Down by the Salley Gardens ✧
A gentle Irish song air with breath spaces and a small upper-register rise.
Sheet music
Tap a staff note or finger tab to hear it.
A
D whistle · D major · 4/4 · 65 BPM · + upper octave
A
Lyrics
William Butler Yeats · 1889
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.
About this tune
William Butler Yeats published Down by the Salley Gardens in 1889. Its speaker remembers a young love and the advice he failed to follow. The song air is distinct from the session reel called The Sally Gardens.
Long, balanced phrases and quiet cadences give the air an intimate character. The tune leaves room for the words and for the expressive pauses between them.
Performances
Watch musicians play this tune on tin whistle. Keys and arrangements may differ from the tabs above.
Down by the Salley Gardens
CutiePie
Two-part tin whistle setting · opens at the play-through after the lesson
Watch on YouTube — Down by the Salley Gardens by CutiePie (opens in a new tab) ↗