[Other verses commence with one of the following lines, and _The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (Vol 1 of 2) With Tunes, Singing-Rhymes and Methods of Playing etc.

the same manner--]

Build it up with penny loaves.

Penny loaves will melt away.

Build it up with iron and steel.

Iron and steel will bend and bow.

Build it up with silver and gold.

Silver and gold I have not got.

What has this poor prisoner done?

Stole my watch and broke my chain.

How many pounds will set him free?

Three hundred pounds will set him free.

The half of that I have not got.

Then off to prison he must go.

--Crockham Hill, Kent (Miss E. Chase).

(_b_) This game is now generally played like "Oranges and Lemons," only

there is no "tug-of-war" at the end. Two children hold up their clasped

hands to form an arch. The other children form a long line by holding to

each other's dresses or waists, and run under. Those who are running

under sing the first verse; the two who form the arch sing the second

and alternate verses. At the words, "What has this poor prisoner done?"

the girls who form the arch catch one of the line (generally the last

one). When the last verse is sung the prisoner is taken a little

distance away, and the game begins again. At Clun the players form a

ring, moving round. They sing the first and alternate verses, and

chorus, "London Bridge is broken down." Two players outside the ring run

round it, singing the second and alternate verses. When singing "Penny

loaves'll get stole away," one of the two outside children goes into the

ring, the other remains and continues her part, singing the next verse.

When the last verse is sung the prisoner is released. The Berkshire game

(Miss Kimber) is played by the children forming two long lines, each

line advancing and retiring alternately while singing their parts. When

the last verse is begun the children form a ring and gallop around, all

singing this last verse together. In the Cork version (Mrs. Green) the

children form a circle by joining hands. They march round and round,

singing the verses to a sing-song tune. When singing, "If the cock

should meet a hen," they all unclasp hands; two hold each other's hands

and form an arch. The rest run under, saying the last verse. The "arch"

lower their hands and try to catch the last child.

(_c_) The analysis of the game-rhymes is on pp. 342-45. It appears from

this analysis that the London version is alone in its faithful

reflection of an actual building episode. Three other versions introduce

the incident of watching by a man, and failing him, a dog or cock; while

five versions introduce a prisoner. This incident occurs the greatest

number of times. It is not surprising that the London version seems to

be the most akin to modern facts, being told so near the spot indicated

by the verses, and on this account it cannot be considered as the oldest

of the variants. There remain the other two groups. Both are

distinguished by the introduction of a human element, one as watchman,

the other as prisoner. The watchman incident approaches nearer to modern

facts; the prisoner incident remains unexplained by any appeal to modern

life, and it occurs more frequently than the others. In only one case,

the Shropshire, is the prisoner ransomed; in the others he is sent to

prison. Besides this main line of criticism brought out by the analysis

there is little to note. The Hurstmonceux version begins with taking

lambs over London Bridge, and the Shropshire version with the players

themselves going over; but these are doubtless foreign adjuncts, because

they do not properly prefix the main incident of the bridge being

broken. The Belfast version has a curious line, "Grant said the little

bee or dee," which the Cork version renders, "Gran says the little D."

To these there is now no meaning that can be traced, but they help to

prove that the rhyme originated from a state of things not understood by

modern players. In all the versions with the prisoner incident it comes

quite suddenly, without any previous indication, except in the Kent

version, which introduces the exclamation, "Here's a prisoner I have

got!" As the analysis shows the prisoner incident to be a real and not

accidental part of the game, and the unmeaning expressions to indicate

an origin earlier than modern players can understand, we can turn to

other facts to see if the origin can be in any way traced.

ANALYSIS OF GAME-RHYMES.

