‘Down by the salley gardens’ originally is a poem by William Butler Yeats ( 叶慈)published in The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems in 1889.

"Yeats indicated in a note that it was "an attempt to reconstruct an old song from three lines imperfectly remembered by an old peasant woman in the village of Ballisodare, Sligo, who often sings them to herself."

Yeats's original title, "An Old Song Re-Sung", reflected this; it first appeared under its present title when it was reprinted in Poems in 1895.The verse was subsequently set to music by Herbert Hughes to the air The Maids of the Mourne Shore in 1909."

First time listening this song, I was attracted by its unique Irish- style music and the simple lyrics.

"Salley" is an anglicisation of the Irish saileach, meaning willow.

Following is the original poem:

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 did 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.

This vido is got from youtube. I am not so keen for this video pictures but the singer，藤田惠美，perfomed this song very well.  This song is from her album 'Camomile extra', one of the Camomile Series, with very high quality.