Near 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 sweet from her two bare feet To the sheen of her nut brown hair Such a coaxing elf, sure I shook myself To make sure I was standing there.
As she onward sped I shook my head And I gazed with a feeling rare And I said, said I, to a passerby "Who's the maid with the nut-brown hair?" He smiled at me, and with pride says he, "That's the gem of Ireland's crown. She's young Rosie 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 harvest fair, she'll be surely there, So I'll dress in my Sunday clothes, With my hat cocked right and my shoes shone bright For a smile from my nut-brown rose. No pipe I'll smoke, no horse I'll yoke, 'Til my plough is a rust-colored brown, 'Til a smiling bride by my own fireside Sits the Star of the County Down.