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

| 1.| -- | -- | -- |

| 2.| -- | -- | -- |

| 3.| -- | -- | -- |

| 4.| -- | -- | -- |

| 6.| -- | -- | -- |

| 7.|Grant said the little | -- | -- |

| |bee. | | |

| 8.| -- |Dance o'er my lady | -- |

| | |lee. | |

| 9.| -- | -- |My fair lady. |

|10.| -- |With a gay lady. | -- |

|11.|Where I'd be. | -- | -- |

|12.| -- |How shall we build it | -- |

|13.|Stones and lime will | -- |Build it up with |

|14.| -- | -- |Bricks and mortar will|

|15.| -- | -- |Build it up with penny|

|16.| -- | -- |Penny loaves will |

|17.| -- | -- | -- |

|18.| -- |Silver and gold will | -- |

|19.| -- |Build it up with iron | -- |

|20.| -- |Iron and steel will | -- |

|21.| -- | -- | -- |

|22.| -- | -- | -- |

|23.| -- |Build it up with wood | -- |

|24.| -- |Wood and clay will | -- |

|25.| -- |Build it up with stone| -- |

|26.|Get a man to watch all| -- | -- |

|27.|Perhaps that man might| -- | -- |

|28.| -- | -- | -- |

|29.| -- | -- |What has this poor |

|30.| -- | -- |Stole my watch and |

|31.| -- | -- | -- |

|32.| -- | -- | -- |

|33.| -- | -- | -- |

|34.| -- | -- | -- |

|35.| -- | -- | -- |

|36.|Get a dog to watch all| -- | -- |

|37.|If that dog should run| -- | -- |

|38.|Give that dog a bone | -- | -- |

|39.| -- | -- | -- |

|40.| -- | -- | -- |

|41.| -- | -- | -- |

|42.| -- | -- | -- |

|43.| -- | -- | -- |

|44.| -- | -- |Off to prison you must|

| | | |go. |

|45.| -- |Huzza! it will last | -- |

|46.| -- | -- | -- |

|47.| -- | -- | -- |

|48.| -- | -- | -- |

|49.| -- | -- | -- |

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

| 1.|Where are these great | -- | -- |

| 2.|My fair lady. | -- | -- |

| 3.|We are going to L. B. | -- | -- |

| 4.| -- |Over L. B. we go. | -- |

| 6.| -- | -- | -- |

| 7.| -- | -- | -- |

| 8.| -- | -- | -- |

| 9.|My fair lady. | -- |My fair lady. |

|10.| -- |Gay ladies, gay. | -- |

|11.| -- | -- | -- |

|12.| -- | -- | -- |

|13.|Mend it up with bricks|Build it up with lime | -- |

|14.| -- |Lime and sand will | -- |

|17.| -- | -- | -- |

|18.| -- | -- | -- |

|19.| -- | -- | -- |

|20.| -- | -- | -- |

|21.|Mend it up with pins | -- |Mend it up with pins |

|22.|Pins and needles they | -- |Pins and needles rust |

|23.| -- | -- | -- |

|24.| -- | -- | -- |

|25.| -- | -- | -- |

|26.| -- | -- | -- |

|27.| -- | -- | -- |

|28.| -- | -- |Here's a prisoner I |

|30.|Stole a watch and lost| -- |Stole my watch and |

|31.| -- |Robbed a house and | -- |

|32.| -- | -- | -- |

|33.| -- | -- | -- |

|34.| -- | -- | -- |

|35.| -- | -- | -- |

|36.| -- | -- | -- |

|37.| -- | -- | -- |

|38.| -- | -- | -- |

|39.| -- | -- | -- |

|40.| -- | -- | -- |

|41.| -- |What will you have to |What will you take to |

|42.| -- |Fourteen pounds and a |Ten hundred pounds |

|43.| -- | -- |Then a hundred pounds |

|44.|Off to prison you must| -- |Then off to prison you|

| |go. | |must go. |

|45.| -- | -- | -- |

|46.| -- | -- | -- |

|47.| -- |Stamp your foot and | -- |

|48.| -- | -- | -- |

|49.| -- | -- | -- |

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

| 1.| -- | -- | -- |

| 2.| -- | -- | -- |

| 3.| -- | -- | -- |

| 4.| -- | -- | -- |

| 5.| -- |L. B. is broken down. |L. B. is broken down. |

| 6.|L. B. is falling down.| -- | -- |

| 7.| -- |Says the little D. | -- |

| 8.| -- | -- | -- |

|10.| -- | -- | -- |

|11.| -- | -- | -- |

|12.| -- | -- | -- |

|13.|Build it up with |Build it up with lime | -- |

|14.|Mortar and bricks will|Lime and stone would | -- |

|15.| -- | -- |Build it up with penny|

|16.| -- | -- |Penny loaves will melt|

|19.| -- | -- | -- |

|20.| -- | -- | -- |

