"Nuts in May" is a nursery rhyme

Nursery rhyme

The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...

 often sung as a game with the aim of pairing a boy and girl from within the singers. It has a Roud index number of 6308.

Lyrics

Replace "[name]" by a boy's and a girl's name from within the group singing and select between him/her according to the gender of the first selected person. Some versions replace the phrase "On a cold and frosty morning," with "so early in the morning"

Here we go gathering nuts in May,

Nuts in May, nuts in May,

Here we go gathering nuts in May,

On a cold and frosty morning.

Who will you have for nuts in May,

Nuts in May, nuts in May,

Who will you have for nuts in May,

On a cold and frosty morning.

We'll have [name] for nuts in May,

Nuts in May, nuts in May,

We'll have [name] for nuts in May,

On a cold and frosty morning.

Who will you have to fetch him/her away,

Fetch him/her away, fetch him/her away,

Who will you have to fetch him/her away,

On a cold and frosty morning.

We'll have [name] to fetch him/her away,

Fetch him/her away, fetch him/her away,

We'll have [name] to fetch him/her away,

On a cold and frosty morning.

Origins

The rhyme is first recorded by Alice Gomme

Alice Gomme

Alice Bertha Gomme, Lady Gomme, born Merck was a leading British folklorist, and a pioneer in the study of children's games.-Life:...

 in The Traditional Games of England, Scotland and Ireland (1894-8). It is a variant of "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush is a 1967 British film made based on the novel of the same name by Hunter Davies. It was listed to compete at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, but the festival was cancelled due to the events of May 1968 in France....

", with which it shares a tune and closing line.