Duke of York.

[Starbar]

Did the Grand Old DUKE of YORK really have 10,000 MEN ???

[doglady]

Yes. And he marched them up to the top of the hill and he marched them down again as well. All true. Mmm hmm.

[jno]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick%2C_Duke _of_York

In fact it seems the rhyme was adapted by one of the duke's critics from an older one about the King of France, so the answer is probably No.

[SaxyJag]

Maybe not 10,000, but he had a lot more than Henry Tudor and statistically should have won the Battle of Bosworth. His 'starting' position was at the top of Ambion Hill, Henry Tudor's at the bottom, in the middle of a bog. After an initial charge down the hill and early success, he was beaten part way back by the opposing side. He was well and truly scuppered when some bloke who'd stayed out of it until that point decided to attack his army's right flank at the last minute.

Read about it here:

http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-cent re/warsoftheroses/campainview.asp?CampainId=15

[jno]

wrong duke, I think, Saxy - Richard III was Duke of Gloucester, not Duke of York

[SaxyJag]

The rhyme, as far as I know, refers to King Richard III, Duke of York, who died at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485:

http://www.richardiii.net/begin.htm

There's more here, which suggests that the rhyme may have originated from another event:

http://www.rhymes.org.uk/the_grand_old_duke_of _york.htm

However, if you visit Bosworth Battlefield, you can see why people have formed the first theory.

[jno]

here's a list of dukes of York:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dukes_of_York

It goes from Edward IV (Richard III's brother) to his son Richard, who was one of the princes in the Tower, then after a long gap to the future Henry VIII. Richard III wasn't one of them, only Duke of Gloucester. I think the one in the rhyme is the 1784 one - see the link I posted above.

[SaxyJag]

I stand corrected (been through my uni notes), but he was known as Richard of York and there is some credence given to the rhyme originating from this source.

There are other sources, and no-one's completely sure.