Bonnie Boy Is Young

The trees they grow tall, the grass is growing green Many a cold and winter night that I alone have been It is a cold and cruel night when I must lie alone The Bonny Boy is young, but he is growing Oh father, dear father I think you done me wrong To go and get me married to one who is so young For he is only sixteen years and I am twenty one The bonny boy is young but he's growing Oh daughter, dear daughter, I did not do you wrong For I have married you to a rich man's son And he shall be a match for thee when I am dead and gone He is young, but he is daily growing Oh father, dear father, I'll tell you what I'll do I'll send the boy 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 Amidst them was my own true love, the fairest of them all He was young but he was daily growing At the age of sixteen he was a married man And at the age of seventeen he was the father of a son At the age of eighteen, his grave had all grown green And the death put an end to his growing I'll make my love a shroud of ornamental brown And whilst I am a making it, the tears they will run down For once I had my own love, now he's lying low And I'll nurse his bonny boy while he's growing