Here is the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song:

Shady Grove

DESCRIPTION: The singer talks about courting (in) Shady Grove. There is no particular plot. A typical chorus runs, "Shady Grove my little love, Shady Grove I say, Shady Grove my little love, I'm bound to go away." Shady Grove may be a place or a girl's name
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Cecil Sharp collection); +1893 (JAFL6)
KEYWORDS: courting love nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,SW)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 57, "Betty Anne" (1 text, 1 tune -- an odd version which seems to have some foreign elements mixed in, and with the tune moved from minor to Mixolydian)
Lomax-FSNA 120, "Shady Grove" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 485, "Shady Grove" (2 texts, neither much like the standard version of this song, but even less like anything else); also 97, "Uncle Joe Cut Off His Toe" (3 texts plus mention of 2 more, but "B" is probably "Shady Grove"; "A" is an incredible mix with verses typical of "Raccoon," "If I Had a Scolding Wife," a "Liza Jane" song, a mule song, and "Shady Grove"); also 111, "Wish I Had a Needle and Thread" (7 text, of which only "E" is really substantial; it is certainly the "Italy" version of "Going Across the Sea." The other fragments contain verses typical of "Shady Grove," "Old Joe Clark," and others); also 286, "Fly Around, My Blue-Eyed Girl" (4 texts; "A"-"C" are "Fly Around, My Pretty Little Miss," but the "D" text is mostly "Shady Grove")
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 46-47, "Shady Grove" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 37, "Shady Grove" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 358, "Now I Am a Big Boy" (2 texts, both fragments; the "A" text is associated with this ballad, though -- as only a single verse -- it could go anywhere)
SharpAp 88, "Betty Anne" (1 text, 1 tune, with lyrics from "Shady Grove," "Fly Around, My Pretty Little Miss" and "Going Across the Sea")
Rosenbaum, pp. 138-139, "Shady Grove" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 195, "Shady Grove" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 152, "Shady Grove" (1 text)
DT, BETTYANN* SHADYGRV*
Roud #4456
RECORDINGS:
Clarence Ashley & New River Jack Burchett, "Shady Grove" (on Ashley03, WatsonAshley01)
Rufus Crisp, "Shady Grove" (on Crisp01)
Goldie Hamilton, "Shady Grove" (AAFS 2787 A2)
Kentucky Thorobreds, "Shady Grove" (Paramount 3080, 1928; Broadway 8184 [as Old Smokey Twins], n.d.; rec. 1927)
J. M. Mullins, "Shady Grove" (AAFS 1566 A)
J. W. Russell, "Shady Grove" (AAFS 3162 B1)
Kilby Snow, "Shady Grove" (on KSnow1)
Pete Steele, "Shady Grove" (on PSteele01)
The Virginia Dandies [alternate name for Walter "Kid" Smith & The Carolina Buddies], "Shady Grove" (Crown, unissued, 1931)
Vernie Westfall, "Shady Grove" (AAFS 4118 B1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Black-Eyed Susie (Green Corn)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Going Across the Sea" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Kansas Cyclone" (tune)
cf. "Don't Get Trouble in Your Mind" (floating phrase)
cf. "Pig at Home in the Pen" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Mary from Dungloe" (floating verse)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Little Betty Ann
File: SKE57

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2016 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

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...and the Digital Tradition lyrics:
SHADY GROVE (DT Version)

Shady grove my little love
Shady grove I say
Shady grove my little love
Bound for shady grove

Wish I was in shady grove
Sittin in a rockin chair
And if those blues would bother me
I'd rock away from there

Had a banjo made of gold
Every string would shine
The only song that it would play
Wish that girl was mine

When I was in shady grove
Heard them pretty birds sing
The next time I go to shady grove
Take along a diamond ring

When you go to catch a fish
Fish with a hook and line
When you go to court a girl
Never look behind

When I was a little boy
All I wanted was a knife
Now I am a great big boy
I'm lookin for a wife

filename[ SHADYGRV
TUNE FILE: SHADYGRV
CLICK TO PLAY
BL

Any other versions to post?