The King of France Lyrics
Twenty thousand soldiers march up a hill, march down again, and never go back. If that sounds familiar, it is because The Grand Old Duke of York tells almost the same story, and this version is older.
The King of France
The King of France went up the hill,
With twenty thousand men;
The King of France came down the hill,
And ne'er went up again.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/the-king-of-france/
- Type
- Action Songs, Mother Goose
- Tune
- Spoken rhyme
- Best for ages
- 2 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| The King of France went up the hill | March on the spot, stepping higher and higher, and stand on tiptoe. |
| With twenty thousand men | Keep marching and swing your arms like soldiers. |
| The King of France came down the hill | March lower and lower until you crouch. |
| And ne'er went up again | Sit down and fold your arms. |
What Does The King of France Mean?
A king leads a huge army up a hill, and then, for no reason the rhyme gives, leads them all straight back down. Ne'er is short for never, so after that one trip, they never climbed it again. It is a joke about a lot of effort for nothing.
History and Origin
This is one of the oldest rhymes in the nursery. James Orchard Halliwell noted that a pamphlet from 1642, Pigges Corantoe, already called it "Old Tarlton's Song". Richard Tarlton was a famous comic actor who died in 1588, so if the name is right, the rhyme was being sung in the time of Elizabeth I. Halliwell also printed several other versions, with four thousand or forty thousand men, and one where the King of Spain climbs the same hill afterwards.
The better-known Grand Old Duke of York version, with ten thousand men, came later and uses the same joke.
Learning Activities
- Marching game: line up and march around the room, going up on tiptoe for up and crouching for down.
- Count the army: older children can write twenty thousand in numbers and compare it with the number of people in their school.
- Compare versions: say this rhyme and the Grand Old Duke of York one after the other and spot the differences.