Lipa Vekovaya
The age-old lime tree, Липа вековая

Nor the author of the lyrics, nor the composer of this famous Russian folk song are known. It was recorded in 1917 by A. M. Novikova in Tula region, as a popular folk song. Therefor we can assume that "The age-old lime tree" dates from the 19th century.
 The linden tree, also named the lime tree, can be found in large parts of Central and Southern Europe, from the Iberian peninsula to the Black Sea. Already in ancient Greece and Rome, this tree was a symbol of friendship and tender, faithful love, and many European peoples, especially those of Slavic origin, elevated the linden tree to a ritual tree that became an object of worship. They were planted on places that did refer to special events, where people did meet for social gatherings, or where the shade produced by their branches might be needed. Thus the choise of the tree in the song has a certain symbolic meaning.
The genre of the song "Lipa Vekovaya" is close to the "cruel romance", which developed based on traditional Russian ballads. The cruel romance, however, has its own special features, which make it possible to isolate it from the vast reservoir of Russian songs. It is characterized by narrow family and household events, the resolution of the conflict in a tragic way, the cruel details. The favorite plot of a cruel romance is the seduction of a girl by an insidious seducer. And the choice of the cruel romances` endings is small: murder, suicide, death of the hero from grief or deathly grief.
The song`s text is written on behalf of the young man, whose beloved girl is buried under the old lime tree. He has been forced to marry another, but his heart still belongs to his deceased lover, whom his soul seeks, and he, anticipating his imminent demise, prepares to meet her after his death. The sad song with the simple words and the heartfelt melody of the unknown authors was performed by many singers of the past and continues to enter the repertoire of new generations of artists. 
 The peak of the popularity of the song was connected with the World Wars, as the song is a tragic one and is devoted to love. Nadezhda ​Plevitskaya performed the song in hospitals and in the frontline cities in the years of the WWI. ​Lydia Ruslanova sang the romance for the soldiers of the WWII. She told a story, as she met a group of soldiers listening to her disk with the song. They did not recognize her and put her papers under doubt. She had started to sing the romance and the soldiers understood in moment that it was her. 
Lydia Ruslanova performs the song
  The famous Russian singers performed the song: Fedor Shaliapin, Nadezhda Plevitskaya, Ivan Kozlovsky, Nadezhda Obukhova, Sergey Lemeshev, Lyudmila Zykina, ​Lydia Ruslanova, Ivan Skobtsov, Boris Shtokolov. Shaliapin, probably the first well-known performer of the song, took it over from the restaurant and garden ensembles. The song is also popular among the contemporary Russian performers, singers and actors, like Alexander Mikhailov, Dmitry Ryakhin, Natalia Muravyeva, Oleg Pogudin​.
                 Simple scores                   Scores for accordion: 1, 2
Russian text
​
Липа вековая
Над рекой шумит,
Песня удалая
Вдалеке звенит.

Луг покрыт туманом,
Словно пеленой;
Слышен за курганом
Звон сторожевой.

Этот звон унылый
Давно прошлых дней
Пробудил, что было
В памяти моей.

Вот все миновало,
Я уж под венцом,
Молодца сковали
Золотым кольцом.

Только не с тобою,
Милая моя, -
Спишь ты под землею,
Спишь из-за меня.

Над твоей могилой
Соловей поет, -
Скоро и твой милый
Тем же сном уснет.
Transliteration

Lipa vekovaya
Nad rekoj shumit
Pesnya udalaya
Vdaleke zvenit

Lug pokryt tumanom
Slovno pelenoj
Slyshen za kurganom
Zvon storozhevoj

Ehtot zvon unylyj
Davno proshlyh dnej
Probudil chto bylo
V pamyati moej

Vot vse minovalo
Ya uzh pod vencom
Molodca skovali
Zolotym kolcom

Tolko ne s toboyu
Milaya moya -
Spish ty pod zemleyu
Spish iz-za menya

Nad tvoej mogiloj
Solovej poet -
Skoro i tvoj milyj
Tem zhe snom usnet
English text

The age-old lime tree grows
On the river`s bank,
And a daring song comes
From the farthest land.

Mist lays on the meadow,
As it were a veil;
And the evening bells flow  
From a fairy tale.

​​That despondent ringing,
Of the days that passed,
Has awaken thinking
Of my memoirs last 

Everything has gone now,
​I got married fine,
And the wedding crown
Managed me to bind. 

​Not with You together,
You my darling girl,
Your sleep came forever
For my sinful soul.

Always over your grave
A nightingale sings
And your darling is crave
Joining soon your dreams.

Translated by Alexander​
Sources:
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Липа_вековая; http://cyclowiki.org/wiki/Липа_вековая_(песня);
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Жестокий_романс; http://a-pesni.org/popular20/lipa.php;
http://www.dorogobug.ru/index.php/dorogobuzh-zhivaya-istoria/315-tamara-timasheva-vecherniy-zvon-1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilia; http://www.slovenia.si/slovenia/history/the-independent-state/the-linden-tree-a-tree-of-friendship-love-and-loyalty/
http://rusog.ru/18-lipa-vekovaya/