Oh the trees
they do grow tall
and the
leaves are green
And there's many
a day
that you and I have seen
Oh, it's once I had a true love
But now I
walk alone
He's a bonnie lad,
he's daily a-growin'
Oh,
father, dearest father,
you done me great wrong
You've married me to
a boy who is much too young
Oh, Ryan,
twice twelve,
and he is but fourteen
He's a bonnie lad,
he's young but he's growin'
Oh, father, dearest father,
oh, and if it pleases you
I'll send my man off
to a school for a year or two
And on top of his college cap
he'll wear a ribbon bow
So the other girls might know
that he's married
One day when I was walking all alone
down by the school wall
I saw the boys a-playin'
at the bouncing of the ball
And my own
true
love was the fairest of
them all
He's a bonnie lad,
he's daily a-growin'
At the age of fourteen
he was a married man
At
the age of
fifteen
the father of a son At the age of
sixteen his grave the grass grew green
True
old death had put an end
to his growin'
I'll buy my love a shred, I'll buy my love
a shred of the ornamental brown
And place it on his grave where the tears
come drippin' down
For it's once I had a true love
but now I
have none
But I'll watch his
bonnie son
while he's a-growin'