WINGS Community Group
This is a place firstly and foremost for Support for all Women.. Whether it be every day life issues, family or emotional support, we care and we are here to listen and support, to share the good things in life as well, to smile with each other and to give gentle encouragement and pleasant thoughts along the way.. Please feel free to ask for support and post in the...
The words of the nursery rhyme are chanted by children as they play the game of 'Oranges and lemons' the end of which culminates in a child being caught between the joined arms of two others, emulating the act of chopping off their head! The reason for the sinister last three lines of the lyrics of "Oranges and lemons" are easily explained, they were added to the original rhyme, probably by children! This addition dates to some time before 1783 when the infamous public execution gallows (the Tyburn-tree) was moved from Tyburn-gate (Marble Arch) to Newgate, a notorious prison for both criminals and debtors hence "When will you pay me"?". This move was necessary to reduce problems caused by the crowds, often exceeding 100,000, gathered along the execution procession route. This stretched along a three mile route from Newgate Prison to Tyburn and around the Tyburn tree itself.
The executions commenced at nine o'clock Monday morning following the first toll of the tenor bell. Who would have thought that "Oranges and lemons" a childrens rhyme could have such a sinister historical connotation?
Who knows what I sang to my children when they were young lol love Sharon