He marched them up ...

"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.
When they were up, they were up
And when they were down, they were down
And when they were only halfway up
They were neither up nor down."

A sunny but cold day today, and my blip is of the Duke Of York pub in St Werberghs  in Bristol.  It is possibly the most decorated pub in Bristol and is well known for being covered outside floor to roof with graffiti.  I do wonder though, if you had managed to have really quite a lot to drink, whether it might not all be just a little too much ...

The pub has for a long time featured this sort of decoration, and is possibly one of the first buildings in Bristol to embrace this sort of urban art.  The current art work dates back to last year when the owners, recognising that the pub needed a lick of paint, ran their own blank canvas competition.  The  winning mural is by Alex Evans and is based, suitably enough upon the nursery rhyme.

There is some debate about the origin of the rhyme itself, although the smart money seems to be that the Duke of York in question (not the current Prince Andrew) was then favourite the son of George III and commander in chief.  Unfortunately for him, he was in charge when the British were beaten by the French in Flanders in 1794  and is now immortalised in a child's nursery rhyme. 

I can still remember the squeals and laughter from my children when we used to sing that to them, complete with the lifts and drops that went with it.