Talk:London Bridge Is Falling Down

Hi all!
I remember playing this as a small child. The way we played was that two (usu. girls) would clasp hands held high, forming an arch and all would sing, "London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down,...my fair lady." And during this time other children would pass underneath. When we reached the part of the second verse "lock her up" the arch would fall and "lock up" the child who happened to be passing through. Did anyone else play this game as a child and do you remember if there was anything else involved? And -- where are you from, where did you play this? I am from North Carolina, in the US. JH

My fair lady
I read somewhere about a noble woman naked on a horse.... so many people crowded London Bridge to see her that it collapsed into the Thames. Where/when does that come from? Wildart84 (talk) 08:32, 26 December 2013 (UTC)Dan W.Wildart84 (talk) 08:32, 26 December 2013 (UTC)
 * I think you are mixing London Bridge up with Coventry's Lady Godiva. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 12:44, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

The song in Scandinavian traditions
London bridge? In Scandinavia we have this song in many different variants, and it is played in the same way as described in this article. But it is never said that it is about "London bridge". It is rather the bridge to hell.

Exists in portugal to, its called the 'falua' (falua is a thype of boat). the song goes more a less like: 'what a beautifull falua that sails this way/ it comes from bethelem. i will ask the boatman to pass me trought/i have many little children and can not provide for them all' - sang by the 'mother' who leads the line. and the 'bridge' (the players who form the arch) reply: 'youl shall pass/ but one must stay. if it is not the first one it shall be the last'. the bridge gets the last in line and ask a question. according to the answer, he goes behind one of the bridge players. in the end, the last one to be caught by the bridge players that gattered the largest team is seated in a 'chair' formed by the arms of the 2 bridge players and there is a count to 10, while they rock the chair. is the 'chair' doesnt brake, the bridge with the largest team wins. the funny thing here is that according to the song, the two bridge players should represent the boatman (who keeps a child as toal) but they are called 'the bridge' - a ponte. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.210.65.185 (talk) 01:06, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

Song Title
"Is" should be capitalized in this song's title, as it is a verb.

Dead Virgin in the Foundation
Nonsense obviously, but where does this theory come from? In the Topping out ceremony, in the UK and USA, a tree is sometimes placed on the roof of tall buildings Columbia University. This is a guardian spirit, protecting the building. Also, there are over 1,000 instances of archeologists finding shoes hidden in the fireplace of buildings. This appears to date back to about 1540. There is an example from the Czech Republic, from c 1360 Concealed Shoes. Going back to Vedic times (and possibly Rome and Greece), a dog, goat or sheep was put into the foundations of important large buildings Vedic Ceremonies. From there, it is a small imaginative leap to claim that virgins must be buried in bridges. See also [Mithriac ceremonies. There is no evidence for the virgin business, yet, on the first website in the "External links" section, the nonesense is repeated - Nursery Rhymes, claiming that children were buried. Oh dear. I would put all this into the article itself, but it's a bit cumbersome, and extremely remote from the supposed topic - London Bridge. A similar claim is made in the book "Folk Music" by Norm Cohen (2005) (Greenwood Press), on page 35, relating to the song "London Bridge is Falling Down". Maybe somebody had read that book and extrapolated the rest. [[User:Ogg|Ogg]] 19:45, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

I agree the theory leaves one to ask where the information comes from. The "Meaning" section requires some citations for their bold claims. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.52.20.230 (talk) 22:30, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

London Bridge in the Midwest
I grew up in the southeastern part of Iowa, in the US, and I also remember playing a London Bridge game when I was a small child- 3 or 4 years old -with the other children of my preschool/daycare class.

This is the way we played: Two children would face each other and clasp their hands above their heads in the shape of an arch, while the other children would walk underneath during the first verse of the song. Once we got to the second verse, the arch would "capture" whoever was underneath at the time. The two children who had formed the arch would then swing their arms back and forth so that the captured child was somewhat tossed around.

That's as much as I can remember- I think after we finished the second verse the game was over, and we restarted. --Holtkca (talk) 06:13, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

First printed earlier than 1744
"The earliest printed English version is in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (c. 1744)" according to the article.

But in fact it is in Namby Pamby, printed in 1725:  "London-Bridge is broken down: // Now he courts the gay Ladee // Dancing o'er the Lady-Lee." 91.85.165.30 (talk) 21:38, 5 April 2011 (UTC)

Extra verse and origin of "My Lady Lea"
Growing up in the Black Country during the 1960s, after "Iron and Steel" we had the verse: Build it up with stone so strong,

Dance over My Lady Lea;

Hurrah! It will last for ages long,

With a gay Lady. I understood that the stones literally "danced" over the River Lea as they were transported downstream in barges.

