The word "Yankee", now used with pride, was originally a term of ridicule. It was Dr. Schuckburgh, a British army surgeon, who wrote the popular "Yankee Doodle" to ridicule the shabbily dressed troops of Colonel Thomas Fitch of Norwalk, Connecticut.

It seems that Elizabeth Fitch disliked her brother's army uniform; she thought it lacked character. One day as he was leaving to join his regiment, she ran into the barnyard and returned with a long turkey feather for his hat. In true Yankee spirit, Fitch brought a feather for each of his men. When Dr. Schuckburgh saw the feathered soldiers approaching, he sarcastically referred to them as "macaronis" which was the slang of the day for "dude" or "dandy". Hence the famous lines, "Stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni." Webster says that a doodle is a simple fellow—thus the expression "Yankee Doodle".

Q. Underline the item mentioned in the second paragraph which stood for the Yankee spirit.