The song is a variation of a murder ballad called "The Cruel Mother" or "The Greenwood Side", but in an up-tempo version sung by children in the schoolyard. As in several versions of "The Cruel Mother", the woman stabs the baby in the heart using "a penknife long and sharp", but whereas in "The Cruel Mother" the woman is visited by the ghosts of the children she killed, in "Weela Weela Walya" it is "two policeman and a man", who come to her door and arrest her for the murder. Neither this version nor any adult Irish version is found in Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads, but it is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index. The song was popular with Irish Traveller children. A similar song, "Old Mother Lee", is sung in playgrounds in Liverpool.
Performance
The song was recorded by The Clancy Brothers as "Wella Wallia" on Recorded Live in Ireland, and as "Weila Waile" by The Dubliners on their 1967 albumA Drop of the Hard Stuff. It was a popular part of the Dubliners' repertoire for decades, appearing on several of their live albums, and was sung at the funeral of Ronnie Drew in 2008.
Lyrics
There was an old woman and she lived in the woods Weela Weela Walya There was an old woman and she lived in the woods Down by the river Saile. She had a baby three months old Weela Weela Walya She had a baby three months old Down by the river Saile. She had a penknife long and sharp Weela Weela Walya She had a penknife long and sharp Down by the river Saile. She stuck the penknife in the baby's heart Weela Weela Walya She stuck the penknife in the baby's heart Down by the river Saile. Three loud knocks came a'knocking on the door Weela Weela Walya Three loud knocks came a'knocking on the door Down by the river Saile. Two policemen and a man Weela Weela Walya Two policemen and a man Down by the river Saile. "Are you the woman that killed the child?" Weela Weela Walya "Are you the woman that killed the child?" Down by the river Saile. "I am the woman that killed the child" Weela Weela Walya "I am the woman that killed the child" Down by the river Saile. They took her away and they put her in jail Weela Weela Walya They took her away and they put her in jail Down by the river Saile. Alternate Ending: They took her up and strung her by the neck Weela Weela Walya They took her up and strung her by the neck Down by the river Saile. And that was the end of the woman in the woods Weela Weela Walya And that was the end of the woman in the woods ''Down by the river Saile.'
