DOWN BY THE SALLEY GARDENS
(Words, William Butler Yeats; tune, Herbert Hughes)

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 love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree.

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


Margaret Vetare, guitar and vocal
Recorded by Bill Ochs in my living room in September, 2002.
Thanks to Jim Keyes for the loan of his guitar.
Listen closely and you will be rewarded by September crickets.

Lots of people find this song corny or too much in the "parlor song" idiom for their liking. For me it communicates a deep sense of loss and regret, and conjures up clear visual images. I don't know how I learned it, which adds a bit of mystery.

Margaret