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Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
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 the water,
I danced over the sea,
And all the birds in the air
Couldn't catch me.
The King of Spain's daughter
Came to visit me,
And all for the sake
Of my little nut tree.
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
"I Had a Little Nut Tree" first appeared in print in Newest Christmas Box around 1797, though it was certainly in oral circulation earlier. The rhyme has a fairy-tale quality that sets it apart from most nursery rhymes: the tree is magical, bearing only a silver nutmeg and a golden pear, and its wonders are sufficient to attract the daughter of a foreign king.
Some scholars have suggested the rhyme refers to a historical visit by Joanna of Castile to the court of Henry VII in 1506, with the King of Spain's daughter as Joanna herself. The theory is plausible in outline — such a royal visit did take place and generated considerable contemporary interest — but the evidence linking the rhyme specifically to this event is circumstantial.
The more compelling reading treats the rhyme as pure enchanted fantasy: a small, seemingly modest tree that produces silver and gold fruit, and a narrator who is sufficiently magical themselves to skip over water and outrun every bird in the air. The King of Spain's daughter, who travels all that way simply to see this tree, suggests that the ordinary and the extraordinary are closer together than they might appear.
The rhyme has a gentle dreamlike quality that our arrangement captures with a light pop touch.
