By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Where does the phrase ‘swings and roundabouts’ originate? It’s widely believed that it had its origins in a little-known poem by Irish writer Patrick Reginald Chalmers (1872-1942). Chalmers was a banker as well as a poet, and he also wrote biographies of several literary figures, including author of Peter Pan J. M. Barrie and The Wind in the Willows author Kenneth Grahame. (Curiously enough, we’ve delved into another phrase, the Wildean quip ‘I am not young enough to know everything‘, and traced it back to Barrie.)
