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. 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: 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:

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