Anyone heard this poem?

Håkon

Duke of Morpork
Joined
Mar 23, 2001
Messages
979
Location
Norway
It goes like this:

Oranges and lemons, said the bells of St. Clemens.
You owe me three farthings, said the bells of St. Martins
When will you pay me? asked/said the bells of Old Bailey
(unknown line)

I want to know if anyone have heard this and knows the fourth line. If you do so, please reply.

Additional information: it has been used in George Orwell's "1984" and in a not-so-well-known story of Roald Dahl.

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What's wrong with Bodø/Glimt?
 
"Oranges and lemons,"
Say the bells of St. Clemens.
"You owe me five farthings,"
Say the bells of St. Martin's.
"When will you pay me?"
Say the bells of Old Bailey.
"When I grow rich,"
Say the bells of Shoreditch.
"When will that be?"
Say the bells of Stepney.
"I do not know,"
Says the great bell at Bow.
Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head.

I found that here .

That's from a nursery rhyme. Amazing what that fill kids heads with.

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Wasn't that poem used in George Orwell's "1984"? I'm going to check my library for it. I know I first read it there.
I imagine, though, that that's quite an old poem.

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"Shake the world beneath your feet up"
--Johnny Clegg
 
The last bit is a clear reference to the Tower of London.
 
Thanks. This poem has been haunting me for a month or so, I've been trying to figure it out. It sounds a bit strange, though...

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What's wrong with Bodø/Glimt?
 
I, too, first encountered that while reading "1984". The complete version is not given there. If I recall, the last line to appear in that book before the candle/chopper bit is "When I grow rich, / Say the bells of Shoreditch."

When I went to Europe a few years ago, we passed by one of the cathedrals mentioned, and our London tour director mentioned the poem. Apparently, there's a tune to it; he sang it rather than recited it.
 
You're right Loaf there is a tune to this 'nursery rhyme' my mother and grandmothers sang it to me when I was a child - many years ago. And I suspect FL2 is right about the reference to the Tower of London - the origins of many nursery rhymes have interesting historical stories attached to them - however I don't know the origins of this one.
 
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