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38:. It is written from the perspective of a man facing the gallows for the murder of his lover, who he gave poisoned wine, stabbed, and threw in a river. It originated in the 19th century, probably in Ireland, before becoming established in the United States. The lyrics greatly vary among earlier versions, but professional recordings have stabilized the song in a cut-down form. First professionally recorded in 1927, it was made popular by
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been to avoid marriage, gain money, or feeling compelled into the crime by his father, but now that he is facing the scaffold he is overcome by the realization that he has killed the girl and caused pain to his family. Murder ballads often feature a stabbing or beating followed by burying the body or disposing of it in a river; this song is unusual in featuring both poisoning and stabbing the victim before she is thrown into the river.
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is a type of willow tree. The lyrics refer to a poisoned wine, usually as "burglar's wine" or "Burgundy wine," sometimes as "Berkeley," "burdelin," "buglers," and earlier as "merkley wine;" this may refer to drugged wine, or possibly to "burgaloo wine," burgaloo being a type of pear (from the French
178:
The lyrics are written from the point of view of the murderer. According to Wigley, the song follows "the 'murdered sweetheart' pattern in which a girl stated or assumed to be pregnant is murdered by her lover, who is usually brought to justice in one manner or another." His motivations might have
186:, though not all versions include all the stanzas: the now-standardized professional recordings are pared down versions that lack that first "come-all-ye" stanza and the naming of the murderer, leaving stanzas 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, and 10. The most common lyric is the second stanza:
202:
Most traditional versions name the victim as Rose
Connelly, or a similar surname. Many versions have the murderer name himself; the name varies but tends towards the pattern "Patrick McR...". One early version referred to an "Hozier tree;"
70:", which itself probably derives from the Irish ballad "The Rambling Boys of Pleasure". The first versions of "Rose Connoley" probably derive from the Irish ballads "The
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on 24 March 1947 (RCA Victor 20-2416, A-side "Bringin' in the
Georgia Mail" and RCA Victor 48-0222); this version established the song as a "standard".
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Ed's choice of the murder ballad "Down in the Willow Garden" to soothe her son after a nightmare subtly —and riotously— impugns her maternal instincts.
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82:". Unlike other Irish ballads, "Down in the Willow Garden" was initially restricted to the Appalachian region of the United States; folklorist
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included a version of the song on their 2017 release titled with the last line of their version of the song: Between the Earth and Sky
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Variously spelled
Connoley, Conley, Connally, Condolee, Connilley, Condelee, Congalee, Cumberly, or Caudeley, see Wilgus, 1979.
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The song is known in many versions: Wilgus noted 71 in 1979. The earliest versions are divided into 10
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Girl" and "The
Rambling Boys of Pleasure", or similar songs. "The Wexford Girl" also gave rise to the
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The song is first noted in the United States in 1915, when it was referred to as popular in 1895 in
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released a version, "The Willow Garden", as a B-side to the similarly-plotted murder ballad "
1107:"LANKUM to release first album on Rough Trade records in October | Music | News | Hot Press"
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Folk-Songs of the South: Collected Under the
Auspices of the West Virginia Folk-Lore Society
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of "burgaloo wine." The weapon used to stab Rose is almost always a "sabre" or a "dagger."
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The Flatt and
Scruggs version of the lyrics, as found on metrolyrics.com, is as follows:
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Goddu, Teresa (1998). "Bloody
Daggers and Lonesome Graveyards". In Ceceila Tichi (ed.).
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414:. This version of the song can be heard during the closing credits of episode four of
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Bringing it all back home: the influence of Irish music at home and overseas
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The song may have derived from Irish sources from the early 19th century.
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Hot Press - Music News, Reviews, Interviews plus Pop
Culture and Politics
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was spread by a single Irish peddler on his travels through
Appalachia."
400:; an instrumental version of the song plays toward the end of the film.
358:. Kenny Hill and the Sweets Mill String Band recorded the song in 1972.
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recorded a version of the song for his 2013 album "Story of My Life".
42:'s 1947 version, and it has been recorded dozens of times since then.
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Reading country music: steel guitars, opry stars, and honky-tonk bars
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266:(Bluebird B-7298), giving it the name "Down in the Willow Garden".
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Wilgus, D.K. (Apr–Jun 1979). ""Rose
Connoley": An Irish Ballad".
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recorded it as "Down in the Willow Garden" in 1990 for his album
86:
mused that "it is as if an Irish local song never popularized on
294:
recorded it as "Down in the Willow Garden" in 1956, as did the
719:"A Cultural Approach to Crime and Punishment, Bluegrass Style"
308:
recorded a version under the same title for their 1958 album
262:
and Zeke Morris recorded another version on 2 August 1937 in
58:. A version with slightly different lyrics is known from
881:
Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records, 1950-1975
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released it as "In the Willow Garden" on his 1959 album
270:
and His Kentucky Pardners recorded another version for
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on deaddisc.com (the Grateful Dead Family discography)
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Rural roots of bluegrass: songs, stories & history
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on either 18 November 1927 or 9 October 1928, for the
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recorded it for her 1998 album of traditional songs,
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The brothers Grimm: The films of Ethan and Joel Coen
1024:"Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - B-Sides and Rarities"
854:
Kentucky Country: Folk and Country Music of Kentucky
774:"Remembering The Old Songs: ROSE CONNOLEY (Laws F6)"
354:
recorded it as "Rose Connelly" for their 1965 album
54:
noted a song by the name "Rose Connolly" in 1811 in
997:"Kristin Hersh - Murder, Misery And Then Goodnight"
512:
410:recorded a version of the song for the 2012 album
340:sang "The Willow Garden" on his 1962 live album
662:. Native Ground Books & Music. p. 43.
