How Many Miles to Babylon?

As a Game - Traditional Approaches to the Rhyme

How many miles to Boston Town?
Four score and ten.
Can I get there by candle light?
Yes, and back again.

Open the gates and let me through.
Toll first you pay.
I have no gold what shall I do?
Turn and go away.

If the rhyme is from Early America, Boston, clearly we can read a colonial child’s game against the Crown.

As presented as an Old English game: Marlow, marlow marlow, bright.

How many miles to Babylon? –sung by players
“threescore and ten” – sung by central person
can I get there by candle light? –sung by players
“Yes if your legs are long and light,
But take care of the old grey witch by the road –side sung by central person

The rhyming pattern remains the same with an A-B pattern after the initial first line. This pattern in the earliest version (thirteenth century) is also a line game to be played, however the rhyme pattern is altered.

“How many leagues do I have to Beverlyham?
“Eight”
“Can I come by daylight?”
“Yes, you can”
“Ha, ha, pretty pace, yet I am where I was”.

The use of quote marks then is significant because that changes the number of voices needed to call the rhyme out and play.