How Many Miles to Babylon? How Many Miles to Babylon? "How Many Miles to Babylon" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 8148. The accepted modern lyrics are: <poem>How many miles to Babylon? Three score miles and ten. Can I get there by candle-light? Yes, and back again.. If your heels are nimble and your toes are light, You may get there by candle-light.</poem> A longer Scottish version has the lyrics: <poem>King and Queen of Cantelon, How many miles to Babylon? Eight and eight, and other eight. Will I get there by candle-light? If your horse be
Get Up and Bar the Door his musical entertainment, "No Song, No Supper", performed at Drury Lane in 1790. Among many things, this folk ballad talks about the sense of lasting competition in a relationship. The man tries to maintain his power but the woman refuses because she does not want to be treated like a doormat; each is too stubborn to do something that will benefit both. The ballad makes the point that being stubborn can be carried to ludicrous lengths, since by being stubborn they lost their Martinmas puddings and left their persons and household open to crime. Get Up and Bar the Door