page_title: The Grand Old Duke of York
section_title: Dutch version
hierarchical_section_title: The Grand Old Duke of York / Dutch version
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: 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 is well-known within the Dutch scouting movement.
caption: Maurice, Prince of Orange.
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