Near to Banbridge Town in the County Down
One morning in July
Down a boreen green came a sweet colleen
And she smiled as she passed me by
She looked so neat from her two white feet
To the sheen of her nut brown hair
Sure the coaxing elf, I'd to shake myself
To make sure I was standing there
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
As she onward sped, I shook my head
And I gazed with a feelin' queer
And I said says I, to a passer-by
"Whose the maid with the nut brown hair?"
He smiled at me and with pride says he
"She's the gem of Ireland's crown
That's young Rose 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
No maid I've seen like the brown colleen
That I met in the County Down
At the crossroads fair, I'll surely be there
And I'll dress in my Sunday clothes
And I'll try sheeps' eyes and deludhering lies
On the heart of the nut brown rose
No pipe I'll smoke, no horse I'll yoke
Though with rust my plough turns 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
No maid I've seen like the brown colleen
That I met in the County Down
