The Star of the County Downe

Near Banbridge Town in the County Down
One morning in July
Down a boreen green came a sweet colleen
And she smiled as she passed me by
She looked so neat from her two white feet
To the sheen of her nut-brown hair
Sure the coaching elf had to shake meself
To make sure 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 I shook me head
And I gazed with a feeling queer
And I said, says I to a passer by
"Who's the maid with the nut-brown hair?"
Oh he smiled at me and with pride said he
"That's the gem of Ireland's crown
She's young Rosie McGann 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 crossroads fair I'll be surely there
And I'll dress in me Sunday clothes
And I'll try sheep's eyes and deluding lies
And the heart of the nut-brown rose
No pipe I'll smoke, no horse I'll yoke
Though with rust my plough turned 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

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