London Bridge Is Falling Down

"London Bridge Is Falling Down" (also known as "My Fair Lady" or simply "London Bridge") 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 work of literature and popular culture.

Read more about London Bridge Is Falling Down:  Lyrics, Melody, The Game, Origins, Meaning, References in Literature and Popular Culture

Famous quotes containing the words london bridge is, london, bridge and/or falling:

    London Bridge is broken down,
    Dance o’er my lady lee,
    London Bridge is broken down,
    With a gay lady.
    How shall we build it up again?
    Dance o’er my lady lee,
    Unknown. London Bridge (l. 1–6)

    You owe me ten shillings,
    Say the bells of St. Helen’s.
    When will you pay me?
    Say the bells of Old Bailey.
    When I grow rich,
    Say the bells of Shoreditch.
    Pray when will that be?
    Say the bells of Stepney.
    I am sure I don’t know,
    Says the great bell of Bow.
    —Unknown. The Bells of London (l. 13–22)

    I was at work that morning. Someone came riding like mad
    Over the bridge and up the road—Farmer Rouf’s little lad.
    Bareback he rode; he had no hat; he hardly stopped to say,
    “Morgan’s men are coming, Frau, they’re galloping on this way.
    Constance Fenimore Woolson (1840–1894)

    But the word Miracle, as pronounced by Christian churches, gives a false impression; it is Monster. It is not one with the blowing clover and falling rain.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)