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{{short description|English folk song}} {{About|the nursery rhyme|other uses|Oranges and Lemons (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox song | name = Oranges and Lemons | cover = Sidewall, Oranges and Lemons Say the Bells of St. Clements, 1902 (CH 18604691).jpg | alt = | caption = 1902 machine print | type = nursery | written = | published = {{circa}} 1744 | genre = [[Children's street culture|Children's street song]] | writer = Traditional | composer = | lyricist = }} "'''Oranges and Lemons'''" is a traditional English [[nursery rhyme]], folksong, and [[singing game]] which refers to the bells of several churches, all within or close to the [[City of London]]. It is listed in the [[Roud Folk Song Index]] as No 13190. The earliest known printed version appeared c. 1744. The rhyme has been referenced in a variety of works of literature and popular culture. The bells of [[St Clement Danes]] (one of many London churches associated with the rhyme) play the tune every day at 9{{Space}}am, noon, 3{{Space}}pm and 6{{Space}}pm. ==Lyrics== <mapframe latitude="51.518" longitude="-0.099" zoom="13" text="Map of the [[City of London]] and surrounding area with locations of churches mentioned in the song. (Stepney is just to the east. Click the map to enlarge.) {{legend | #d00 | Definitely one of the churches mentioned in most popular version of the rhyme. }} {{legend | #d80 | May possibly be alluded to in standard version. }} <hr> {{legend | #d80 | textcolor=white | [[St Clement Danes]] | text=1 }} {{legend | #d80 | textcolor=white | [[St Martin-in-the-Fields]] | text=2 }} {{legend | #d00 | textcolor=white | [[St Leonard's, Shoreditch]] | text=3 }} {{legend | #d00 | textcolor=white | [[St Mary-le-Bow]] | text=4 }} {{legend | #d80 | textcolor=white | [[St Clement's, Eastcheap]] | text=5 }} {{legend | #d00 | textcolor=white | [[St Sepulchre-without-Newgate]] | text=6 }} {{legend | #d80 | textcolor=white | [[St Martin Orgar]] | text=7 }} {{legend | #d00 | textcolor=white | [[St Dunstan's, Stepney]] | text=8 }}" width="400" height="250">{ "type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [ { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-definite", "marker-color": "#d80", "title": "[[St Clement Danes]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.113898, 51.513107 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-definite", "marker-color": "#d80", "title": "[[St Martin-in-the-Fields]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.126944, 51.508889 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-definite", "marker-color": "#d00", "title": "[[St Leonard's, Shoreditch]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.0772, 51.52675 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-definite", "marker-color": "#d00", "title": "[[St Mary-le-Bow]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.093611, 51.513889 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-definite", "marker-color": "#d80", "title": "[[St Clement's, Eastcheap]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.086892, 51.511325 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-definite", "marker-color": "#d00", "title": "[[St Sepulchre-without-Newgate]] ('Old Bailey')" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.102353, 51.516686 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-definite", "marker-color": "#d80", "title": "[[St Martin Orgar]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.087528, 51.510828 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-definite", "marker-color": "#d00", "title": "[[St Dunstan's, Stepney]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.041667, 51.516944 ] } } ] }</mapframe> <blockquote><poem>Oranges and lemons, Say the bells of [[St Clement Danes|St. Clement's]]. You owe me five [[Farthing (British coin)|farthing]]s, Say the bells of [[St Martin-in-the-Fields|St. Martin's]]. When will you pay me? Say the [[St Sepulchre-without-Newgate|bells at Old Bailey]]. When I grow rich, Say the bells at [[St. Leonard's, Shoreditch|Shoreditch]]. When will that be? Say the bells of [[St Dunstan's, Stepney|Stepney]]. I do not know, Says the great bell at [[St Mary-le-Bow|Bow]]. Here comes a candle to light you to bed, And here comes a chopper to chop off your head! Chip chop chip chop the last man is dead<ref name=Opie1997>[[Iona and Peter Opie]]. ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd ed., 1997), pp. 337–338.</ref> </poem> </blockquote> ==Alternative versions== <mapframe latitude="51.522" longitude="-0.099" zoom="13" text="Map of the [[City of London]] and surrounding area with locations of churches mentioned in the alternative lyrics. (Click the map to enlarge.) {{legend | #d00 | textcolor=white | [[St Pancras Old Church]] (Fleetditch) | text=1 }} {{legend | #d00 | textcolor=white | [[St Margaret Lothbury]] | text=2 }} {{legend | #d00 | textcolor=white | [[St Helen's Bishopsgate]] | text=3 }} {{legend | #d00 | textcolor=white | [[St Botolph's Aldgate]] | text=4 }} {{legend | #d00 | textcolor=white | [[St Katharine Cree]] | text=5 }} {{legend | #d00 | textcolor=white | [[St Giles in the Fields]] | text=6 }} {{legend | #d00 | textcolor=white | [[St Peter upon Cornhill]] | text=7 }} {{legend | #d00 | textcolor=white | [[St Paul's Cathedral]] | text=8 }} {{legend | #d00 | textcolor=white | [[St John's Chapel, London]] | text=9 }} {{legend | #d00 | textcolor=white | [[St Anne and St Agnes]] | text=10 }} {{legend | #d00 | textcolor=white | [[Whitechapel Bell Foundry]] | text=11 }}" width="400" height="350">{ "type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [ { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-alternate", "marker-color": "#d00", "title": "[[St Pancras Old Church]] (Fleetditch)" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.130189, 51.534897 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-alternate", "marker-color": "#d00", "title": "[[St Margaret Lothbury]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.088867, 51.514697 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-alternate", "marker-color": "#d00", "title": "[[St Helen's Bishopsgate]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.0818, 51.5148 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-alternate", "marker-color": "#d00", "title": "[[St Botolph's Aldgate]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.076111, 51.513889 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-alternate", "marker-color": "#d00", "title": "[[St Katharine Cree]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.079133, 51.513411 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-alternate", "marker-color": "#d00", "title": "[[St Giles in the Fields]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.128633, 51.515311 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-alternate", "marker-color": "#d00", "title": "[[St Peter upon Cornhill]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.084583, 51.51325 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-alternate", "marker-color": "#d00", "title": "[[St Paul's Cathedral]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.098056, 51.513611 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-alternate", "marker-color": "#d00", "title": "[[St John's Chapel, London]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.076389, 51.5075 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-alternate", "marker-color": "#d00", "title": "[[St Anne and St Agnes]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.096389, 51.516389 ] } }, { "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-symbol": "-number-alternate", "marker-color": "#d00", "title": "[[Whitechapel Bell Foundry]]" }, "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [ -0.067222, 51.516944 ] } } ] }</mapframe> [[File:Panorama of London in 1543 Wyngaerde Section 2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Panorama of London in 1543 from a 19th-century engraving by [[Nathaniel Whittock]] from a drawing by Antony van den Wyngaerde (c. 1543–50), showing the towers and spires of many of the churches mentioned in the rhyme]] <blockquote> <poem style="float:left;">Gay go up, and gay go down, To