"Oranges and Lemons" is a traditional English nursery rhyme, folk song, and singing game that mentions the bells of several churches located in or near the City of London. It is included in the Roud Folk Song Index as number 13190. The earliest printed version of the rhyme appeared around 1744.

The rhyme has been mentioned in many books, movies, and other cultural works. The bells of St Clement Danes, one of several churches in London connected to the rhyme, play the tune every day at 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., and 6 p.m.

Melody

The tune is similar to change ringing, and the way each line is sung matches the unique sounds of church bells. Today, the bells at St Clement Danes play the tune of the rhyme. In 1940, the church's playing of the tune was stopped during World War II because of Nazi bombing during the Blitz. Like most traditional songs, the melody had small changes. James Madison Carpenter, a person who collected British folk songs, recorded two versions of the song in the 1930s. These recordings are now available on the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website: one from Garsington, Oxfordshire, and another from somewhere in either Yorkshire or Lincolnshire. These recordings show slight differences in the melody and lyrics.

As a game

The song is played in a children's singing game with the same name. Players move in pairs through an arch created by two other players. To make the arch, the two players face each other, raise their arms above their heads, and hold hands. The challenge happens during the final lines of the song, which begin with "Here comes a chopper to chop off your head." When the word "chop" is said for the last time in the final line, the players forming the arch lower their arms to catch the pair passing through. The pair caught must leave the game and form a new arch next to the existing one. This creates a growing tunnel of arches, and each pair must run faster to escape before being caught.

Other versions of the game include: players passing through the arch one at a time, and if caught during the final rhyme, they stand behind one of the original arch makers instead of forming new arches. In another version, players forming the arches lower their hands with each word of the final line, while the players passing through run as fast as they can to avoid being caught on the last word.

Origins and meaning

Many theories have been suggested to explain the rhyme, including the idea that it relates to child sacrifice, public executions, or Henry VIII's problems with marriage. However, the last two lines of the rhyme, which have a different rhythm, were not part of the earliest recorded versions, such as the first printed version in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (around 1744), which includes these lyrics:

There are many differences in the churches and lines mentioned in versions printed in the late 1700s and early 1800s, making it hard to determine a single clear meaning. The final two lines of the modern version were first recorded by James Orchard Halliwell in the 1840s.

The rhyme "Oranges and Lemons" was the title of a square dance in the third edition (1657) of The Dancing Master. Similar rhymes that name churches and use rhymes for their names can be found in other parts of England, such as Shropshire and Derby, where they were sung during festivals when bells were also rung.

It is sometimes unclear which London churches are being referred to in the rhyme. Some possible associations include:

• St. Clement's might refer to St Clement Danes or St Clement Eastcheap, both near wharves where merchant ships brought citrus fruits.
• St. Martin's could 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 people who owed money were kept.
• St Leonard's, Shoreditch is just outside the old City walls.
• St Dunstan's, Stepney is also outside the City walls.
• Bow refers to St Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside.
• In the longer version, St. Helen's is St Helen's Bishopsgate in the City.
• "Whitechapple" may refer to St Mary Matfelon, Whitechapel, or the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which began making bells in 1570. "Two sticks and an apple" might refer to handbells.
• St. Catherine's is likely St Katharine Cree, Aldgate. "Maids in white aprons" could describe local market sellers.
• St. Margaret's is St Margaret Lothbury.
• St. Giles' is St Giles Cripplegate.
• St. Peter's is St Peter upon Cornhill. "Pancakes and fritters" may refer to foods sold nearby, as it was a grain market.
• "Fleetditch" refers to St Pancras Old Church, near the River Fleet.
• St. John's is St John's Chapel in the Tower of London. "Pokers and tongs" might describe tools used to torture prisoners. It could also refer to St John Clerkenwell.
• St. Anne's is St Anne and St Agnes near the Barbican. "Kettles and pans" may refer to nearby coppersmiths.
• "Aldgate" refers to St Botolph's Aldgate. "Old father baldpate" describes the monk Saint Botolph. It might also allude to the glans penis, as St Botolph's was known as a place where prostitutes met.

Song settings

Bob Chilcott's "London Bells" is the third part of his work "Songs and Cries of London Town" from 2001. This piece is a musical version for a choir based on a song from Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book.

Benjamin Till created music inspired by the nursery rhyme. This music was performed in 2009 at St Mary-le-Bow in London. The performance honored the 150th anniversary of the great bell at the Palace of Westminster, Big Ben.

In popular culture

The line "You owe me five farthings, say the bells of St Martin's" is the title of Monica Redlich's 1939 novel, Five Farthings. The story includes a family named Farthing with two parents and three children, totaling five members. The novel takes place in London, and several churches are important settings in the plot.

The song "Oranges and Lemons" appears often in George Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. People remembering the lyrics to the song is a repeated theme in the story.

The song "Oranges and Lemons" is also mentioned in Michael Morpurgo's 2003 children's book Private Peaceful.

The 2011 Doctor Who episode titled "The God Complex" includes the line "Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head."

In the films It Chapter Two and It: Welcome to Derry, as well as the TV series, a spooky version of "Oranges and Lemons" plays during the opening scenes and throughout the story. The song is performed by Elodie Barker, who was four years old at the time.