Down in the Valley

This footage was filmed in Edinburgh in 1951. The song ‘Down in the Valley’ has many variations, with the earliest reference to it being from 1888, although the Opies suggest that it may have been around long before this date. As this footage shows, the song was used as a skipping rhyme before being more commonly used as a singing game. Other versions of the song include ‘Down by the Riverside where the Green Grass Grows’, ‘Down in Yonder Meadow where the Green Grass Grows’ and ‘Down in the Valley where the