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!
The nursery rhyme is usually said to be based upon the events of the brief invasion of Flanders by 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 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 Tourcoing in May and recalled to England.
The Grand Old Duke Of York
(sung by Jeremy the Giraffe)
Jeremy sings for SHIVA Charity, and is awaiting recognition and stardom. Please click on the video!
SHIVA Charity (UK) puts these free educational pages on its web site in order to be used primarily in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Darjeeling, India, where lessons are mostly repetitive "chalk and talk" and curriculum restrained. We are involved in teachers' resources training there, and hope that schools in the UK and elsewhere will support SHIVA Charity's cause with funding. Please visit our main pages to see the work we do, and how we raise money for individual projects and for child sponsorship.
