Bluegrass Messengers

British & other versions 5. A-Growing (Roud 31, Laws O35) The Trees They Do Grow High/  Young But Growing/ Still Growing/ The College Boy/ All the Trees Are So High/ My Bonny Laddie's Growing/My Bonny Boy

[The ballad has been popular in the UK, first in Scotland where it is presumed to have originated^[1] and was in circulation by the late 1700s, then in England and Ireland where it well known by the late 1800s. In my opinion the ballad is based on real people and events that took place in Aberdeenshire from 1631 to 1635. Although the details are provided in my "main page" headnotes, a brief description follows:

John Urquhart^[2] (b. 1611) became the Laird of Craigston (Craigstoun) in 1631 after his grandfather, the Tutor of Cromarty, and father died that same year. He promised his father that he would care for his mother and the large debt the family had accumulated. In 1632 Urquhart married Elizabeth Innes (b. 1613), the eldest daughter of Sir Robert Innes (Baronet) and Grizel Stewart (daughter of the Bonny Earl of Moray). In 1633 they had a son, John Urquhart, who later became the Laird of Craigston. About the time of the birth of his son John Urquhart became despondent over his financial woes and suffered a "consuming seikness" which lead to his death a year later on Nov. 30, 1634. In 1635 Robert Innes "gets the guiding of this young boy," Alexander Brodie, heir to the Brodie estate, and her father married Alexander to Elizabeth (Innes Urquhart) when he was underage--a recent "college boy," the age of just 17. Brodie had recently attended King's College in 1632 and 1633 and possibly longer. Elizabeth was four years older than Brodie and bore him a son and daughter before she died in 1640.

The additional facts recently discovered^[3] have led the the conclusion that the ballad is based on the marriage of young Brodie-- the college boy-- to Elizabeth when it was previously assumed from information provided by Spalding in 1792^[4], the ballad was only about the marriage of John Urquhart. The concluding stanza is about Urquhart who died and left a young son^[5]:

At the age of thirteen he was a married man,
At the age of fourteen he had a young son,
At the age of fifteen his grave was growing green,
And that put and end to his growing. [Scottish broadside circa 1820s]

The young age of the boy in the Scottish broadside has been exaggerated (in Bell Robertson's version he's seven!!!). Brodie who was really seventeen, not thirteen, was still underage but the last two lines about the son being born and the father dying the next year with a one year-old son are about Urquhart. So the ballad is about Elizabeth Innes-- in part about her older first husband and mainly about the young college boy, her second husband. She was left to raise a young son and mourn the loss of her first husband. considering her circumstances it seem logical that her father, Sir Robert, "without advice of friends, shortly and quietly married him(the boy) upon her[his] own eldest daughter Elizabeth Innes^[6]." Grizel Stewart, Elizabeth's mother has the distinction of having a well-know ballad written about her father (The Bonny Earl of Murray) and her daughter (The Trees They Do Grow High).

The earliest evidence of this Scottish ballad was reported by Bruce Olsen. A Scottish tune without text entitled "Long a-Growing" was found in Guthrie's MSS (c. 1675-80) written in Italian viola de braccia tablature. Olsen said the tune's value is minimal. Still it suggests that the ballad had circulation at that time (c. 1675).  The earliest text fragment is "My Love is Long A-Growing," two MS stanzas from David Herd (1732–1810) of Edinburgh dated 1776. In 1787 Robert Burns "noted the song and the air from a lady in 1787, during a tour in the North of Scotland.^[7]" Burns titled the song, Lady Mary Ann and added two stanzas and some proper names. The ballad he heard was known as "Craigton's[sic] Growing." Burns apparently borrowed the two stanza fragment from David Herd about 1776 in Edinburgh which became his first two stanzas.

The first complete ballad, which surely dates back to the 1700s, was "Craigston's Growing," written down between 1808-1818 by Rev. Robert Scott (b. 1778) who was minister at Glenbucket from 1808 until his death in 1855. It was later discovered and printed in The Glenbuchat Ballads; edited by David Buchan, James Moreira. The next six earliest versions (aside from broadsides printed in England) are all from Scotland.

A number of broadsides were printed in England beginning in the 1860s and the ballad was collected in England in 1888^[8]. It's hard to determine the effect these printed versions had on the populace-- since very few collected versions closely resemble the printed ones. Whether by oral transmission or print by the early 1900s "The Trees They Do Grow High"  was described by Frank Kidson, who collected a Yorkshire version c. 1893, as "common all over the country." The ballad was subsequently found by the leading English collectors including, Lucy Broadwood, Cecil Sharp, H.E. Hammond, Clive Carey, Anne Gilchrist and George Buttersworth as well as composers Ralph Vaughan Williams^[9] and Percy Granger.

During the period of the two World Wars (1916-1945) ballad collecting was not an emphasis; so few versions were collected then. In the 1950s Irish versions were taken from Seamus Ennis (who taught his version to Bob Copper), recorded by Seamus Ennis (Margaret McGarvey, 1954), collected from Pat Kelly and "The Bonny Boy" was recorded by Seán 'ac Dhonncha of Carna^[10]. From the ballad's popularity in the early 1900s it was picked up by many of the Travellers singers including Caroline Hughes, Stanley Robertson, Lizzie Higgins, Harry Brazil, Nelson Ridley, and Mary Ann Haynes. Higgins' version is aptly named "The College Boy" after thirteen-year-old college student Alexander Brodie who was enrolled in King's College in 1632 and 1633. This next generation of singers born after 1900 but before 1925 included the Travellers and also George Dunn, Mary Ann Haynes, Fred Jordan, and Walter Pardon. They were recorded in the 50s, 60s and 70s (and sometimes later).

The texts of these singers tends to be fragmentary and the number of stanzas are often reduced. The sex stanza found in Nicol's 1824 text which was learned in Strichen (See: Maidment's "A North Countrie Garland") was called "rubbish" and subsequently left out in the early 1800s-- then became modified in the 1800s and thereafter has largely been forgotten. The name "Craigston (Craigstoun)" has disappeared. The word "college" has become "cottage" or "church" -- while the  "college wall" that she looked over to see him playing ball has become "castle wall" or "church wall." To be fair to the singers of the 1900s some of these distinctions were never clear in early versions perhaps because there were few ballads about "a college boy" and many about lords and "a castle wall."

In some versions a floating stanza has become attached at the end. Here's Harry Cox's version^[11]:

Oh, come all you pretty fair young maidens listen unto to me
And never build your nest in the dark of any tree
The green leaves they will wither, the roots they will decay,
And my bonny lad is young and he is growin'.

It's also found in "The Bonny Boy" by Seán 'ac Dhonncha (Carna) 1955 and the Dubliners' version. Duncan Williamson's "The Trees Are High" is a hybrid version with the opening and ending stanza of "The Trees" and the main body is "My Laddie's Bedside." Duncan learned this from his father's sister, at Tarbert, Argyll, about 1942. The earliest version of "My Laddie's bedside" I've found is Christie Vol. 2, 1881.

Currently there are 74 UK versions and one version from Australia in my collection, a number of them fragments. All the versions are attached to this page. There are three melodies without text which are not included plus a two line fragment from Williams Collection online. With 11 versions from North America the total, counting missing versions, is around 100. I have not included many versions which I consider to be arrangements including the excellent versions by Bert Lloyd, Ewan MacColl, and Martin Carthy.

R. Matteson 2016]

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Footnotes:

1. I believe that the facts clearly point to the Scottish origin. Baring-Gould postulated an English origin but provided only circumstantial evidence. His vague evidence, echoed by Broadwood, A.L. Lloyd and others, is still erroneously circulated in song notes about the ballad.
2. Urquhart's association with the ballad was pointed out by Maidment in 1824 who quoted Spalding (1792). It was Spalding who mixed Elizabeth Innes second marriage up with her first marriage. Elements of both marriages are found in the ballad which was based almost entirely on her second marriage to college student Brodie. All the dates in this paragraph have been reasonably documented. Elizabeth Innes birth date is assumed from her parent's marriage in 1611. She was the eldest daughter of five daughters and the first wed--three sons were also born to Robert Innes and Grizel Stewart, I'm guessing a son was born first and Elizabeth was the second child.
3. I discovered these facts in August of 2016 after considering an article by Ian Pittaway. Even though many of Pittaway's facts were wrong- his conclusion that Elizabeth's first husband was older was not.
4. Spalding wrote about Urquhart of Craigston in his The history of the troubles and memorable transactions in Scotland, 1792.
5. This is the last stanza of "My Bonnie Laddie's Young," a Scottish broadside at the British Library ref. 1871 f 13 60a; dated c. 1825 (1820s-1830s by Steve Roud).  From Sabine Baring-Gould's notebooks (entered from visits before 1890)- the first stanza was written down from the broadside by Steve Gardham in 2011.
6. Spalding from The history of the troubles and memorable transactions in Scotland, 1792.
7. Reported by Stenhouse, Motherwell and also Cunningham.
8. Sabine Baring-Gould of Devon collected a version from James Parsons of Lew Down in 1888 and again in 1889.
9. Vaughan Williams collected four versions of "The Trees They Do Grow High" between 1904 and 1913.
10. Seán 'ac Dhonncha first recording is found in the Séamus MacMathúna Sound Collection, 1955, one stanza (clipped). Complete text from Traditional Music of Ireland. Listen to 1955 recording: https://archive.comhaltas.ie/compositions/1823#/tracks/2727
11. Young and Growing, sung by Harry Cox of Catfield, Norfolk, who sang his fragment in October 1953 to Peter Kennedy-- Rounder anthology CD1839, "What Will Become of England?" released in 2000.
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CONTENTS: (The texts may be accessed by clicking on the highlighted title below or on the titles attached to this page on left hand column- green border)

