Down By The Salley Gardens

 "Down by the Salley Gardens" (Irish: Gort na Saileán) is a poem by William Butler Yeats published in The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems in 1889.

Yeats indicated in a note that it was "an attempt to reconstruct an old song from three lines imperfectly remembered by an old peasant woman in the village of Ballisodare, Sligo, who often sings them to herself." The "old song" may have been the ballad The Rambling Boys of Pleasure which contains the following verse:

"Down by yon flowery garden my love and I we first did meet.

I took her in my arms and to her I gave kisses sweet

She bade me take life easy just as the leaves fall from the tree.

But I being young and foolish, with my darling did not agree."

The similarity to the first verse of the Yeats version is unmistakable and would suggest that this was indeed the song Yeats remembered the old woman singing. The rest of the song, however, is quite different.

Yeats's original title, "An Old Song Re-Sung", reflected his debt to The Rambling Boys of Pleasure. It first appeared under its present title when it was reprinted in Poems in 1895.

It has been suggested that the location of the "Salley Gardens" was on the banks of the river at Ballysadare near Sligo where the residents cultivated trees to provide roof thatching materials. "Salley" or "sally" is a form of the Standard English word "sallow", i.e., a tree of the genus Salix. It is close in sound to the Irish word saileach, meaning willow.

The verse was subsequently set to music by Herbert Hughes to the traditional air The Moorlough Shore (also known as "The Maids of Mourne Shore") in 1909. In the 1920s composer Rebecca Clarke (1886–1979) set the text to her own music. The composer John Ireland (1879–1962) set the words to an original melody in his song cycle Songs Sacred and Profane, written in 1929–31. There is also a vocal setting by the poet and composer Ivor Gurney, which was published in 1938. Benjamin Britten published a setting of the poem in 1943, using the tune Hughes collected. In 1988, the American composer John Corigliano wrote and published his setting with the G. Schirmer Inc. publishing company.

To download the easy alphanotes and chords sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

Lyrics: 

Down by the Salley gardens, my love and I did meet
She passed the Salley gardens with little snow-white feet
She bid me take life easy, as the leaves grow on the trees
But I, being young and foolish, with her I did not agree

In a field by the river, my love and I did stand
And on my leaning shoulder she placed her snow-white hand
She bid me take love easy, as the grass grows on the weirs
But I was young and foolish and now I am full of tears

Down by the Salley gardens, my love and I did meet
And she passed the Salley gardens with little snow-white feet
She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs
But I was young and foolish and now I am full of tears

Early One Morning

"Early One Morning" (Roud V9617) is an English folk song with lyrics first found in publications as far back as 1787. A broadside ballad sheet in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, dated between 1828 and 1829  has the title "The Lamenting Maid" and refers to the lover leaving to become a sailor.

The now well-known melody was first printed by William Chappell in his publication National English Airs c.1855-1859. The melody may be derived from an earlier song "The Forsaken Lover".

For more information look here. To downloade the alphanote version with LH chords look here. Below are some variations of the lyrics. Enjoy!

Early one morning,
Just as the sun was rising,
I heard a young maid sing,
In the valley below.

CHORUS:
Oh, don't deceive me,
Oh, never leave me,
How could you use
A poor maiden so?

Remember the vows,
That you made to your Mary,
Remember the bow'r,
Where you vowed to be true,

Chorus

Oh Gay is the garland,
And fresh are the roses,
I've culled from the garden,
To place upon thy brow.

Chorus

Thus sang the poor maiden,
Her sorrows bewailing,
Thus sang the poor maid,
In the valley below.

Chorus

Another version:

Early one morning
just as the sun was rising,
I heard a young maid sing
in the valley below.

Oh, don't deceive me,
Oh, never leave me,
How could you use
A poor maiden so?

Remember the vows that
you made to me truly,
Remember how tenderly
you nestled close to me.

Gay is the garland
fresh are the roses
I've culled from the garden
to bind over thee.

Here I now wander
alone as I wonder
Why did you leave me
to sigh and complain.

I ask of the roses
why should I be forsaken,
Why must I here in sorrow remain?

Through yonder grove by the spring that is running,
There you and I have so merrily played,
Kissing and courting and gently sporting,
Oh, my innocent heart you've betrayed.

Soon you will meet with another pretty maiden,
Some pretty maiden,
you'll court her for a while.

Thus ever ranging
turning and changing,
Always seeking for a girl that is new.

Thus sung the maiden,
her sorrows bewailing
Thus sung the maid
in the valley below

Oh, don't deceive me,
Oh, never leave me,
How could you use
A poor maiden so?