Good morrow everyone,
Last night I was at a session where a most excellent northumbrian smallpiper played a slow aire and introduced it as 'The Sally Gardens' it sounded marvellous, so, this morning I had a look in the tune section here and found a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT tune! Doh!
Was he wrong, or are several 'Sally Gardens' out there?
cheers,
Confused of Hull.
Wispy weepy types with beads round their necks sing the words of the poem "Down by the Sally Gardens" to that tune and it is often, confusingly, referred to as The Sally Gardens.
Parenthetically, the words of AE Housmans "When I was one and twenty" fit very well to the tune too.
To answer Octo's query more clearly perhaps:
This too caused me slight confusion a few years ago:
Most ordinary folks (non musos) know the air of the song 'Down by the Sally Gardens' which is often shortened to the 'Sally Gardens'
However, when trad heads refer to the 'Sally Gardens', they mean the oft played reel of that name - 'pink horse of a different colour altogether' as my old maths teacher used to add.
'Sallys' by the way are a general term for various varieties of willow trees/ bushes. Cut and used for basket making etc. Since sallys usually prefer damp ground - sally gardens are groves of willow often near a stream etc. Of course, Sally Gardens could also be a convenient monicker for Sally's Garden, that being if Sally herself was the object of your desire, if you get my drift!!
Manly men sing "Down by the Sally Gardens" (mentioning that Billy Yeats wrote the words) and the "wispy weepy types with beads round their necks" (usually women) just fall at their feet. Or at least acknowlegde that all men are not sexist pigs <G>
(O course if you don't have the voice for it, you are allowed to be sarcastic...)
I think it’s interesting to note that there’s a murder ballad in the American Old-Timey/Bluegrass tradition called “Down in the Willow Garden” made famous by Charlie Monroe (Bill’s brother) and the Stanley Brothers. First couple of lines echo Yeat’s poem. (Then o’ course it takes a dark turn involving misogyny and mahem!). Melody is quite a bit different. As the esteemed Wounded Hussar points out, “Sally” refers to willow trees (ie salacilic acid – aspirin – was once obtained as an analgesic from the bark of this tree).
There's also a Planxty song (on After the Break, I think) called Ye Rambling Boys of Pleasure that has melody sounding an awful lot like Down By the Sally Gardens.
ps: I have had a right good rummage on the internet and come up with various 'salley gardens' sally gardens' 'mourne mountains' with and without maids. My brain hurts!
Hola showaddyetcetc,
Yes I did thanks, and I have put it in my tunebook. It's close to the tune played but not exactly the same. I have printed off the tune here and will work on it over the weekend so that I can play along with the piper on tuesday night and pick his brains!!
Just been listening to "Travelling Folk" on Radio Scotland. They have an archive spot, picking out tracks from "old" recordings, in this case, 1978. [!!] The song "Down By The Sally Gardens" was recorded by Clannad before they went "New Age", and you can hear it by replaying the programme anytime in the next 7 days. Not my favourite version of the song by any means, but give it a listen and make your own mind up.
The Sally Gardens
The Sally Gardens
Good morrow everyone,
Last night I was at a session where a most excellent northumbrian smallpiper played a slow aire and introduced it as 'The Sally Gardens' it sounded marvellous, so, this morning I had a look in the tune section here and found a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT tune! Doh!
Was he wrong, or are several 'Sally Gardens' out there?
cheers,
Confused of Hull.
# Posted on January 25th 2006 by octopus
Re: The Sally Gardens
Did he play The Maids of Mourne Shore?
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/1314
Wispy weepy types with beads round their necks sing the words of the poem "Down by the Sally Gardens" to that tune and it is often, confusingly, referred to as The Sally Gardens.
Parenthetically, the words of AE Housmans "When I was one and twenty" fit very well to the tune too.
# Posted on January 25th 2006 by showaddydadito
Re: The Sally Gardens
I just learned Sally Gardens, the version in John Walsh's Session Tunes, simular but not quite the version on this site. There is another Song called Down By The Sally Gardens (http://www.ireland-information.com/downloads/midi/downbythesallygardens.mid).
# Posted on January 25th 2006 by feardearg
Showaddydadito Was Faster
!
# Posted on January 25th 2006 by feardearg
Re: The Sally Gardens
. . . . and offered the link, and alternative words.
