Star of the County Down

In Banbridge town in the County Down

One morning last July,

From a boreen green came a sweet Colleen

And she smiled as she passed me by.

She looked so sweet from her two bare feet

To the sheen of her nut brown hair.

Such a coaxing elf, sure I shook myself

For to see I was really there.

From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay and

From Galway to Dublin Town,

No maid I've seen like the brown Colleen

That I met in the County Down.

As she onward sped, sure I scratched my head,

And I looked with a feelin' rare,

And I say's, say's I, to a passer-by,

"Whose the maid with the nut brown hair"?

He smiled at me and he says's, say's he,

"That's the gem of Ireland's crown.

It's Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann,

She's the star of the County Down."

From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay and

From Galway to Dublin Town,

No maid I've seen like the brown Colleen

That I met in the County Down.

At the harvest fair she'll be surely there

And I'll dress in my Sunday clothes,

With my shoes shone bright and my hat cocked

Right for a smile from my nut brown rose.

No pipe I'll smoke, no horse I'll yoke

Till my plough turns rust coloured brown.

Till a smiling bride, by my own fireside

Sits the star of the County Down.

From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay and

From Galway to Dublin Town,

No maid I've seen like the brown Colleen

That I met in the County Down.