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;
Oh she looked so neat from her two white feet
to the sheen of her nut brown hair.
Sure the soaxing elf, I'd to shake myself,
to make sure I was staning there.

-Chorus-
Oh from Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay, and from Galway to Dublin town,
No maid I've seen like the sweet colleen,
that I met in the county Down

As she onward sped I shook my head
And I gazed with a feeling quare,
'And I said,' says I to a passer-by,
'Who's the maid with the nut brown hair?'
Oh, 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 Bana
She's the Star of the County Down.'

-chorus-

She'd a soft brown eye and a look so sly,
And a smile like the rose in June,
And you hung on each note from her lily-white throat,
As she lilted an Irish tune.
At the pattern dance you were held in trance
As she tripped through a reel or jig,
And when her eyes she'd roll, she'd coax upon my soul
A spud from a hungry pig.

-chorus-

I've travelled a bit, but never was hit,
Since my roving career began;
But fair and square I surrended thee
To the charm of young Rosie McCann
With a heart to let and no tenant yet,
Did I meet within shawl or gown.
But in she went and I asked no rent
From the star of the County Down.

-chorus-

At the crossroads fair I'll surely be there
And I'll dress in my Sunday clothes,
And I'll try sheep's eyes and deluding lies
On the heart of the nut-brown Rose.
No pipe I smoke, no horse I yoke
Though my plough with rust turns brown
Till a smiling bride by my own fireside
Sits the Star of the County Down

-chorus-