    1) My Love is Long A-Growing: (Edin) c.1776 Herd
    2) Lady Mary Ann- Robert Burns (Edin) 1787 Johnson; Motherwell
    3) Craigston's Growing- (Aber) pre1818 Rev. Scott
    4) My Bonnie Laddie's Lang o' Growing- (Pais) c.1819 Motherwell
    5) The Young Laird of Craigstoun- Nicol (Strich) 1822 Maidment; C.K. Sharpe
    Lament of a Young Damsel- Macqueen (Ayr) c.1825 Crawfurd
    My Bonny Laddie's Young- Broadside (Scot) c.1825 British Library
    My Love A-Growing: Bell Robertson (Pits) c.1856 Greig
    My Bonny Lad Is Young- Such broadside (Lon) 1863 Bodleian
    Young Craigston- (Buchan) pre1881 Christie
    Bonny Boy Is Young- (Cork) 1883 John Matthews
    Trees They Are So High- Parsons (Lew) 1888 Baring-Gould
    Trees They Are So- Parsons/Baker (Lew) 1889 Baring-Gould
    My Bonny Boy- Mary O'Bryan (Cahir) 1890 Baring-Gould
    All the Trees- Mrs.Mason (Devon) 1890 Baring-Gould
    Growing- William Aggett (Chag) 1890 Baring-Gould
    Trees They Are So High- Hannaford (Wid) 1890 Baring-Gould
    My Bonny Lad Is Young- Thompson (York) 1893 Kidson
    The Trees are Getting High- George Ede (Sur) 1896 Broadwood
    Trees They Do Grow High- Harry Richards (Som) 1904 Sharp
    He's Growing- Mrs. Glover (Som) 1904 Sharp B
    Trees They Do Grow High- Gouldthorpe (Linc) 1905
    My Bonny Lad Is Young- Amos Ash (Som) 1905
    He's Growing- Mr. Booker (Sus) 1905 V. Williams
    But A-Growing: woman (Devon) 1905 Bertha Bidder
    The Bonny Lad- Lucy White (Som) 1905 Sharp C
    Trees They Do Grow High- Beverley (Linc) 1905
    Still Growing- Wilson Champ (Som) 1905 Sharp D
    Still Growing- Harriet Young (Som) 1905 Sharp E
    Trees They are so High- William Bartlett (Dor) 1905
    All the Trees- Henry Stansbridge (Hamp) 1906
    Trees They Grows High- James Brown (Hamp) 1906
    Green Grows the Grass- Joseph Taunton (Dor) 1906
    Trees They do Grow High- Mrs. Studeley (Dor) 1906
    The Trees They Are Withered- Mrs. Hann (Dor) 1906
    The Trees They Do Grow High- Corporal Edwards (Taun) 1906
    At the Age of Fourteen- Marina Russell (Dor) 1907
    The Trees They Do Grow- Ginger Clayton (Cam) 1907 V. Williams
    The Trees They Do Grow High- William Smith (Heref) 1907
    The Trees They Do Grow High- David Penfold (Sus) 1907
    Young But Growing- James Cheyne (Aber) c.1908 Greig C
    Still Growing- Jack Barnard (Som) 1908 Sharp F
    Still Growing- Alfred Emery (Som) 1908 Sharp G
    The Trees They Do Grow- Mrs. Whiting (Mon) 1908
    My Bonnie Laddie's Young- Mrs. Bowker (Lanc) 1909
    My Bonnie Laddie's Young- Whitehead (Lanc) 1909
    Trees They Did Grow High- Wm Ellison (Wilt) 1909
    Trees They Do Grow- Stephen Spooner (Sus) 1911 Carey
    My Bonny Lad Is Young- Mrs. Joiner (Herts) 1914 Broadwood
    Still Growing- Kathleen Williams(Glos)1921 Sharp H
    My Father's Castle Wall- Nelson Ridley (Kent) 1926 MacColl
    The Trees Are High- Duncan Williamson (Scot) 1942
    Trees They Do Grow High- Bob Copper/Seamus Innes (Sus) c.1952
    The Trees are Growing Tall- Pat Kelly (Down) 1953
    Young and Growing- Harry Cox (Nor) 1953 REC Kennedy
    Young but Growing- Margaret McGarvey (Ferm) 1954 Seamus Innes
    The Bonny Boy- Seán 'ac Dhonncha (Carna) 1955
    My Bonny Love- Sally Sloane (AU) 1956 Meredith
    The College Boy- Lizzie Higgins (Aber) 1958 Paton
    The Bonny Boy- Isabel Sutherland (Edin) 1959
    Long a-Growing: May Bradley (Shrop) c.1959 Hamer
    Young But Growing- Caroline Hughes (Dor) c.1962 MacColl
    My Bonny Boy Is Young- Joe Heaney (Carna) 1964 MacColl
    Lang A-Growing: Liam Clancy (Tip) 1965 REC
    Long Time a-Growing: Bridget Furey (Dub) c.1965
    The Bonny Boy- Fred Jordan (Shrop) 1966 Yates
    Young Man A-Growing- George Dunn (Birm) 1972
    Trees they do Grow High- David Stacey (Essex) 1973
    Long A-Growing- Mary Ann Haynes (Sus) 1974 Yates
    Trees They Do Grow High- Walter Pardon (Nor) 1974
    Trees They Grew High- Pat MacNamara (Clare) 1975 Carroll
    Tale of the Little Boy- Nelson Penfold (Dev) 1974
    Long a-Growing: Harry Brazil (Glou) 1977 Davies
    The Bonny Boy- Tom Lenihan (Clare) 1987 REC Carroll
    The Bonny Boy- Maggie McGee (Don) 1992 McBride
    Trees They Grew High- Vincie Boyle (Clare) 2012 Carroll

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RANDOM NOTES FOLLOW:

The Bonny Boy by The Dubliners - Topic; Has the "come all you pretty fair maids" stanza

Oh the trees are growing tall, and the nights are growing dim
And many`s the nights and days has past since you and I have seen
Oh I will  make my bed and I will lie in the cold cold lane
Oh me bonny boy is young, but he`s growing

Oh Father, dearest father, and you've done me much wrong
For you have married me to a lad who is far too young
Oh he bein' only sixteen years, and I bein' twenty one
He's me bonny boy, he`s young, but he`s growing

Oh daughter, dearest daughter, and I've done you no wrong
For I have married you to a noble farmer`s son
And he will be a man to you, and you will be his queen
He's your bonny boy, he`s young, but he`s growing

At the age of sixteen years, now he was a married man
and at the age of seventeen, oh the father of a son
And at the age of eighteen, on his grave the grass grew green
Cruel death had put an end to his growing

I will buy my love a shroud of the ornamental brown
And while they are sewing it, oh the tears they will run down
For once I had my one true love, and now he`s lying low
And I`ll nurse his bonny boy, while he`s growing.

Oh come all you pretty fair maids and take this advice from me
Don`t ever build your nest in the top of any tree
For the leaves they will all wither, and the roots they will decay
And you`ll nurse his bonny boy, while he`s growing.

Oh the trees are growing tall, and the nights are growing dim
And many`s the night and day has past since you and I have seen
And I will  make my bed in the cold cold lane
He's me bonny boy, he`s young, but he`s growing
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Till Doomsday in the Afternoon: The Folklore of a Family of Scots Travellers;
By Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger 1986

Robert Burns 1787:

The Simmer is gane when the leaves they were green,
And the days are awa that we hae seen,
But far better days I trust will come again,
For my bonie laddie's young but he's growin yet.

See Also Craigston's Growing

Sheila Stewart MacGregor daughter of Belle Stewart (1906-1997) and Lizzie Higgin sister; Blairgowrie. c 1881

"The Days are Awa' That We Hae Seen" sung by Sheila Mac Gregor- learned from her cousin Martha Stewart whose husband was Donald (Dan) macGregor

The trees are growing heich, my lad, the grass is growing green,
The days are past and gone, my laddie, you and I have seen;
But there'll be a welcome where I should have been,
So begone laddie what cares for ye?


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A Catalog of Folk Song Settings for Wind Band - Page 85
Mark Aldrich - 2004 - ‎Preview

Peter Kennedy 1975 Folksongs of Britain and Ireland
similar to Seán 'ac Dhonncha of Carna, Ireland, 1955 also as sung by Pat Kelly, Newry, Co. Down on  31st July, 1953. Recorded by Peter Kennedy and Sean O'Boyle.

The leaves they grew so green and the tree's they did grow tall,
And many a happy hour spent with me and my love John.
On a dark and stormy night when the winter wynd does blow,
And my bairney boy is young but he's growing ever tall.

O father, dear father, you've done to me what's wrong,
You've married me to this Bonny Boy and I fear he's rather young
His age is sixteen, aye, and I am twenty-one.
Ah my bairney boy is young but he's growing ever tall.

O daughter, dear daughter, don't mind what people say,
For he will be a man to you when you are old and grey.
He will be a man to you when I am dead and gone,
He's your bairney boy, he's young, but he's growing ever tall.

At the age of sixteen, sure he was a married man,
At the age of seventeen he was the father of a son.
At the age of eighteen, sure, the grass grew over his grave.
Cruel death has put an end to his growing ever tall.

So come all you pretty fair young maids a warning take from me,
And never build your nest in the top of any tree.
For when the green leaves they will wither and the roots they will decay,
While the blushes of your bairney boy are fading away.

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[Bob Copper version's notes by John Howson:]

           This ballad which is often called Young but Growing or The Bonny Boy is found throughout England, Scotland and Ireland yet Child missed it from his collection. Burns actually used the theme of the ballad in his Lady Mary Ann. In England Cecil Sharp collected twelve versions and it was a popular broadside printed by Such (amongst others) and it turns up in just about every folk song collection. Bob [Copper] learned this version from Seamus Ennis while they were working together for the BBC in the 1950s.

           A.L. Lloyd suggests in 'Folk Song in England' that, "early folk song enthusiasts loved the sport of tracing ballad stories to some literal historical source and Young but Growing was thought to reflect the marriage between the juvenile Lord of Craigton and a girl some years his senior in 1631". In 'The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs' he says that this is "one of the most curious, most beautiful, and most widespread of British ballads, which may be much older" and that "child marriages for the consolidation of family fortunes were not unusual in the Middle Ages and in some parts the custom persisted far into the seventeenth century."

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[Version by James Nicol of Strichen from a MS: The Scotish Musical Museum: Consisting of Upwards of Six Hundred, Volume 4
By Robert Burns, Stephen Clarke, William Stenhouse, David Laing, Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe 1839 second slightly different print of Nicol's Laird of Craigstoun]

LADY MARY ANNE.

"The words of the ballad mentioned by Mr S. as 'Craigston's growing,' are subjoined from a MS. It may be observed that young Urquhart of Craigston, who had fallen into the power of the Laird of Innes, was by him married to his daughter Elizabeth Innes, and died in 1634. [See Spalding's History, vol. 1. p. 36."—(C. K. S).]

Father, she said, you have done me wrang,
For ye have married me on a child young man,
For ye have married me on a child young man,
And my bonny love is long a growing.
Growing, deary, growing, growing:
Growing, said the bonny maid,
Slowly's my bonny love growing.

Daughter, said he, I have done you no wrang,
For I have married you on a heritor of land;
He's likewise possess'd of many a bill and band,
And he'll be daily growing.
Growing, deary, growing, growing:
Growing, said the bonny maid,
Slowly's my bonny love growing

Daughter, he said, if ye do weel,
Ye will put your husband away to the scheel,
That he of learning may gather great skill;
And he'll be daily growing.
Growing, deary, growing, growing:
Growing, said the bonny maid,
Slowly's my bonny love growing.

Now young Craigston to the college is gane,
And left his lady making great mane,
And left his lady making great mane,
That he's so long a growing.
Growing, deary, growing, growing:
Growing, said the bonny maid,
Slowly's my bonny love growing.

She dress'd herself in robes of green,
She was right comely to be seen;
She was the picture of Venus the queen,
And she's to the college to see him.
Growing, deary, growing, growing
Growing, said the bonny maid,
Slowly's my bonny love growing.

Then all the colligeners war playing at the ba',
But young Craigston was the flower of them a',
He said—" play on, my school fellows a',
For I see my sister coming,
Coming, deary, coming, coming,
Coming, said the bonny lad,
For I see my sister coming."

