The nursery rhyme that is familiar to all has been sung pretty much by everyone but there has always been a question as to what it really means by “falling down”.
There is no one true definition but some theories have been made as to what the nursery rhyme could have meant. The nursery rhyme as we know it today is as follows:
“London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.”
The first theory explaining the origins of this song is titled the “Child Sacrifice Theory”. According to Cracked.com “this song is about starving children to death.” and that there is an actual term to describe this act, which is called Immurement. This was the practice of entombing someone within a structure until they slowly die, similar to that of a full-time watchman. The reason for having this tradition was based on the belief that sacrificing a person will ensure the stability of a structure.
Cracked.com further explain that the song, which is sometimes accompanied by a ritual, has similar references to the “Child Sacrifice Theory.” The ritual includes two children “joining hands to form an arch, and the other children take turns to run underneath until the end of the song, at which point the hands are lowered and the last child is captured within.”
However, according to J. Clarke, a London archaeologist, there is no proof of any archaeological evidence for any human remains in the foundations of London Bridge.
The second theory named the “Viking Attack Theory” claims that the rhyme relates to the destruction of London Bridge by Olaf II of Norway in 1014. The 19th-century Norse saga “The Heimskringla,” published by Samuel Laing in 1844, included a verse by Óttarr svarti that looks very similar to the nursery rhyme:
“London Bridge is broken down. —
GOLD is won, and bright renown.
Shields resounding,
War-horns sounding,
Hild is shouting in the din!
Arrows singing,
Mail-coats ringing —
Odin makes our Olaf win!”
However some historians doubt that the attack ever took place.
