Irish Ballads: Down by the Sally Gardens



Good gracious. Another Irish landscape. What else is new?

   Now, I realize that y'all are probably getting tired of my Irish ballads and Irish poems and Irish paraphernalia, but I just discovered this beautiful song today and knew that I could not let it go untouched, it being almost St. Patrick's day and all. Turns out, it is actually a poem by William Butler Yeats, published in The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems in 1889. Apparently Yeats claimed that the poem 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." Yeats' original title was "An Old Song Resung". It first appeared under its present title when it was reprinted in Poems in 1895, and the verse was subsequently set to music by Herbert Hughes to the air "The Maids of Mourne Shore" in 1909.
  "Salley" or "sally" is a form of the standard English word sallow, and it is also close in sound to the Irish word saileach, meaning "willow".
 A recording of this song was used during the credits in the 1998 movie Dancing at Lughnasa, which I have seen, but I don't remember the song, so I'm guessing that I didn't stay for the credits. You know when you watch a movie and you don't especially like it or you think it's dull, and then about a year or so later you realize how good it actually is? That was dancing at Lughnasa. At the time I thought it was rather dull and slow, and by the end I felt like nothing really had happened, but now, in hindsight, I think it was perhaps I who was dull! The movie is very sad, very sad, but also very beautiful. (Well, it is set and filmed in Ireland.....go figure.) At any rate, I think I would highly recommend Dancing at Lughnasa, but keep in mind that it is an extremely sad film--even I cried, and I'm really not one to cry during movies; only a few select films (like Meet me in St. Louis, Bright Star, and The Young Victoria. Sometimes Somewhere in Time.  : )

Three of the Mundy sisters: Christina, Agnes, and Rosie.

Dancing at Lughnasa also has a great many splendid actors, including Meryl Streep, Michael Gambon, Sophie Thompson, and Catherine McCormack. This is completely unrelated, but there was also an appearance made by Wolfe from Hornlower, which was quite a surprise, if an unpleasant one. He was a ding-dong is this too. When you watch a period drama like this, particularly an older one, you can almost always expect to see at least someone from Hornblower!

So, without any further ado, here are the lyrics to Down by the Sally Gardens.


Down by the sally gardens, my love and I did meet.
She crossed the sally gardens wit little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree,
But I was young and foolish, and with her did not agree.

In a field down 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.

Down by the sally gardens, my love and I did meet.
She crossed the sally gardens with little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree,
But I was young and foolish, and with her did not agree.

Here is a music video of the recording used in the movie, along with one of the very best scenes. I think that the Mundy sisters may have sung the song during the movie, but I can't recall for certain. I'll have to watch it again. And maybe even review it! Wouldn't that be something!

   Very Truly Yours,

                 Emma Jane