In the previous thread linked above Dita contributed the following

"This song was written by Andy M. Stewart of Silly Wizard, in the late 1970's. Maryrrf - The "Woods of Germany" is correct, that verse is the only peice of lyrics that appear on the cover of "So Many Partings." "This is a lament for the glens of Scotland, seen through the eyes of a man standing in a ruined croft" I think Malcolm is spot on, Andy has gone for emotion at the expense of facts, and in this case many of the historical facts are wrong."

From that I get the impression that the man standing in the ruined croft is doing so in 1970. As such the song spans the events of some 280 years.

If you are trying to compress that into a shorter time frame it is little wonder that you are having difficulty making sense of the lyrics.

In one of your postings above you say

"I just got a version of the song by Ian Benzies (ex Old Blind Dogs). HE sings "The wuds o'Germany rouse and carouse oer the broken hearted". Now "wud" means "mad" or "crazy" in scots, right? - could this mean that there were German mercenary troops in the Highlands possibly serving with the British army ? "

From your first post you asked for the meaning and context of the line

"the woods of germany grows in rows o'er the broken hearted".

From the Ian Benzies line, we get the meaning that "The mad or crazy of Germany stir and drunkenly sing over the broken hearted".

No German mercenary forces were employed by the government for service in Scotland during the period in question. Military connections due to the Hanover succession included use of Hessian troops in America during the American War of Independence (1776) and Hanoverian troops who joined the King's German Legion during Napoleonic times (1803 - 1815). The KGL operated under some pretty strange conditions considering whose side they were fighting on - they were only allowed to be stationed on the Isle of Wight and could not land on the mainland except for immediate embarkation (usually to Portugal and Spain).

Taking the original quote which refers to woods growing in rows, that puts in my minds eye a man standing on the site of a ruined croft in 1970 and seeing a commercial forest planted with German Pine.