The Star of the County Down

Source: Bob Pfeffer
Source's source: The First Book of Irish Ballads, Daniel O'Keeffe, ed. (The Mercier Press, Cork, 1976)

Text:
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Near to Banbridge Town, in the County Down
E D
One morning in July
E G D
Down a boreen green came a sweet colleen
E D e
And she smiled as she passed me by
G D G
Oh, she looked so neat from her two white feet
E D
To the sheen of her nut-brown hair;
E G D
Such a coaxing elf, I'd to shake myself
E D e
To make sure I was standing there
E G D

Chorus: Oh, from Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay
E D
And from Galway to Dublin town
E G D
No maid I've seen like the brown colleen
E D e
That I met in the County Down
As she onward sped I shook my head
And I gazed with a feeling rare
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 Bann
She's the Star of the County Down. "

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 lily-white throat
As she lilted an Irish tune
At the pattern dance, you were held in a trance
As she tripped through a reel or a jig;
When her eyes she’d roll, she’d coax, ‘pon my soul
A spud from a hungry pig

I've travelled a bit, but was never smit
Since my roving career began;
But fair and square, I surrendered there
To the charms of young Rose McCann
I'd a heart to let, and no tenant yet
Did I meet with in shawl or gown
But in she went, and I asked no rent
From the Star of the County Down
At the crossroads fair I'll be surely there
And 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
Though my plow with rust turns brown
Till a smiling bride by my own fireside
Sits the Star of the County Down