing > Matilda was about. So when Camille posted her quick study on Waltzing > Matilda, I forwarded it to my old man. My Father. He who knows all. > Better known as Pops. And, historian that he is, he felt compelled to > answer Camille's question about Yankee Doodle's Macaroni: > > "Good on Billabong. My guess on the feather in Y>D>'s cap is that represents > > the kind of symbol of nobility that such decorations connote. Thus he was > fancying himself up to mock the English [esp. Lord North, the P.M.], but he > called it macaroni, that is, a kind of base, common food-pasta is-and this > was meant to indicate just how much stock the Yankee Colonials put in > feathers and such noble symbols, for they intended to eat it all up. And we > did. At Yorktown." > > So thanks, Camille... > > Regards, > Cecilia. > >