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.