Down in the Willow Garden

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. The song has 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" also gave rise to the Appalachian murder ballad "The Knoxville Girl". Unlike other Irish ballads, "Down in the Willow Garden" was initially restricted to the Appalachian region of the United States; folklorist 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." The song is first noted in the United States in 1915, when it was referred to as popular in 1895 in Wetzel County, West Virginia. Folklorist Cecil Sharp came across the song in 1918 in Virginia and North Carolina. ==Lyrics and music==

The Flatt and Scruggs version of the lyrics, as found on metrolyrics.com, is as follows: 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." The lyrics refer to a poisoned wine, usually as "burglar's wine" or "Burgundy wine," sometimes as "Berkeley," "burdelin," "buglers," "Burgundy wine" is almost certainly a mondegreen of "burgaloo wine." ==Recordings==

Early recordings The song was recorded as "Rose Conley" by G. B. Grayson and Henry Whitter on either 18 November 1927 or 9 October 1928, for the Victor Talking Machine Company (Victor 21625). and RCA Victor 48-0222); Later versions The Stanley Brothers recorded the song twice in the mid-1950s. The Osborne Brothers and Red Allen recorded it as "Down in the Willow Garden" in 1956, as did Art Garfunkel for his 1973 album Angel Clare. Ramblin' Jack Elliot released it as "In the Willow Garden" on his 1959 album ''Ramblin' Jack Elliott in London, Oscar Brand sang "The Willow Garden" on his 1962 live album Morality and the bluegrass duo Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs recorded it as "Rose Connelly" for their 1965 album The Versatile Flatt & Scruggs''. Boyd Rice recorded it as "Down in the Willow Garden" in 1990 for his album Music Martinis and Misanthropy. Kristin Hersh recorded it for her 1998 album of traditional songs, Murder, Misery and Then Goodnight, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released a version, "The Willow Garden", as a B-side to the similarly-plotted murder ballad "Where the Wild Roses Grow". Holly Hunter sings the song as a lullaby in the 1987 film Raising Arizona, and it is the leitmotif of the film's villain, Leonard Smalls. Bon Iver and The Chieftains recorded a version of the song for the 2012 album Voice of Ages. This version of the song can be heard during the closing credits of episode four of Fargo season two. Lankum 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 Shakey Graves recorded a version of the song for his 2013 album "Story of My Life". Rufus Wainwright and Brandi Carlile perform the song on his 2023 studio album Folkocracy. ==References==