ring the bells of [[London]] town. Bull's eyes and targets, Say the bells of [[St. Margaret Lothbury|St. Margaret's]]. Brickbats and tiles, Say the bells of [[St Giles Cripplegate|St. Giles’]]. [[Halfpenny (British pre-decimal coin)|Halfpence]] and [[Farthing (British coin)|farthing]]s, Say the bells of [[St Martin-in-the-Fields|St. Martin's]]. Oranges and lemons, Say the bells of [[St Clement's, Eastcheap|St. Clement's]]. Pancakes and fritters, Say the bells of [[St Peter upon Cornhill|St. Peter's]]. Two sticks and an apple, Say the bells at [[Whitechapel Bell Foundry|Whitechapel]]. Pokers and tongs, Say the bells at [[St John's Chapel, London|St. John's]]. Kettles and pans, Say the bells at St. [[St Anne and St Agnes|Ann's]].</poem> <poem style="margin-left:1em; float:left;"> Old Father Baldpate, Say the slow bells at [[St Botolph's Aldgate|Aldgate]]. Maids in white Aprons Say the bells of [[St Katharine Cree|St Catherine's]]. You owe me ten [[Shilling (British coin)|shilling]]s, Say the bells of [[St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate|St. Helen's]]. When will you pay me? Say the bells at [[St Sepulchre-without-Newgate|Old Bailey]]. When I grow rich, Say the bells at [[St Leonard's, Shoreditch|Shoreditch]]. Pray when will that be? Say the bells of [[St Dunstan's, Stepney|Stepney]]. I'm sure I don't know, Says the great bell at [[St. Mary-le-Bow|Bow]]. Here comes a candle to light you to bed, And here comes a chopper to chop off your head.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2011/06/29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919175310/http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2011%2F06%2F29|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-09-19|title=Gay Go Up, and Gay Go Down|work=[[The Writer's Almanac]]|author1=Anon.|author2=[[Garrison Keillor]]|date=29 June 2011|access-date=2020-12-22}}</ref> </poem>{{clear|left}} </blockquote> ==Melody== [[File:StClementsDanes.ogg|thumb|[[St Clement Danes]]]] The tune is reminiscent of [[change ringing]], and the intonation of each line is said to correspond with the distinct sounds of each church's bells. Today, the bells of [[St Clement Danes]] ring out the tune of the rhyme—as reported in 1940 the church's playing of the tune was interrupted during World War II due to Nazi bombing of the church during [[the Blitz]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Layman's Magazine of the Living Church, Issues 1–20 |date=1940 |publisher=Morehouse-Gorham |page=5}}{{title missing|date=January 2025|reason=Article title?}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.touruk.co.uk/london_churches/stclementsdanes_church1.htm |title=St Clement Danes, The Strand London WC2 : tourist information from |publisher=TourUK |access-date=2012-05-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222011937/http://www.touruk.co.uk/london_churches/stclementsdanes_church1.htm |archive-date=2012-02-22 }}</ref> As is the case with almost all traditional songs, there were minor variations in the melody. Collector of British folk songs, [[James Madison Carpenter]], recorded two versions of the song in the 1930s which are now available on the [[Vaughan Williams Memorial Library]] website: one in [[Garsington]], Oxfordshire,<ref>{{Cite web|title='Orange and Lemons' (VWML Song Index SN19197)|url=https://www.vwml.org/record/VWMLSongIndex/SN19197|access-date=2021-02-20|website=[[Vaughan Williams Memorial Library]]}}</ref> and another somewhere in either [[Yorkshire]] or [[Lincolnshire]].<ref>{{Cite web|title='Bells of St [Clement's], The' (VWML Song Index SN16826)|url=https://www.vwml.org/record/VWMLSongIndex/SN16826|access-date=2021-02-20|website=[[Vaughan Williams Memorial Library]]}}</ref> These recordings show slight melodic and lyrical variations. <score sound raw> \header { tagline = ##f } \layout { indent = 0 \context { \Score \remove "Bar_number_engraver" } \context { \Voice \remove "Dynamic_engraver" } } global = { \key a \major \time 3/4 } repeated = \relative c'' { \global \autoBeamOff \set midiInstrument = "tubular bells" e4 cis e | cis a b8 cis | d4 b e | cis a2 | e'8 e cis4 e | cis a b8 cis | d4 b e | cis a2^\markup { "al" \musicglyph "scripts.coda" } \bar "||" } payme = \relative c'' { b4 gis b | gis e fis8 gis | a4 fis b | gis e2 | b'4 gis b | e,2 fis8 gis | a4 fis b | e,2.