Cecil Sharp's Note 25 (1916)

No. 25. The Trees they do grow high

The singer varied his tune, which is in the Dorian mode, in a very remarkable way, a good example of the skill with which folksingers will alter their tune to fit various metrical irregularities in the words (see English Folk Song: Some Conclusions, p. 25). For versions with tunes, see the Journal of the Folk-Song Society (volume i, p. 214; volume ii, pp. 44, 95, 206, and 274); Songs of the West (No. 4, 2d ed.); English Traditional Songs and Carols (p. 56); Christie’s Traditional Ballad Airs (“Young Craigston”); and Johnson’s Scots Muisical Museum, volume iv (“Lady Mary Ann”). For some reason or other, Child makes no mention of this ballad. For particulars of the custom of wearing ribands to denote betrothal or marriage, see “Ribands” in Hazlitt’s Dictionary of Faiths and Folk-Lore.