All Info About Nursery Rhymes

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.
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.

Origin

The Duke of York was Frederick Augustus, the second son of George III.
There is nothing in his military career that even remotely resembles the actions in the rhyme, so it is possible that someone who disliked him adapted an old rhyme which went:

‘The King of France went up the hill
With forty thousand men.
The King of France came down the hill
And ne’er went up again.’