Ah - I have so much to be modest about.
# Posted on January 25th 2006 by showaddydadito
Re: The Sally Gardens
To answer Octo's query more clearly perhaps:
This too caused me slight confusion a few years ago:
Most ordinary folks (non musos) know the air of the song 'Down by the Sally Gardens' which is often shortened to the 'Sally Gardens'
However, when trad heads refer to the 'Sally Gardens', they mean the oft played reel of that name - 'pink horse of a different colour altogether' as my old maths teacher used to add.
'Sallys' by the way are a general term for various varieties of willow trees/ bushes. Cut and used for basket making etc. Since sallys usually prefer damp ground - sally gardens are groves of willow often near a stream etc. Of course, Sally Gardens could also be a convenient monicker for Sally's Garden, that being if Sally herself was the object of your desire, if you get my drift!!
# Posted on January 25th 2006 by the wounded hussar
Re: The Sally Gardens
Wow!! Thanks for the swift response chaps! I will follow up the links and learn 'Down by the sally gardens'
Cheers from sunny Hull!
# Posted on January 25th 2006 by octopus
Re: The Sally Gardens
"Wow!! Thanks for the swift response chaps!"
Hey - we don't mess about here you know!
Well . . . . maybe sometimes . . . .
# Posted on January 25th 2006 by showaddydadito
Re: The Sally Gardens
ha ha "Wispy weepy types with beads round their necks" tee he ho ho
# Posted on January 25th 2006 by ...
Re: The Sally Gardens
Baloney!
Manly men sing "Down by the Sally Gardens" (mentioning that Billy Yeats wrote the words) and the "wispy weepy types with beads round their necks" (usually women) just fall at their feet. Or at least acknowlegde that all men are not sexist pigs <G>
(O course if you don't have the voice for it, you are allowed to be sarcastic...)
Mike Keyes
http://www.banjosessions.com/dec05/triplets.html
# Posted on January 25th 2006 by mikeyes
Re: The Sally Gardens
I think it’s interesting to note that there’s a murder ballad in the American Old-Timey/Bluegrass tradition called “Down in the Willow Garden” made famous by Charlie Monroe (Bill’s brother) and the Stanley Brothers. First couple of lines echo Yeat’s poem. (Then o’ course it takes a dark turn involving misogyny and mahem!). Melody is quite a bit different. As the esteemed Wounded Hussar points out, “Sally” refers to willow trees (ie salacilic acid – aspirin – was once obtained as an analgesic from the bark of this tree).
# Posted on January 25th 2006 by fidkid
Re: The Sally Gardens
There's also a Planxty song (on After the Break, I think) called Ye Rambling Boys of Pleasure that has melody sounding an awful lot like Down By the Sally Gardens.
# Posted on January 25th 2006 by DrSilverSpear
Re: The Sally Gardens
That was the song WB Yeats half remembered when he wrote The Sally Gardens
# Posted on January 25th 2006 by JimR
Re: The Sally Gardens
ps: I have had a right good rummage on the internet and come up with various 'salley gardens' sally gardens' 'mourne mountains' with and without maids. My brain hurts!
# Posted on January 25th 2006 by octopus
Re: The Sally Gardens
Octopus - did look up the link in my first reply, which takes you to the tune "The Maids of Mourne Shore" on this very website?
# Posted on January 26th 2006 by showaddydadito
Re: The Sally Gardens
Hola showaddyetcetc,
Yes I did thanks, and I have put it in my tunebook. It's close to the tune played but not exactly the same. I have printed off the tune here and will work on it over the weekend so that I can play along with the piper on tuesday night and pick his brains!!
# Posted on January 26th 2006 by octopus
Re: The Sally Gardens
Wow... nice research!
I can't wait for the moment to spout off this tidbit in classic Cliff Claven style.
(You know, it's a little known fact that Sally Gardens...)
# Posted on January 26th 2006 by Schy
Re: The Sally Gardens
Just been listening to "Travelling Folk" on Radio Scotland. They have an archive spot, picking out tracks from "old" recordings, in this case, 1978. [!!] The song "Down By The Sally Gardens" was recorded by Clannad before they went "New Age", and you can hear it by replaying the programme anytime in the next 7 days. Not my favourite version of the song by any means, but give it a listen and make your own mind up.
# Posted on January 26th 2006 by Kenny