"Lily of the West" is a traditional American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 folk song (there are older versions known in the west of Ireland, from which the US song was derived) about a man who travels to Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

 and falls in love with a woman named Mary, or Flora, 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.

"Handsome Mary, The Lily of the West"

The words to "Handsome Mary, The Lily of the West" dating to 1878:

When first I came to Louisville some pleasure there to find,

A damsel fair from Lexington was pleasing my mind.

Her cherry cheeks and ruby lips, like arrows pierced my breast,—

They called her Handsome Mary, the Lily of the West.

I courted her awhile, in hopes her love to gain,

But she proved false to me which caused me much pain.

She robbed me of my liberty, deprived me of my rest,—

They called her Handsome Mary, the Lily of the West.

One evening as I rambled, down by a shady grove,

I saw a man of low degree conversing with my love.

They were singing songs of melody, while I was sore distressed,

O faithless, faithless Mary, the Lily of the West!

I stepped up to my rival, my dagger in my hand.

I caught him by the collar, and boldly bade him stand ;

Being driven to desperation, I stabbed him in the breast,

But was betrayed by Mary, the Lily of the West!

At length the day of trial came, I boldly made my plea,

But the judge and jury they soon convicted me.

To deceive both judge and jury so modestly she dressed,

And there she swore my life away, the Lily of the West.

Handsome Mary is said to have been the daughter of a clergyman from Lexington, Kentucky.

Historical information

The song is often interpreted as a metaphor for the Irish experience in America. Some versions of the song, notably the cover by The Chieftains

The Chieftains

The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...

 and Rosanne Cash

Rosanne Cash

Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of the late country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin....

 from The Chieftains' album Further Down the Old Plank Road, end with the man's being released and traveling across the Atlantic to "ramble through old Ireland/And travel Scotland o'er". Despite leaving America, he finds that he is still in love and mentally fixated on the woman, known in this version as Flora. Another Chieftains cover, from their earlier album The Long Black Veil and sung by Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler

Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...

, is set in Ireland.

The song has been recorded by Joan Baez

Joan Baez

Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....

, Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

, The Chieftains

The Chieftains

The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...

, Josh Andrews, The Flash Girls

The Flash Girls

The Flash Girls are a now defunct folk music duo based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota.. The duo consisted of Emma Bull, a noted science fiction author, and Lorraine Garland, also known as "The Fabulous Lorraine". Garland is also notable as Neil Gaiman's personal assistant; the group formed at a Guy...

, Caroline Groussain, Sheri Kling, Show of Hands, Peter, Paul and Mary

Peter, Paul and Mary

Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio whose nearly 50-year career began with their rise to become a paradigm for 1960s folk music. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers...

 (as "Flora"), Mark Knopfler, Crooked Still

Crooked Still

Crooked Still is an alternative bluegrass band consisting of vocalist Aoife O'Donovan, banjo player Dr. Gregory Liszt, bassist Corey DiMario, cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddler Brittany Haas...

, Dirty Linen, Branimir Štulić

Branimir Štulic

Branimir "Johnny" Štulić is a Yugoslav singer, songwriter, poet and a leader of the popular former Yugoslav rock group Azra...

 (in Croatian

Croatian language

Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...

, titled Usne Vrele Višnje) and Pat Gubler (PG Six) on the album 'Slightly Sorry' (Amish Records 2010) among others. The "Green Mountain Bluegrass Band" does a version of this song as well.

From "The Collected Reprints from Sing Out! the Folk Song Magazine Volumes 7-12, 1964-1973"
page 6, preceding the songs notation and Lyrics:

This old ballad has been kept alive over the centuries by both print and oral tradition. Originally an English street ballad (or broadside), the song became particularly popular in the United States by parlor singers and ballad-printers. During the 19th century it was known throughout the country and, in time, became part of the folk heritage. Its popularity was such that in Kansas, local versifiers used the song for a parody:
Come all you folks of enterprise who feel inclined to roam
Beyond the Mississippi to seek a pleasant home.
Pray take a pioneer's advice, I'll point you out the best -
I mean the state of Kansas, the Lily of the West