"Lawrence Silverman sent us this email about the song, "Nuts in May" with the note, "I grew up (a long time ago) in the depths of rural England when many old customs now forgotten were still observed. I don't like to think of them being altogether forgotten...

About the children's song, 'Here we come gathering nuts in May', it tells of things long forgotten that were associated with May Day, There are, of course, no nuts to gather in May. They come in the autumn.

I believe the original was not nuts but knots and referred to the knots (bunches) of the mayflower tree (aka hawthorn) that are out at that time when it starts to get warm enough to put aside winter clothes. The mayflower is a symbol of spring and was gathered by young people in the woods on May Eve to make posies -knots of May- to give to the people in their village to commemorate the coming of new life, but particularly a member of the opposite sex they hoped to win as a bride or groom.

Like many May Day customs, which were originally fertility rites, it often got a bit out of hand. Some of the young folk would not come home till morning and not a few weddings would have to be solemnized in the following months. They were known as 'greenwood marriages' having been consummated in advance in the woods when the new growth was still green. This makes the original meaning of the song pretty clear."