19th March: Oranges and Lemons

The Oranges and Lemons Service takes place today at St Clement Dane’s Church, The Strand, in London. At 9am, noon, 3pm and 6pm the chimes play the nursery rhyme. The service is at 3.30pm after which oranges and lemons are given to local schools.

1. Several theories have been put forward about the origin of the song, including child sacrifice, public executions and Henry VIII's wives - although early versions of the rhyme do not include the lines about a chopper coming to chop off your head.
2. Those lines could derive from prisoners awaiting execution - the Bellman of St Sepulchre would visit the condemned at midnight to inform them that their execution would take place next day, and he would use a candle to light his way to the cells.
3. The song might originate from medieval times when fruit merchants had to pay a toll at Clements Inn in order to carry their oranges and lemons through to Clare Market.
4. The tune is supposed to sound like church bells, and specifically the characteristic sounds of the churches mentioned in the song.
5. While there is some dispute about exactly which churches the song refers to, there are a few that fit the lyrics pretty well: Oranges and lemons, Say the bells of St. Clement's: St Clement Danes or St Clement Eastcheap are both near the wharves where merchantmen landed citrus fruits; You owe me five farthings, Say the bells of St. Martin's: may be St Martin Orgar or St. Martin's Lane in the city, where moneylenders used to live; When will you pay me? Say the bells of Old Bailey: possibly St Sepulchre-without-Newgate which is opposite the Old Bailey and near the Fleet Prison where debtors were held.
6. London doesn't have the monopoly on the song. There are versions giving rhymes to the names of churches in other parts of England, including Derby and Shropshire.
7. The song forms a part of a children's game in which pairs file under an arch made by two players, and the ones passing through the arch at the end of the song are out, and either stand behind the first pair, or form another arch so the tunnel of arches gets longer and longer.
8. In some versions of the game, the pairs are always a boy and a girl and the caught pair have to Kiss.
9. Oranges and Lemons is the song that Winston Smith cannot remember in George Orwell's novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four.
10. The song Clash City Rockers by The Clash features a parody on the rhyme about the music scene of the time: "'You owe me a move', say the bells of St. Groove/'Come on and show me', say the bells of Old Bowie/'When I am fitter', say the bells of Gary Glitter/'No one but you and I', say the bells of Prince Far I".