"London Bridge Is Falling Down" is a traditional nursery rhyme and singing game, which is found
in different versions all over the world. It deals with the depredations of London Bridge
and attempts, realistic or fanciful, to repair it. It may date back to bridge rhymes and
games of the late Middle Ages, but the earliest records of the rhyme in English are from the
seventeenth century. The lyrics were first printed in close to its modern form in the
mid-eighteenth century and became popular, particularly in Britain and the United States
in the nineteenth century. The modern melody was first recorded in the late nineteenth
century and the game resembles arch games of the Middle Ages, but seems to have taken
its modern form in the late nineteenth century. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 502.
Several theories have been advanced to explain the meaning of the rhyme and the identity
of the "fair lady" of the refrain. The rhyme is one of the most well known in the world
and has been referenced in a variety of works of literature and popular culture.
Lyrics
There is considerable variation in the lyrics of the rhyme. The most frequently used first
verse is:
In the version quoted by Iona and Peter Opie in 1951 the full lyrics were:
The rhyme is constructed of quatrains in trochaic tetrameter catalectic,, which is common in
nursery rhymes. In its most common form it relies on a double repetition, rather than
a rhyming scheme, which is a frequently employed device in children's rhymes and stories. The
Roud Folk Song Index, which catalogues folk songs and their variations by number, classifies
the song as 502. Melody
A melody is recorded for "London Bridge" in an edition of John Playford's The Dancing
Master published in 1718, but it differs from the modern tune and no lyrics were given.
An issue of Blackwood's Magazine in 1821 noted the rhyme as a being sung to the tune of "Nancy
Dawson", now better known as "Nuts in May" and the same tune was given in Richard Thomson's
Chronicles of London Bridge. Another tune was recorded in Samuel Arnold's Juvenile Amusements
in 1797. E. F. Rimbault's Nursery Rhymes has the same first line, but then a different
tune. The tune now associated with the rhyme was first recorded in 1879 in the US in A.
H. Rosewig's Illustrated National Songs and Games.
The game
The rhyme is often used in a children's singing game, which exists in a wide variety of forms,
with additional verses. Most versions are similar to the actions used in the rhyme "Oranges
and Lemons". The most common is that two players hold hands and make an arch with their arms
while the others pass through in single file. The "arch" is then lowered at the song's end
to "catch" a player. In the United States it is common for two teams of those that have
been caught to engage in a tug of war. In England until the nineteenth century the song
may have been accompanied by a circle dance, but arch games are known to have been common
across late medieval Europe. Five of nine versions published by Alice Gomme in 1894
included references to a prisoner who has stolen a watch and chain. This may be a late
nineteenth century addition from another game called "Hark the Robbers", or "Watch and Chain".
This rhyme is sung to the same tune and may be an offshoot of "London Bridge" or the remnant
of a distinct game. In one version the first two verses have the lyrics:
Origins
Similar rhymes can be found across Europe, pre-dating the records in England. These include
"Knippelsbro Går Op og Ned" from Denmark, "Die Magdeburger Brück" from Germany, "pont
chus" from sixteenth-century France; and "Le porte", from fourteenth-century Italy. It
is possible that the rhyme was acquired from one of these sources and then adapted to fit
the most famous bridge in England. One of the earliest references to the rhyme
in English is in the comedy The London Chaunticleres, printed in 1657, but probably written about
1636, in which the dairy woman Curds states that she had "danced the building of London-Bridge"
at the Whitsun Ales in her youth, although no words or actions are mentioned. Widespread
familiarity with the rhyme is suggested by its use by Henry Carey in his satire Namby
Pamby, as:
The oldest extant version could be that recalled by a correspondent to the Gentleman's Magazine
in 1823, which he claimed to have heard from a woman who was a child in the reign of Charles
II and had the lyrics:
The subsequent verses followed this form, each repeating in the lines below in place
of "London bridge is broken down":
The earliest printed English version is in the oldest extant collection of nursery rhymes,
Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, printed by John Newbery in London, with the following
text:
A version from James Ritson's Gammer Gurton's Garland is similar but replaces the last verse
with:
Meaning
The meaning of the rhyme is not certain. It may simply relate to the many difficulties
experienced in bridging the River Thames, but a number of alternative theories have
been put forward. Viking attack theory
One theory of origin is that the rhyme relates to the supposed destruction of London Bridge
by Olaf II of Norway in 1014. The nineteenth-century translation of the Norse saga the Heimskringla,
published by Samuel Laing in 1844, included a verse by Óttarr svarti, that looks very
similar to the nursery rhyme:
However, modern translations make it clear that Laing was using the nursery rhyme as
a model for his very free translation, and the reference to London Bridge does not appear
at the start of the verse and it is unlikely that this is an earlier version of the nursery
rhyme. Some historians doubt that the attack ever took place.
Child sacrifice theory
The theory that the song refers to the burying, perhaps alive, of children in the foundations
of the bridge was first advanced by Alice Bertha Gomme in The Traditional Games of England,
Scotland and Ireland and perpetuated by the usually sceptical Iona and Peter Opie. This
was based around the idea that a bridge would collapse unless the body of a human sacrifice
were buried in its foundations and that the watchman is actually a human sacrifice, who
will then watch over the bridge. However, there is no archaeological evidence for any
human remains in the foundations of London Bridge.
Age and damage theory According to Walt Disney's The Truth About
Mother Goose the rhyme refers to the deterioration of the original London Bridge due to a combination
of age and the Great Fire of London of 1666. Until the mid-eighteenth century the Old London
Bridge was the only crossing on the Thames in London. It was damaged in a major fire
in 1633, but in the fire of 1666 this damage acted as a fire break and prevented the flames
from further damaging the bridge and crossing to the south side of the Thames. With its
19 narrow arches it impeded river traffic and flow. Central piers were removed to create
a wider navigational span. Widening and the removal of its houses was completed in 1763,
but it remained relatively narrow and needed continual and expensive repairs. In the early
nineteenth century it was decided to replace the bridge with a new construction. New London
Bridge was opened in 1831 and survived until it was replaced in 1972. It was then transported
and reconstructed in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. "Fair lady" identity
Several attempts have been made to identify the 'fair lady', 'lady gay', or lady 'lee/lea'
of the rhyme. They include: Matilda of Scotland Henry I's consort, who
between 1110 and 1118 was responsible for the building of the series of bridges that
carried the London-Colchester road across the River Lea and its side streams between
Bow and Stratford. Eleanor of Provence, consort of Henry III
who had custody of the bridge revenues from 1269 to about 1281.
A member of the Leigh family of Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, who have a family tradition
that a human sacrifice lies under the building. References in literature and popular culture
Since the late nineteenth century the rhyme has been seen as one of the most popular and
well known in the English speaking world. It has also been referenced in both literature
and popular culture. It was used by T. S. Eliot at the climax of his poem The Waste
Land. The final line of the verse was probably the inspiration for the title of Lerner and
Loewe's 1956 musical My Fair Lady. The tune is often used by English football supporters
as the basis for chants. See also
Dong, Dong, Dongdaemun, a similar Korean nursery rhyme.
References