Near to Banbridge town in the County Down

One morning last July

From a boreen green came a sweet colleen

And she smiled as she passed me by

She looked so sweet from her two bare feet

To the sheen of her nut-brown hair

Such a coaxing elf sure I shook myself

For to see I was really there

Chorus:

From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay

And from Galway to Dublin Town,

No maid have I seen like the brown colleen

That I met in the County Down

As she onward sped, sure I scratched my head

And I looked with a feeling rare

And I says, says I to a passer-by:

"Who's the maid with the nut-brown hair"

He smiled at me and he says, says he:

"That's the gem of Ireland's crown

Young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann

She's the star of the County Down"

Chorus

She'd a soft brown eye and a look so sly

And a smile like a rose in June

And you hung on each note from her lilly-white throat

As she lilted an Irish tune

At the pattern dance you were held in a trance

As she skipped to a reel or a jig

When her eyes she'd roll, she'd coax upon my soul

A spud from a hungry pig

Chorus

I've traveled a bit but never was hit

Since my roving career began

But fair and square I surrendered there

To the charm of young Rosie McCann

With a heart to let and no tenant yet

Did I meet with a shawl or gown

But in she went and I asked no rent

From the star of the County Down

Chorus

At the harvest fair, she'll be surely there

And I'll dress in my Sunday clothes

With my shoes shone bright and my hat cocked right

For a smile from my nut-brown Rose

No pipe I'll smoke, no horse I'll yoke

'Till my plow turns rust-coloured brown

'Till a smiling bride, by my own fire-side

Sits the star of the County Down

Chorus