^"D.C." \bar "||" \mark \markup { \musicglyph "scripts.coda" } } koda = \relative c' { cis'4 a e' | cis a b8 ([cis]) | b4 d gis, | a2 b4 cis a e' | cis a b8 ([cis]) | d4 cis b | a2. \bar "|." } grep = \relative c { \global \clef bass \set midiInstrument = "tubular bells" a4 e' a | a,4 e' a | b, e gis | a,4 e' a | a,4 e' a | e a cis | e, gis b | a cis a | } gpay = \relative c { e gis b | e, gis b | dis, fis b | e, gis b | e, gis b | e, gis b | fis dis b | e d! b | } gkoda = \relative c { a e' a | a, e' a | b, e gis | cis, e a | a, e' a | a, e' a | <d b> <e cis> <d gis,> | <cis a>2. \bar "|." } verse = \new Lyrics \lyricmode { << { Oran -- ges and lem -- ons, say the bells of St. Clem -- ent's. You owe me five far -- things, say the bells of St. Mar -- tin's. When will you pay me? Say the bells at Old Bai -- ley. When I grow rich, say the bells at Shore -- ditch. } \new Lyrics { \set stanza = "D.C." When will that be? _ Say the bells of Step -- ney. _ I _ do not know, _ says the great bell at Bow. _ } >> Here comes a cand -- le to light you to bed, And here comes a chop -- per to chop off your head! } \score { \new ChoirStaff << { \repeated \payme \koda } \addlyrics \verse \new Staff { \grep \gpay \gkoda } >> \layout { } } \score { { << { \repeated \payme \repeated \koda } \\ { \grep \gpay \grep \gkoda } >> } \midi { \tempo 4=120 \context { \Score midiChannelMapping = #'instrument } \context { \Staff \remove "Staff_performer" } \context { \Voice \consists "Staff_performer" } } } </score> Source<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Oranges and Lemons|title=The Baby's Opera|page=56|editor=[[Walter Crane]]|others=engraved by [[Edmund Evans]]|year=1877|publisher=George Routledge and Sons|location=London, New York|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/babysoperabookof00cran/page/11/mode/1up|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> ==As a game== {{multiple image | align = right | direction = vertical | header = | width = 210 | image1 = Agnes Rose Bouvier00.jpg | width1 = | alt1 = | caption1 = Playing Oranges and Lemons. Picture by [[Agnes Rose Bouvier Nicholl]], 1874 | image2 = Oranges and Lemons (geograph 2382231).jpg | width2 = | alt2 = | caption2 = Statue of the game in Surrey, England }} The song is used in a children's [[singing game]] with the same name, in which the players file, in pairs, through an arch made by two of the players (made by having the players face each other, raise their arms over their head, and clasp their partners' hands). The challenge comes during the final lines beginning "Here comes a chopper to chop off your head"; and on the final repetition of "chop" in the last line, the children forming the arch drop their arms to catch the pair of children currently passing through. These are then "out" and must form another arch next to the existing one. In this way, the series of arches becomes a steadily lengthening tunnel through which each set of two players has to run faster and faster to escape in time.<ref name=Opie1997/> Alternative versions of the game include: children caught "out" by the last rhyme may stand behind one of the children forming the original arch, instead of forming additional arches; and children forming "arches" may bring their hands down for each word of the last line, while the children passing through the arches run as fast as they can to avoid being caught on the last word.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A696125 "Oranges and Lemons"], [[h2g2]], [[BBC]]{{dead link|date=January 2025}}</ref> ==Origins and meaning== [[File:Oranges&LemonsOTMG1833.jpg|thumb|210px|Illustration for the rhyme from ''The Only True Mother Goose Melodies'' (1833)]] Various theories have been advanced to account for the rhyme, including: that it deals with child [[sacrifice]]; that it describes [[public execution]]s; that it describes [[Henry VIII]]'s marital difficulties.