297:
101:
275:
of 1793–94. 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. Flanders having something of a reputation for being flat, the specific location of the "hill" in the
167:
Like many popular nursery rhymes the origins of the song have been much debated and remain unclear. Unusually the rhyme clearly refers to a historical person and debates have tended to circulate around identifying which Duke is being referred to in the lyrics. The lyrics were not printed in their
178:
in 1913. 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. The oldest version of the song that survives is from 1642, under the title 'Old
199:
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. Candidates for the duke in question include:
711:
701:
272:
118:
230:
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.
314:(1567–1625), whose practice of training mercenaries (completely new and mocked at first) became famous after his success in war. It is not known when the British song crossed the
706:
81:(1763–1827), and its lyrics (where the duke marches ten thousand soldiers up and down a hill for no apparent reason) have become proverbial for futile action. It has a
296:
248:
114:
78:
671:
288:
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.
410:
204:
676:
666:
568:
160:
379:
252:
590:
656:
406:
100:
686:
681:
105:
691:
661:
375:
616:
311:
300:
264:
651:
241:
696:
542:
89:
82:
646:
233:
220:
208:
319:
256:
227:
402:
383:
223:
66:
280:, which is built on a hill which rises 176 metres (about 570 feet) above the flat lands of
569:"Prince Andrew 'ridiculed by aides with nursery rhyme' after £12 million court settlement"
281:
268:
237:
180:
110:
277:
211:
on 30 December 1460. Richard's army, some 8,000 strong, was awaiting reinforcements at
189:
169:
640:
414:
212:
70:
29:
398:
260:
174:
131:
307:
386:
had entered circulation. A version reported in the media contained the lyrics:
77:
duke has been argued to be a number of the bearers of that title, particularly
159:
74:
45:
419:
315:
216:
244:, only to retreat and disperse them as his support began to evaporate.
236:(1633–1701), formerly Duke of York, who in 1688 marched his troops to
295:
158:
99:
591:"The Kunts Announce New Single 'Prince Andrew Is A Sweaty Nonce'"
393:
He gave it to someone he never met, for something he never did.
423:. The single's verses directly interpolate the nursery rhyme.
467:(Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 442–443.
374:
In
February 2022, parodies of the nursery rhyme referencing
88:"The Grand Old Duke of York" is also sung to the tune of "
712:
Cultural depictions of
Frederick, Duke of York and Albany
702:
Cultural depictions of
Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York
480:(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1941, 6th edn., 2004).
390:
The grand old Duke of York, he had twelve million quid.
517:
Heavy words lightly thrown: the reason behind the rhyme
489:
J. Orchard
Halliwell-Phillipps and Henry Chettle, eds,
310:
adaptation of the song replaces the Duke of York with
271:. His most significant field command was during the
567:
Merrifield, Ryan; Meehan, Abbie (20 February 2022).
163:
Richard
Tarlton in the 1580s with his pipe and tabor
276:nursery rhyme has been suggested to be the town of
43:
35:
28:
23:
493:(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1844), p. xxix.
584:
582:
179:Tarlton's song', attributed to the stage clown
409:" about the controversy surrounding his 2019
8:
562:
560:
240:to resist the invasion from his son-in-law
707:Cultural depictions of James II of England
491:Tarlton's Jests: And News Out of Purgatory
459:
457:
455:
453:
451:
449:
168:modern form until relatively recently, in
138:He marched them up to the top of the hill,
20:
617:"The Kunts hoping for Jubilee hit single"
249:Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany
194:Came up a hill and so came downe againe.
79:Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany
73:, often performed as an action song. The
145:And when they were down, they were down,
113:. The song is often associated with the
465:The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes
431:
27:
530:Britain as a military power, 1688–1815
318:, but it is now well known within the
207:(1411–1460), who was defeated at the
7:
147:And when they were only halfway up,
532:(London: Routledge, 1999), p. 195.
247:The most common attribution is to
219:(the castle was built on top of a
14:
504:The History of Britain Companion
324:
143:When they were up, they were up,
478:Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
407:Prince Andrew Is a Sweaty Nonce
405:released the satirical single "
251:(1763–1827), the second son of
149:They were neither up nor down.
140:And he marched them down again.
442:. Boy Scouts of America. 1955.
333:daar ging hij mee de heuvel op
1:
589:Murray, Robin (10 May 2022).
352:with them he went up the hill
183:(1530–1588) with the lyrics:
672:Traditional children's songs
348:The hero Prince Maurice came
106:Portrait of the Duke of York
24:"The Grand Old Duke of York"
677:Works of unknown authorship
376:Prince Andrew, Duke of York
362:he was neither up nor down
350:with a hundred thousand men
728:
615:Malt, Andy (10 May 2022).