Now down into the College Park,
They walked about till it was dark,
* * * * [line edited out]
And she'd no reason to compleen of his growing.
    Growing, deary, growing, growing:
    Growing, said the bonny maid,
    Slowly's my bonny love growing.

In his twelfth year he was a married man;
In his thirteenth year there he gat a son;
And in his fourteenth year his grave grew green,
And that was an end of his growing.
Growing, deary, growing, growing:
Growing, said the bonny maid,
Slowly's my bonny love growing.

The song in the Museum was communicated by Burns, who had noted both the words and the air from a lady, in 1787, during his tour in the North of Scotland. The old ballad upon which it is founded, was first published by Mr Maidment, in the " North Countrie Garland," Edinburgh, 1824, 12mo. A traditional copy of the ballad, as preserved in the West of Scotland, will be found in Motherwell's edition of Burns, vol. iii. p. 42.

________________

From the notes to the Penguin Book (1959):

"This is one of the most curious, most beautiful, and most widespread of British ballads.  Some fifty years ago, Kidson reported it as "common all over the country", and it is not infrequently met with nowadays, especially in Scotland and Ireland.  Sharp alone collected a dozen sets of it.  Perhaps the fullest printed texts are Scottish, though English and Irish sets include verses not found in Scottish versions.  It is sometimes said that the ballad is based on the actual marriage of the juvenile  laird of Craigton  to a girl several years his senior, the laird dying three years later in 1634.  But in fact the ballad may be older; indeed, there is no clear evidence that it is Scottish in origin.  Child marriages for the consolidation of family fortunes were not unusual in the Middle Ages and in some parts the custom persisted far into the 17th. century.  The presenting and wearing of coloured ribbons, once common in Britain, still plays a prominent part in betrothal and marriage in Central and Eastern Europe.  For some reason this ballad, so common in Britain, is very rare in the U.S.A.  The melody given is in the Phrygian mode, seldom met with in English folk song (a different tune to these words, in Songs of the West, ed. Baring Gould and others, 1896, pp.8-9, is also Phrygian).  Only one stanza of Miss Bidder's version has survived.  The greater part of the text we print comes from the versions sung to Sharp by Harry Richards of Cerry Rivell, Somerset, in 1904 ¹ (FSJ vol.II [issue 6] pp.44-6), and to Lucy Broadwood by Mrs. Joiner, of Chiswell Green, Hertfordshire, in 1914 (FSJ vol.V [issue 19] p.190). In FSJ, further versions will be found from Surrey (vol.I [issue 4] pp.214-15), Somerset (vol.II [issue 6] pp.46-7), Sussex (vol.II [issue 8] p.206), Yorkshire (vol.II [issue 9] p.274) and Dorset (vol.II [issue 9] p.275)."  -R.V.W./A.L.L.

This version was collected by Bertha Bidder from an unnamed woman singer of Stoke Fleming, Devon (date unknown), and was first published in the Folk Song Journal, vol.II [issue 9] p.95.

---------------
 Sharp collected eleven other versions in England.  Sharp collected eleven other versions in England. This is indicative of the widespread popularity of the song

Scottish Studies - Volume 19 - Page 86; 1975
Stanley Robertson sings in the dramatic traveller style of his aunt Jeannie Robertson, and so basically does the ... jilted song whose tune and last verse seem to be derived from 'The trees they are so high' ('Still growing', or 'The College boy'). Sung also by Lizzie Higgins, Jeannie Robertson's daughter.

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Baring Gould's transcription [compare to the actual broadside]-- "in a volume of Scottish broadsides in British Library 1871f. dated 1750-1780" [the date is circa 1820s]  "printed in Aberdeen probably"

1. The trees they are so high and the leaves they are so green,
The day [etc]

2. Father, O father you have done me much wrong,
For you have married me to a lad that is young,
For he's scarce twelve and I am but thirteen
My bonny laddie's young but is growing

3. O daughter, O daughter I have done you no wrong,
For I have married you to a rich lord's son,
And if you will wait, his bride you will be,
My bonny laddie's young but is growing

4. She sewed him a shirt of Holland fine,
And aye as she sewed the tears they ran down,
And aye as she sewed the tears they ran down,
My bonny laddie's young but he's growing.

5. Father, O father if you think it's fit,
We'll send him to this high college another year yet,
And I'll cut of my yellow hair all above my brow,
And I'll go to the high college with my laddie now.

6. It happened on a day and a sun shiny day,
Here going to a green wood to sport and to play,
And what they did there I never will declare,
But she never complained on his growing.

7. At the age of thirteen he was a married man,
At the age of fourteen he had a young son,
At the age of fifteen his grave was growing green,
And that put and end to his growing.

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Notes: Journal of the Folk-Song Society, Volume 2, Issues 6-9
By Folk-Song Society (Great Britain) 1906.

Mrs. Kate Thompson learnt her version of the song when a child at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, and this copy is also recognised by another Yorkshire singer. The second version, to a very fragmentary portion of the ballad, was noted down in Dorsetshire, and sent to me by the Rev. Capel Cure.

Mr. Baring-Gould, Mr. Sharp, and other collectors, have printed copies of this, which I take to be one of our most curious English folk-songs. I should perhaps say British, for although the ballad originally first saw the light as "Lady Mary Ann," in Johnson's Scots' Musical Museum, 1792 (No. 377), and afterwards as "Young Craigston" in the Scottish ballad-books, yet many versions have been recovered in the south of England, and there is really not the slightest evidence that the ballad or the various airs recently collected are of Scottish origin. For other copies, see Mr. Baring-Gould's Songs of the West; Christie's Traditional Ballad Airs; FolkSong Journal (Vol. i, p. 214, and ii, p. 206); and Mr. Sharp's Folk-Songs from Somerset (Vol. i).

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Olsen: The text that Malcolm gives above from David Buchan's 'A Book of Scottish Ballads' is nearly the same as that which C. K. Sharpe gave (untitled) in 'Additional Illustrations to the Scots Musical Museum', #377. There are some small differences: 'wrang' for 'wrong' in the 1st and 2nd verses, repeat of 2nd line as the 3rd in the 4th verse, colligeneers vs collegineers, gat for got, and some capitalization. In 'Additional Illustrations' Sharpe deleted the line in the 7th verse -'Then he lifted up her fine holland sark'.

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English Traditional Songs and Carols
edited by Lucy Etheldred Broadwood

OH, THE TREES ARE GETTING HIGH (p. 56).

[Journal of the Folk-Song Society, I (4) 1904, 214-5, which Lucy Broadwood got from a Mr Ede of Dunsfold, Surrey, in 1896]

This ballad is said to be founded on fact, and to date from the time when betrothals and marriages of mere children, " for convenience," were not uncommon. The "bonny boy " has been sometimes identified with young Urquh'art of Craigston, who was married by the Laird of Innes to his daughter Elizabeth Innes, and died in 1634 (see "Lady Mary Anne" in Johnson's Scots Musical Museum, Vol. iv.), and a Scotch version has the title " Craigston's Growing." For other references and versions, tunes and words, see Journal of the Folk Song Society, Vol. i., p. 214, and Vol. ii., pp. 44, 95, and 206; Songs of the West; Christie's Traditional Ballad Airs; and Folk Songs front Somerset. A good version of words is on a broadside printed by Such and called "My Bonny Lad is young, but he's growing." The version here given was sung first to the editor by Mr. Ede whilst he was trimming hedges. and the fierce snap of his shears at the words " So there was an end -of his growing" came with startling dramatic effect. A few words of Mr. Ede's version have been transposed or slightly altered where rhyme or metre absolutely necessitated it, and one stanza has been omitted. The original, however, is in Journal of the Folk Song Society, Vol. i., p. 214.
__________________________

 [2nd printing of James Nicol ballad] The Scottish Musical Museum: Consisting of Upwards of Six Hundred, Volume 4, 1839
by Robert Burns, Stephen Clarke, William Stenhouse, David Laing, Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe

"The words of the ballad mentioned by Mr Stenhouse as 'Craigston's growing,' are subjoined from a MS. It may be observed that young Urquhart of Craigston, who had fallen into the power of the Laird of Innes, was by him married to his daughter Elizabeth Innes, and died in 1634. *See Spalding's History, vol. 1. p. 36."—(C. K. S).

The song in the Museum was communicated by Burns, who had noted both the words and the air from a lady, in 1787, during his tour in the North of Scotland. The old ballad upon which it is founded, was first published by Mr Maidment, in the " North Countrie Garland," Edinburgh, 1824, 12mo. A traditional copy of the ballad, as preserved in the West of Scotland, will be found in Motherwell's edition of Burns, vol. iii. p. 42.

---------------

Spin - Volume 4 - Page 47; 1966

Still Growing [unknown informant]

The Trees they do grow high and the leaves they do grow green

He is only fifteen years and I am twenty-one,
He's my bonny boy he's young but a-growing.

Daughter, dearest daughter, I've done to you no wrong
For I have married you to a noble lord's son.
He will be a lord one day if you will but wait on

----------------------

Traditional Ballad Airs, Volume 2 Christie 1881, notes:

"Young Craigston" has been long a favourite with the populace in Buchan. The Air to which it was sung is here arranged. John Urquhart, called the Tutor of Cromarty, bought the Estate of Craigston, (Aberdeenshire.) The Ballad is supposed to have been com. posed on the marriage of his grandson with Elisabeth Innes, daughter of Sir Robert I lines of Innes, (Morayshire,) by whom he had a son. Spalding, after referring to the great mortality in the Craigstou family says, "Thus in three years space, the good-sire, son, and oy. died'.' He adds, that the Laird of Innes, whose sister was married to this Urquhart of Leathers, (the father,) and not without her consent, as was thought, gets the guiding of this young boy, and without advice of friends shortly and quietly 'marries him upon his own eldest daughter, Elizabeth Innes? Spalding also mentions that young Craig*ton's death was generally attributed to melancholy, in consequence of Sir Robert Innes refusing to pay old Craigstons debts; for the creditors bestowed "many maledictions, which touched the young man's conscience, albeit he could not mend it? Spalding Vol. I. p. 36. The father died in December 1631, and the son in November 1631, so that the marriage must have been of short duration. The Ballad is necessarily epitomized for this Work.
_______________________

Scottish Notes and Queries - Page 40 [two queries about John Urquhart's family- ballad]
John Bulloch, ‎John Alexander Henderson - 1931

According to the ages given in the ballad the young man would appear to have been born about 1620 — that is eight years after his parents' marriage. He may really have been born a year or two earlier. A marriage at 12 was contrary to law and it seems hardly likely that the marriage took place until he was of the legal age of 14, though since he had a "consuming seikness"

