The Trees They Do Grow High Giordano Dall'Armellina

The Trees They Do Grow High
Old Time Ballads From the British Isles

Lyrics (thanks to my dear friend Willemina)

The trees they grow high,
the leaves they do grow green
Many is the time my true love I've seen
Many an hour I have watched him all alone
He's young,
but he's daily growing

Father, dear father,
you've done me great wrong
You have married me to a boy who is too young
I'm twice twelve and he is but fourteen
He's young,
but he's daily growing

Daughter, dear daughter,
I've done you no wrong
I have married you to a great lord's son
He'll make a lord for you to wait upon
He's young,
but he's daily growing

Father, dear father, if you see fit
We'll send him to college for one year yet
I'll tie blue ribbons all around his head
To let the maidens know that he's married

One day I was looking o'er my
father's castle wall
I spied all the boys aplaying with the ball
My own true love was the flower of them all
He's young, but he's daily growing

At the age of fourteen, he was a married man
At the age of fifteen, the father of a son
At the age of sixteen, his grave it was green
And death had put an end to his growing
The song is about a young lady in an arranged marriage to a younger boy. The song first appeared in print in 1792, a ballad printed on many broadsides. It is possible the song was based on the wedding of Lord Craighton to Elizabeth Innes. She was older than him and he died in 1634, not long after their wedding. However other scholars think the song may be older as child marriages were common in the Middle Ages.

The song has been recorded by numerous artists.