“There was an old woman who lived in the woods, weile weile waile…”
The children’s nursery rhyme made popular by Christy Moore and The Dubliners was a favourite of my childhood. The startlingly graphic lyrics somehow failed to land with us fourth classers as we’d sing with gusto about infanticide at the end of Ms. Brennan’s singing class. When my cousins and I were instructed to do a party piece at family gatherings, we would trot out Weile Waile (also known as The River Saile or The Cruel Mother) to the foot-stomping delight of our older relatives while the visiting Canadian cousins looked distinctly disturbed. And why wouldn’t they look disturbed? The horrific lyrics describing an old woman stabbing a baby and being sentenced to death by hanging, are just not what you’d expect from a children’s nursery song.
There was an old woman who lived in the woods, weile weile waile.
There was an old woman who lived in the woods, down by the river Saile.
She had a baby three months old, weile weile waile.
She had a baby three months old, down by the river Saile.
She had a penknife, long and sharp, weile weile waile.
She had a penknife, long and sharp, down by the river Saile.
She stuck the penknife in the baby’s heart, weile weile waile.
She stuck the penknife in the baby’s heart, down by the river Saile.
There were three loud knocks come a’knocking on the door, weile weile waile.
There were three loud knocks come a’knocking on the door, down by the river Saile.
There were two policemen and a man, weile weile waile.
There were two policemen and a man, down by the river Saile.
They took her away and they put her in the jail, weile weile waile.
They took her away and they put her in the jail, down by the river Saile.
They put a rope around her neck, weile weile waile.
They put a rope around her neck, down by the river Saile.
They pulled the rope and she got hung, weile weile waile.
They pulled the rope and she got hung, down by the river Saile.
And that was the end of the woman in the woods, weile weile waile.
And that was the end of the baby too, down by the river Saile.
The song, known as a murder ballad, was first documented by Francis James Child, an American scholar and folklorist, in the 19th century and is, in fact, a reference to a particularly horrific aspect of the Great Irish Famine when families were unable to feed their children due to reasons of extreme hunger and poverty.
Occasionally the sixth verse includes a lyric mentioning the Special Branch, this addition came about in the 70s.
There were two policemen and a Special Branch man, weile weile waile.
There were two policemen and a Special Branch man, down by the river Saile.
This is referencing the branch of An Garda Síochána that handled matters of national security.
The exact meaning of ‘weile waile’ is not known but it is thought to be related to an old Middle English lamentation ‘wailowai’ or ‘weilewei’ meaning an exclamation of grief.
Do you have weirdly fond memories of this song? Or perhaps you know a different version? Tell us in the comments…
