<P> A version from James Ritson's Gammer Gurton's Garland (1784) is similar but replaces the last verse with: </P> <P> Build it up with stone so strong, Dance o'er my Lady lee, Huzza!' twill last for ages long, With a gay lady . </P> <P> The meaning of the rhyme is not certain . It may simply relate to the many difficulties experienced in bridging the River Thames, but a number of alternative theories have been put forward . </P> <P> One theory of origin is that the rhyme relates to the supposed destruction of London Bridge by Olaf II of Norway in 1014 (or 1009). The nineteenth - century translation of the Norse saga the Heimskringla, published by Samuel Laing in 1844, included a verse by Óttarr svarti, that looks very similar to the nursery rhyme: </P>

Where did the song london bridge is falling down come from