Close to 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 neat from her two bare feet,
To the sheen of her nut-brown hair,
Such a coaxing elf, I`d to shake myself,
To make sure I was really there.
From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay,
And from Galway to Dublin town,
Na maid I`ve seen like the brown collen,
That I met in the country Down
As sho onward sped sure I sratched my head
And I said with a feeling rare,
Ay", says I to a passer by,
Who`s the maid with the nut-brown hair?"
He smiled at me, and then says he:
She`s the gem of Ireland`s crown,
young 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,
Na maid I've seen like the brown collen,
That I met in the county Down
At the harvest fair I`ll be surely there
And I dress in my Sunday clothes
With my shoes shone bright and my hat upright
And a smile from my nut-brown rose.
No pipe I smoke, no horse I`ll yoke
Let me plough with a rust turn 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,
Na 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