_MYTHOLOGY._
In the olde dayes of the Kyng Arthour,
Of which that Britouns speken gret honour,
Al was this land fulfilled of fayrye.
_The Wife of Baths Tale._
No. 150.
_London Bridge._
No game has been more popular with children than this, and any summer
evening, in the poorer quarters of the cities, it may still be seen
how six years instructs three years in the proper way of conducting
it. Two players, by their uplifted hands, form an arch, representing
the bridge, under which passes the train of children, each clinging to
the garments of the predecessor, and hurrying to get safely by. The
last of the train is caught by the lowered arms of the guardians of the
bridge, and asked, "Will you have a diamond necklace or a gold pin?"
"a rose or a cabbage?" or some equivalent question. The keepers have
already privately agreed which of the two each of these objects shall
represent, and, according to the prisoner's choice, he is placed behind
one or the other. When all are caught, the game ends with a "Tug of
War," the two sides pulling against each other; and the child who lets
go, and breaks the line, is pointed at and derided. The words of the
rhyme sung while the row passes under the bridge are now reduced to two
lines,
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady!
Readers may wonder why this well-known game should be classed as
_mythological_; but such a character appears in the European versions.
Thus, in Suabia, the two keepers of the "Golden Bridge" are called
respectively the "Devil" and the "Angel," and the object is to decide
who shall be devils and who angels. In France the game is known as
"Heaven and Hell." The children who have made a good choice, after the
selection is finished, pursue the devils, making the sign of horns with
fingers extended from the forehead. In Italy, the name of the sport is
"Open the Gates." The gates are those of the Inferno and of Paradise;
_St. Peter_ is the keeper of one, _St. Paul_ of the other. The children
choose between _wine_ and _water_; but when the destiny of the last
child is decided, the two girls who represent the keepers of the bridge
break their arch of lifted hands and move in different directions,
followed by their subjects, "while the cries and shrieks of the players
condemned to the Inferno contrast with the pathetic songs and sweet
cadences of those destined to the happiness of Paradise."
The game is mentioned by Rabelais (about A.D. 1533) under the name of
the "Fallen Bridge."
In German versions, the keepers are called "Devil and Angel," "King
and Emperor," or "Sun and Moon." In this latter form the game has been
one of the few kept up by the Germans of Pennsylvania, who call it the
"Bridge of Holland."[127]
Connected with this game in Massachusetts is a curious piece of local
lore. A lady[128] recollects that, in the first years of the century, a
pedler came to her father's house in Plymouth, Mass., and, in default
of three cents change, left a "chap-book" or pamphlet of that value,
called "Mother Goose's Melodies." In this pamphlet (the first authentic
mention of a publication of that title) the song was included, in
the familiar words; but, instead of _London_ bridge, _Charlestown_
bridge was substituted in the rhyme. In that form only the verses were
familiar to herself and her companions.
Charlestown Bridge, over Charles River, connected Boston with Cambridge
and other suburban towns, before that time only accessible by ferry or
a long detour. The bridge was "dedicated" July 17, 1786; and was, in
the eyes of the rustic population of Massachusetts, quite as important
a structure as the London erection of the thirteenth century. The
project was undertaken after a long incubation of sixty years, and not
without many apprehensions lest the vast masses of ice rushing down the
river in winter should sweep it away. The cost was fifteen thousand
pounds. At the celebration, a salute of thirteen guns was fired from
Fort Hill, "almost every person of respectable character in private
and public life walked in the procession," and eight hundred persons
sat down to dinner. No wonder that its fame superseded, locally at
least, that of the celebrated structure which was so long the wonder
of London, and so sacred in nursery lore. We may thus form an idea of
the importance of bridges in earlier times--which importance, and the
superstitions consequent, were the root of our game--and also of the
tendency of each town to localize its traditions, even those of the
nursery.
With the exception of the name, the words of the song, in the chap-book
referred to, were identical with those of the familiar English version.
We learn from another informant that these same words (this time,
however, under the proper title of London Bridge) were often used as a
dance-song at children's parties about the beginning of the century.
The dancers sat in a circle, a boy next a girl; as each verse was
sung, the lad whose turn it was led out his partner and promenaded,
suiting action to meaning. The exact verbal correspondence, and absence
of the original mode of playing, show that this version of the song,
and consequently the rhymes of the pamphlet called "Mother Goose's
Melodies," were not taken from the lips of Americans, but reprinted
from English sources.
The version repeatedly printed in books for children is not truly
popular. It has been remodelled by the recorder, and so the original
idea has been disguised. We have, however, the pleasure of offering
a genuine English version. We add fragments of American forms, and
finally a curious text, for which Ireland is ultimately responsible.
From these, taken together, the character of the old English game can
be made out.
* * * * *
A.--Song of Charlestown Bridge, as printed (probably about 1786) in the
chap-book, "Mother Goose's Melodies:"
Charlestown Bridge is broken down,
Dance o'er my lady Lee;
Charlestown Bridge is broken down,
With a gay lady.
How shall we build it up again?
Dance o'er my lady Lee, etc.
Build it up with silver and gold,
Dance o'er my lady Lee, etc.
Silver and gold will be stole away,
Dance o'er my lady Lee, etc.
Build it up with iron and steel,
Dance o'er my lady Lee, etc.
Iron and steel will bend and bow,
Dance o'er my lady Lee, etc.
Build it up with wood and clay,
Dance o'er my lady Lee, etc.
Wood and clay will wash away,
Dance o'er my lady Lee, etc.
Build it up with stone so strong,
Dance o'er my lady Lee,
Huzza! 'twill last for ages long,
With a gay lady.