The Lion and the Unicorn

Origins

The rhyme is at least as old as the early 18th century. The lion and the unicorn had long been royal symbols: the lion representing England, the unicorn Scotland. When James VI of Scotland became James I of England in 1603, the two emblems were joined in the royal coat of arms. The rhyme is thought to reflect this uneasy union — the “fight for the crown” symbolizing the rivalry between the two nations.

The Verse

In the nursery version, the story is simple: the lion and the unicorn fight, the lion wins, and the people respond by offering food — white bread, brown bread, plum-cake — before driving the combatants out of town. It works both as a piece of heraldic satire and as a children’s chant, rhythmic and easy to remember.

Later Use

The rhyme was printed in many 18th- and 19th-century collections, sometimes with added verses describing the beasts continuing their quarrel. By Victorian times it had become a staple of nursery lore, detached from its political origins.

Lewis Carroll revived it in Through the Looking-Glass (1871), where Alice meets a comic lion and unicorn who fight over a crown. Carroll’s use — playful and nonsensical — helped cement the rhyme in the public imagination, just as his trial scene did for The Queen of Hearts.

Meaning

Though children knew it simply as a silly verse, the rhyme’s background was a reminder of real tension in British history. The lion and the unicorn, meant to stand proudly together on the royal arms, were imagined instead as rivals. That rivalry, softened by bread, cake, and nursery laughter, has given the rhyme a curious mix of humor and history that explains why it has lasted so long.