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Oranges and Lemons Trivia Quiz
This nursery rhyme is based on some of the bells of London and has been turned into a song. Can you fill in the blanks in this quiz to finish the story?
Oranges and say the bells of You owe me farthings say the of St. Martin's. When will you me say the bells of . When I rich say the bells of . When will that say the bells of Stepney. I do not know says the bell at Bow.
Here comes a candle to you to bed. Here comes a chopper to chop off your . Chip chop chip chop the man is .
Click or drag the options above to the spaces in the text.
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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
Answer:
The earliest version of the rhyme dates from the middle of the eighteenth century, although the words have changed quite a bit from the original. In particular, the last lines appear to have been added later and are different in meaning and rhythm. They may have been added when the rhyme was turned into a game. The song is sung as children form an arch for others to run though. The child caught going through the arch as the last word, 'dead', is sung is caught and has to form a new arch.
The churches in the song are not always clear, either, with several names being put forward. The City of London is actually a small area, representing the ancient centre of the present city of London. Some of the churches have at least two possible candidates and the Old Bailey now refers to a Court of Law named for that street.
The 'great bell of Bow' is usually accepted to be that of St Mary-le-Bow, which is in Cheapside in London and is one of the city's oldest streets. The original church there was built in 1080 but the one there now was one of the buildings rebuilt after the Great Fire of London in 1666. Some people from London are called Cockneys and must, by tradition, have been born near enough to St Mary-le-Bow for the Bow Bells to be heard.
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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