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STAR OF THE COUNTY DOWN (1)
(Lyrics: Cathal McGarvey, a poet of the second half of the 19th century)

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 coaxing elf, I'd to shake myself
to make sure I was standing 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 queer
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 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 a jig
And when her eyes she'd roll
she'd coax upon my soul a spud from a hungry pig

I've travelled a bit but never was hit
since my roving career began
But fair and square I surrendered 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

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


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