Near Banbridge town, in the County Down,
one evening last July,
down a bóithrín green came a sweet cailín
and she smiled as she passed me by.
She looked so neat from her two bare feet
to the sheen of her nut-brown hair;
such a coaxing elf, had to shake myself
to make sure I was standing there!
CHORUS
From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay,
from Galway to Dublin town,
no maid I've seen like the fair cailín
that I met in the County Down!
As she onward sped sure I scratched me head,
and I looked with a feeling queer;
and I says, says I, to a passerby,
"Who's your one with the nut-brown hair?"
He smiles at me, and with pride says he
"She's the gem of old Ireland's crown--
young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann,
she's the star of the County Down."
CHORUS
She'd a soft brown eye, and a look so sly,
and a smile like a rose in June--
and you held each note from her auburn throat
as she lilted lamenting tunes.
At the pattern dance you'd be in a trance,
as she skipped through a jig or reel--
when her eyes she'd roll, and she'd lift your soul,
and your heart she would likely steal.
CHORUS
At the harvest fair she'll be surely there,
and I'll dress in me Sunday clothes:
with my hat cocked right and my shoes shone bright,
for a smile from the nut-brown Rose!
No pipe I'll smoke, nor horse I'll yoke,
'til the rust of me plough turn brown;
'til a smiling bride by my own fireside
sits the star of the County Down.
CHORUS
OPTIONAL REPEAT:
She'd a soft brown eye, and a look so sly,
and a smile like a rose in June--
and you held each note from her auburn throat
as she lilted lamenting tunes.
At the pattern dance you'd be in a trance,
as she skipped through a jig or reel--
when her eyes she'd roll, and she'd lift your soul,
and your heart she would likely steal.
CHORUS