How Many Miles to Babylon? In the 1824 edition of "The Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia" there's a description of the rhyme and the game, giving the distance as "six, seven or a lang eight". The rhyme was originally accompanied by a singing game in which two lines face each other, with one player in the middle. At the end of the rhyme the players have to cross the space and any caught help the original player in the middle catch the others. The game seems to have fallen out of use in the twentieth century. In literature In film In music How Many Miles to Babylon?
The Bells of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling London, the Salvation Army lassies and other street-praying bands are singing a song that has become universally popular in the crowded sections of the city." It is notable that the lyrics of this Salvation Army version differ slightly both from the established "angels" version and the "devils" version in "Oh, What a Lovely War!": "The bells of hell go ding-a-ling-a-ling" is also the last line in the song by The Pogues, "My Blue Heaven." The Bells of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling "The Bells of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling" is a British airmen's song from World War I, which was created around 1911.