"London Bridge Is Falling Down" (also known as "My Fair Lady" or "London Bridge") is a traditional English nursery rhyme, folk music and singing game, which is found in different versions all over the world. It deals with the dilapidation of London Bridge and attempts, realistic or fanciful, to repair it. It may date back to bridge-related rhymes and games of the Late Middle Ages, but the earliest records of the rhyme in English are from the 17th century. The lyrics were first printed in close to their modern form in the mid-18th century and became popular, particularly in Britain and the United States, during the 19th century.
The modern melody was first recorded in the late 19th century. It has the Roud Folk Song Index number 502. Several explanations have been advanced to explain the meaning of the rhyme and the identity of the "fair lady" of the refrain. The song is well known 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:
Although another version substitutes:
The rhyme is constructed of quatrains in trochaic tetrameter catalectic (each line made up of four metrical feet of two syllables, with the stress falling on the first syllable in a pair; the last foot in the line missing the unstressed syllable), 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
<score sound="1" raw="1">
\header { tagline = ##f }
\layout { indent = 0 \context { \Score \remove "Bar_number_engraver" } }
global = { \key d \major \numericTimeSignature \time 2/4 \autoBeamOff }
chordNames = \chordmode { \global \set chordChanges = ##t
\set midiInstrument = "acoustic guitar (nylon)" \transpose c c, {
\repeat volta 2 { d2\p | d | } \alternative { { a | d | } { a | d } } \bar "|."
}
}
melody = \relative c { \global \set melismaBusyProperties = #'() \set midiInstrument = "clarinet"
\repeat volta 2 { a8. (b16 a8 g8 | fis8 g8 a4) | }
\alternative { { e8 (fis8 g4) | fis8 (g8 a4) | } { e4 (a4 | fis8 d4.) } } \bar "|."
}
verse = \lyricmode {
Lon -- don Bridge is fall -- ing down,
fall -- ing down, fall -- ing down,
my fair la -- dy.
}
\score {
<<
\new ChordNames \chordNames
\new Staff { \melody } \addlyrics { \verse }
>>
\layout { }
}
\score { \unfoldRepeats { << \chordNames \\ \melody >> }
\midi { \tempo 4=102
\context { \Score midiChannelMapping = #'instrument }
\context { \Staff \remove "Staff_performer" }
\context { \Voice \consists "Staff_performer" }
}
}
</score>
thumb|Prospect of [[Old London Bridge in 1710]]
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 recorded above and no lyrics were given. An issue of Blackwood's Magazine in 1821 noted the rhyme as 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 (1827).
The game
right|upright|thumb|This 1904 column from [[The Tacoma Times describes various alternative verses and their accompanying gestures]]
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. 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: