Annotation:Oranges and Lemons

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ORANGES AND LEMONS. English, Country Dance Tune (2/2 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). ABB (Karpeles, Raven, Sharp): AABB (Fleming-Williams): AA'BB (Barnes). The tune dates to 1665 when it was published in the third edition of John Playford's Dancing Master (London). It was retained through the eighth edition of 1690, after which it disappears from the long-running Dancing Master series. A period nursery rhyme and song called "Bells of St. Clements," a play at rhyming upon the names of London churches with bell-towers, contains the lines:

Gay go up and gay go down,
To ring the bells of London town.

Oranges and lemons,
Say the bells of St. Clements.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Barlow (Complete Country Dance Tunes from Playford's Dancing Master), 1985; No. 128. Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes), 1986. Fleming-Williams & Shaw (English Dance Airs; Popular Selection, Book 1), 1965; p. 5. Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; p. 11. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 23. Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), 1909; p. 17.

Recorded sources: Coviello Classics, The Playfords - "Oranges and Lemons - Tunes from The English Dancing Master" (2009).