Down By The Salley Gardens comes in three lengths to suit your ceremony:

• The shortest version lasts a minute and a quarter and is ideal for a short moment of reflection or to accompany a very short ceremony, such as lighting a candle.

• The mid-length version is  just under two and a half minutes long.  This version is ideal for when a longer piece of music is needed.
• The longest version is nearly 4 minutes long and is perfect for when a long piece of music is needed such as the prelude or during the signing of the marriage papers if this is included in the ceremony.

Below is the W.B. Yeats poem usually sung to this beautiful melody.

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 would 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.

Note: Traditional melody arranged by Aisling Ennis.  Lyrics by William Butler Yeats.