The lyric “He marched them up to the top of the hill, and he marched them down again” completes the song’s central action.
The nursery rhyme is commonly linked to Richard, Duke of York, who commanded English forces at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. However, historians have not established that the rhyme was written specifically about that event.
The song describes soldiers being marched up and down, then repeats the movement with a contrasting count of soldiers. Its actions make it popular as a children’s marching and movement song.
The historical identity of the duke is therefore a tradition, not a proven fact about the rhyme’s composition.