Prompted by a clergyman in Massachusetts, Charles Rogers, LL.D., wrote to "Notes & Queries" (Apr. 20, 1872) to inquire the source of the following lines:

You'll take the high road and I'll take the low,
But I'll be in Scotland before ye;
Where I and my true love will never part again
From the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Ben Lomond.

In reply, "J. H." (May 18, 1872) sent a broadside text of "Flora's Lament for her Charlie," to the air of "Charlie! my Charlie!"
identical to that post by "Rossey" in 2023. "J.H." dates the broadside to 1854. "Flora's Lament" is notable here solely for its "you'll take the high road" chorus.

"J. H." also writes:

"The song will not be found in any of the collections, as it is of very inferior merit. It was very popular about fifty years ago, and is still sung at fairs and rustic merrymakings."

So the "high road" lines, with or without more of the song, had circulated to America by 1872.

Interestingly, "J.H." does not connect them to the now familiar "Loch Lomond" song - which he was presumably unaware of.