<ref name=Opie1997/> Problematically for these theories the last two lines, with their different metre, do not appear in the earlier recorded versions of the rhyme, including the first printed in ''[[Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book]]'' (c. 1744), where the lyrics are: <blockquote><poem>Two Sticks and Apple, Ring [[Thorn (letter)#Abbreviations|y<sup>e</sup>]] Bells at [[Whitechapel|Whitechapple]], Old Father Bald Pate, Ring y<sup>e</sup> Bells Aldgate, Maids in White Aprons, Ring y<sup>e</sup> Bells a [[St Katharine Cree|S<sup>t.</sup> Catherines]], Oranges and Lemons, Ring y<sup>e</sup> bells at S<sup>t.</sup> Clements, When will you pay me, Ring y<sup>e</sup> Bells at y<sup>e</sup> Old Bailey, When I am Rich, Ring y<sup>e</sup> Bells at [[St Pancras Old Church|Fleetditch]], When will that be, Ring y<sup>e</sup> Bells at Stepney, When I am Old, Ring y<sup>e</sup> Bells at [[St Paul's Cathedral|Pauls]].<ref name=Opie1997/></poem></blockquote> There is considerable variation in the churches and lines attached to them in versions printed in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, which makes any overall meaning difficult to establish. The final two lines of the modern version were first collected by [[James Orchard Halliwell]] in the 1840s.<ref name=Opie1997/> "Oranges and Lemons" was the title of a [[square dance]], published from the third (1657) edition onwards of ''[[The Dancing Master]]''.<ref>[http://playforddances.com/dances/oranges-and-lemons ''Playford’s Dancing Master: The Compleat Dance Guide'']. playforddances.com.</ref> Similar rhymes naming churches and giving rhymes to their names can be found in other parts of England, including Shropshire and Derby, where they were sung on festival days on which bells would also have been rung.<ref name=Opie1997/> The identity of the London churches is not always clear, but the following have been suggested, along with some factors that may have influenced the accompanying statements:<ref name=Opie1997/> *St. Clement's may be [[St Clement Danes]] or [[St Clement Eastcheap]], both of which are near the wharves where merchantmen landed citrus fruits. *St. Martin's may be [[St Martin Orgar]] in the City, or [[St Martin-in-the-Fields]] near Trafalgar Square. *[[St Sepulchre-without-Newgate]] (opposite the [[Old Bailey]]) is near the [[Fleet Prison]] where debtors were held. *[[St Leonard's, Shoreditch]] is just outside the old City walls. *[[St Dunstan's, Stepney]] is also outside the City walls. *Bow is [[St Mary-le-Bow]] in [[Cheapside]]. *St. Helen's, in the longer version of the song, is [[St Helen's Bishopsgate]], in the City. *"Whitechapple" may refer to [[St Mary Matfelon|St Mary Matfelon, Whitechapel]], or to the [[Whitechapel Bell Foundry]] which began making bells in 1570. "Two sticks and an apple" may refer to [[handbell]]s. *St. Catherine's is most likely [[St Katharine Cree]], Aldgate. "Maids in white aprons" could be local market-sellers.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://inspiringcity.com/2013/04/07/the-meaning-of-the-oranges-and-lemons-nursery-rhyme/|title=The Meaning of the Oranges and Lemons Nursery Rhyme|date=7 April 2013|website=Inspiring City}}</ref> *St. Margaret's is [[St Margaret Lothbury]]. *St. Giles' is [[St Giles Cripplegate]]. *St. Peter's is [[St Peter upon Cornhill]]. "[[Pancake]]s and [[fritter]]s" may refer to foods sold nearby, as it was a grain market. *"Fleetditch" is [[St Pancras Old Church]], located near the [[River Fleet]]. *St. John's is [[St John's Chapel, London|St John's Chapel]] in the [[Tower of London]]; "pokers and tongs" may allude to instruments of [[torture]] used on prisoners. It could also be [[St John Clerkenwell]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ypInAQAAIAAJ&q=%22pokers+and+tongs%22+%22St+John+Clerkenwell%22|title=The Annotated Mother Goose, Nursery Rhymes Old and New, Arr. and Explained by William S. Baring-Gould & Ceil Baring-Gould|date=5 December 1962|publisher=C. N. Potter|isbn=9780517029596 |via=Google Books}}</ref> *St. Anne's is [[St Anne and St Agnes]] near the Barbican. "Kettles and pans" may refer to nearby [[coppersmith]]s. *"Aldgate" is [[St Botolph's Aldgate]], while "old father baldpate" refers to the monk [[Botolph of Thorney|Saint Botolph]]. It may also be an allusion to the [[glans penis]], as St Botolph's was notorious for being a meeting-place for [[prostitutes]].