THE STAR OF THE COUNTY DOWN
Traditional (Ireland)


Near Banbridge town in the County Down
One morning last July
Down 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.

Chorus:
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! 

She'd a soft brown eye and a look so sly
And a smile like the rose in June
And you hung on each note from her lily-white throat
As she lilted an Irish tune
At the pattern dance you were held in a trance
As she tripped thru a reel or a jig,
And when her eyes she'd roll, she'd coax, on my soul,
A spud from a hungry pig!

Chorus: 

I've travelled a bit, but never was hit
Since my roving career began,
But, fair and square, I surrendered there
To the charms of young Rosie McAnn!
With a heart to let, and no tenant yet,
Did I meet in shawl or gown,
But in she went, and I asked no rent
From the Star of the County Down!

Chorus:

As she onward sped sure I scratched my head 
And I looked 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 he said, said he,
"That's the gem of Ireland's crown.
Young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Ban,
She's the star of the County Down."

Chorus:

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 coloured brown
Till a smiling bride by my own fireside
Sits the star of the County Down.

Chorus: