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The Trees They Grow So High
"The Trees They Grow So High" is a Scottish folk song (Roud 31, Laws O35). The song is known by many titles, including "The Trees They Do Grow High", "Daily Growing", "Long A-Growing" and "Lady Mary Ann". 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).[1] The subject of the song is an arranged marriage of a young woman by her father to a boy who is much 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:[1]
Lyrics
Version OneThe trees they grow high, An even older version in a book "A North Countrie Garland, edited by James Maidment," published in 1824, includes the lyrics of the song "The Young Laird of Craigston." Those ancient words say that he had been married at age twelve, had a son at age thirteen, and was dead at age fourteen. However, one must not jump to the conclusion that the earliest version is the most accurate. There is no official record found to substantiate that Elizabeth Innis had had a baby with John Urquhart Jr. However, Elizabeth had remarried Alexander Lord Brodie and records prove that she had three children by him. Records also show that John Urquhart Jr. had been born in 1611 and his wife, Elizabeth Innis, had been born in 1621 (so she had been 10 years younger than Lord Craigston). Elizabeth's brother, Adam Innis of Reidhall, had a daughter, Jane Innis, who had married Thomas Pitt (aka Diamond Pitt, who had purchased the Pitt diamond from the remnants of the kingdom of New Sarum, India, while under orders to cease trading). Version TwoThe trees they grow so high and the leaves they do grow green, BackgroundThe 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. Arrangers of this early folk song include English composer Benjamin Britten. British composer Patrick Hadley wrote The Trees So High, a "symphonic ballad" on a version of the tune and lyrics for chorus, baritone solo, and orchestra. RecordingsField recordingsDozens of authentic field recordings have been made of the song,[2] including a 1907 phonograph recording of David Penfold, the landlord of the Plough Inn at Rusper in Sussex, made by the English composer and folk music collector Ralph Vaughan Williams.[3] English traditional singers Fred Jordan of Ludlow, Shropshire[4] and Walter Pardon of Knapton, Norfolk[5] were recorded singing their traditional versions of the song in the 1960s and 1970s. A recording of May Bradley (also of Ludlow), which can be heard online via the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, was probably the recording that inspired many of the popular versions.[6] Several versions have been recorded in Scotland, including one sung by Shelia Stewart in 1960.[7] Like most popular British folk songs, the song has appeared many times in North America, across the United States[8][9][10] and Canada.[11][12][13] Popular recordings
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 4 November 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 eponymous album. 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 the song unaccompanied, as an encore. Irish folk singer Cara Dillon made a free arrangement of the story called "He's Young But He's Growing". English folk group The Longest Johns released a version of this song on their Youtube channel in 2024. [14] References
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