188:
119:
286:recorded the song twice in the mid-1950s. The
62:in 1929. The song has lyrical similarities to
857:. University Press of Kentucky. p. 104.
394:sings the song as a lullaby in the 1987 film
8:
1131:Shakey Graves: Story of My Life (Full Album)
977:"Kenny Hall and the Sweets Mill String Band"
629:(364). American Folklore Society: 172–195.
721:. In Jeff Ferrell, Clinton Sanders (ed.).
440:perform the song on his 2023 studio album
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214:). "Burgundy wine" is almost certainly a
135:I planned to poison that dear little girl
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153:if I would poison that dear little girl
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171:for I did poison that dear little girl
7:
1080:Tallerico, Brian (2 November 2015).
487:. Mel Bay Publications. p. 71.
131:I'd bought a bottle of burgundy wine
553:. Pelican Publishing. p. 314.
197:My true love dropped off to sleep
14:
519:. Duke University Press. p.
377:Murder, Misery and Then Goodnight
356:The Versatile Flatt & Scruggs
195:And we were a-sitting discoursing
158:My father weeps at his cabin door
1052:. Scarecrow Press. p. 264.
623:The Journal of American Folklore
162:for soon his only son shall hang
101:came across the song in 1918 in
884:. Krause Publications. p.
333:Ramblin' Jack Elliott in London
659:Backpocket Bluegrass Song Book
367:Music Martinis and Misanthropy
256:Victor Talking Machine Company
173:whose name was Rose Connelly.
167:My race is run beneath the sun
1:
1022:Lundy, Zeth (15 March 2005).
547:Cox, John Harrington (1998).
169:my sentence is waiting for me
155:whose name was Rose Connelly.
133:but my true love did not know
124:there me and my love did meet
717:Tunnell, Kenneth D. (1995).
95:Wetzel County, West Virginia
1082:"Fargo Recap: Already Dead"
935:"Volume 37, Issue 2, p46".
911:"Garfunkel on His Own; Pop"
382:Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
193:My true love and I did meet
160:wipin' his tear dimmed eyes
151:his money would set me free
146:and then ran off in fright.
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851:Wolfe, Charles K. (1996).
772:Lofgren, Lyle (May 2003).
242:The song was recorded as "
164:from yonder scaffold high.
140:I drew a sabre through her
128:my love fell off to sleep.
68:Down by the Salley Gardens
1192:The Everly Brothers songs
386:Where the Wild Roses Grow
311:Songs Our Daddy Taught Us
264:Charlotte, North Carolina
137:there on the banks below.
122:Down in the willow garden
21:Down in the Willow Garden
725:. UPNE. pp. 87–88.
683:O'Connor, Nuala (2001).
149:My father he had told me
144:I threw her in the river
126:while we set a' courtin'
801:Guitar Roots: Bluegrass
752:The Fiddler's Companion
191:Down in a willow garden
1197:Appalachian folk songs
1048:Rowell, Erica (2007).
656:Erbsen, Wayne (2008).
481:Erbsen, Wayne (2003).
346:and the bluegrass duo
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798:Howard, Paul (2002).
142:it was an awful sight
27:446), also known as "
1207:20th-century ballads
1161:Roud Folk Song Index
723:Cultural criminology
328:Ramblin' Jack Elliot
31:", is a traditional
878:Neely, Tim (2002).
318:for his 1973 album
306:The Everly Brothers
304:in the same year.
1166:List of recordings
689:. Merlin. p.
80:The Knoxville Girl
1059:978-0-8108-5850-3
1003:. 22 October 1998
957:. 1 December 1962
832:. 1 November 1947
669:978-0-9629327-1-7
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36:murder ballad
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29:Rose Connelly
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1114:. Retrieved
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1153:on DigiTrad
1091:27 November
1086:vulture.com
338:Oscar Brand
321:Angel Clare
260:Wade Mainer
244:Rose Conley
99:Cecil Sharp
76:Appalachian
64:W. B. Yeats
33:Appalachian
1176:Categories
1116:2017-10-13
1028:PopMatters
937:Gramophone
450:References
443:Folkocracy
272:RCA Victor
233:Recordings
216:mondegreen
88:broadsides
955:Billboard
830:Billboard
362:Boyd Rice
314:, as did
292:Red Allen
211:virgalieu
56:Coleraine
404:Bon Iver
343:Morality
227:3/4 time
103:Virginia
1159:in the
1157:Entries
1136:YouTube
1001:Discogs
985:. 1972.
982:Discogs
939:. 1959.
184:stanzas
72:Wexford
46:Origins
1151:Lyrics
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424:Lankum
380:, and
225:," in
60:Galway
639:JSTOR
417:Fargo
246:" by
205:Osier
1093:2015
1054:ISBN
1035:2010
1009:2010
963:2010
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890:ISBN
859:ISBN
838:2010
806:ISBN
785:2010
759:2010
727:ISBN
695:ISBN
664:ISBN
555:ISBN
525:ISBN
489:ISBN
436:and
406:and
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282:The
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