|21.| -- | -- | -- |

|22.| -- | -- | -- |

|23.| -- | -- | -- |

|24.| -- | -- | -- |

|25.| -- | -- | -- |

|26.| -- |We'll set a man to |Set a man to watch all|

|27.|Suppose the man should|If the man should fall| -- |

|28.| -- | -- | -- |

|29.| -- | -- |What has this poor |

|30.| -- | -- |Stole my watch and |

|31.| -- | -- | -- |

|32.|Give him a pipe of | -- | -- |

|33.|Suppose the pipe | -- | -- |

|34.|We'll give him a bag | -- | -- |

|35.|Suppose the nuts were | -- | -- |

|36.| -- |Set a dog to bark all | -- |

|37.| -- |If the dog should meet| -- |

|38.| -- | -- | -- |

|39.| -- |Set a cock to crow | -- |

|40.| -- |If the cock should | -- |

|41.| -- | -- |How many pounds will |

|42.| -- | -- |Three hundred pounds |

|43.| -- | -- |The half of that I |

|44.| -- | -- |Then off to prison he |

|45.| -- | -- | -- |

|46.| -- | -- | -- |

|47.| -- | -- | -- |

|48.|We'll give him a horse| -- | -- |

|49.| -- |Here comes my lord | -- |

+---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

(_d_) This game is universally acknowledged to be a very ancient one,

but its origin is a subject of some diversity of opinion. The special

feature of the rhymes is that considerable difficulty occurs in the

building of the bridge by _ordinary_ means, but without exactly

suggesting that extraordinary means are to be adopted, a prisoner is

suddenly taken. The question is, What does this indicate?

Looking to the fact of the widespread superstition of the foundation

sacrifice, it would seem that we may have here a tradition of this rite.

So recently as 1872, there was a scare in Calcutta when the Hooghly

Bridge was being constructed. The natives then got hold of the idea that

Mother Ganges, indignant at being bridged, had at last consented to

submit to the insult on condition that each pier of the structure was

founded on a layer of children's heads (Gomme's _Early Village Life_, p.

29). Formerly, in Siam, when a new city gate was being erected, it was

customary for a number of officers to lie in wait and seize the first

four or eight persons who happened to pass by, and who were then buried

alive under the gate-posts to serve as guardian angels (Tylor's

_Primitive Culture_, i. 97). Other instances of the same custom and

belief are given in the two works from which these examples are taken;

and there is a tradition about London Bridge itself, that the stones

were bespattered with the blood of little children. Fitzstephen, in his

well-known account of London of the twelfth century, mentions that when

the Tower was built the mortar was tempered with the blood of beasts.

Prisoners' heads were put on the bridge after execution down to modern

times, and also on city gates.

These traditions about London, when compared with the actual facts of

contemporary savagery, seem to be sufficient to account for such a game

as that we are now examining having originated in the foundation

sacrifice. Mr. Newell, in his examination of the game, gives countenance

to this theory, but he strangely connects it with other games which have

a tug-of-war as the finish. Now in all the English examples it is

remarkable that the tug-of-war does not appear to be a part of the game;

and if this evidence be conclusive, it would appear that this incident

got incorporated in America. It is this incident which Mr. Newell dwells

upon in his ingenious explanation of the mythological interpretation of

the game. But apart from this, the fact that the building of bridges was

accompanied by the foundation sacrifice is a more likely origin for such

a widespread game which is so intimately connected with a bridge.

