Star Of The County Down

Near Banbridge town in the County Down
One evening last July
Down a bóithrín green came a sweet cailín
And she smiled as she passed me by

She looked so neat in her two bare feet
And the sheen of her nut-brown hair
Such a coaxing elf, I'd to shake myself
To make sure I was standing there

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay
From Galway to Dublin town
No maid I've seen like the fair cailín
That I met in the County Down

As she onward sped, and I shook me head
And I gazed with a feeling queer
And I said, says I, to a passerby
"Who's your one with the nut-brown hair?"

He smiled at me, and with pride says he
"She's the gem of old Ireland's crown
Young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann
And the star of the County Down"

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay
From Galway to Dublin town
No maid I've seen like the fair cailín
That I met in the County Down

She'd a soft brown eye and a look so sly
And a smile like a rose in June
And you held each note from her auburn throat
As she lilted lamenting tunes

At the pattern dance you'd be in a trance
As she skipped through a jig or a reel
When her eyes, she'd roll, ah she'd lift your soul
And your heart, she would likely steal

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay
From Galway to Dublin town
No maid I've seen like the fair cailín
That I met in the County Down

At the harvest fair she'll be surely there
And I'll dress in me Sunday clothes
With my hat cocked right and me shoes shone bright
For a smile from the nut-brown Rose

No horse I'll yoke, or pipe I'll smoke
'Til the rust in my plough turn brown
And a smiling bride by my own fireside
Sits the star of the County Down

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay
From Galway to Dublin town
No maid I've seen like the fair cailín
That I met in the County Down

She'd a soft brown eye and a look so sly
And a smile like a rose in June
And you held each note from her auburn throat
As she lilted lamenting tunes

At the pattern dance you'd be in a trance
As she skipped through a jig or a reel
When her eyes she'd roll, ah she'd lift your soul
And your heart, she would likely steal

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay
From Galway to Dublin town
No maid I've seen like the fair cailín
That I met in the County Down

Near Banbridge town, in the County Down
One evening last July
Down a bóithrín green came a sweet cailín
And she smiled as she passed me by

She looked so neat in her two bare feet
And the sheen of her nut-brown hair
Such a coaxing elf, I'd to shake myself
To make sure I was standing there

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay
From Galway to Dublin town
No maid I've seen like the fair cailín
That I met in the County Down

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay
From Galway to Dublin town
No maid I've seen like the fair cailín
That I met in the County Down

From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay
From Galway to Dublin town
No maid I've seen like the fair cailín
That I met in the County Down