Lady Grizell Stewart, third daughter of James, 2nd Earl of Moray — that is, the " Bonnie Earl o' Moray " who was murdered at Donibristle. They had three sons and six daughters, so it would be difficult to say when the eldest daughter, Elizabeth Innes, was born. Even were she the eldest child, she could not have been more than twenty in 1632. Her aunt, "Dame Marie," is said to have arranged her marriage (which was settled "schortlie and quietly"). To the youthful John Urquhart, of Craigston, who died (of a " consuming seikness ") at the Place of Innes, November 30, 1634, under circumstances which caused a good deal of comment.[1] His father had left a debt of £40,000 for which the young man was not legally liable, and Sir Robert, as his Guardian, incurred a good deal of criticism (on the part of cautioners and other creditors) when he, very properly refused to allow his Ward to pay the debt.  Spalding says that the outcry and incidental worry were the immediate cause of young Urquhart's death. When it is stated that he was married to Elizabeth Innes " with the object of securing his estates," the statement is no reflection whatever upon Sir Robert or his sister, whose object  was evidently to secure a good match for his daughter. (In those days this was considered a natural and proper thing to do, and it was perfectly usual to arrange a marriage between one's ward and one's daughter. The age at which the marriage took place seems to suggest that the youth was delicate, and that it was concluded that the business might as well be hurried up so that Craigston might have an heir and his daughter a jointure. I have not verified the subsequent Craigston pedigree, but according to Douglas and Spalding also, the young Laird did leave a son and heir, John Urquhart, of Craigston, whose heirs male expired with his grandson, Colonel James Urquhart[2]

On October 28, 1635 — that is, eleven months after young Craigston's death, quite a reasonable interval in these times — Elizabeth Innes married Alexander Brodie of Brodie, afterwards Lord Brodie. I cannot understand what is meant by Lord Brodie obtaining a "dispensation afterwards." No such document was either requisite or competent is post- Reformation Scotland. Can it mean the paternal sanction ? If so, there may be some hint that the old laird of Brodie did not quite approve of Elizabeth. Were there tales " in the air? From Spalding's narrative one concludes there was a good deal of gossip both about this and the preceding generation. Brodie himself speaks in the most affectionate manner of his relations with the Innes family 1  and of the high character of his father- in-law, so one may, I think, attribute much of the criticism to political and financial motives. Elizabeth died, as stated, August 12, 1640[2] It will be interesting to find if anybody knows the remainder of the ballad to which your correspondent refers-- Thomas Innes if Learney.

_________________________
 

My little town of Cromarty: the history of a northern Scottish town; David Alston - 2006

The marriage was in 1632, the young woman was Elizabeth Innes of Innes and the 'childe young man' was her first cousin, John Urquhart, 'Young Craigston' of the ballad's title, who died in November 1634. There was a murky background to  to these events. John Urquhart's grandfather had died in November of the previous year, 1631, and his father in December. On his deathbed the father had extracted a promise from the twelve-year-old boy to care for his mother, Mary Innes, and pay all debts due by the family. Mary's brother Robert began to manipulate the situation by securing the guardianship of the boy and by marrying him to his own daughter. Then, with the excuse that Urquhart was not yet of age, Innes refused to settle debts due to the father's creditors. Those who had provided guarantees for the father's borrowings lost their money, their 'maledictions' affected the boy deeply and he was believed to have died of an illness brought on by depression. He seems to have had little pleasure from from his short life, except a few games of football and his evening in the park with Elizabeth.

______________________________
Random notes on families

   Elizabeth Innes of Innes married John Urquhart, son of John Urquhart and Isabel Irvine of Drum.
Child of Elizabeth Innes of Innes and John Urquhart

  His son was  Sir John Urquhart b. 1633, d. 1678

"...the eldest married first to the Laird of Craigstoun (to whom she bore only Sir John Urquhart of Cromarty) and afterwards to my Lord Brodie, and was mother of his children"

Alexander Brodie (Lord Brodie) married  28th October, 1635, Elizabeth Innes, widow of John Urquhart, of Craigston, tutor of Cromarty, who d. 30th November, 1634, daughter of Sir Robert Innes, bart. of Innes, by Lady Grizel Stewart, daughter of James, the bonny Earl of Moray, and grandaughter of the regent; she d. 12th August, 1640, leaving only two children.
_______________________________

Herd MS, notes, 1904:
           XXXIX
MY LOVE IS LONG A-GROWING[1]

She looked o'er the castle-wa',
She saw three lords play at the ba':
"O the youngest is the flower of a',
But my love is lang o' growing.

"O father, gin ye think it fit.
We'll set him to the college yet,
And tye a ribbon round his hat,
And, father, I'll gang wi' him!"

1 Marginal note: A very fine tune not in any collection MSS.

XXXIX
MY LOVE IS LANG A-GROWING
MS. I, 66a, II, 57b; C.E. III, 390.

Burns used the two verses almost literally in his song Lady Mary Ann (C.E. III, 126). His MS. is in the Hastie Collection. The tune, of unknown origin, with Burns's text, forms No. 377 of Johnson's Museum IV. The situation in v. i reminds one through verbal coincidences of the ballad The Cruel Mother (Child, I, No. 20, H I, 7, I 3, K L 1). Perhaps it is not by mere accident that in Herd's MSS. fragments of The Cruel Mother immediately follow the present verses (MS. I, 66b, II, 58a; see Child, I, p. 220).
__________________

The Poetry of Robert Burns: Songs. Johnson's musical museum 1787:

LADY MARY ANN

No. 377 in Johnson (Vol. iv. 1792): Unsigned; but the Ms. is in the Hastie Collection.

As to the original: Motherwell asserts that Burns 'noted the song and the air from a lady in 1787, during his tour in the North of Scotland.' A broadside in the Laing Collection at Dalmeny (The Whole Map of Man's Life) is to the tune, I Am but Young and Growing. Stenhouse explains that the Burns is modelled on an antique fragment, Craigton's Growing, in a Ms. collection belonging to Rev. Robert Scott, of Glenbucket. Motherwell states that the earliest set is printed in Maidment's North Countrie Garland (1823). Maidment's is the ballad of the [Sir Walter] Scott Ms. Here is a handful of the rubbish :—

'Daughter, said he, I have done you no wrang,
 For I have married you on a heritor of land;
He's likewise possess'd of many a bill and band,
And he 'll be daily growing.
Growing, deary, growing, growing,
Growing, said the bonny maid,
Slowly my bonny love's growing.'

Motherwell further supplies a copy of the ballad as 'traditionally preserved in the west of Scotland.' This is the first stanza :—

'The trees they are ivied, the leaves they are green,
 The days are a' awa that I hae seen;
 On the cauld winter nights I ha'e to lie my lane,
   For my bonnie laddie's lang o' growing.'

Maidment, again, is at pains to supply an 'historical note' on a young Urquhart of Craigston (Aberdeenshire), the supposed hero, who was in all likelihood simply grafted on the Burns, ballad by some not very ingenious Aberdeenshire artist.

The fact is, Burns got the germ of his song—not from any of these sets nor from a lady during his northern tour, but—from a fragment in the Herd Ms., the more characteristic points in which (it is worth noting) are not incorporated in either the northern or the western sets:—

'She look'd o'er the castle wa',
 She saw three lads play at the ba':
 O the youngest is the flower of a'!
  But my love is lang o' growing.

'O father, gin ye think it fit,
We 'll send him to the college yet;
 And tye a Ribban round his hat,
   And, father, I'll gang wi' him.'

'Lady Mary Ann' and 'Young Charlie Cochrane' are his own, as are the last three stanzas of the ballad.

----------------------

The Works of Robert Burns 1845 Cunningham

Lady Mary Ann

I. 'She look'd o'er the castle wa',
 She saw three lads play at the ba':
 O the youngest is the flower of a' I
  But my love is lang o' growing.

II. 'O father, gin ye think it fit,
We'll send him to the college yet;
And tye a Ribban round his hat,
   And, father, I'll gang wi' him.'

III. Was a flower i' the dew, Sweet was its smell,
And bonnie was its hue; And the langer it blossom'd
The sweeter it grew; For the lily in the bud
Will be bonnier yet.

IV. Young Charlie Cochrane Was the sprout of an aik;
Bonnie and bloomin' And straught was its make:
The sun took delight To shine for its sake,
 And it will be the brag O' the forest yet.

V. The simmer is gane When the leaves they were green,
And the days are awa  That we nae seen;
But fur better days I trust will come again,
For my bonnie laddie's young, But he's growin' yet.

["The third and fourth verses of this song are in the happiest manner of Burns. An old ballad, called "Craigton's growing," was chanted to him in one of his Highland excursions: he caused the tune to be noted down, and, musing over the old rhyme, produced "Lady Mary Ann," and sent both music and words to the Museum. During the short career of Burns, he did much for the lyrical glory of Scotland; wherever he went, his ear ! was open to the music of the district, and to the local songs of the land. He communicated many airs to Johnson, and on all occasions displayed a sympathy for music which showed now much he was under its influence. Music is cultivated, during the winter time, among the peasantry of Scotland, and psalmody is taught along with the native lyrics. All the youth, too, are instructed in dancing; few natives of the north can be found who are ignorant of music and dancing."—Cunningham

    * We subjoin a traditional copy of the old ballad :—

  MY BONNIE LADDIE'S LANG O' GROWING

The trees they are ivied, the leaves they are green.
The days are a' awa that I hae seen,
On the cauld winter nights I ha'e to lie my lane,
For my bonnie laddie's lang o' growing.

O father dear, you have done me great wrong,
You have wedded me to a boy that's too young,
He is scarce twelve, and I'm but thirteen,
And my bonnie laddie's lang o' growing.

0 daughter dear, I have done you no wrong,
I have wedded you to a noble lord's son.
He'll be the lord, and ye'll wait on,
And your bonnie laddie's daily growing.

0 father dear, if you think it fit,
We'll send him to the college a year or twa yet;
We'll tie a green ribbon round about his bar,
And that will be a token that he's married.

And O father dear, if this pleaseth you,
I will cut my hair ahoon my brow:
Coat, vest, and breeches I will put on.
And I to the college will go wi' him.

She's made him shirts o' the Holland sae fine,
And wi' her ain hands she sewed the same;
And aye the tears came trickling down.
Saying, my bonnie laddie's lang o' growing.

In his twelfth year he was a married man,
And in his thirteenth he had his auld son,
And in his fourteenth his grave it was green,
Sae that put an end to his growing.

--------------

Rev Robert Scott, b. 1778, was minister at Glenbucket from 1808 until his death in 1855 He is famous for his collection of ballads known as the ‘Glenbuchat Ballads’
The Glenbuchat Ballads; edited by David Buchan, James Moreira

"Craigston's Growing"

1. The trees they are high and the leaves they are green
The days are awa that I hae seen
But better days I thought wou'd come again
An' my bonny, bonny boy was growin

2. I've been climbing a tree that's too high for me.
I've been seeking fruit thats nae growin.
I've been seeking hot water beneath the cold ice
An' against the stream I've been rowin.

3. Father she said, you've done me much wrang
You've wedded to a young, young man
I'd have wedded ane wid staff in his han
'Afore I had wedded a boy.

