The trees they grow so high and the leaves they do grow green,
And many a cold winter's night my love and i have seen.
Of a cold winter's night, my love, you and i alone have been,
Whilst my bonny boy is young, he's a-gowing.
Growing, growing,
Whilst my bonny boy is young, he's a-gowing.
O father, dearest father, you've done to me great wrong,
You've 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 he's growing.
Growing, growing,
A lady you shall be while he's growing.
I'll send your love to college all for a year or two
And then in the meantime he will do for you;
I'll buy him white ribbons, tie them round his bonney waist
To let the ladies know that he's married.
Married, married,
To let the ladies know that he's 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 gra** grew over him,
Cruel d**h soon put an end to his growing.
Growing, growing,
Cruel d**h soon put an end to his growing.
And now my love is dead and in his grave doth lie,
The green gra** grows o'er him so very, very high.
I'll sit and i'll mourn his fate until the day i die,
And i'll watch o'er his child while he's growing.
Growing, growing,
And i'll watch o'er his child while he's growing.