Binder2

The Grand Old Duke of “Fork
For those readers who know this nursery rhyme, it looks as if there is a mistake in the title, but all
will be revealed as you read this story.. The nursery rhyme is “The Grand Old Duke of York “,
and the words are as follows
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 half way up, they were neither up nor down.
The origin of which Duke of York the rhyme is about is somewhat unclear but the popularity of
the song amongst toddlers and infants is undeniable.
So when my (Sheila) eldest granddaughter, Mor, was at three or four, her daddy, Martin, began to
teach her some of the popular English nursery rhymes including the example above and typically
she learnt it very quickly and sang it with him.
One day we were having a family meal and Mor was doing what many youngsters love to do, that
is, eat with their fingers. When her daddy cautioned her and said” Mor, use your fork”, in a
second, she sang “he had ten thousand men, he marched them up to the top of the hill and marched
them down again...”. We all thought it was very funny, and it is a family favourite. But I hadn’t
realized before the psychological connection of her response .Memory is defined as the ability to
learn and remember the relationships between unrelated items I could never remember the name
of the place called Binyamina until I associated it to Benyamin Netanyahu.. Something similar is
“mnemonics” (the first “m”is silent). This is a memory device that helps us retain and remember
words in the memory and then retrieve them when needed. New knowledge is connected to
knowledge already known – so in other words for Mor “fork” and “York had a connection.
Another example of memory association which for me (Sheila) seems to be associated with names
of people and, places is Jonathan’s friend ELIA whose name I never could remember until I
associated it to EL AL.
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