4. O Daughter I did you no wrong
For the wedding you to o'er young a man
You've your tocher in your ain han'
 An' your bonny love daily growin

5 O father if ye think it fit
We'll send him a year to the College yet
We'll tie a green ribbon around his hat
 To let them ken that he's married
Four & Twenty cambric braids she had plait
An' sent to College wi him.

6. She lookit o'er her father's castle wa'
 Saw four & Twenty bonny boys playin at the ba'
 But her ain love was foremost amang them a'
Young Craigston's daily growin

7. In's fourteenth year he was a married man
In's fifteenth year he had a young son.
In's Sixteenth year his grave grew green
Alas! for Craigston's growing.

8. The Trees are high & the leaves are green
The days are awa that I hae seen
An' anither may be welcome where I hae happy been
Tak up young Craigston's Growing
 
-------------------------

According to Cunningham:  "An old ballad, called "Craigton's growing," was chanted to him[Burns] in one of his Highland excursions. . ."

Since the ballad was not know by that name at that time- this comment seems authentic. Even though Burns got the first two stanzas from Herd's MS, stanzas 5 and 6 correspond to "Craigston's Growing" :

"Craigston's Growing" before 1818; from The Glenbuchat Ballads; edited by David Buchan, James Moreira

1. The trees they are high and the leaves they are green
The days are awa that I hae seen
But better days I thought wou'd come again
An' my bonny, bonny boy was growin

2. I've been climbing a tree that's too high for me.
I've been seeking fruit thats nae growin.
I've been seeking hot water beneath the cold ice
An' against the stream I've been rowin.

3. Father she said, you've done me much wrang
You've wedded to a young, young man
I'd have wedded ane wid staff in his han
'Afore I had wedded a Boy.

4. O Daughter I did you no wrong
For the wedding you to o'er young a man
You've your tocher in your ain han'
 An' your bonny love daily growin

5 O father if ye think it fit
We'll send him a year to the College yet
We'll tie a green ribbon around his hat
 To let them ken that he's married
Four & Twenty cambric braids she had plait
An' sent to College wi him.

6. She lookit o'er her father's castle wa'
 Saw four & Twenty bonny boys playin at the ba'
 But her ain love was foremost amang them a'
Young Craigston's daily growin

7. In's fourteenth year he was a married man
In's fifteenth year he had a young son.
In's Sixteenth year his grave grew green
Alas! for Craigston's growin

8. The Trees are high & the leaves are green
The days are awa that I hae seen
An' anither may be welcome where I hae happy been
Tak up young Craigston's growin

------

The Poetry of Robert Burns: Songs. Johnson's musical museum 1787:

LADY MARY ANN

No. 377 in Johnson (Vol. iv. 1792): Unsigned; but the Ms. is in the Hastie Collection.

As to the original: Motherwell asserts that Burns 'noted the song and the air from a lady in 1787, during his tour in the North of Scotland.' A broadside in the Laing Collection at Dalmeny (The Whole Map of Man's Life) is to the tune, I Am but Young and Growing. Stenhouse explains that the Burns is modelled on an antique fragment, Craigton's Growing, in a Ms. collection belonging to Rev. Robert Scott, of Glenbucket. Motherwell states that the earliest set is printed in Maidment's North Countrie Garland (1823). Maidment's is the ballad of the Scott Ms. Here is a handful of the rubbish :—

'Daughter, said he, I have done you no wrang,
 For I have married you on a heritor of land;
He's likewise possess'd of many a bill and band,
And he 'll be daily growing.
Growing, deary, growing, growing,
Growing, said the bonny maid,
Slowly my bonny love's growing.'

Motherwell further supplies a copy of the ballad as ' traditionally preserved in the west of Scotland.' This is the first stanza :—

'The trees they are ivied, the leaves they are green,
 The days are a' awa that I hae seen;
 On the cauld winter nights I ha'e to lie my lane,
   For my bonnie laddie's lang o' growing.'

Maidment, again, is at pains to supply an 'historical note' on a young Urquhart of Craigston(Aberdeenshire), the supposed hero, who was in all likelihood simply grafted on the Burns, ballad by some not very ingenious Aberdeenshire artist.

The fact is, Burns got the germ of his song—not from any of these sets nor from a lady during his northern tour, but—from a fragment in the Herd Ms. , the more characteristic points in which (it is worth noting) are not incorporated in either the northern or the western sets:—

'She look'd o'er the castle wa',
 She saw three lads play at the ba':
 O the youngest is the flower of a' I
  But my love is lang o' growing.

'O father, gin ye think it fit,
We '11 send him to the college yet;
 And tye a Bibban round his hat,
   And, father, I'll gang wi' him.'

'Lady Mary Ann' and 'Young Charlie Cochrane' are his own, as are the last three stanzas of the ballad.

----------------------

The Works of Robert Burns 1845 Cunningham:

["The third and fourth verses of this song are in the happiest manner of Burns. An old ballad, called "Craigton's growing," was chanted to him in one of his Highland excursions: he caused the tune to be noted down, and, musing over the old rhyme, produced "Lady Mary Ann," and sent both music and words to the Museum. During the short career of Burns, he did much for the lyrical glory of Scotland; wherever he went, his ear ! was open to the music of the district, and to the local songs of the land. He communicated many airs to Johnson, and on all occasions dis

    * We subjoin a traditional copy of the old ballad :—
MY BONNIE LADDIE'S LANG O' GROWING [Motherwell, Paisley circa 1820]

     The trees they are ivied, the leaves they are green.
     The days are a' awa that I hae seen,
    On the cauld winter nights I ha'e to lie my lane,
         For my bonnie laddie's lang o' growing.

O father dear, you have done me great wrong,
You have wedded me to a boy that's too young,
He is scarce twelve, and I'm but thirteen,
   And my bonnie laddie's lang o' growing.

0 daughter dear, I have done you no wrong,
I have wedded you to a noble lord's son.
He'll be the lord, and ye'll wait on,
And your bonnie laddie's daily growing.

0 father dear, if you think it fit,
We'll send him to the college a year or twa yet;
We'll tie a green ribbon round about his bar,
   And that will be a token that he's married.

And O father dear, if this pleaseth you,
I will cut my hair ahoon my brow:
Coat, vest, and breeches I will put on.
And I to the college will go wi' him.

She's made him shirts o' the Holland sae fine,
And wi' her ain hands she sewed the same;
And aye the tears came trickling down.
Saying, my bonnie laddie's lang o' growing.

In his twelfth year he was a married man,
And in his thirteenth he had his auld son,
And in his fourteenth his grave it was green,
Sae that put an end to his growing.

played a sympathy for music which showed now much he was under its influence. Music is cultivated, during the winter time, among the peasantry of Scotland, and psalmody is taught along with the native lyrics. All the youth, too, are instructed in dancing; few natives of the north can be found who are ignorant of music and dancing."—Cunningham
--------------

Rev Robert Scott, b. 1778, was minister at Glenbucket from 1808 until his death in 1855 He is famous for his collection of ballads known as the ‘Glenbuchat Ballads’

"Craigston's Growing" before 1818 from The Glenbuchat Ballads; edited by David Buchan, James Moreira
See Spaldings Chronicle

1. The trees they are high and the leaves they are green
The days are awa that I hae seen
But better days I thought wou'd come again
An' my bonny, bonny boy was growin

2. I've been climbing a tree that's too high for me.
I've been seeking fruit thats nae growin.
I've been seeking hot water beneath the cold ice
An' against the stream I've been rowin.

3. Father she said, you've done me much wrang
You've wedded to a young, young man
I'd have wedded ane wid staff in his han
'Afore I had wedded a Boy.

4. O Daughter I did you no wrong
For the wedding you to o'er young a man
You've your tocher in your ain han'
 An' your bonny love daily growin

5 O father if ye think it fit
We'll send him a year to the College yet
We'll tie a green ribbon around his hat
 To let them ken that he's married
Four & Twenty cambric braids she had plait
An' sent to College wi him.

6. She lookit o'er her father's castle wa'
 Saw four & Twenty bonny boys playin at the ba'
 But her ain love was foremost amang them a'
Young Craigston's daily growin.

7. In's fourteenth year he was a married man
In's fifteenth year he had a young son.
In's Sixteenth year his grave grew green
Alas! for Craigston's Growing.

8. The Trees are high & the leaves are green
The days are awa that I hae seen
An' anither may be welcome where I hae happy been
Tak up young Craigston's Growing
-------------------

John Urquhart of Laithers

Document F
Finally on the children of Robert Innes of Innes (m. Grizel Stewart) from "Records of the Parliament of Scotland"...
At Edinburgh 15 August 1662
Sir Robert Innes of that ilk, James and William Innes, his brother, who pretend right thereto by private alienations and dispositions unconfirmed made by the said late Archibald Campbell to them, and after the committing of the crimes for which he was forfeited [Campbell executed for treason, 1661], at least Sir John Urquhart of Cromarty as having right from the said Sir Robert Innes and his said brethren, peaceably possesses the said lands and uplifts the duties thereof without all law, equity and reason; humbly therefore, desiring a warrant for summoning of the persons complained upon above to compear at a certain day, bringing with them the writs and titles whereby they pretend right to the lands and others foresaid to be seen and considered, and to hear and see the same declared void and null.
The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, K.M. Brown et al eds (St Andrews, 2007-2009)

  Marriage Notes:

"Sir Robert Innes, of that ilk last spoken of married Dame Grisell Stewart, daughter to James Earle of Morray, and sister to Earle James, Lord Lieutenant of the North, by whom he had three sons and fyve daughters; the eldest married first to the Laird of Cralgstoun (to whom she bore only Sir John Urquhart of Cromarty)* and afterwards to my Lord Brodie, and was mother of his children; another was married to Sir Walter** Stewart of Rossaith; a thrid to Sir Robert Innes of Muirtoun; the fourth to the Shireff of Moray; and the fyfth to Alexander Lord Duffus, with whom she lived but short tyme, so as there are no children of that marriage."
  -----------

Notes: Folk songs from Somerset gathered and edited with pianoforte accompaniment
edited by Cecil James Sharp, Charles Latimer Marson

No. 15. THE TREES THEY DO GROW HIGH.

Words and air from Mr. Harry Richards of Curry Rivel.

Versions of this song are published in Songs of the West No. IV, in Christie's Traditional Ballad <Air, under the heading " Young Craigston," and in the Journal of the Folk Song Society Vol. 1, p. 214. There is a very full note to the song in Songs of the West.

The tune here given is in the Dorian Mode and is a variant of the one in Songs of the West, and also of that in the Folk Song Journal. It is the tune to which the song is usually sung in the neighbourhood of Curry Rivel. Mrs. Glover, of Huish Episcopi, gave me a different version of the words, and a different tune, though in the same Mode. Mr. Richards varied the last phrase of the tune in each verse in a very interesting manner. To have included these varied endings would have occupied too much space, so the tune to the first verse has alone been given. Mr. Marson has slightly recast the words, in deference to modern susceptibilities.

