A Special Request

Today's post is dedicated to Terri and her granddaughter Emily. Emily has questions about the nursery rhyme/song "London Bridge" aka "My Fair Lady",hopefully those questions will be answered here. There are several theories about the meaning of the rhyme,one relates to the possible destruction of London Bridge by Olaf of Norway in 1014 (or 1009) though this theory is not supported by historians. The more popular theory is the age and damage owing to the combination of age and the Great Fire of London,also in that same time period several of the arches were removed to make river navigation easier. That leaves the macabre child sacrifice theory referring to the burying of children (perhaps alive) in the foundations of the bridge to prevents its collapse,however archaeological evidence does not support this theory. The bridge was eventually replaced in the early 19th century and the remains reconstructed in Lake Havasu City,AZ.
The "Fair Lady" referred to is mostly thought to be Matilda of Scotland,Henry I's consort who was responsible for building a series of bridges. Eleanor of Provence,consort of Henry III who had custody of bridge revenues is another possible "Fair (fare) Lady".
I hope this was helpful for answering Emily's questions!