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Readers of Agatha Christie’s thriller They Came to Baghdad will recognise this old nursery rhyme, remembered by the charmingly mendacious heroine Victoria Jones. The ruins of the ancient city of Babylon lie only a few miles from the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, so she really could get ‘there and back again by candle-light’, that is, by dusk.
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 light
You may get there by candle-light.
