The little nut‑tree
Language: English 
Our translations:  DUT
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.

Her dress was made of crimson,
Jet black was her hair,
She asked me for my nutmeg
And my golden pear.

I said, "So fair a princess
Never did I see,
I'll give you all the fruit
From my little nut tree."

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

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   G. Bush 

G. Bush sets stanzas 1-2

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book, 1955.


Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lidy van Noordenburg) , "Ik had een notenboompje", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Lidy van Noordenburg

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 100