
Lyrics
(Folk song)
1. Here we come gathering nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May,
Here we come gathering nuts in May
On a cold and frosty morning.
2. Who will you gather for nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May,
Who will you gather for nuts in May
On a cold and frosty morning?
3. We’ll gather [Jeanie] for nuts in May,
Nuts in May, nuts in May,
We’ll gather [Jeanie] for nuts in May
On a cold and frosty morning.
4. Who will you send to take her away,
Take her away, take her away,
Who will you send to take her away
On a cold and frosty morning.
5. We’re sending [Willie] to take her away,
Take her away, take her away,
We’re sending [Willie] to take her away
On a cold and frosty morning.
Movement
Formation: Students stand in two rows facing each other.
Verse 1 – Both rows step forward 4 steps, back 4 steps, forward 4 steps, back 4 steps
Verse 2 – Line 1 steps forward 4 steps, back 4 steps, forward 4 steps, back 4 steps
Verse 3 – Students in Line 2 choose a student from Line 1 and sings that person’s name as they step forward 4 steps, back 4 steps, forward 4 steps, back 4 steps
Verse 4 – Line 1 steps forward 4 steps, back 4 steps, forward 4 steps, back 4 steps
Verse 5 – Students in Line 2 choose a student from their own line and sings that person’s name as they step forward 4 steps, back 4 steps, forward 4 steps, back 4 steps.
Option 1: The 2 students have a tug of war until one student wins, and both students joins that student’s line. Game continues until one line has all of the students.
Option 2: Teacher thinks of a number between 1 and 10. Both students must guess a number, and whoever comes closer to the correct number wins. Both students join that line.
Option 3: Both students can play an instrument while the game starts again.
See also
- Activities: movement
- Form: ABAC
- Harmony: chords I & V
- Melody: tonic triad in the melody
- Meter: 6/8
- Scale: hexatonic
- Tones: drmslt
- Source: Kerr’s Guild of Play, 1912
- Same tune: Mulberry Bush
YouTube
or purchase here (printables only)
- Song with chords (PDF)
- MIDI file
- Listen to the song