<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jcLNtJqZNvwC&dq=Botolphs+Aldgate+baldpate+prostitute&pg=PA93|title=The Secret History of Nursery Rhymes|first=Linda Kathryn|last=Alchin|date=5 December 2010|publisher=Linda Alchin|isbn=9780956748621 |via=Google Books}}</ref> ==Song settings== <!-- If you are going to add items to this section PLEASE GIVE FULL DETAILS – (including years) and an in-line reference if at all possible – as otherwise it is very hard to substantiate the points later--> [[Bob Chilcott]]'s "London Bells", the third movement of his ''Songs and Cries of London Town'' (2001) is a setting for choir of the song's version from ''[[Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oup.co.uk/isbn/0-19-343297-8 |title=Chilcott: ''Songs and Cries of London Town''|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2001-07-19 |access-date=2012-05-04}}</ref> [[Benjamin Till]] composed music based upon the nursery rhyme which was performed in 2009 at [[St Mary-le-Bow]], London, to commemorate 150 years of the [[Palace of Westminster]]'s great bell, [[Big Ben]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8142000/8142874.stm |title=Ringing the dust off London's bells|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=2009-07-10 |access-date=2012-05-04}}</ref> ==In popular culture== *"Oranges and Lemons" and people remembering the words to it is a common motif in ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'' by [[George Orwell]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Orwell|first=George|author-link=George Orwell|title=1984|title-link=Nineteen Eighty-Four|date=8 June 1949 |publisher=Secker & Warburg |isbn=978-1443434973 |edition=1st |location=England |at=part 2, chapters 4, 8, 10}}</ref> *"[[The God Complex]]", a 2011 episode of ''[[Doctor Who]]'', quotes the line "Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head."<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0103y2x/features/the-god-complex-the-fourth-dimension "The God Complex – The Fourth Dimension"], [[BBC]]{{dead link|date=January 2025}}</ref> *In [[It (2017 film)|It]] and [[It Chapter Two]] a creepy rendition of "Oranges and Lemons" plays through the opening logos and throughout both films especially when [[It (character)|Pennywise]] is around.<ref>https://laist.com/shows/the-frame/it-movie-score-meet-the-adorable-4-year-old-singer-of-your-nightmares</ref> ==See also== *"[[London Bridge Is Falling Down]]", another English nursery rhyme that plays a similar game to "Oranges and Lemons".<ref>[[Iona and Peter Opie]] (1985). ''The Singing Game''. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 61–72. {{ISBN|9780192115621}}</ref> *"[[The Bells of Rhymney]]", a similar song about church bells, although in Wales as opposed to London and also telling the story of labour disputes in the mining industry. The stanzas follow the pattern of "Oranges and Lemons".<ref>{{cite web|title=The Bells of Rhymney |publisher=[[BBC]] |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/sites/caerphilly/pages/bellsofrhymney.shtml |access-date=25 April 2023 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210115704/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/sites/caerphilly/pages/bellsofrhymney.shtml |archive-date=February 10, 2009 }}</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * {{Commons category-inline}} * {{Wikisource-inline|Oranges and Lemons}} * [https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=112365633274616135523.000466e2e69584cb3a9c6 Map of the likely church locations] {{Authority control}} [[Category:English folklore]] [[Category:Singing games]] [[Category:Songs about London]] [[Category:English nursery rhymes]] [[Category:English children's songs]] [[Category:English folk songs]] [[Category:Traditional children's songs]] [[Category:London folklore]]
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