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,
County Sligo, who often sings them to herself."[2] The "old song" may have been the ballad "The Rambling Boys of Pleasure"[3] 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". The poem first appeared under its present title when it was reprinted in Poems in 1895.[4]
Poem
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.[5][6]
Location
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.[7][8] "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.
Musical settings
The verse was set to music by
Herbert Hughes to the traditional
air "The Maids of Mourne Shore" in 1909.[1] In the 1920s composer
Rebecca Clarke (1886–1979) set the text to her own music.[9] The composer
John Ireland (1879–1962) set the words to an original melody in his
song cycleSongs Sacred and Profane, written in 1929–31.[10][11] There is also a vocal setting by the poet and composer
Ivor Gurney, which was published in 1938.[12]Benjamin Britten published a setting of the poem in 1943, using the tune Hughes collected.[13] In 1988, the American composer
John Corigliano wrote and published his setting with the
G. Schirmer Inc. publishing company.[14]
Recordings
The poem has been part of the repertoire of many singers and groups, mostly set on "The Maids of Mourne Shore"'s melody. Notable recordings include:
Helen Stanley (1889 - 1969) on Columbia Records 12-inch, with orchestra, (1917)
Soprano
Arleen Auger recorded Benjamin Britten's arrangement on her album Love Songs (1988)
Male soprano
Aris Christofellis accompanied by Theodore Kotepanos on piano, on the album Recital (1989)
Tomás Mac Eoin, who recorded it with instrumental accompaniment by
The Waterboys, released by Mac Eoin as a single in 1989 and also on the 2008 collectors' edition of the Waterboys album Room to Roam
Tamalin, who recorded an Irish-language version of the song on the 1997 compilation album Now and in a Time to Be, a collection of Yeats' poems set to music
The Whiffenpoofs have released a number of recordings of a John Kelley arrangement of the Hughes melody (with lyrics for an additional middle verse written by Channing Hughes)
^Craggs, Stewart R. (2013) [2007]. John Ireland: A Catalogue, Discography and Bibliography: A Source Book (2nd ed.). Ashgate Publishing, Ltd./
Routledge. pp. 92–93.
ASINB00AW99HNA.
ISBN0859679411.
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,
County Sligo, who often sings them to herself."[2] The "old song" may have been the ballad "The Rambling Boys of Pleasure"[3] 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". The poem first appeared under its present title when it was reprinted in Poems in 1895.[4]
Poem
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.[5][6]
Location
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.[7][8] "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.
Musical settings
The verse was set to music by
Herbert Hughes to the traditional
air "The Maids of Mourne Shore" in 1909.[1] In the 1920s composer
Rebecca Clarke (1886–1979) set the text to her own music.[9] The composer
John Ireland (1879–1962) set the words to an original melody in his
song cycleSongs Sacred and Profane, written in 1929–31.[10][11] There is also a vocal setting by the poet and composer
Ivor Gurney, which was published in 1938.[12]Benjamin Britten published a setting of the poem in 1943, using the tune Hughes collected.[13] In 1988, the American composer
John Corigliano wrote and published his setting with the
G. Schirmer Inc. publishing company.[14]
Recordings
The poem has been part of the repertoire of many singers and groups, mostly set on "The Maids of Mourne Shore"'s melody. Notable recordings include:
Helen Stanley (1889 - 1969) on Columbia Records 12-inch, with orchestra, (1917)
Soprano
Arleen Auger recorded Benjamin Britten's arrangement on her album Love Songs (1988)
Male soprano
Aris Christofellis accompanied by Theodore Kotepanos on piano, on the album Recital (1989)
Tomás Mac Eoin, who recorded it with instrumental accompaniment by
The Waterboys, released by Mac Eoin as a single in 1989 and also on the 2008 collectors' edition of the Waterboys album Room to Roam
Tamalin, who recorded an Irish-language version of the song on the 1997 compilation album Now and in a Time to Be, a collection of Yeats' poems set to music
The Whiffenpoofs have released a number of recordings of a John Kelley arrangement of the Hughes melody (with lyrics for an additional middle verse written by Channing Hughes)
^Craggs, Stewart R. (2013) [2007]. John Ireland: A Catalogue, Discography and Bibliography: A Source Book (2nd ed.). Ashgate Publishing, Ltd./
Routledge. pp. 92–93.
ASINB00AW99HNA.
ISBN0859679411.