Down by the Sally Gardens is a poem by the Irish poet William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939). The text was set to music by Herbert Hughes (1882 – 1937) and others, such as Rebecca Clark (1886 – 1979), John Ireland (1879 – 1962) and Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976).
I became acquainted with this piece in the form of an arrangement for guitar and vocals of Benjamin Britten’s piece. I would play it along during my guitar lessons as a beginner. The setting was rather modern and in hindsight my teacher wanted to achieve a much too fast tempo. I was saved by the singer’s flu.
Later this song became one of my first arrangements for guitar. I played it at the farewell of a Scottish colleague. But yes, Irish and Scots have some moods in common in music.