Mr. Kidson writes :—

"This curious old song is common all over the country: I have noted down a version in Yorkshire. In Scotland it appears to have been always associated with 'Young Craigston.' Apparently, the earliest version is that in Johnson's Scots OAusical Museum (1792) Vol. IV, where it is given with an air under the title 'Lady Mary Ann.' Allan Cunningham in his edition of Burns tells us that Burns himself took down the melody given by Johnson and set it to the old ballad1 Craigston's Growing.' Stenhouse in his notes to Johnson's Museum speaks of the ballad ' Craigston's Growing' as being in a MS. collection of(Ancient Scottish Ballads' in the possession of the Rev. Robert Scott of Glenbucket, together with other old ballads believed to be lost. It would be interesting to know the whereabouts of this MS. collection, if it is still in existence.

"In 1824 Maidment inserted the ballad in his North Countrie Garland; there is also another country version in Motherwell's edition of Burns, Vol. Ill p. 42."

------------------
Lady Mary Ann broadside

Imprint Names:  Neesom, C.

Imprint Locations:  London

Imprint: Published at Neesom's Song Mart 93, Brick-lane, Spitalfields Near the Railway Arch
Title: My bonny lads growing
First Line: Oh, Lady Mary Ann looked o'er the castle wa'

 --------------

Steve Gardham (Scottish Broadside) :

Initially Steve Roud did the listing and sent me his list and descriptions for 1871 f 13. Here's his summary:

1 folio volume 43 x 31 cm 94pp, spine says 'Ballads'. No details of provenenace. BM stamps 27 April 1865, Probably all Scottish. The few with imprints all Scottish. Many of the other sheets include Scottish songs. Datable items 1820s-1830s. Some full sheets, some quarto, but many slips pasted up to 4 on a page, mostly cropped, imprints mostly lacking. in rough alphabetical order of song title. Likely that sheets didn't have an imprint at all. Likely most if not all from the same printer. Then follows a full list& description of all 94 items.

Following this I went to look at the volume and copied out a few choice pieces in 2011, among them item 60A My Bonnie Laddie's Young, but I only copied the first stanza, assuming because it had 7 sts it was probably just the same as the usual printed version.

I went back in 2012 and copied a few more from the volume.

A few of the pieces I thought at the time were earlier, 1 c1780 and another c1800 but being printed in Scotland they could easily be later reprints of earlier London material. Generally I would go along with Steve and say 1820s.

Just a thought, Peter Buchan actually came to London later in life. In fact he's buried there. It could just be that he, being always pushed for cash, brought down this volume with him and sold it to go towards his stay in London which wouldn't have been cheap.

-------------

The Book of Simple Delights
By Walter Raymond 1906

"Ay, an' Corporal Edwards shall sing a real old song whilst the apples be down on the hearth to roast," cried my landlord. "We'll have a jolly night. My name's John Creed."

The Corporal was willing, and all the others lighted up their pipes. Nature has given him a tenor voice, very light and very sweet. He threw back his head, gazed up at the ceiling, and sang with great feeling:

I.
The trees they do grow high, and the leaves they do grow green;
The time is gone and past, my Love, that you and I have seen.
It's a cold winter night, my Love, when you and I must bide alone.
The bonny lad was young but a-growing.

II.
Oh! Father, dear father, I fear you've done me harm,
You've a-wedded me to a bonny boy, but I fear he is too young.
O daughter, dearest daughter, you shall bide at home wi' me,
An' a lady you shall be, while he's growing.

III.
We will send him to the college for one year or two,
And then maybe in time, my Love, a man may grow.
You shall bind a fine white ribbon round his bonny, bonny waist
To let the maidens know the lad's a-married.

IV.
At the age of sixteen, oh, he was a married man.
At the age of seventeen he was the father of a son.
At the age of eighteen, my Love, his grave it was a-growing green;
And so she saw the end of his growing.

V.
She sewed her love a shroud of the holland, oh, so fine,
And every stitch she put in it, the tears came trickling down.
Oh! once I had a sweetheart, but now I have got never a one;
So fare you well, my own true Love, for ever.

VI.
The trees they do grow high, and the leaves they do grow green;
The time is gone and past, my Love, that you and I have seen.
Ifs a cold winter night, my Love, when you and I must bide alone.
So fare you well, my own true Love, for ever.

Meanwhile the lamb's-wool was ready and Martin Chedsey poured it around.

  ----------------------

MacColl in his mother's lovely ' Lang A-Growing ', Ewan MacColl sang Lang A-Growing in 1957 on his and A.L. Lloyd's Riverside album Great British Ballads Not Included in the Child Collection.

Long a-growing recorded by Yates from Joseph Jones, traveller of Orpington


Lorna Campbell sang Lang A-Growin' in 1965 on the Campbell Family's Topic album The Singing Campbells. Peter A. Hall and Arthur Argo commented in the sleeve notes:

    This ballad, although widespread, was not included in Professor Child’s famous anthology. It has been suggested that it is based on the marriage of the young Urquhart of Craigston to Elizabeth Innes about 1633, although many other such arranged marriages at this time or before may have been the origin

 ---------------------

 'The Progress of “Lady Mary Ann”, Philological Quarterly, 52 (1973): 97–107 Mary Ellen Brown 1973
-----------------------------

The Bonny Boy, song / Martin Carthy, singing in English 2012, recording.

The trees they do grow high and the grass it does grow green.
The time is past and gone my love, you and I have seen
Oh it is a cold and winter’s night that I must lie alone
Oh my bonny boy is young but he’s growing.
It is a cold and winter’s night that I must lie alone
Oh my bonny boy is young but he’s growing.

Oh father oh father you done to me much harm
You have married me to a boy you know he’s far too young
Oh for he is only sixteen years and I am twenty-one
Oh my bonny boy is young but he’s growing.
Oh for he is only sixteen years and I am twenty-one
Oh my bonny boy is young but he’s growing.

Oh daughter oh daughter I’ll tell you what we’ll do
We’ll send your love to college for another year or two
We will tie a bunch of white ribbons all around his body waist
Just to let the ladies know that he’s married.
We will tie a bunch of white ribbons all around his body waist
Just to let the ladies know that he’s married.

Now one day as I went walking down by college wall
There I saw those college children playing at the ball
And it’s there I saw my own true love, he is flower among them all
He’s my bonny boy he’s young but he’s growing.
And it’s there I saw my own true love, he is flower among them all,
He’s my bonny boy he’s young but he’s growing.

At the age of sixteen years he was a married man
At the age of seventeen years father of a son
Oh but at the age of eighteen years oh the grass grew over him
Cruel death put an end to his growing.
And at the age of eighteen years oh the grass grew over him
Cruel death put an end to his growing.

Oh now that my love is dead and in his grave does lie
The green grass grows over him so very, very high
I will sit here and mourn his death until the day I die
And I’ll watch all o’er his child while he’s growing.
I will sit here and mourn his death until the day I die
And I’ll watch all o’er his child while he’s growing.

---------------------

No text: Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection (at Clare College, Cambridge) (CJS2/10/2590)
Still Growing / The Trees They Do Grow High
Performer: Bradley, John
Date: 13 Apr 1911
Place: England : Warwickshire : Shipston-on-Stour
Collector: Sharp, Cecil J.

-----

Mudcat no source named:

BONNY BOY

The trees are growing high my love, and the grass is growing green;
And many a cold and winter night that I alone have been.
It is a cruel and bitter night that I must lie alone,
Oh! the Bonny Boy is young, but he is growing.

Oh! father, dear father I think you did me wrong
For to go and get me married to one that is so young.
He is but sixteen years and I am twenty-one.
Oh! the bonny boy is young and he's growing.

Oh! daughter, dear daughter, I did not do you wrong
For to go and get you married to one that is so young,
He will be a match for you when I am dead and gone.
Oh! the bonny boy is young, but he is growing.

Oh! father, dear father, I'll tell you what I'll do;
I'll send my love to college for another year or two;
And all around his college cap, I'll bind a ribbon blue,
For to let the ladies know that he's married.

A year it went by and I passed the college wall
And saw the young collegians a-playing at the ball;
I spied him in among them, the fairest of them all,
Oh! my bonny boy was young and still growing.

At the age of sixteen years he was a married man,
And at the age of seventeen the father of a son,
But at the age of eighteen, o'er his grave the grass grew green;
Cruel death put an end to his growing.

I'll buy my love a shroud of the Holland linen brown;
And whilst they are making it, the tears they will run down;
It's once I had a true love, but now he's lying low,
And I'll nurse his bonny boy while he's growing.
  ----------------------

Duncan Williamson (Kyloe 101)  Duncan Williamson: The Trees Are High;

 Duncan’s life has generally been better documented in that he has published his autobiography (The Horsieman - Memories of a Traveller 1928-1958.  Canongate Press, Edinburgh ISBN 0 86341 444 X)  He was born in a tent on the shores of Loch Fyne, one of sixteen children, and his book, transcribed from 30 hours of reminiscences on tape gives one of the best insights into travelling life that exists.

His first marriage was to his cousin Jeannie Townsley and during that time he continued the travelling life in the same area as his parents and grandparents and it was at that time that he first came into contact with the School of Scottish Studies and The Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland.  At that time Duncan presented himself in a very much as a typical product of his background.  We heard him more as a singer than as a storyteller in those early TMSA festivals.  His style was to change after his subsequent marriage in 1976 to Linda Headlee, an American academic from The School of Scottish Studies.  It was collaborating with her that enabled him to produce his books which are (Mike’s list again) :

    Fireside Tales of the Traveller Children. Edinburgh. Canongate, 1983.
    The Broonie, Silkies and Fairies: Traveller's Tales. Edinburgh. Canongate, 1985.
    Tell Me a Story for Christmas. Edinburgh. Canongate, 1987.
    A Thorn in the King's Foot. Folktales of the Scottish Travelling People. Harmondsworth. Penguin Books, 1987.
    Don't Look Back, Jack! Edinburgh. Canongate, 1990.
    The Genie and the Fisherman, and Other Tales from the Travelling People. Cambridge CUP. 1991.
    The Horsieman: Memories of a Traveller 1928 - 1958. Edinburgh. Canongate, 1994.
    Rabbit's Tail. Cambridge. CUP. 1996.
    The King and the Lamp: Scottish Traveller Tales. Edinburgh. Canongate, 2000.

Like Stanley, Duncan found an appreciative reception for his skills amongst the American academic institutions and this and his books have contributed to his current stature as a storyteller in Britain.

