This rhyme is found in a book dated 1560...
Tom a Lin, and his wife and his wife's mother,
They all went over the bridge together;
The bridge was broken and they fell in,
'The devil go with all,' quoth Tom a Lin.
Notes
Here's a variation of this rhyme:
Bryan O'Lynn and His Wife and Wife's Mother
Bryan O'Lynn, and his wife and wife's mother,
All went over the bridge together;
The bridge was loose, they all fell in,
'What a precious concern,' cried Bryan O'Lynn.
Bryan O'Lynn had no breeches to wear,
So he got a sheep's skin to make him a pair.
Here's the version from The Little Mother Goose (1912), illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith:
Bryan O'Lin and his wife, and wife's mother,
They all went over the bridge together:
The bridge broke down, and they all fell in,-
The deuce go with all! said Bryan O'Lin.
Comments
Here's another one about Brian O'Lin's breeches [it can be found in The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897)]:
Brian O'Lin had no breeches to wear;
He bought him a sheepskin to make him a pair,
The woolly side out, and the other side in:
'It's pleasant and cool,' says Brian O'Lin.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
These rhymes are in A History of Nursery Rhymes by Percy B. Green (1899).
