Come Follow Me to the Greenwood Tree

"Come Follow Me to the Greenwood Tree" is a 17th century English language children's song by John Hilton.

Origin

Come Follow Me to the Greenwood Tree was written as a three-part round by John Hilton. He later published it in "Catch that Catch Can" or "A Choice Collection of Catchers, Rounds and Canons for Three or Four Voices" in London in 1652.

Lyrics

The original 17th century lyrics are as follows:

Come, follow, follow, follow, follow, follow, follow me,
Whith-er shall I follow, follow, follow, Whith-er shall I follow, follow, thee?
To the greenwood, to the greenwood, to the greenwood, greenwood tree.

The most common modern version is often sung as a round for four voice parts. A possible arrangement for SATB is as follows:

Pop Culture

The song was featured in an animated insert on Sesame Street, in which the three turtle kids teach their Uncle Edgar about round singing. The title is a parody of the original as it uses "Redwood" in place of "Greenwood Tree".