page_title: The Grand Old Duke of York
section_title: Lyrics
hierarchical_section_title: The Grand Old Duke of York / Lyrics
caption_attribution_description: English: Richard Tarlton, woodcut, 1588
context_page_description: "The Grand Old Duke of York" is an English children's nursery rhyme, often performed as an action song. The eponymous duke has been argued to be a number of the bearers of that title, particularly Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany and its lyrics have become proverbial for futile action. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 742.
context_section_description: 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.
caption: Richard Tarlton in the 1580s with his pipe and tabor
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