Lyrics

THE STAR OF COUNTY DOWN (Irish traditional)

Near to Banbridge town, in the County Down, one morning in July
Down a bòithrìn green came a sweet colleen
and she smiled as she passed me by
Oh she looked so sweet from her two bare feet
to the crown of her nut - brown hair
Such a coaxing elf shure I shook myself
to be sure I was really there

And from Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay
and 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 I shook myself
and I gazed with a feeling rare
And I says, says I to a passer-by:
"Who's the maid with the nut-brown hair?"
He smiled at me and with pride says he:
"That's the gem of old Ireland's Crown,
young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann,
she's the Star of the County Down"

And from Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay
and from Galway to Dublin town
No maid I?ve seen like the sweet colleen
that I met in the County Down

At the Harvest Fair she'll be surely there
so i'll dress in my Sunday clothes
With my shoes shine bright and my hat just right
with a heart of a nut-brown rose
No pipe Iìll smoke, no horse I'll joke
And my plough with the rust turn brown
Till a smiling bride by my own fire side
sit the Star of the County Down

And from Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay
and from Galway to Dublin town
No maid I?ve seen like the sweet colleen
that I met in the County Down