 Ellen Mitchell (MTCD315-6)- Lady Mary Ann- Burns

----------------

The Bonny Boy [another mysterious online version with no source)

The trees they do grow high and the grass it grows green
Many's the wet and windy night 'tis lonesome I have been
Many's the wet and windy night my lover I have seen
Me bonny boy is young and he's growin'

Father dear father, you've done me great wrong
To go and get me married to one who is so young
He is only fourteen years and I am twenty one
The bonny boy is young and he's growin'

We'll send him to the college for a year or maybe two
And in that time the bonny boy'll be a man for you
And all around his college cap we'll tie the ribbons blue
For to let the ladies know that he's married

I went to the college I looked over the wall
'Twas there I saw me bonny boy a-playin' at the ball
He was tall and handsome a flower among them all
He's young and he's steadily a-growin'

At the age of sixteen he was a married man
And at the age of seventeen the father to me son
And at the age of eighteen years the grass grew over him
Cruel death put an end to his growin'

I'll buy me love a shroud of the Holland linen brown
And every stitch I put in it the tears they will fall down
Every stitch I put in it the salty tears will flow
'Cos death put an end to his growin'

The trees they do grow high and the grass it grows green
Many's the wet and windy night my lover I have seen
Many's the wet and windy night 'tis lonesome I have been
He's dead and he's no longer growin.

-------------------
Mary Makem Album Ulster Ballad Singer

 Patrick Galvin Bonny Boy
Galvin, Patrick. Irish Love Songs, Riverside RLP 12-608, LP (195?), trk# A.05 (Bonny Boy - III)
    Gavin Family. Traveling People of Ireland, Lyrichord LLST 7178, LP (1967), trk# B.05 (Long Time A'Growin')
---------------

November 10, 1843. Twelve Romantic Scottish Ballads: With the Original Airs, Arranged for the piano by Robert Chambers
Notes for Lady Mary Ann- Chambers uses a different melody than Burns.

This ballad seems to have taken its rise in one called Craigston's Growing, which is printed from a manuscript in Mr D. Laing's notes to Johnson's Musical Museum[1839, also C.K. Sharpe]. The marriage of young Urquhart of Craigston to Elizabeth, daughter of the Laird of Innes—he being in early youth—appears to have been the incident on which that ballad was founded. The youthful bridegroom died in 1634. The version of the ballad here adopted is, with the omission of a verse, one which Bums communicated to the Musical Museum; probably it was indebted for some improvement to his pen. The air [Craigston's Growing] is from the playing of a lady, who learned it about forty years ago [1803] from a nurse-maid at Dundee.

-----------------
John Finlay (The Annual review, and history of literature, 1809) Lady Mary ann : The green ribbon, among lovers, is the symbol of hope; the yellow one, on tke contrary, that of being forsaken.
------------------

Wilson's Tales of the Borders, and of Scotland. Revised by A. Leighton. 1863 by John Mackay Wilson [Apparently this quote from The Ballad of Age and youth by Alexander Leighton (1800–1874) editor is from Robert burns' Lady Mary Ann. Leighton says it's from an old woman it's obviously based on "Trees"]

THE SONG OF AGE.*

"The trees they are high, John, the leaves they are green,
The days are awa that you and I have seen;
The days are awa that we have seen;
And oh! for youth's bonnie green summer again,
Summer again, summer again,
And oh! for youth's bonnie green summer again.

* Some readers may recognise in the old woman's song portions of an ancient ditty that used to be chanted in a wailing cadence in several parts of Scotland. I suspect the song as a whole is lost—the more to be regretted for its sweet simplicity and melodious wail (so far as judged in the fragments), which in a modern song would be viewed as weakness or affectation. Indeed, the modes of thought and feeling that belong to what is called advanced civilisation are impatient of these things except as rude relics of yet untutored minds; and the pleasure with which they are accepted has in it perhaps a grain of pity for those that didn't know better than produce them. Yet, as regards mere poetical feeling at least, the nearer the fountainhead the purer the water.
 

The Ballad of Age and youth from Alexander Leighton (1800–1874) was a Scottish writer, known as the editor of Tales of the Borders.

Works- The Tales of the Borders, a popular short story serial, was begun at Berwick-on-Tweed in 1834 by John Mackay Wilson, who died the following year. His brother continued the work for a time. Shortly afterwards an Edinburgh publisher, John Sutherland, became proprietor, and Leighton was appointed editor and chief story writer; the series was completed in 1840. In 1857 Leighton re-edited the complete Tales of the Borders, and it was reissued in 1863–4, 1869 (with additions), and in 1888. He received assistance from Hugh Miller and Thomas Gillespie, and contributions from others such as Alexander Bethune and his brother John, and John Howell.

In 1860–1 Leighton published two series of Curious Storied Traditions of Scottish Life, in 1864 Mysterious Legends of Edinburgh, in 1865 Shellburn, a novel, and in 1867 Romance of the Old Town of Edinburgh. Other works were Men and Women of History, Jephthah's Daughter, A Dictionary of Religions, and a Latin metrical version of Robert Burns's songs.

Lee, Sidney, ed. (1893). "Leighton, Alexander (1800-1874)". Dictionary of National Biography. 33. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

===========================

Innes, Robert

Re: Robert Innes, Quartermaster General, Charles I
By James Quinn December 17, 2009

In reply to: Robert Innes, Quartermaster General, Charles I


Surprisingly it appears there is a Grizel (Stewart) Innes connection to Robert Innes (of Muirton) the General Quartermaster after all. Though he is not her son, he is her son in law:

Document A
The baronetage of England: or The History of the English Baronets and such Baronets of Scotland, Vol. 5, by William Betham:

"1. Sir Robert Innes, of that Ilk [i.e. "of Innes"], who was created a Baronet of Scotland, as above.He was made a privy counsellor for life, and appointed one of the committee of estates by the parliament, in 1641. Yet he seems to have been a loyalist, for when he was forced to acknowledge the parliament in 1649, he was obliged to get his eldest son, Robert, to become surety for his good behaviour in time to come.
He married Grizel Stewart, daughter of James, Earl of Murray, by whom he had three sons:1, Sir Robert, 2, James, of Lichnet; 3, William, captain in the guards; and five daughters:1. Elizabeth, wife first of John Urquhart of Craigtoun and was mother of Sir John Urquhart, of Cromerty; secondly, of [James] Brodie, of that Ilk, by whom she had no issue [actually a Brodie genealogy gives 2 children, this is Lord Brodie]; 3 [Grizel], of Sir Robert Innes, of Muirtown; 4, Barbara, of Robert Dunbar, sheriff of Murray; 5, married Alexander, Lord Duffus.He died before the Restoration of Charles II, and was succeeded by his eldest son" [Robert.]

Comments in [ ] above are mine.

Other releavant information that explains who Robert Innes of Muirtoun was and names his wife as Grizel (yes two consecutive generations named Robert and Grizel):

Document B
From Polichronicon Seu Policratica Temporum by James Fraser:

"1668. The next who parted this life was Sir Robert Innes of Moortoun, commonly called the Generall Quarter Master, being ingaged in the late rebellion. He sould the reversion of Cromy, and bought the lands of Moortoun and Leuchers, about Kinloss, a bad purchass, church land, borrowd monny to buy it, could not extricat himselfe, turn melancholy after his ladys death, and died himself in March, and left a poor unsolved ofspring. He thought to leave the care of all uppon my Lady Duffus, but her death crusht him, and all evanisht. Many deaths at south this year, Lord Kingorn, Lord Sinclar, Fife, and Angus, whose names I leave to be enrolled in the Bill of Mortality where they lived."

Document C
From: The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland it appears the wife of the General Quartermaster is also named Grizel.

"Petition of Grizel Innes, Lady Mourtoun

Grizel Innes, Lady Mourtoun is cited to compear before them at Elgin on 3 February, but as is well known she is in such a condition and so valetudiary that she cannot come in without hazard of her life.She never absented from church without a sufficient excuse, and out of no disaffection to the government or disloyal principles which she abhors with all her heart."

Document D
From the Diary of Alexander Brodie, Lord Brodie, a very religious man known for pillaging the cathedral at Elgin, brother in law of Robert Innes the GQ:
"I did send my sone to [Innes of ] Moortoun, to see if he had ani money.He objected myh promis to giv them som favour in the anuel.I desird grac to walk evenli in this promis, that it may be noe snar to me.Therefor all I hav to say befor God for it is this:I did offer it onli, but he did not accept it, nay, since, he hath mani tyms prest land on me for it.2. Things ar now changd in my effairs, for I hav bein put to great troubl since, but was in better cace then to have ans it. 3. I am owing it all, and mor, to others: and I know not if it wer acceptable to God to draw a burthen on myself to spar another, who has it payd in to him, and is as abl to bear his own burthen, as I am to bear myn. 4. I hav som freidom to put it yet in his will to doe in it as he thinks fitt.Now, though I hav some clearnes, and had some clearnes in it, at Edinburgh, quhair Moortoun offerd it, yet I am jelous and suspicious off ani thing that may be a snar to me, becaus I am bound up from usurie for money of my own, and lent to thes that ar in distress, and not to thes that tak it from others, and maks benefit of my moneye." - much more as his brother in law's poor finances troubled him for quite a while.

Add this to the information from Burke's Landed Gentry (Document E)(Robert Innes of Muirtown, the General Quartermaster, is the son of Robert Innes and Elizabeth Pitt, and nephew of "Craig in Peril" Innes) and the genealogy of both Innes lines is traceable quite a ways back for both the GQ and his wife.

Document F
Finally on the children of Robert Innes of Innes (m. Grizel Stewart) from "Records of the Parliament of Scotland"...
At Edinburgh 15 August 1662
Sir Robert Innes of that ilk, James and William Innes, his brother, who pretend right thereto by private alienations and dispositions unconfirmed made by the said late Archibald Campbell to them, and after the committing of the crimes for which he was forfeited [Campbell executed for treason, 1661], at least Sir John Urquhart of Cromarty as having right from the said Sir Robert Innes and his said brethren, peaceably possesses the said lands and uplifts the duties thereof without all law, equity and reason; humbly therefore, desiring a warrant for summoning of the persons complained upon above to compear at a certain day, bringing with them the writs and titles whereby they pretend right to the lands and others foresaid to be seen and considered, and to hear and see the same declared void and null.
The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, K.M. Brown et al eds (St Andrews, 2007-2009)

That Robert Innes and Grizel (Stewart) Innes were loyalists seems to be of little doubt:
http://www.speymouth.co.uk/content/view/309/73/http://www.speymouth.co.uk/content/view/309/73/
"Upon the execution of Charles I, Scotland failed to recognize the new English Republic of Oliver Cromwell. Instead, it insisted that Charles II was his father's rightful successor. However, this support came with strings attached. It was under the condition that Charles sign the ‘Solemn League and Covenant'. This was basically a promise not to remodel the Church of Scotland, governed by Presbyterian principles, along Anglican lines. Charles II was proclaimed King of the Scots in February 1649. This happened in his absence, since he had been exiled in France and the Netherlands since his father's death. He did not arrive in Scotland until the 23rd of June 1650. His landfall was the River Spey and Garmouth.
The journey from The Hague had been uncomfortable. The king had passed 22 days avoiding Cromwell's navy and only narrowly missed four Parliament ships in the Moray Firth. The tide must have been out and the king had to be carried ashore on the back of a boatman called Milnes; his descendants were known thereafter as ‘King Milnes'. Apparently, the king bestowed a kiss on the boatman's pretty daughter (also called Maggie?). The king was met by Sir Robert, Laird of Innes, and his wife, Lady Grizel, and after an early dinner in Garmouth, slept the night at Gordon Castle."
---------------------------

A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe
Person Page - 2508

Lady Grizel Stuart1
F, #25073
Last Edited=4 Sep 2016
Consanguinity Index=0.82%
     Lady Grizel Stuart is the daughter of James Stuart, 2nd Lord Doune and Elizabeth Stewart, Countess of Moray.1 A contract for the marriage of Lady Grizel Stuart and Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Innes of that Ilk, 1st Bt. was signed on 18 December 1611.1
     Her married name became Innes.
Children of Lady Grizel Stuart and Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Innes of that Ilk, 1st Bt.

