"The Trees They Grow So High" is a British folk song (Roud 31, Laws O35). The song is known by many titles, including "The Trees They Do Grow High", "Daily Growing", "Young But Daily Growing" and "Bonny Boy is Young (But Growing)".
Contents
A two-verse fragment of the song is found in the Scottish manuscript collection of the 1770s of David Herd. This was used by Robert Burns as the basis for his poem "Lady Mary Ann" (published 1792). The subject of the song is an arranged marriage of a young girl by her father to a boy who is even younger than she. There are numerous versions of both the tune and lyrics. In one set of lyrics the groom is twelve when he marries and a father at 13.
According to Roud and Bishop:
"Judging by the number of versions gathered in the major manuscript collections and later sound recordings, this song has been a firm favourite with singers in Britain, Ireland and North America for a long time, the wording varies surprisingly little across the English versions and the story is always the same, and these probably derive from nineteenth-century broadside printings, of which there are many."
Background
The ballad was printed on numerous broadsides. For copies of some of these see the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford in Great Britain.
The words may have been based on the 17th-century wedding of Lord Craigston, John Urquhart to Elizabeth Innes and her subsequent marriage to Alexander Brodie in 1635. She was several years older than Brodie. Baring-Gould and other scholars note, however, that the ballad may be older, as child marriages were common in the Middle Ages.
There are various arrangers of this early folk song including the famous English composer Benjamin Britten. The British composer Patrick Hadley wrote a large-scale choral symphony on a version of the tune and lyrics.
Recordings
Using early sound-recording equipment, English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was able to make an actual recording of the song in 1907, sung by David Penfold, the landlord of the Plough Inn at Rusper in Sussex.
Since the 1960s the song has appeared on albums by many folk-influenced artists, including Joan Baez, who included it on her second album, Joan Baez, Vol. 2 in 1961, as well as Martin Carthy's first LP in 1965. Another famous version appeared on Alan Stivell's best-selling 1972 album Olympia live. The song was also recorded by Pentangle on their Sweet Child album, Steeleye Span on Now We Are Six (as "Long-A-Growing"), and by Angelo Branduardi (Italian version "Gli Alberi Sono Alti") on his La Luna in 1975. Sarah Brightman also recorded the song on her The Trees They Grow So High album. An a cappella version appears on Brenda Wootton's 1975 album Starry Gazey Pie, sung in two-part harmony with Robert Bartlett.
This song was released again as "The Trees, They Do Grow High" By the California-based folk band Golden Bough on their self-named album in 1981. The song was then included on the album "Contemporary Songs: The Nigh Wind", originally released in 2001.
In 2002 the song was recorded under the title "Daily Growing" by the Irish band Altan, with Mairead Ní Mhaonaigh singing and Paul Brady contributing as guest singer, on the album The Blue Idol. It has been performed in concert by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan under the title "Young But Growing". It was also recorded by Bob Dylan during The Basement Tapes sessions, but was released later on the bootlegs of The Genuine Basement Tapes and later, A Tree With Roots. On November 4, 2014, it appeared on the official release, The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete. In 2009 Show of Hands used the first verse as a refrain on their song "IED", from their album Arrogance Ignorance and Greed.
In 2012, Merrymouth, a folk band led by Simon Fowler of Ocean Colour Scene recorded the song for their debut album Simon Fowlers Merrymouth with a pumping bassline was played by Mike McNamara.
The Voice of the People includes two recordings by traditional singers: The Bonny Boy sung by Fred Jordan on Volume 3: O’er His Grave the Grass Grew Green - Tragic Ballads, and Young But Growing sung by Mary McGarvey on Good People, Take Warning : Ballads by British and Irish Traditional Singers.
The Scottish singer Alasdair Roberts sometimes performs this a cappella, as an encore, most recently at The Lexington on March 16 2015. His version has the groom marrying at twelve, a father at 13, and at 14 "the green grass o'er him is growing".