Down in the Willow Garden

"Down in the Willow Garden", also known as "Rose Connelly" is a traditional Appalachian murder ballad about a man facing the gallows for the murder of his lover: he gave her poisoned wine, stabbed her, and threw her 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 Charlie Monroe's 1947 version, and it has been recorded dozens of times since then.

The song may have derived from Irish sources from the early 19th century. Edward Bunting noted a song by the name "Rose Connolly" in 1811 in Coleraine. A version with slightly different lyrics is known from Galway in 1929. There are lyrical similarities to W. B. Yeats' 1899 poem "Down by the Salley Gardens", 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 Wexford Girl" and "The Rambling Boys of Pleasure", or similar songs. "The Wexford Girl" gave rise to "The Knoxville Girl", a very similar murder ballad to "Down in the Willow Garden". Unlike other Irish ballads, "Down in the Willow Garden" was initially restricted to the Appalachian region of the United States, and D.K. Wilgus mused that "It is as if an Irish local song never popularized on broadsides was spread by a single Irish peddler on his travels through Appalachia."

It is first noted in the United States in 1915, when it was referred to as popular in 1895 in Wetzel County, West Virginia.Cecil Sharp came across the song in 1918 in Virginia and North Carolina.

The lyrics are written from the point of view 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." He describes the tale that "Rose Connoley and her lover meet in a willow garden. He poisons her, stabs her, and throws her body into a river. The murderer's father had promised him to buy his freedom, but now the father must watch his son's execution. The son laments his death." His motivations might have 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. Teresa Goddu noted that the "ritual misogyny" familiar from the "Banks of the Ohio" and the "Knoxville Girl" is "especially gruesome" in this song. 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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