"swamp yankee"

[sagehen]

A question from another list:
"-I am reading a book by David Handler, set in Connecticut,
that refers to several of the characters as swamp yankees.  My husband was
born in Connecticut, not far from where the story is set, but this is not
a phrase he is familiar with."

Reading the same book as this poster, I simply assumed a reference to the
poor, landless, powerless class.  Does the phrase have some more particular
meaning?

A. Murie

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org