Oranges and Lemons
The bells of London with a chopper waiting at the end
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Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
"Oranges and lemons," say the bells of St. Clement's,
"You owe me five farthings," say the bells of St. Martin's,
"When will you pay me?" say the bells of Old Bailey,
"When I grow rich," say the bells of Shoreditch.
"When will that be?" say the bells of Stepney,
"I do not know," say the great bells of Bow.
"Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!"
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
"Oranges and Lemons" is one of the best-known of all London rhymes, cataloguing the bells of a series of London churches in a series of call-and-response verses. Each church replies to the previous with a question about debts and payment, until the great bells of Bow deliver their ominous final answer: they do not know.
The rhyme was first printed in "Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book" of 1744, though it is almost certainly older. The churches named — St Clement's, St Martin's, Old Bailey, Shoreditch, Stepney, and Bow — are all real City of London and East End parishes, several of which still ring their bells in ways associated with the rhyme. There is some debate about which St Clement's is meant: both St Clement Danes on the Strand and St Clement's, Eastcheap, have made credible claims.
The rhyme was traditionally used as a singing game in which two children formed an arch and caught others as they walked beneath it. The game ended with the "chopper" line, at which point the arms came down. The final couplet is genuinely dark — a reminder that many old nursery rhymes end with something more unsettling than they begin.