329:De held prins Maurits kwam
59:The Grand Old Duke of York
545:. Scouting Marca Appoldro
343:was 'ie boven noch benee
312:Maurice, Prince of Orange
301:Maurice, Prince of Orange
265:French Revolutionary Wars
667:English children's songs
378:'s reported £12 million
360:and when he was half-way
226:). He was surrounded by
192:with forty thousand men,
136:He had ten thousand men;
543:"De held prins Maurits"
506:(Robson, 2005), p. 149.
380:out-of-court settlement
320:Dutch scouting movement
657:English nursery rhymes
519:(Granta, 2004), p. 44.
395:
339:dan was 'ie niet benee
335:en ook weer naar benee
331:met honderdduizend man
303:
197:
164:
152:
122:
63:The Noble Duke of York
621:Complete Music Update
463:I. Opie and P. Opie,
388:
341:en was 'ie halverwege
299:
205:Richard, Duke of York
185:
162:
127:
125:A modern version is:
103:
687:Year of song unknown
90:A-Hunting We Will Go
83:Roud Folk Song Index
682:Songs about England
358:then he wasn't down
354:and also down again
284:in northern France.
209:Battle of Wakefield
692:Songwriter unknown
662:English folk songs
440:Cub Scout Songbook
397:Later in May, the
370:In popular culture
356:and when he was up
337:en was 'ie bovenan
304:
257:Commander-in-Chief
165:
130:Oh, the grand old
123:
403:Kunt and the Gang
367:
366:
273:Flanders Campaign
242:William of Orange
119:Flanders Campaign
55:
54:
719:
632:
631:
629:
627:
612:
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601:
586:
577:
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564:
555:
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507:
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494:
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468:
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384:Virginia Giuffre
325:
61:" (also sung as
48:
21:
727:
726:
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566:
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548:
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541:
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502:J. Swinnerton,
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342:
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336:
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332:
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294:
282:French Flanders
269:Napoleonic Wars
253:King George III
238:Salisbury Plain
196:
193:
181:Richard Tarlton
157:
151:
148:
146:
144:
142:
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137:
135:
111:Thomas Lawrence
98:
85:number of 742.
44:
17:
12:
11:
5:
725:
723:
715:
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709:
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689:
684:
679:
674:
669:
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607:
578:
573:Edinburgh Live
556:
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469:
445:
430:
428:
425:
371:
368:
365:
364:
345:
293:
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245:
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190:King of France
186:
170:Arthur Rackham
156:
153:
128:
97:
94:
53:
52:
49:
41:
40:
37:
33:
32:
26:
25:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
724:
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652:Singing games
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424:
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415:Emily Maitlis
412:
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381:
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369:
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346:
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327:
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292:Dutch version
291:
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279:
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213:Sandal Castle
210:
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184:
182:
177:
176:
171:
161:
154:
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133:
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121:of the 1790s.
120:
116:
112:
108:
107:
102:
95:
93:
91:
86:
84:
80:
76:
72:
71:nursery rhyme
68:
64:
60:
50:
47:
46:Songwriter(s)
42:
38:
34:
31:
30:Nursery rhyme
22:
19:
16:Nursery rhyme
697:Action songs
624:. Retrieved
620:
610:
598:. Retrieved
594:
572:
547:. Retrieved
537:
529:
524:
516:
515:C. Roberts,
511:
503:
498:
490:
485:
477:
476:E. Knowles,
472:
464:
439:
434:
418:
399:black comedy
396:
392:
389:
373:
347:
328:
305:
287:
261:British Army
198:
187:
175:Mother Goose
173:
166:
132:Duke of York
129:
124:
115:Duke of York
104:
87:
62:
58:
56:
18:
595:Clash Music
549:1 September
263:during the
228:Lancastrian
69:children's
647:1642 works
641:Categories
528:J. Black,
427:References
420:Newsnight
411:interview
401:musician
316:North Sea
217:Wakefield
75:eponymous
36:Published
267:and the
234:James II
117:and the
65:) is an
259:of the
155:Origins
67:English
51:unknown
626:28 May
600:28 May
278:Cassel
221:Norman
413:with
382:with
308:Dutch
224:motte
96:Words
628:2022
602:2022
551:2016
255:and
188:The
39:1642
417:on
215:in
172:'s
109:by
92:".
643::
619:.
593:.
581:^
571:.
559:^
448:^
322:.
306:A
630:.
604:.
575:.
553:.
134:,
57:"
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