The Tree in the Ground

In yonder ground there was a tree
As fine a tree as ever was seen
For the tree in the ground
And the green grass grew all round, all round
And the green grass grew all round

[And on that tree there was a stump, etc.]

And on that tree there was a branch
As fine a branch as ever was seen
For the branch on the tree
And the tree in the ground, etc.

And on that branch there was a twig, etc.

And on that twig there was a nest, etc.

And in that nest there was an egg, etc.

And in that egg there was a bird
As fine a bird as ever was seen
For the bird in the egg
And the egg in the nest
And the nest on the twig
And the twig on the branch
And the branch on the stump
And the stump on the tree
And the tree in the ground
And the green grass grew all round, etc.

Notes from Hugh Shields

See Broadwood and Maitland’s English country songs (1893:174); Deane-Smith’s A guide to English fok-song collections, 1822–1952 (nd:112); J Reeves’s The idiom of the people (1961:211). Shields Index 413.