I don't have independent sources or citations, and indeed some might claim WP:NOR so will not suggest this for the main page.Martin of Sheffield (talk) 16:21, 27 June 2011 (UTC)


 * Pity, its an interesting alternative to the original and presumably branched off early for that one. I will check some sources just in case someone collected it.--''' SabreBD  (talk ) 22:02, 27 June 2011 (UTC)


 * I've found a source for the verse and so have added it to the main text. I still haven't found anything about the River/Lady Lee/Lea though. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 11:32, 31 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Good job. I am still keeping eyes open for the river/lady.--''' SabreBD  (talk ) 11:43, 31 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Found a citation for the last verse. Time & Tune Autumn 1964.  Not Black Country at all but the BBC! Martin of Sheffield (talk) 15:25, 26 November 2020 (UTC)

Alternate lyrics
When I was little, we would sing:

London bridge is falling down Falling down Falling down London brdge is falling down My fair lady

Take the key an' lock 'er up Lock 'er up Lock 'er up Take the key an' lock 'er up My fair lady

In the first verse, two people would open clasp hands and let everyone under the bridge. When we get to the second verse, we'd put our arms down so the lady was trapped, and we'd swing her from side to side. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.203.227.69 (talk) 17:16, 6 July 2012 (UTC) This is how we did it in Alabama, in the 60's. There were many lyrics, but, I can only remember the "falling down" and "take the key" verses. Seems like there was one verses about "taking her far away", but I can't recall exactly. Hopefully, someone else will remember the rest!

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.127.122.28 (talk) 08:53, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

Popular Culture....
A show which is rather popular among Japanese animations is Kuroshitsuji, also known as Black Butler. Episodes 11 - 12 contain a Japanese version of the song. In the English dub of it, it's something along the lines of:

"Build it up with wax and stone Wax and stone, wax and stone Build it up with wax and stone 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

Build it up with silver and gold Silver and gold, silver and gold Build it up with silver and gold 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

Silver and gold is stolen away Stolen away, stolen away..."

Would be what drove me to look up this song in the first place, so I thought it'd be relevant to the topic... — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mihoshika (talk • contribs) 04:56, 10 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Related: Is there anything about the "wax and stone" verse outside of Black Butler? Or was it made up for the anime? 122.213.236.124 (talk) 08:06, 20 October 2016 (UTC)


 * what 2600:6C5A:1C3F:D836:40B5:7610:95C3:C5D (talk) 20:23, 16 February 2023 (UTC)

Bridge history
The section Age and damage theory contains " the original London Bridge (built in 1176 ...)". The original was of course the Roman pontoon bridge, or Roman wooden bridge (depending upon your definition of bridge). The 1176 bridge was far from original. Would someone care to correct the paragraph please. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 13:07, 11 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Would "original stone bridge" cover this?--  SabreBD  (talk ) 17:49, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

I believe I once sang the wax and stone but what was it from? And when? 2 years ago when I had learned of black butler and saw that episode. I don't think it was outside of the anime. Dinah Kirkland (talk) 13:27, 4 June 2017 (UTC)

Fire Damage in 1632
Please add a citation or remove "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" since this statement seems incorrect based on several sources, including primary sources. According to The Great Fire of London by Walter George Bell (1914) assessing the 1666 fire's damage, "About one-third the length of [London Bridge] was cleared of the buildings encoumbering [sic] it, but the damage went down. Arches and piers that had stood firm with centuries' use were left insecure when the stones had cooled. The Bridge House [the trust managing London Bridge] spent £1,500 in necessary repairs before the leaseholders could attempt to rebuild. The keyed wooden structure known as Nonsuch House, which was the wonder of the Bridge, the drawbridge, and the remaining houses towards Southwark were not touched by the fire." That sounds to me like the exact same part of the bridge that burnt in 1632 had been rebuilt and was burned again during the fire in 1666 and then rebuilt again. The painting "The Great Fire of London" (1675) shows parts of London Bridge not only rebuilt but on fire. Further, Samuel Pepys diary on 2nd Sept. 1666 states "there I did see the houses at that end of the bridge all on fire and an infinite great fire on this and the other side the end of the bridge; which, among other people, did trouble me for poor little Michell and our Sarah on the bridge." 2601:245:C100:5E5C:80C6:EF80:5FB3:94A3 (talk) 02:50, 31 March 2023 (UTC)
 * You certainly seem to have proved your point. Now please rewrite that subsection, quoting your sources. Sweetpool50 (talk) 10:28, 31 March 2023 (UTC)