Large Fierce Mammal

Denying the claims a Buckingham Palace spokesman told us, “All allegations in this matter are false, and records will clearly show these men were neither up nor down.”

Last year I shared an article to Facebook titled Duke of York strenuously denies he had ten thousand men, and the sharing caused no small amount of confusion. It’s possible, I suppose, that the title’s reference is to something that only those of us who grew up in nations that are part of the Commonwealth will remember from childhood. Whatever the reason, I’m here today to clear it all up, with a little help from Sharon, Lois, & Bram.

The Grand Old Duke of York is an English nursery rhyme, the lyrics of which are often euphemistically applied to any exercise in the ineffectual or futile. Here in the LFM household, the all time favourite musical performance of the ditty is by Sharon, Lois & Bram, and appears in their album Mainly Mother Goose. It’s part of a chapter, if you will, that deals exclusively with songs evocative of riding and marching. As an added bonus, The Grand Old Duke of York segues straight into My Pony Boy with all its delightful innuendo, and suggestive tempo in the buildup to, “Giddy up, giddy up, giddy up … WOOOOO!”

I love it when Mrs. LFM sings it, which she inevitably will under the influence of the right provocation.