Was in the willow garden
Where I and my lover did stray
Was there we sat a-courtin'
My lover did these words say

"Oh, Willy, my darlin', oh Willy, my love
How can you take my life?
How can you stab my fair young breast
With your long daggery knife?"

I stabbed her with my dagger
It was a bloody sight
I throwed her in the river
It was a dreadful night

My father often had told me
That money would set me free
If I would murder that dear little girl
Whose name was Rose Connelly

My race is run beneath the sun
The scaffold is waiting for me
'Cause I did murder that dear little girl
Whose name was Rose Connelly

And now I sit in my old jail cell
And out of my window can see
The spot where I murdered that dear little girl
Down under the willow tree
"Oh, Willy, my darlin', oh Willy, my love
How can you take my life?
How can you stab my fair young breast
With your long daggery knife?"

"With your long daggery knife
How can you take my life?"