<P> London Bridge is broken down, Broken down, broken down . London Bridge is broken down, My fair lady . </P> <P> The rhyme is constructed of quatrains in trochaic tetrameter catalectic, (each line made up of four metrical feet of two syllables, with the stress falling on the first syllable in a pair; the last foot in the line missing the unstressed syllable), which is common in nursery rhymes . In its most common form it relies on a double repetition, rather than a rhyming scheme, which is a frequently employed device in children's rhymes and stories . The Roud Folk Song Index, which catalogues folk songs and their variations by number, classifies the song as 502 . </P> <P> The melody now most associated with the rhyme . </P> <P> A melody is recorded for "London Bridge" in an edition of John Playford's The Dancing Master published in 1718, but it differs from the modern tune and no lyrics were given . An issue of Blackwood's Magazine in 1821 noted the rhyme as a being sung to the tune of "Nancy Dawson", now better known as "Nuts in May" and the same tune was given in Richard Thomson's Chronicles of London Bridge (1827). </P>

Who wrote the poem london bridge is falling down