Star Of The County Down
((Adapted from: Gilderoy (Traditional))
Traditional (Ireland)
Performer(s): Van Morrison & The Chieftains - 1988
and multiple other artists
Near Banbridge town in the County Down
One morning last 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
For to see I was really there
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!
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 a trance
As she tripped thru a reel or a jig
And when her eyes she'd roll, she'd coax, on my soul
A spud from a hungry pig!
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!
I've travelled a bit, but never was hit
Since my roving career began
But, fair and square, I surrendered there
To the charms of young Rosie McAnn!
With a heart to let, and no tenant yet
Did I meet in shawl or gown
But in she went, and I asked no rent
From 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!
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 said, said he
"That's the gem of Ireland's crown
Young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Ban
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 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 plough is a rust coloured brown
Till a smiling bride by my own fireside
Sits 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!
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