The Grand Old Duke of York - wikipedia The Grand Old Duke of York `` The Grand Old Duke of York '' Nursery rhyme Published 1642 Songwriter ( s ) unknown ' The Grand Old Duke of York ' ( also sung as The Noble Duke of York ) is an English children 's nursery rhyme, often performed as an action song. The Duke of the title has been argued to be a number of the holders of that office, particularly Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany ( 1763 -- 1827 ) and its lyrics have become proverbial for futile action. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 742. Contents 1 Lyrics 2 Actions 3 Origins 4 Song 5 Dutch version 6 Brazilian Portuguese Version 7 References Lyrics 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. And when they were up, they were up, And when they were down, they were down, And when they were only half - way up, They were neither up nor down Sometimes added is : Oh, a-hunting we will go, A-hunting we will go, We 'll catch a fox, and put him in a box, And then we 'll let him go. Actions 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 of adjacent `` up '' s and `` down '' s ( 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. Origins 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 modern form until relatively recently, in Arthur Rackham 's Mother Goose 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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. His one field command of significance was the Flanders Campaign of 1793 -- 4, which resulted in the heavy defeat at the Battle of Tourcoing ( 1794 ), followed by his recall to England. 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 Flanders in northern France. 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. Song `` The Grand Old Duke of York '' is also sung to the tune of `` A-Hunting We Will Go ''. Dutch version Maurice, Prince of Orange. A Dutch adaptation of the song replaces the Duke of York with Maurice, Prince of Orange ( 1567 -- 1625 ), stadtholder of six of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic, and its most important military commander after the death of his father William the Silent in 1584. Prince Maurice was able to reconquer large parts of the Habsburg Netherlands, adding them to territory of the emergent Republic, especially during its first Ten Years ( 1588 -- 98 ). His practice of training mercenaries ( completely new, and mocked at first ) and subsequent military successes became famous throughout Europe. It is not known when the British song crossed the North Sea and was attributed to Maurice, but nowadays it 's well - known within the Dutch scouting movement. De held prins Maurits kwam met honderdduizend man daar ging hij mee de heuvel op en ook weer naar benee en was ' ie bovenan dan was ' ie niet benee en was ' ie halverwege was ' ie boven noch benee The hero prince Maurice came with a hundred thousand men with them he went up the hill and also down again and when he was up then he was n't down and when was half - way up he was neither up nor down Brazilian portuguese version The song was adapted by Brazilian singer Xuxa for her circus - themed album Xuxa Só Para Baixinhos 5. In this version, the Duke of York has been replaced by a king, and his ten thousand men, by ten soldiers. Havia um grande rei / Que tinha dez soldados / Os dez subiam no topo da pedra / E desciam lado a lado / E o rei mandava subir / E o rei mandava descer / De tanto subir, e de tanto descer / Os dez ficaram cansados / References ^ Jump up to : I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes ( Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997 ), pp. 442 -- 443. Jump up ^ E. Knowles, Oxford Dictionary of Quotations ( Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1941, 6th edn., 2004 ). Jump up ^ J. Orchard Halliwell - Phillipps and Henry Chettle, eds, Tarlton 's Jests : And News Out of Purgatory ( Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1844 ), p. xxix. Jump up ^ J. Swinnerton, The History of Britain Companion ( Robson, 2005 ), p. 149. Jump up ^ C. Roberts, Heavy words lightly thrown : the reason behind the rhyme ( Granta, 2004 ), p. 44. Jump up ^ J. Black, Britain as a military power, 1688 -- 1815 ( London : Routledge, 1999 ), p. 195. Jump up ^ Cub Scout Songbook. Boy Scouts of America. 1955. Jump up ^ `` De held prins Maurits ''. Scouting Marca Appoldro. Retrieved 1 September 2016. Nursery rhymes ( list ) `` A-Tisket, A-Tasket '' `` Baa, Baa, Black Sheep '' `` Did You Ever See a Lassie ? '' `` Hey Diddle Diddle '' `` Hickory Dickory Dock '' `` Hot Cross Buns '' `` Humpty Dumpty '' `` I 'm a Little Teapot '' `` It 's Raining, It 's Pouring '' `` Jack and Jill '' `` Little Bo Peep '' `` Little Boy Blue '' `` Little Jack Horner '' `` Little Miss Muffet '' `` Mary Had a Little Lamb '' `` Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary '' `` Old King Cole '' `` Old MacDonald Had a Farm '' `` Old Mother Hubbard '' `` Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe '' `` Peter Piper '' `` Polly Put the Kettle On '' `` Poor Mary '' `` Pop Goes the Weasel '' `` Pussy Cat Pussy Cat '' `` Rain Rain Go Away '' `` Roses Are Red '' `` Rub - a-dub - dub '' `` Simple Simon '' `` Sticks and Stones '' `` The Grand Old Duke of York '' `` The Queen of Hearts '' `` Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star '' Clapping `` A Sailor Went to Sea '' `` Down Down Baby '' `` Mary Mack '' `` Miss Susie '' `` Miss Lucy '' `` Pat - a-cake '' `` Pretty Little Dutch Girl '' `` Pease Porridge Hot '' Counting `` Duck, duck, goose '' `` Eeny, meeny, miny, moe '' `` One, Two, Buckle My Shoe '' `` One, Two, Three, Four, Five '' `` This Old Man '' `` Tinker, Tailor '' Finger - plays `` Five Little Monkeys '' `` Five Little Ducks '' `` Five Little Speckled Frogs '' `` Itsy Bitsy Spider '' `` Little Robin Redbreast '' `` Round and Round the Garden '' `` This Little Piggy '' `` Two Little Dickie Birds '' Games `` London Bridge '' `` The Muffin Man '' `` Mulberry Bush '' `` Oranges and Lemons '' `` Ring a Ring o ' Roses '' `` The Farmer in the Dell '' Riddle `` As I was going to St Ives '' Lullabies `` Hush, Little Baby '' `` Rock - a-bye Baby '' Rounds `` Ding Dong Bell '' `` Frère Jacques '' `` Kookaburra '' `` Row, Row, Row Your Boat '' `` Scotland 's Burning '' `` Three Blind Mice '' Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Grand_Old_Duke_of_York&oldid=819834502 '' Categories : Singing games Roud Folk Song Index songs English nursery rhymes Works of unknown authorship Songs about the United Kingdom Year of song unknown Songwriter unknown Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from March 2015 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from January 2018 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 11 January 2018, at 14 : 47. 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Question: the grand old duke of york nursery rhyme meaning
Answer: futile action