| "London Bridge Is Falling Down" Roud #502 |
|
London Bridge (1616) by Claes Van Visscher |
|
| Written by | Traditional |
|---|---|
| Published | c. 1744 |
| Written | England |
| Language | English |
| Form | Nursery rhyme |
"London Bridge Is Falling Down" is a well-known traditional nursery rhyme and singing game, which is found in different versions all over the world. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 502.
Contents |
There is considerable variation in the lyrics of the rhyme. The most frequently used first verse is:
London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.[1]
In the version quoted by Iona and Peter Opie in 1951 the full lyrics were:
London Bridge is broken down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.
Build it up with wood and clay,
Wood and clay, wood and clay,
Build it up with wood and clay,
My fair lady.
Wood and clay will wash away,
Wash away, wash away,
Wood and clay will wash away,
My fair lady.
Build it up with bricks and mortar,
Bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar,
Build it up with bricks and mortar,
My fair lady.
Bricks and mortar will not stay,
Will not stay, will not stay,
Bricks and mortar will not stay,
My fair lady.
Build it up with iron and steel,
Iron and steel, iron and steel,
Build it up with iron and steel,
My fair lady.
Iron and steel will bend and bow,
Bend and bow, bend and bow,
Iron and steel will bend and bow,
My fair lady.
Build it up with silver and gold,
Silver and gold, silver and gold,
Build it up with silver and gold,
My fair lady.
Silver and gold will be stolen away,
Stolen away, stolen away,
Silver and gold will be stolen away,
My fair lady.
Set a man to watch all night,
Watch all night, watch all night,
Set a man to watch all night,
My fair lady.
Suppose the man should fall asleep,
Fall asleep, fall asleep,
Suppose the man should fall asleep?
My fair lady.
Give him a pipe to smoke all night,
Smoke all night, smoke all night,
Give him a pipe to smoke all night,
My fair lady.[1]
The earliest printed English version is in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (c. 1744) with the following text:
London Bridge
Is Broken down,
Dance over my Lady Lee.
London Bridge
Is Broken down
With a gay Lady.
How shall we build
It up again,
Dance over my Lady Lee, &c.
Build it up with
Gravel, and Stone,
Dance over my Lady Lee, &c.
Gravel, and Stone,
Will wash away,
Dance over my Lady Lee, &c.
Build it up with
Iron, and Steel,
Dance over my Lady Lee, &c.
Iron, and Steel,
Will bend, and Bow,
Dance over my Lady Lee, &c.
Build it up with
Silver, and Gold,
Dance over my Lady Lee, &c.
Silver, and Gold
Will be stolen away,
Dance over my Lady Lee, &c.
Then we'l set
A man to Watch,
Dance over my Lady Lee.
Then we'l set
A man to Watch,
With a gay Lady.[1]
Another version replaces the last verse with:
Build it up with stone so strong,
Dance over my Lady Lee,
Hurrah, 'twill last for ages long,
With a gay lady.[2]
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 (r. 1660-1685).
London Bridge is broken down,
- Dance over the Lady Lea;
London Bridge is broken down,
- With a gay lady (la-dee).
The subsequent verses began with the lines, with lines in italics above repeated between them:
Then we must build it up again.
What shall we build it up withal?
Build it up with iron and steel,
Iron and steel will bend and break.
Build it up with wood and stone,
Wood and stone will fall away.
Then we must set a man to watch,
Suppose the man should fall asleep?
Then we must put a pipe in his mouth,
Suppose the pipe should fall and break?
Then we must set a dog to watch,
Suppose the dog should run away?
Then we must chain him to a post.[1]
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.
One theory of origin is that the rhyme relates to supposed destruction of London Bridge by Olaf II of Norway in 1014 (or 1009).[3] 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:
London Bridge is broken down. —
Gold is won, and bright renown.
- Shields resounding,
- War-horns sounding,
Hild is shouting in the din!
- Arrows singing,
- Mail-coats ringing —
Odin makes our Olaf win!
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.[4] Some historians doubt that the attack ever took place.[5]
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 (later Lady Gomme) in The Traditional Games of England, Scotland and Ireland (1894-8) and perpetuated by the usually sceptical Iona and Peter Opie.[4] This was based around the idea that a bridge would collapse unless the body of a human sacrifice were buried in its foundations. However, there is no archaeological evidence for any human remains in the foundations of London Bridge.[4]
According to Walt Disney's The Truth About Mother Goose (1957) the rhyme refers to the deterioration of the original London Bridge (built in 1176, which had been considered a wonder of the world) due to a combination of age and the Great Fire of London of 1666. This original bridge was finally ordered demolished on 4 July 1823, when Royal Assent is given for Act to Rebuild London Bridge.
Several attempts have been made to identify the 'fair lady', 'lady gay', or lady 'lee/lea' of the rhyme. They include:
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 or 'Podul de piatra' song and game from Romania. It is possible that the rhyme was acquired from one of these sources and then adapted to fit the most famous bridge in England.[1]
Football hooligans across England are known for taunting police officers at matches with the song; "Harry Roberts he's our friend, he's our friend, he's our friend. He kills coppers. Let him out to kill some more, kill some more."[6]
In the anime Kuroshitsuji or Black Butler of Yana Toboso episodes 11 and 12, the character named Drocell Keinz sing is own version of "London Bridge is falling down, version taken back by Sebastian :
Drocell Kleinz version :
Let us make her in wax and stone, let us make her, let us make her Let us make her in wax and stone My fair lady
Let us make her in wood and clay, let us make her, let us make her Let us make her in wood and clay My fair lady
Let us make her in iron and steel, let us make her, let us make her Let us make her in iron and steel My fair lady
Let us make her in gold and silver, let us make her, let us make her Let us make her in gold and silver My fair lady
Sebastian version :
Spin around from iron and steel, spin around, spin around Spin around from iron and steel My fair lady
Gold and silver both get snatched, both get snatched, both get snatched Gold and silver both get snatched
The rhyme is often used in a children's singing game, which exists in a wide variety of forms, with additional verses. The most common is that two players make an arch 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.[1] This game is similar to some versions of Oranges and Lemons.