Young But Growing- James Cheyne (Aber) c.1908 Greig D
[My date, location. From: The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection, Volume 6 by Patrick N. Shuldham-Shaw, Emily B. Lyle; Aberdeen University Press, 1995
Possibly a relative of James Cheyne of Arnage.
R. Matteson 2016]
D. Young But Growin- sung by James Cheyne, collected by Gavin, c. 1908
1. As I was a-walking one morning in May
A wee sailor came tripping along the way
He was handsome, young and fair he was a' the warld tae me,
He's a bonnie boy, he's young, but he's growing.
2. Oh father, dear father, you've done to me a wrong
You've led me to a sailor boy and he is far too young
My age is twenty-one and my love is scarce fifteen
He's a bonny boy, he's young, but he's growing.
3. O daughter, dear daughter, I'll tell you what I'll do
I'll send your love to the college for another year or two
And around his college coat we'll bind it all with green
To let the ladies know he's married.
4. As I was a-walking down by the college gates
Four and twenty college boys were playing at the ball
But the fairest of them all was my own dear sailor boy
He's a bonny boy, he's young, but he's growing.
5. At the age of fifteen my love became a married man
At the age of sixteen became the father of a son
At the age of seventeen on his grave the grass grew green
So that put an end to his growing.
6. I'll weave a garment to my love of the best Italian brown
And while I'm sitting weaving the tears come tricklin' down
I once had a sweetheart but now he's dead and gone
So fare thee weel my own true love for ever.