Well it depends which side of the street the kids are playing on.
So the Protestant version I gather goes like this:
"Up the long ladder and down the short rope,
God Save King Billy and to Hell with the Pope
King Billy's in Heaven; The Pope is in Hell
Helping the Devil to ring the bell.
If that doesn't do
We'll cut him in two
And send him to hell with the Red White and Blue"And the Catholic version is the other way round. I wonder which came first? It's a remarkable example of collaborative bigotry.
I've only heard it as a chant rather than a song. I suppose it'd fit to Liliburlero, sometimes known as "The Protestant Boys". That makes me think that the Catholic version is probably the earlier of the two, as a response to "The Protestant Boys."
There'll be a day when the bigotry has gone, and this kind of thing will be jolly folklore. Orange parades will be like Morris dancing.
that's not all that fanciful either - down in Lewes in Sussex on 5th November they still burn an effigy of the Pope, but from what I've heard it's now seen as a joke and not a threat by Catholics down there. And most bonfire's these days are seen as a celebration of Guy Fawkes "the only man to enter Parliament with honest intentions."