Near Banbridge Town, in the County Down
One evening last July,
Down a boreen green came a sweet colleen,
And she smiled as she passed me by;
Well, she looked so sweet from her two bare feet
To the sheen of her nut-brown hair;
Such a coaxing elf, had to shake myself
To make sure I was standing there.
From The Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay,
From Galway to Dublin town,
No maid I've seen like the fair colleen
That I met in the County Down.
As she onward sped, I shook my head
And I looked with a feeling rare.
I said, says I, as I passed her by,
"Who's the maid with the nut-brown hair?"
He smiled at me, and with pride said 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 The Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay,
From Galway to Dublin town,
No maid I've seen like the fair 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
My shoes shine bright, my hat cocked right
For a smile from my nut-brown Rose.
No pipe I'll smoke, no horse I'll yoke
Though my plough turn a rust-coloured brown,
Till a smiling bride by my own fireside
Sits the Star of the County Down.
From the Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay,
From Galway to Dublin town,
No maid I've seen like the fair colleen
That I met in the County Down.
She's a soft brown eye and
A look so sly and a smile like the 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 span in a jig or reel
Her an eyeward roll, she'd have your soul
And your heart she'd surely steal
From the Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay,
From Galway to Dublin town,
No maid I've seen like the fair colleen
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 colleen
That I met in the County Down.
