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,