> Folk Music > Songs > The Tree in the Wood (The Everlasting Circle)

The Tree in the Wood / The Tree in the Valley / The Everlasting Circle / The Green Grass Grew All Around

[ Roud 129 ; Ballad Index ShH98 ; trad.]

John Casley of Morvah, Cornwall sang this song as The Green Grass Grew All Around in a recording made by Peter Kennedy on the anthology Songs of Animals and Other Marvels (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 10; Caedmon 1961, Topic 1970).

George “Tom” Newman from Clanfield, Oxfordshire sang The Tree in the Wood in a recording made by Mike Yates between 1972 and 1975 on the Topic album Green Grow the Laurels: Country Singers from the South. Mike Yates commented in the album notes:

The Tree in the Wood has often been collected from folksingers, not only in Britain, but in France, Denmark and Switzerland as well. The song is also called The Everlasting Circle and, in this form, after Tom's verse 7 (“Now on that bird there was a feather”) the feather becomes a bed, a maiden lies on the bed, a youth sleeps with the maiden, a child is born who grows to plant an acorn which becomes a tree—thus completing the circle.

The Witches of Elswick sang The Tree in the Wood in 2003 on their first album, Out of Bed. They commented in their liner notes:

Otherwise known as The Everlasting Circle, this cumulative song usually includes copulation, but we thought that was too rude so our bird just flies away Maybe we missed the point of the song but we liked it anyway.

Lyrics

George “Tom” Newman sings The Tree in the Wood

Upon yon hill there is a wood,
And in that wood there is a tree,
The finest little tree that ever was seen.
For the tree was in the wood,
And the wood was on the hill,
And the green moss growed all round, all round,
And the green moss growed all round.

Now in that tree there was a hole,
The finest little hole that ever was seen.
For the hole was in the tree,
And the tree was in the wood, etc.

Now in that home there was a nest,
The finest little nest that ever was seen.
For the nest was in the hole,
And the hole was in the tree, etc.

Now in that nest there was an egg, etc.

Now in that egg there was a yolk, etc. *

Now in that yolk there was a bird, etc.

Now on that bird there was a feather, etc.

Now on that feather there was a flea, etc. *

Now on that flea there was a saddle, etc.

Now on that saddle there was a fly, etc.

Now on that fly there was a hat, etc.

* Tom initially omits these verses, but as the song progresses he implies their presence.

The Witches of Elswick sing The Tree in the Wood

All in a wood there stands a tree,
The finest tree you e'er did see.
The tree was in the wood
And the green leaves grew around, around, around,
And the green leaves grew around.

And on the tree there was a limb,
The finest limb you e'er did see.
The limb was on the tree,
The tree was in the wood.
And the green leaves grew around, around, around,
And the green leaves grew around.

And on that limb there was a branch,
The finest branch you e'er did see.
The branch was on the limb,
The limb was on the tree,
The tree was in the wood.
And the green leaves grew around, around, around,
And the green leaves grew around.

And on that branch there was a nest,
The finest nest you e'er did see.
The nest was on the branch,
The branch was on the limb,
The limb was on the tree,
The tree was in the wood.
And the green leaves grew around, around, around,
And the green leaves grew around.

And in that nest there was an egg,
The finest egg you e'er did see.
The egg was in the nest,
The nest was on the branch,
The branch was on the limb,
The limb was on the tree,
The tree was in the wood.
And the green leaves grew around, around, around,
And the green leaves grew around.

And in that egg there was a bird,
The finest bird you e'er did see.
The bird was in the egg,
The egg was in the nest,
The nest was on the branch,
The branch was on the limb,
The limb was on the tree,
The tree was in the wood.
And the green leaves grew around, around, around,
And the green leaves grew around.

And then that bird it flew away,
As far as any eye could see.
The bird was in the egg,
The egg was in the nest,
The nest was on the branch,
The branch was on the limb,
The limb was on the tree,
The tree was in the wood.
And the green leaves grew around, around, around,
And the green leaves grew around.