The Trees They Grow So High

The trees they grow so high and the leaves they do grow green,

And many a cold winters night my love and I have seen.

Of a cold winters night, my love, you and I alone have been,

Whilst my bonny boy is young, hes a-gowing.

Growing, growing,

Whilst my bonny boy is young, hes a-gowing.



O father, dearest father, youve done to me great wrong,

Youve tied me to a boy when you know he is too young.

O daughter, dearest daughter, if you wait a little while,

A lady you shall be while hes growing.

Growing, growing,

A lady you shall be while hes growing.



Ill send your love to college all for a year or two

And then in the meantime he will do for you;

Ill buy him white ribbons, tie them round his bonney waist

To let the ladies know that hes married.

Married, married,

To let the ladies know that hes married.



I went up to the college and I looked over the wall,

Saw four and twenty gentlemen playing at bat and ball.

I called to my true love, but they would not let hime come,

All because he was a young boy and growing.

Growing, growing,

All because he was a young boy and growing.



At the age of sixteen, he was a married man

And at the age of seventeen he was a father to a son,

And at the age of eighteen the grass grew over him,

Cruel death soon put an end to his growing.

Growing, growing,

Cruel death soon put an end to his growing.



And now my love is dead and in his grave doth lie,

The green grass grows oer him so very, very high.

Ill sit and Ill mourn his fate until the day I die,

And Ill watch oer his child while hes growing.

Growing, growing,

And Ill watch oer his child while hes growing.