Mnemonic verses of monarchs in England

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A mnemonic verse listing monarchs ruling in England since William the Conqueror was traditionally used by British schoolchildren in the era when rote learning formed a major part of the curriculum.

Canonbury Tower
as far as Charles I

The verse

Various versions of the verse exist. One version is:[1]

Stee
John Harry three
;
One two three Neds, Richard two
Harrys four five six ... then who?
Edwards
five, Dick the bad
,
Harrys (twain),
Ned six (the lad)
;
James you ken
,
Then Charlie, Charlie, James again...
Mary, Anna Gloria
,
Georges four,
Will four, Victoria
;
Edward seven next, and then
Came George the fifth in nineteen ten;
Ned the eighth soon abdicated
Then George six was coronated;
After which Elizabeth
And that's all folks until her death.

A slightly shorter version that is sometimes used is:[1]

Stee
,
John, Harry three
;
One two three Neds, Richard two,
Harrys four five six, ... then who?
Edwards
five, Dick the bad
,
Harrys (twain),
Ned six (the lad)
;
James you ken
,
Then Charlie, Charlie, James again;
Mary, Anna Gloria
,
Georges four,
Will four, Victoria
;
Edward seven, George and Ted,
George the sixth, now Liz instead.

These lists omit several disputed monarchs (including Empress Matilda, Henry the Young King, Louis VIII of France, Philip II of Spain and Lady Jane Grey), and do not mention the Commonwealth of England.

Both of these versions were written before the death of Elizabeth II in 2022. The current monarch is Charles III, the successor to Elizabeth II.

Published versions

Second World War, before the accession of Elizabeth II, and Bennett's version stops at Victoria.[2]

The 1991 film King Ralph includes a brief section of the verse.[citation needed]

Other verses listing British monarchs

The Monarchs' Song from the CBBC TV series Horrible Histories lists the monarchs of England and has some phrases in common with the traditional verse. The original version was released in 2011 which stopped at Elizabeth II with the verse "And Queen Liz two completes the mix!". An updated version was released on May 2, 2023 (four days before the coronation), adding the verse "Not quite. Now there's me, Charles three!".[3]

The King's Singers include a 12-minute song "A Rough Guide to the Royal Succession (It's just one damn King after another…)" by Paul Drayton, on their 2012 album Royal Rhymes and Rounds. This song bears no relation to the mnemonic verses except for its subject matter, a chronology of the monarchy starting with pre-Norman kings "With names that no-one can spell / Cerdic and Ceolwulf / Egbert and Athelstan / And Ethelbald as well."[4]

Mnemonic for royal houses

A different mnemonic is used to remember the sequence of English and British royal houses or dynasties.

No Plan Like Yours To Study History Wisely[5]

The initial letters of which give the royal houses:

Tudor, Stuart, Hanover, Windsor

This list of royal houses differs from the views of many historians. For example, Lancaster and York are considered

House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
was renamed as Windsor in 1917.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Monarchs of Britain". Britannia. Archived from the original on 18 January 2019.
  2. ISBN 978-0-571-24686-1
    . The play was first produced in 1968.
  3. ^ "Sing The Monarchs Song - Charles III remix". CBBC. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Royal Rhymes and Rounds: the Kings Singers" (PDF). Chandos. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 August 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  5. ISBN 9781285632889
    .
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