Grand old Duke of York - Definition and Overview

The Grand Old Duke of York is a children's rhyme based upon the events of the brief invasion of Flanders by Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, the second son of King George III and Commander-in-Chief of the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars.

In 1793, a painstakingly-prepared attack on the northern conquests of the French Republic was led by the Duke himself. He won a small cavalry victory at Beaumont (April 1794) only to be heavily defeated at Turcoing in May and recalled to England.

The most common version of the rhyme is:

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.
But when they were only halfway up,
They were neither up nor down!

Frequently, the audience is asked to "act out" the rhyme by standing up, sitting down, and standing halfway up at the appropriate points in the verse. It is usually sung to the tune of "A-Hunting We Will Go."

The 'Grand Old Duke' was appointed Field Marshal in 1795 and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in 1798. Despite a disastrous attack on the Dutch island of Walcheren (1799) and allegations in 1809 that his mistress Mary Anne Clarke used her influence to buy officer commissions, the Duke returned to his command in 1811 and played a great part as a backscene administrator in organising the Duke of Wellington's victories in the Peninsular War. He became heir presumptive to the throne in 1820, but predeceased his elder brother King George IV in 1827.