Lily of the West

"Lily of the West" (Roud 957, Laws P27) is a traditional English-language folk song, found throughout England, Ireland, Canada, and America. It is about a man who travels to either Louisville or Limerick and falls in love with a woman named Mary, Flora, or Molly, the eponymous Lily of the West. He catches Mary being unfaithful to him, and, in a fit of rage, stabs the man she is with, and is subsequently imprisoned. In spite of this, he finds himself still in love with her. In most versions, the Lily testifies in his defense and he is freed, though they do not resume their relationship.

The lyrics to the first verse, as famously sung by Joan Baez:

When first I came to Louisville, some pleasure there to find
A damsel there from Lexington was pleasing to my mind
Her rosy cheeks, her ruby lips, like arrows pierced my breast
And the name she bore was Flora, the lily of the West

- and every verse ends with a repetition of the phrase, [name], the lily of the West.