London Bridge is falling down

[Bagpuss]

We played it as a game, so I don't know where this crazy "salt & pepper" stuff comes from.

The "take the key and lock her up" version made sense, since the game involved trapping people in the bridge. (Sort of the opposite of 'musical chairs' but without the chairs). I also remember other verses: "build it up with iron bars" and "iron bars will bend and break" and "build it up with silver and gold" - in my childhood, extra verses were just an excuse to keep playing the game a bit longer.

I remember the game aswell, two kids would form the bridge by holding hands and raising them like an arch with two spans. The other kids would walk underneath and lock her up the arms would come down either side and trap a kid. During the bend and break verse, you'ld sway them back and forth in your arms until they broke the bridge.

 

[Nellisir]

The silver and gold part also is in a similar game with a song called "Oranges and Lemons" which is imortalized in the book 1984 about "Here comes a chopper to chop off your head."

I don't actually recall learning to sing "London Bridge" at all, and all I know is the chorus. I have vague recollections of some kind of game, but nothing solid.

My mother had a decent collection of fairy tale/nursery rhyme books, most of which I have now, and I found both "London Bridge" and "The Bells of London Town" (in which the final line is "And here comes a chopper to chop off your head.") in "Marguerite de Angeli's Book of Nursery and Mother Goose Rhymes", copyright 1953, 1954. It's not what I learned to sing, though.


London Bridge is broken down,
Broken down, broken down,
London Bridge is broken down,
My fair lady.

Build it up with wood and clay,
wood and clay, wood and clay,
Build it up with wood and clay,
My fair lady.

Wood and clay will wash away,
Wash away, wash away,
Wood and clay will wash away,
My fair lady.

Build it up with bricks and mortar,
Bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar,
Build it up with bricks and mortar,
My fair lady.

Bricks and mortar will not stay,
Will not stay, will not stay,
Bricks and mortar will not stay,
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.

Iron and steel will bend and bow,
Bend and bow, bend and bow,
Iron and steel will bend and bow,
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.

Silver and gold will be stolen away,
Stolen away, stolen away,
Silver and gold will be stolen away,
My fair lady.

Set a man to watch all night,
Watch all night, watch all night,
Set a man to watch all night,
My fair lady.

 

[Bagpuss]

Now you've quoted it I remember hearing all those verses, except it was falling down not broken.

 

[der_kluge]

And you still haven't changed the title of this thread yet!

Just for you, buddy.

 

[Desdichado]

Do I smell a book coming??

Nah, just a dissertation with a handful of copies mouldering away in various academic libraries and private collections.

I've heard many verses of the song, actually, mostly because as a child, I owned the Peter Spier book on London Bridge. I don't remember one about salt and pepper, though, although I do remember the locking girls up, the silver and gold, the iron bars, and various other verses.

 

[der_kluge]

...although I do remember the locking girls up...

Are you sure that's not present day? Let 'em out, JD!

 

[Desdichado]

Are you sure that's not present day? Let 'em out, JD!

And then what do I do with all that storage space in the basement? Answer me that one, Mr. Smarty-pants!

 

[Raging Epistaxis]

Central Ilinois early 70's, IIRC we just sang the chorus of London Bridge.

I don't remember how the gopher song went - I never got much past the first line. Now, "On top of Spaghetti..." had several different configurations, some more gruesome than others.

But now that I have young'uns of my own, I've heard most of the other verses listed here for London Bridge except the salt and pepper. Also, one of the CD's has a verse that goes:

Build it up with penny loaves, penny loaves, penny loaves
Build it up with penny loaves
My Fair Lady

Can't say I'd ever heard that one before that recording either.

R E

 

[Thotas]

I grew up with "Girls {or Boys; the opposite sex of the singer, of course} are made of greasy grimy gopher guts, chopped up monkey meat, concentrated chicken feet, french fried eyeballs rolled in a pot of blood. Now ain't that a dandy treat?"

 

[rich1051414]

no way

I grew up in tennesee with:

Big Green Gobs of greasy grimey gopher guts
Mutilated monkey feet
Chopped up parakeet
All these things are good for you and me to eat
But i forgot my spoon