Lyrics:

Down in the willow garden
Where me and my true love did meet
Was there we sat a-courtin'
My love fell off to sleep
I had a bottle of burgundy wine
My true love she did not know
Was there I murdered that dear little girl
Down on the banks below

I drew my saber through her
It was a bloody knife
I threw her into the river to drown
It was an awful sight
My father often told me
That money would set me free
If I'd but murdered that dear little girl
Whose name was Rose Conlee

Now he sits by his cabin door
Wiping his tear-brimmed eye
Gazing on his own dear son
Upon the scaffold high
My race is run beneath the sun
The devil is waiting for me
For I did murder that dear little girl
Whose name was Rose Conlee