Star of the County Down

Traditional

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 pinched myself for to see I was really there

From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay
From Galway to Dublin Town
No maid I've seen like the sweet 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, say's he, "That's the gem of Ireland's crown,
sweet Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann she's the star of the County Down"

She’d soft brown eyes with a look so shy and a smile like a rose in June

And she sang so sweet, what a lovely treat, as she lifted an Irish tune

At the llamas dance I was in a trance as she whirled with the lads of the town

And it broke me heart just to be apart from the star of the county down.

At the Harvest Fair she'll be surely there so 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 is a rust colored brown
Till a smiling bride by my own fireside sits the star of the County Down.