London in Nursery Rhymes
Sing a song of London...
Welcome to Londonist: Time Machine’s Friday edition for paying subscribers, with a generous preview for everyone else.
Today, we look at six well-known nursery rhymes with London connections: London Bridge is Falling Down, Oranges and Lemons, London’s Burning, Pop Goes the Weasel, Do You Know the Muffin Man and Ring a Ring o’Roses. What do they mean? When do they come from? And what do they tell us about London’s history?
That’s for the main section. First a boozy announcement and the return of the History Radar from its Christmas break.
📣📣 DRINK IN AN HISTORIC PUB📣📣
Who’d like to join me for a tipple in one of London’s many historic pubs? We’ve done a few of these now, and it’s a great way to make connections with other London history aficionados in a convivial location. I’m proposing Tuesday 11 February for the next one, pub to be decided. As a conversation starter this time round, I’d like everyone attending to bring along a favourite London history book, or some other object with links to our city’s past (e.g. a souvenir leaflet, badge, bus ticket, programme, old newspaper… whatever).
The pub meetups are for paying subscribers only (but you can bring a plus-one). If you’d like to join us, drop me a line on matt@londonist.com and I’ll provide further details.
History Radar
Upcoming events of interest to London history fans.
🧳 THE LONELY LONDONERS: Sam Selvon’s famous novel about the London lives of 1950s West Indian immigrants has been adapted for the stage by Roy Williams. It garnered rave reviews in its original run, and has now transferred to the Kiln Theatre in Kilburn, where you can catch it until 22 February.
👸🏻 MEDIEVAL WOMEN: Tying in with the current Medieval Women exhibition, the British Library hosts author Lauren Groff for an online event on 14 January discussing her novel Matrix. It tells the story of Marie de France who is cast out of the royal court by Eleanor of Aquitaine and sent to England, with themes of female creativity, violence and religion. Groff chats to historical novelist Stephanie Merritt, aka S.J. Parris.
🎤 HIPPODROME: The Leicester Square venue — a mix of performance space, casino and bar/restaurant — is now 125 years old. On 14 January, author Lucinda Gosling will be at the Hippodrome to explore its remarkable history, which includes plunging elephants, Houdini’s handcuff challenge, Julie Andrews’ first stage performance and Judy Garland’s last. With live musical accompaniment.
💥 BLOOMSBURY BOMBSITES: On 15 January, Dr Gabe Moshenska, Associate Professor at University College London's Institute of Archaeology, gives a free talk about the bombsites of Bloomsbury. Head to the London Archives to trace the points of detonation as well as memorials, marked masonry, and modern architecture, which tell the story of Bloomsbury during the Blitz.
🕯️ TWILIGHT TOUR: Stay at the Sir John Soane's Museum after hours on 17 January for a twilight tour, and see it in a whole new light. A museum guide leads the tour, highlighting certain treasured objects from the collection as you go.
🚂 BRUNEL MUSEUM TOURS: As part of its 200th anniversary celebrations, the Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe offers guided tours on selected weekends throughout 2025, including 18-19 January. Get an in-depth tour of the Engine House exhibition and Grade II* listed underground tunnel shaft, in a tour lasting approximately 45 minutes.
🔔 CATHEDRAL TOUR: Join a Cathedral Guide on 18 January for a tour of Southwark Cathedral, delving into some of the building's 900 year history. Topics covered include links to Winchester, bishop burials, and Shakespearean actors.
💃🏽 SOHEMIANS: The Sohemian Society is the place to go for anyone interested in the cultural history of Soho. The society holds regular events, but they sell out very fast. Upcoming subjects include Nick Drake, gay men in post-war London, Bohemian women of 1920s Soho, and the glamour of 1950s Soho. Take a look through their programme and book quickly to get a place. (Although a handful of tickets are held-back on the door.)
London in Nursery Rhyme
Sing a song of London,
A pocket full of rhyme.
Four and twenty verses,
From another time.
When the songs are studied,
Much to our surprise,
They’re stuffed with London history,
To set before your eyes.
London lurks in the background of many nursery rhymes, though it is not always obvious. Below, I’ve chosen six well-known songs with particularly strong connections, and highlighted a few others in brief.
So, make yourself a cup of tea (Polly put the kettle on!), and let us begin.
London Bridge is Falling Down
London Bridge has fallen down more often than Cristiano Ronaldo. The Romans had a wooden span, which must have got damaged or washed away on several occasions. The Anglo-Saxons and Normans got through bridges at an embarrassing rate. The 13th century bridge was deleted in the early 19th century, and its replacement was taken down and partly shipped to Arizona in the late 1960s. Which bridge, exactly, is falling down in our song?
The origins of the nursery rhyme are quite nebulous and, I’m afraid, that will be a common theme in this newsletter. It is first referred to in a comedy of 1657 called The London Chaunticleres, though its lyrics are not revealed. These were first printed in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book in 1744, but have changed much across the generations.
These dates suggest that the song was composed during the tenure of the 13th century bridge, which lasted until the early 19th century. This bridge was badly damaged on numerous occasions, including a terrible fire in 1212 when the bridge was just three years old, and another in 1633, which wiped out many of the houses. Several arches collapsed in 1281, and again in 1437. Any of these events might have triggered the song. Perhaps it is even older, and is a folk memory of a supposed attack on London Bridge by Olaf of Norway in 1014. Another theory is that the song was imported. Similar ditties about collapsing bridges are recorded in France, Germany and Denmark at earlier dates.
We should remember that London Bridge was one of the most important and famous structures in England. People would have been making silly rhymes about it all the time. Perhaps it was simply woven from the imagination, as part of a childhood game, without any direct inspiration from real events.
Oranges and Lemons
First recorded around 1744, this familiar rhyme offers a melodic tour of London churches before ending with the threat of decapitation. Kids love that kind of thing. It’s appeared in numerous versions over the years, but the modern song has settled on six churches.
One can spend a fruitful Saturday tracking down the Oranges and Lemons churches. I’d make you a map, but someone’s already done so, and uploaded it to Wikipedia. Four of the identities are certain, and two are debated:
Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St Clement’s: probably St Clement Danes on Strand, which plays the tune on its bells; but possibly St Clement’s Eastcheap.
You owe me five farthings, say the bells of St Martin’s: either St Martin-in-the-Fields by Trafalgar Square or the vanished St Martin Orgar off Cannon Street.
When will you pay me, say the bells of Old Bailey: St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, the bell that would toll for executions.
When I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch: St Leonard’s, Shoreditch.
When will that be, say the bells of Stepney: St Dunstan’s, Stepney.
I do not know, says the great bell of Bow: St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, the bell within whose sound all true Cockneys are born.
Why the song ends with a chopper to chop of your head is a bit of a mystery. Theories of child sacrifice or a reference to Henry VIII’s penchant for wife-slaying are probably fanciful. The bloodthirsty coda is not recorded until the 19th century, and was probably added for entirely whimsical reasons, perhaps as part of a children’s game.