The Trees They Are So High- James Parsons (Lew Down) 1888 Baring-Gould
[From: Sabine Baring-Gould Manuscript Collection online. Part of Parsons' bio follows. Several versions collected from Parsons- the first in 1888 and it was 6 stanzas. A similar 7 stanza version titled "IV. The Trees They Are So High" is found in his notebooks. Baring Gould went back in 1889 to improve the melody he collected and he brought with him H. Fleetwood Sheppard. This is the text used with the melody which is quite different than the text found in "The Plymouth Notebook" as given by David Gregory[1]:
1. All the trees they are so high and the leaves they are so green,
The day is past and gone, sweet love, that you and I have seen.
'Tis a cold winter's night, you and I must lie alone:
Whilst my bonny lad is young, yet is growing.
All the versions in his notebooks - the compilations and apparently the 8 stanzas version in "Songs of the West" are mostly from Parsons. Since Baring Gould changed his text at a whim and rewrote them- knowing what was really sung is nearly impossible.
R. Matteson 2016]
James Parsons, a very infirm man, over seventy, asthmatic and failing, has been a labourer all his life, and for the greater part of it on one farm. His father was a ballad singer.
The Trees They Are So High- sung by James Parsons of Lew Down, Sept., 1888. Collected by Baring-Gould.
1. The trees they are so high and the leaves in summer green,
The day is gone, my pretty love, that you and I have seen.
It is cold this winter's night, and I must lie alone:
Once my pretty lad was young, and was growing.
2. In a garden as I walked, I heard them laugh and call;
It was four-and-twenty playing there, they played with bat and ball;
O the rain is on the roof, and here I make my moan,
Then my pretty lad was young, and was growing.
3. I listened in the garden, I looked over the wall;
Amidst five-and-twenty gallants love, my lad exceeded all.
O the wind in in the thatch, and here alone I weep,
Then my pretty lad was young, and was growing.
4. O father, father dear, great harm to me is done,
Why should I married be this day, before the set of sun?
At the huffle of the gale, I turn an cannot sleep
Then my pretty lad was young, and was growing.
5. O daughter, daughter dear, a lady thou shall be,
In court and stall, in stately hall, and bower of tapestry,
But the snow, the snowflakes fall, and I am bitter cold,
Still my pretty lad was young, and was growing.
6. At fourteen he wedded was, a father at fifteen,
And then his face was white as milk, and then his grave was green;
And the daisies there were outspread, and the buttercups of gold
Ah! my lad who was so young, hath ceased growing.
No 4 THE TREES THEY ARE SO HIGH (Baring- Gould, 1892 Songs and Ballads of the West) Words and air taken in 1888[2] from James Parsons and Matthew Baker. a cripple on Lew Down.
All the trees they are so high,
The leaves they are so green,
The day is past and gone, sweet-heart,
That you and I have seen.
It is cold winter's night,
You and I must bide alone;
Whilst my pretty lad is young
And is growing.
In a garden as I walked,
I heard them laugh and call;
There were four and twenty playing there,
They played with bat and ball.
O the rain on the roof,
Here and I must make my moan:
Whilst my pretty lad is young
And is growing.
I listened in the garden,
I looked o'er the wall;
Amidst five and twenty gallants there
My love exceeded all.
O the wind on the thatch,
Here and I alone must weep:
Whilst my pretty lad is young
And is growing.
O father, father dear,
Great wrong to me is done,
That I should married be this day,
Before the set of sun.
At the huffle of the gale,
Here I toss and cannot sleep:
Whilst my pretty lad is young
And is growing.
My daughter, daughter dear,
If better be, more fit,
I'll send him to the court [college] awhile,
To point his pretty wit.
But the snow, snow flakes fall,
and I am chill as dead:
Whilst my pretty lad is young
And is growing.
To let the lovely ladies know
They may not touch and taste,
I'll bind a bunch of ribbons red
About his little waist.
But the raven hoarsely croaks,
And I shiver in my bed;
Whilst my pretty lad is young
And is growing.
I married was, alas,
A lady high to be,
In court and stall and stately hall,
And bower of tapestry,
But the bell did only knell,
And I shuddered as one cold:
When I wed the pretty lad
Not done growing.
At seventeen[3] he wedded was,
A father at eighteen,
At nineteen his face was white as milk,
And then his grave was green;
And the daisies were outspread
And buttercups of gold,
O'er my pretty lad so young
Now ceased growing.
1. The Late Victorian Folksong Revival by E. David Gregory, 2010
2. I have the date as 1889.
3. The age has been changed to seventeen in this edition, which is coincidentally the actual age of Alexander Brodie; Elizabeth Innes was about 21 when they married.