The Grand Old Duke of York

Richard Tarlton in the 1580s with his pipe and tabor

The most common modern version is:

Oh, the grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
And he marched them down again.

When they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only halfway up,
They were neither up nor down.[1]

There may be almost as many slight or great variations to the actions as there are groups to regularly perform them and pass on their style, but the core movements are often based upon the performers standing whenever a clear "up" is sung, reseating themselves whenever "down" is mentioned and briefly taking an abbreviated half-standing/crouching position for the "only half way up" phrase. A group of performers who, especially in an 'audience participation'-like situation, are originally seated (for example school children in an assembly, or the audience in a theatre - especially for a typical participative segment of a pantomime) will/should end the song back in their original positions.

The first verse is rather gentle one to react to, with one clear standing and one clear seating action, and so other actions may be given. For example: a stiff salute for the "Duke of York", indicating "ten" by clearly displaying ten fingers (optionally emphasising this on the further syllables of "thou-sand men") and/or forming the hands/arms into a some form depicting a 'hill' summit.

The second verse becomes far more rapid, especially between the two pairs"downs"

the performer may make a bob, between the two, to emphasise the separate positions, rather than just stay up/down), and synchronisation is easily lost by those who are not as quick or able to change positions, or who are new to the 'game' and not as practiced. This activity does help group-bonding in young children and encourages the following the teacher/leader of the activity, but its use is often more as an easily controlled game that promotes physical activity.

Like many popular nursery rhymes the origins of the song have been much debated and remain unclear. Unusually the rhyme clearly refers to an historical person and debates have tended to circulate around identifying which Duke is being referred to in the lyrics.[1] The lyrics were not printed in their modern form until relatively recently, in Arthur Rackham's Mother Goose in 1913.[2] Prior to that a number of alternatives have been found including a note that in Warwickshire in 1892 the song was sung of both the Duke of York and the King of France; from 1894 that it was sung of Napoleon.[1] The oldest version of the song that survives is from 1642, under the title 'Old Tarlton's song', attributed to the stage clown Richard Tarlton (1530–1588) with the lyrics:

The King of France with forty thousand men,
Came up a hill and so came downe againe.[3]

As a result, the argument has been made that it may have been a common satirical verse that was adapted as appropriate and, because it was recorded in roughly the modern form, has become fixed on the Duke of York.[1]

Statue of Frederick Duke of York in Waterloo Place, Westminster, London

Candidates for the duke in question include:

• Richard, Duke of York (1411–1460), who was defeated at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460. Richard's army, some 8,000 strong, was awaiting reinforcements at Sandal Castle in Wakefield (the castle was built on top of a Norman motte). He was surrounded by Lancastrian forces some three times that number, but chose to sally forth to fight. Richard died in a pitched battle at Wakefield Green, together with between one third and one half of his army.[4]
• James II (1633–1701), formerly Duke of York, who in 1688 marched his troops to Salisbury Plain to resist the invasion from his son-in-law William of Orange, only to retreat and disperse them as his support began to evaporate.[5]
• The most common attribution is to Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (1763–1827), the second son of King George III and Commander-in-Chief of the British Army during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.[1] His most significant field command was during the Flanders Campaign of 1793–4. Despite the British troops having some success against the French, in the summer of 1794 the Duke was obliged to retreat into the Netherlands and he was subsequently recalled to England.[6] Flanders having something of a reputation for being flat, the specific location of the "hill" in the nursery rhyme has been hypothesized to be the town of Cassel which is built on a hill which rises 176 metres (about 570 feet) above the otherwise flat lands of French Flanders in northern France.[1]

Apart from the ducal title in the song and the events of their lives there is no external evidence to link the rhyme to any of these candidates.

"The Grand Old Duke of York" is also sung to the tune of "A-Hunting We Will Go".[7]

Maurice, Prince of Orange.

A Dutch adaptation of the song replaces the Duke of York with Maurice, Prince of Orange (1567–1625), whose practice of training mercenaries (completely new, and mocked at first) became famous following his success in war. It is not known when the British song crossed the North Sea, but nowadays it is well-known within the Dutch scouting movement.[8]