Near Banbridge Town

In the County Down

One morning last July
Down a boreen green

Came a sweet colleen

She smiled as she passed me by

She looked so sweet

From her two white 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 Bantry Bay

Up to Derry Quay

From Galway to Dublin town
No maid I’ve seen

Like the fair colleen

That I met in the Country Down

​

As she onward sped

I shook my head
And I looked with a feeling rare
I said, oh my, to a passer-by
“Who’s the maid with the

Nut-brown hair?”

He looked at me

And he said to me

“She’s the gem of Ireland’s crown
Young Rosie McCann

From the banks of the Bann

The Star of the County Down.”

​

From Bantry Bay

Up to Derry Quay

From Galway to Dublin town
No maid I’ve seen

Like the fair colleen

That I met in the Country Down

​

At the harvest fair

She’ll be surely there
And I’ll dress in my Sunday clothes
With my hat cocked right

And my shoes shon bright

For a smile from the

Nut-brown Rose
No horse i’ll yoke

Or pipe I smoke
‘till the rust in my plough turn brown
And a smiling bride

By my own fireside
The Star of the County Down

​

From Bantry Bay

Up to Derry Quay

From Galway to Dublin town
No maid I’ve seen

Like the fair colleen

That I met in the Country Down