This view is confirmed by what may be called the literary history of the

game. The verses, as belonging to a game, have only recently been

recorded, and how far they go back into tradition it is impossible to

say. Dr. Rimbault is probably right when he states "that they have been

formed by many fresh additions in a long series of years, and [the game]

is perhaps almost interminable when received in all its different

versions" (_Notes and Queries_, ii. 338). In _Chronicles of London

Bridge_, pp. 152, 153, the author says he obtained the following note

from a Bristol correspondent:--"About forty years ago, one moonlight

night in the streets of Bristol, my attention was attracted by a dance

and chorus of boys and girls, to which the words of this ballad gave

measure. The breaking down of the Bridge was announced as the dancers

moved round in a circle hand in hand, and the question, 'How shall we

build it up again?' was chanted by the leader while the rest stood

still." This correspondent also sent the tune the children sang, which

is printed in the _Chronicles of London Bridge_. This was evidently the

same game, but it would appear that the verses have also been used as a

song, and it would be interesting to find out which is the more ancient

of the two--the song or the game; and to do this it is necessary that we

should know something of the history of the song. A correspondent of

_Notes and Queries_ (ii. 338) speaks of it as a "lullaby song" well

known in the southern part of Kent and in Lincolnshire. In the

_Gentleman's Magazine_ (1823, Part II. p. 232) appeared the following

interesting note:--

The projected demolition of London Bridge recalls to my mind the

introductory lines of an old ballad which more than seventy years ago I

heard plaintively warbled by a lady who was born in the reign of Charles

II., and who lived till nearly the end of that of George II. I now

transcribe the lines, not as possessing any great intrinsic merit, but

in the hope of learning from some intelligent correspondent the name of

the author and the story which gave rise to the ballad, for it probably

originated in some accident that happened to the old bridge. The "Lady

Lea" evidently refers to the river of that name, the favourite haunt of

Isaac Walton, which, after fertilising the counties of Hertford, Essex,

and Middlesex, glides into the Thames.

London Bridge is broken down,

_Dance over the Lady Lea_;

London Bridge is broken down,

_With a gay lady_ [_la-dee_].

Then we must build it up again.

What shall we build it up withal?

Build it up with iron and steel,

Iron and steel will bend and break.

Build it up with wood and stone,

Wood and stone will fall away.

Build it up with silver and gold,

Silver and gold will be stolen away.

Then we must set a man to watch,

Suppose the man should fall asleep?

Then we must put a pipe in his mouth,

Suppose the pipe should fall and break?

Then we must set a dog to watch,

Suppose the dog should run away?

Then we must chain him to a post.

The two lines in _italic_ are all regularly repeated after each

line.--M. Green.

Another correspondent to this magazine, in the same volume, p. 507,

observes that the ballad concerning London Bridge "formed, in my

remembrance, part of a Christmas Carol, and commenced thus--

Dame, get up and bake your pies,

On Christmas-day in the morning.

The requisition goes on to the dame to prepare for the feast, and her

answer is--

London Bridge is fallen down,

On Christ-mas day in the morning, &c.

The inference always was, that until the bridge was rebuilt some

stop would be put to the Dame's Christmas operations; but why the

falling of London Bridge should form part of a Christmas Carol at

Newcastle-upon-Tyne I am at a loss to know." Some fragments were also

printed in the _Mirror_ for November 1823; and a version is also given

by Ritson, _Gammer Gurton's Garland_. The _Heimskringla_ (Laing, ii.

260, 261) gives an animated description of the Battle of London Bridge,

when Ethelred, after the death of Sweyn, was assisted by Olaf in

retaking and entering London, and it is curious, that the first line of

the game-rhyme appears--

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.

