The most common is that two players hold hands and make an arch with their arms while the others pass through in single file. Edward I and the Forging of Britain by Marc Morris, page 56, 'London bridge archaeology of a nursery rhyme', 'Fact or folklore: the Viking attack on London Bridge', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=London_Bridge_Is_Falling_Down&oldid=979232869, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. The tune is played when Sarah's ghost is present, or to indicate her presence. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 502. They include: Since the late 19th century, the rhyme has been seen as one of the most popular and well known in the English-speaking world. With a gay lady (la-dee). — The melody now most associated with the rhyme. This rhyme is sung to the same tune and may be an offshoot of "London Bridge" or the remnant of a distinct game.
The rhyme is one of the best known in the world and has been referenced in a variety of works of literature and popular culture. Wood and clay, wood and clay, ‘London Bridge is Falling Down’ is an English nursery rhyme that has been found in various iterations all over the world. However, there is no archaeological evidence for any human remains in the foundations of London Bridge. Build it up with iron and steel, Five of nine versions published by Alice Gomme in 1894 included references to a prisoner who has stolen a watch and chain. A version from James Ritson's Gammer Gurton's Garland (1784) is similar but replaces the last verse with: Build it up with stone so strong, London Bridge The most frequently used first verse is: London Bridge is falling down, The meaning of the rhyme is not certain. 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. Iona & Peter Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford: OUP, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997).
Odin makes our Olaf win! [2], The rhyme is constructed of quatrains in trochaic tetrameter catalectic,[3] (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 2006, Fergie got saucy with some of this classic kid tune’s lyrics. Widening and the removal of its houses was completed in 1763, but it remained relatively narrow and needed continual and expensive repairs. Falling down, falling down. "London Bridge" (or "London Bridge is falling down") is a well-known traditional nursery rhyme that is based on the one of the most famous landmarks in London, London Bridge, which lays on the River Thames, between the city of London and Southwark. Several attempts have been made to identify the 'fair lady', 'lady gay', or lady 'lee/lea' of the rhyme. Build it up with iron and steel,
With a gay Lady.[2].