Who The Hell Was The Grand Old Duke Of York?
Did he have 10,000 men and more importantly was he up? Down? Or neither up nor down?!
The current Duke of York isn’t exactly popular and arguably that’s often been the case across history. The Duke of York is an honorary title given to the ‘spare’ second son. With zero comparative responsibilities but all of the wealth and privilege, they merrily pootle off to have their own adventures. Whether that’s leading 10,000 men up and down a hill or consorting with a paedophile billionaire is usually a matter of choice.
If you’ve been a drama teacher or ever worked with kids, you’ll know the ‘Grand Old Duke of York’ as a good song for children to engage with. It goes like this.
Oh the Grand Old Duke of York
He had 10,000 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!
Aside from being a banal description of indecisive military manoeuvres the game evokes huge joy in children. This is because when…