If this is anything more than an accidental parallel, we come back to an

historical episode wherein the breaking down and rebuilding of London

Bridge occur, and it looks as if the two streams down which this

tradition has travelled, namely, first, through the game, and second,

through the song, both refer to the same event.

Dr. Rimbault has, in his _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 34, reconstructed a copy

of the original rhyme from the versions given by Halliwell and the

_Mirror_, and gives the tune to which it was sung, which is reprinted

here. The tune from Kent is the one generally used in London versions.

The tune of a country dance called "London Bridge" is given in

Playford's _Dancing Master_, 1728 edition.

[4] Another informant gives the refrain, "Grand says the little Dee."

[5] I have identified this with a version played at Westminster and

another taught to my children by a Hanwell girl.--A. B. G.

Long-duck

A number of children take hold of each other's hands and form a

half-circle. The two children at one end of the line lift up their arms,

so as to form an arch, and call "Bid, bid, bid," the usual cry for

calling ducks. Then the children at the other end pass in order through

the arch. This process is repeated, and they go circling round the

field.--Addy's _Sheffield Glossary_.

See "Duck Dance."

Long Tag

See "Long Terrace."

Long-Tawl

A game at marbles where each takes aim at the other in turn, a marble

being paid in forfeit to whichever of the players may make a

hit.--Lowsley's _Berkshire Glossary_.

Long Terrace

Every player chooses a partner. The couples stand immediately in front

of each other, forming a long line, one remaining outside of the line on

the right-hand side, who is called the "Clapper." The object of the game

is for the last couple to reach the top of the line, each running on

different sides, and keeping to the side on which they are standing. The

object of the Clapper is to hit the one running on the right side of the

line, which, if he succeeds in doing, makes him the Clapper, and the

Clapper takes his place. [The next _last_ couple would then presumably

try and reach the top.]--East Kirkby, Lincs. (Miss K. Maughan).

A similar game to this is played at Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). It

is there called "Long Tag." The players stand in line behind one

another, and an odd one takes her place somewhere near the front; at a

given signal, such as clapping of hands, the two at the back separate

and try to meet again in front before the one on the watch can catch

them; they may run where they please, and when one is caught that one

becomes the one "out."

See "French Jackie."

Loup the Bullocks

Young men go out to a green meadow, and there on all-fours plant

themselves in a row about two yards distant from each other. Then he who

is stationed farthest back in the "bullock rank" starts up and leaps

over the other bullocks before him, by laying his hands on each of their

backs; and when he gets over the last one leans down himself as before,

whilst all the others, in rotation, follow his example; then he starts

and leaps again.

I have sometimes thought that we (the Scotch) have borrowed this

recreation from our neighbours of the "Green Isle," as at their

wakes they have a play much of the same kind, which they call

"Riding Father Doud." One of the wakers takes a stool in his hand,

another mounts that one's back, then Father Doud begins rearing and

plunging, and if he unhorses his rider with a dash he does well. There

is another play (at these wakes) called "Kicking the Brogue," which is

even ruder than "Riding Father Doud," and a third one called

"Scuddieloof."--Mactaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.

Patterson (_Antrim and Down Glossary_) mentions a game called "Leap the

Bullock," which he says is the same as "Leap-frog."

Dickinson's _Cumberland Glossary Supplement_, under "Lowp," says it

means a leap or jump either running or standing. The various kinds

include "Catskip"--one hitch, or hop, and one jump; "Hitch

steppin"--hop, step, and lowp; a hitch, a step, and a leap; "Otho"--two

hitches, two steps, and a leap; "Lang spang"--two hitches, two steps, a

hitch, a step, and a leap.

See "Accroshay," "Knights," "Leap-frog."

Lubin

[Music]

--Hexham (Miss J. Barker).

[Music]

--Doncaster (Mr. C. Bell).

[Music]

--London (A. B. Gomme).

[Music]

--Dorsetshire (Miss M. Kimber).

[Music]

--Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).

I. Here we dance lubin, lubin, lubin,

Here we dance lubin light,