London Bridge is Falling Down

London Bridge is Falling Down is a traditional nursery rhyme from England. The main verse is:

The rhyme is often used by children as Singspiel, which exists in many forms with extra verses. The most common variant is that two players with the arms form an arch, while the others have to slip through. The sheet is then lowered to 'catch' one of the players. This is similar to the musical play to the Japanese children's song Tōryanse.

History

The oldest evidence for the rhyme appear in a play from 1659, he was first associated with children in 1720. The oldest known text was published about 1744 in Tommy Thumb 's Pretty Song Book. However, it is likely that the rhyme was already widespread at that time.

The rhyme may make reference to historical events stretching back centuries. In the year 1013 was burned to divide the invading forces of the Danish king Sven Forkbeard into several groups, the London Bridge by the Anglo-Saxon king Æthelred II and his Norwegian allies Olav II Haraldsson. The event was recorded in the Saga of Olaf Haraldsson, a part of Snorri Sturluson around 1225 composed of Heimskringla. Snorri quotes a poem by a Norwegian poet, Ottar Svarte. It contains the following lines, which a striking resemblance to the nursery rhyme have ( text in modern English ):

However, the generally accepted version will likely take on the year regarding 1269, when King Henry III. the customs rights of the bridge to Queen Eleanor of Provence handed. It is the " fair lady" (Beautiful Lady ), which did not comply proven their duty with the customs revenue to fund the upkeep of the bridge.

Importance

The exact meaning of the nursery rhyme is unclear. The most obvious is that it is about the difficulties of bridging the River Thames. Earlier bridges were washed away ( "wash away" ) before a bridge of " stone so strong" ( "stone so strong" ) was built. It is also believed that the "fair lady", which is included ( "locked up" ) refers to an ancient custom in which a dead virgin in the foundations of the bridge was buried in order to strengthen the structure by magic. Generally, however, the theory is accepted that the nursery rhyme refers to Queen Eleanor.

Text

The text reads in the original version as follows:

Alternative stanzas

Itemization

• Nursery Rhyme