    Elizabeth Innes+2 d. 1640
    Jean Innes3 d. 10 Mar 1653
    Grizel Innes+4 d. 19 Aug 1664
    James Innes of Lichnett+4
    William Innes of Nether Dallachy+4
    Mary Innes4
    Barbara Innes4 d. 9 Dec 1681
    Sir Robert Innes of that Ilk, 2nd Bt.+3 b. a 1611, d. Feb 1689
    Anne Innes4 b. 22 Apr 1625

Citations

    [S37] BP2003 volume 2, page 2769. See link for full details for this source. Hereinafter cited as. [S37]
    [S1670] Alexander Brodie, "re: Brodie Family," e-mail message to Darryl Roger Lundy, 6 April 2006. Hereinafter cited as "re: Brodie Family."
    [S15] George Edward Cokayne, editor, The Complete Baronetage, 5 volumes (no date (c. 1900); reprint, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983), olume II, page 281. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Baronetage.
    [S37] BP2003. [S37]

Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Innes of that Ilk, 1st Bt.1
M, #25074, b. circa 1583/84, d. 17 November 1658
Last Edited=4 Sep 2016
     Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Innes of that Ilk, 1st Bt. was born circa 1583/84. He was the son of Robert Innes of that Ilk and Elizabeth Elphinstone.2 A contract for the marriage of Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Innes of that Ilk, 1st Bt. and Lady Grizel Stuart was signed on 18 December 1611.1 He died on 17 November 1658.
     He was created 1st Baronet Innes [Nova Scotia] on 28 May 1625, with special remainder to his heirs male whotsoever.2 He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Moray.2 He was invested as a Privy Counsellor (P.C.) in 1641.2
Children of Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Innes of that Ilk, 1st Bt. and Lady Grizel Stuart

    Elizabeth Innes+3 d. 1640
    Jean Innes4 d. 10 Mar 1653
    Grizel Innes+2 d. 19 Aug 1664
    James Innes of Lichnett+2
    William Innes of Nether Dallachy+2
    Mary Innes2
    Barbara Innes2 d. 9 Dec 1681
    Sir Robert Innes of that Ilk, 2nd Bt.+5 b. a 1611, d. Feb 1689
    Anne Innes2 b. 22 Apr 1625

Citations

    [S37] BP2003 volume 2, page 2769. See link for full details for this source. Hereinafter cited as. [S37]
    [S37] BP2003. [S37]
    [S1670] Alexander Brodie, "re: Brodie Family," e-mail message to Darryl Roger Lundy, 6 April 2006. Hereinafter cited as "re: Brodie Family."
    [S21] L. G. Pine, The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London, U.K.: Heraldry Today, 1972), page 109. Hereinafter cited as The New Extinct Peerage.
    [S15] George Edward Cokayne, editor, The Complete Baronetage, 5 volumes (no date (c. 1900); reprint, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983), olume II, page 281. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Baronetage.

-------------

NOTE ON THE TOMBSTONE OF ROBERT INNES.

Sir Robert Innes of that Ilk, 20th chief from Berowald, and ancestor
of the Duke of Roxburghe, must have been born a few years after 1582,
and he evidently had happy recollections of both his parents, which he
has embodied in the inscription he placed upon their monument. He
was page to Henry Prince of Wales, and subsequently Member of
Parliament for Elgin and Forres. He built the present Innes House,
instead of the old Place of Innes, which had no doubt fallen into disrepair,
since his father resided principally at Kinnairdy. On 18th December
1611 he married Lady Grizel Stewart, daughter of the " Bonnie Earl
of Moray," and a granddaughter of the " Good Regent." Sir Robert was
one of the first baronets created on 29th May 1625, and although a strong
Covenanter he was a trusted friend and a Privy Councillor of Charles I.
He died 17th November 1658, esteemed both by Royalists and Covenanters.
Brodie of Brodie says of his disposition,4 that he was " so happy that we
never had more peace than in his time, and good understandings among
all the families in our country, more than had been for many ages
before."
1 Acts and Decs., vol. xxxix. p. 353.
2 Deed of Interdiction, registered 23rd November 1579. Acts and Decs., vol. Ixxvi. p. 323.
3 Innes Charter Chest. B-ll-2. Familie of Innes, p. 128.
* Familie of Innes, p. 172.

----------------

CLAN BRODIE

Motto: "Unite"
Badge: A hand holding a sheaf of arrows

 

In 1550 Chief Alexander Brodie, the rebel, and 100 others were denounced for attacking the Clan Cumming of Altyre. In 1562 Brodie joined the Earl of Huntly who raised the flag of rebellion. They attacked Mary Queen of Scots but were routed at Corrichie. Huntly was killed and Brodie, escaping, became an outlaw.

During the Civil Wars of the 17th century Alexander Brodie of Brodie was responsible for the destruction of Elgin Cathedral in 1640.
In 1643 Alexander Brodie of Brodie became a Member of Parliment for Moray and an Elder of the Forres Presbytety to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
In 1645 Brodie Castle was burnt down by Lewis Gordon 3rd Earl of Huntly and chief of Clan Gordon. This was part of the Covenanting conflict during the Civil War, as a result there are few surviving documents and little is known about the Clan Brodie.

Alexander Brodie was one of the six commissioners that were sent to The Hague to negotiate with Charles Stuart. They were there to persuade Charles II to sign the National Covenant and resume the Scottish Crown. On his return to Parliment he was made a Lord of Session (a senior justice).

Alexander Brodie's diplomatic career also included a summons by Cromwell to London in 1651 to consider a Scottish union with England. He resisted attempts to appoint him to judicial office, though Cromwell's death in 1658 forced the issue for him, and he was appointed Justice of the Peace. The consequence was royal disfavour following the Restoration, Charles II finding it hard to forgive men who had tried to force their Presbyerian beliefs upon him as the price of their allegiance. The Good Laird Brodie died May 5th, 1680.

While it is inferred that there were Clan Brodie Members on both sides of the 1715, 1719 and 1745-46 Jacobite conflicts, The Lairds of Brodie did not support the Stuarts or the Jacobites.
In 1720 Alexander Brodie became 19th Laird Brodie of Brodie. That same year he became Member of Parliment for Elgin.
In 1724 General George Wade (British Army) reports the Clan Brodie to be "well affected" to His Majesty's Government.
Alexander Brodie was appointed Lord Lyon, King of Arms in 1727.
In 1736 David Brodie of Muiresk became a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. He was Promoted to 'Master and Commander" in 1740.
During the Rising of 1745 The Brodie is reported to have spent time on board the Royal Navy Sloop Vulture patrolling the Moray Firth.
After the Battle of Culloden, Alexander spoke in Parliament to oppose the ban on wearing of the Kilt. Alexander died in 1754. Hs wife, Mary Sleigh, is credited with starting the flax industry in Scotland.
There are still Brodies present to this day in Scotland, England (lower Scotland), Europe, Canada, United States, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, China, Polynisia, and many other Countries. Clan Brodie is a World-Wide presence.

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LAN INNES

Motto: Be Traist (Be Faithful) Crest: A Boar's Head Plant: The Great Bullrush Accepted spellings: Eanes, Ince, Inch, Innes, Ennis, Inness, Innis

Septs of the Clan Innes (sub clans of the Clan Innes):
MacTary, Milnes, Marnoch, Mitchell, Maver, Oynie, Mavor, Redford, McInnes, Reidford, Middleton, Thain, Mill, Wilson, MacRob, Milne, Yunie

Chief:  Armigerous*

 HISTORY

Origin of the Name

The clan takes its name from the lands of Innes in Moray, Scotland. It dates back to 1160 AD when King Malcolm IV conferred the Barony of Innes on one of his knights, Berowald of Flanders. The Barony was located on the outskirts of Elgin in Morayshire. It stretched for over 6 miles along the shore of the Moray Firth between the Spey and Lossie rivers. The name derives from the Gaelic, Innis, which means meadow, greens or island, all descriptive of this area. The Innes' grew to become one of the most powerful families in the province of Moray, dominating the parishes of Urquhart, Lhanbryde and the surrounding district. Innes House was built on the Barony by Sir Robert Innes, 20th chief of the Clan Innes, between 1640 and 1653.

Sir James Innes, 22nd chief, married Lady Margaret Ker in 1666 and as a result their great grandson, Sir James Innes, inherited the Dukedom of Roxburghe in 1805 when the Ker family line died out. Today Sir Guy David Innes-Ker, 10th Duke of Roxburghe is the 30th Baron of Innes in direct descent from Berowald of Flanders. He resides at Floors castle near Kelso in the Scottish borders.

During the latter part of the 14 century Kinnairdy came into the ownership of the Innes family when Sir Alexander Innes married Janet, daughter of Sir David de Aberkerder, the lineal descendant of the Thanes of Aberkerder An imposing structure overlooking the river Deveron in rural Aberdeenshire, this ancient fortress has stood sentinel over the surrounding valleys since the 12th century, the present stone construction replacing a wooden structure known as a Motte & Bailey, in the 14th century.

The Tower of Kinnairdy Castle, which occupies the present site is believed to have been built by Sir Walter Innes (son of Sir Alexander Innes, 9th of that ilk) around 1420. For the next two centuries Kinnairdy remained in the hands of subsequent Clan chiefs who took a full part in the tumultuous history of Scotland.


The break with the Innes Clan came in 1627 when Sir Robert, the 20th chief sold the lands of Kinnairdy, in part as a result of his political activities and close association with the Court of Charles, many lawsuits and also in order to concentrate on the original Innes lands in Morayshire which was the home territory of Sir Roberts wife, she being Lady Grizel Stewart, 3rd daughter of the "Bonny Earl of Moray".

 
In 1923 Kinnairdy was again restored to the Innes family when it was purchased by Sir Thomas Innes of Learney, Lord Lyon King of Arms 1945 - 1969. The author of many learned papers on Scots Peerage Law, Heraldry and Ceremonial, he was deeply interested in the family history. He set about restoring Kinnairdy with the help of his sister Miss Helen C. Innes of Crommy, a very able and astute lady who assisted with many of the more mundane tasks and who's advice was invaluable during restoration of the interior.
 

Following on from Sir Thomas' work, his son Sir Malcolm Innes, (Lord Lyon King of Arms, now retired) continued to restore the building which is now nearing completion under the guidance of the present owner, Mr Colin Innes.