I had a little nut tree,
    Nothing would it bear
But a silver nutmeg
    And a golden pear;

The king of Spain's daughter
    Came to visit me,
And all for the sake
    Of my little nut tree.

I skipped over water,
    I danced over sea,
And all the birds in the air
    Couldn't catch me.

When I was a lad and so was my dad,
I came out of a bean swad;

The bean swad it was too full,
And I jumped into a roaring bull;

The roaring bull it was too fat,
And I jumped into a gentleman's hat;

The gentleman's hat it was too fine,
So I jumped into a bottle of wine;

The bottle of wine it was too clear,
So I jumped into a barrel of beer;

The barrel of beer it was too thick,
So I jumped out on an oak stick;

The oak stick began to crack,
And I jumped onto a horse's back;

The horse's back began to bend,
So I jumped down by a turkey hen;
The turkey hen began to lay,
And I got an egg that day for my tay.
As I walked by myself
And talked to myself,
    Myself said unto me,
Look to thyself,
Take care of thyself,
    For nobody cares for thee. 		I answered myself,
And said to myself
    In the self-same repartee,
Look to thyself,
Or not to thyself,
    The self-same thing will be.
When I was a little boy
I washed my mammy's dishes;
I put my finger in my eye,
And pulled out golden fishes.
Oh that I were
    Where I would be,
Then would I be
    Where I am not;

But where I am,
    There I must be,
And where I would be
    I can not.

schooner
                 Baby and I
    Were baked in a pie,

The gravy was wonderful hot.

    We had nothing to pay
    To the baker that day,
And so we crept out of the pot.

Little lad, little lad,
    Where were you born?
Far away in Lancashire,
    Under a thorn,
Where they sup buttermilk
    With a ram's horn;
And a pumpkin scooped
    With a yellow rim
Is the bonny bowl
    They breakfast in.

Next

Return to Index