Tensions between the band grew during the production in 1970 of their first album, Hark! The Village Wait to the point where they never again worked together after its completion, but the music itself shows no signs of these difficulties. While having a rock sensibility there is a greater sense of the authentic folk tradition than even in the best of Fairport, and a particular beauty arising from the two pairs of voices. The Woods being replaced by admired folk stalwart Martin Carthy, with violinist Peter Knight to widen the musical textures, the group late in 1970 recorded their most admired record Please to see the King. Ten Man Mop followed in 1971, more accomplished but generally felt to be less exciting. The expensive gatefold sleeve swallowed the band's royalties, and was referred to as a tombstone, since Hutchings and Carthy then left, to pursue Hutchings' new vision of a specifically English strand of folk rock with The Albion Band, and Steeleye Mk 2 folded.
However the inclusion of the less celebrated and more rock orientated replacements Rick Kemp and Bob Johnson led to the most commercially successful phase in the band's existence, vocalist Maddy Prior becoming the primary focus of the band, and a run of well received albums, from Below the Salt and Now we Are Six, their first with drummer Nigel Pegrum, to their eighth, and most commercially successful, All Around my Hat, in 1975.
Still active, they have a claim to be one of the longest-lived and perhaps the most commercially successful of all the folk rock bands of the era, thanks to their hit singles Gaudete and All Around My Hat, 3 top 40 albums and even a certified "gold" record with All Around My Hat.
Tim Hart died of lung cancer on 24 December 2009, aged 61.
Long-A-Growing
Steeleye Span Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I saw four and twenty young men a-playing at the ball
I asked for my own true love but they wouldn't let him come
For they said the boy was young but a-growing.
Father dear father you've done me much wrong
You've tied me to a boy when you know he is too young
But he will make a Lord for you to wait upon
We'll send him to college for one year or two
And maybe in time the boy will do for you
I'll buy you white ribbons to tie around his waist
For to let the ladies know that he's married
The trees they do grow high and the leaves they do grow green
The day is passed and gone my love that you and I have seen
It's on a cold winter's night that I must lie alone
For the bonny boy is young but a-growing
At the age of sixteen he was a married man
And at the age of seventeen the father to a son
And at the age of eighteen his grave it did grow green
Cruel dead had put an end to his growing.
In the first stanza of Steeleye Span's song, "Long-A-Growing," the singer describes seeing a group of young men playing ball by a church wall. He asks for his own true love, but they won't let him come because they believe the boy is still too young and growing. In the second stanza, the singer addresses his father, expressing his frustration with the fact that he has been tied to a boy who is too young for him. The father argues that the boy will eventually become a lord, and that the singer will become a lady while he's growing. They eventually agree to send him to college for one or two years, and the singer will buy white ribbons to let the ladies know that he's married.
In the third stanza, the chorus comes in, singing about how the trees grow high and the leaves grow green, and how time passes by so quickly. The singer reflects on how he and his love have seen many days come and go, but now he has to lie alone on a cold winter's night because the boy he loves is still young and growing. In the final stanza, the singer reveals that the boy has already been married for two years by the age of sixteen, and he's even fathered a son by the time he's seventeen. However, by the age of eighteen, he has already passed away. The cruel hand of death has ended his growing before he could fully mature.
Line by Line Meaning
As I was walking by yonder church wall
While taking a stroll by the church wall
I saw four and twenty young men a-playing at the ball
I observed 24 young men playing ball
I asked for my own true love but they wouldn't let him come
I requested to meet my lover, but they denied him access
For they said the boy was young but a-growing.
For they argued he was young and not yet matured
Father dear father you've done me much wrong
Father, you have wronged me a great deal.
You've tied me to a boy when you know he is too young
You have bound me to a young boy, and he is not mature enough.
But he will make a Lord for you to wait upon
However, one day he may become a lord you can serve
And a lady you will be while he's growing
You will be a lady while he still grows to manhood
We'll send him to college for one year or two
We shall send him to college for a year or two.
And maybe in time the boy will do for you
Perhaps with time, he may be good enough for you.
I'll buy you white ribbons to tie around his waist
I shall purchase white ribbons to tie around his waist
For to let the ladies know that he's married
To notify the women that he's married
The trees they do grow high and the leaves they do grow green
Indeed, the trees grow tall and leaves turn green
The day is passed and gone my love that you and I have seen
The time has elapsed, my dear, the moments we spent together
It's on a cold winter's night that I must lie alone
I lay alone on a cold winter's night
For the bonny boy is young but a-growing
For the young and beautiful boy continues to mature
At the age of sixteen he was a married man
At sixteen, he became a husband
And at the age of seventeen, the father to a son
At seventeen, he fathered a son
And at the age of eighteen his grave it did grow green
Sadly, at eighteen, the grass grew on his grave
Cruel death put an end to his growing.
An unfortunate death halted his growth.
Contributed by Benjamin M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Ben - Moderator
on Bonny Moorhen
Hi Stuart, We have corrected the description above.
Stuart Tartan
on Bonny Moorhen
This description of the song completely misses the point in every way. It IS NOT about a bird.
It is an allegorical Jacobite-era song about Bonny Prince Charlie (the bonny moorhen). The colours mentioned, for instance, are the colours of the Clan Stuart tartan.