The Star of the County Down lyrics

Banbridge Town in the County Down

One morning last July,

From 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 into Derry Quay

From Galway to Dublin Town

No maid I've seen like the fair colleen

That I met in the County Down

As she onward sped, sure I scratched my head,

And I looked with a feelin' 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 says, says he,

"That's the gem of Ireland's crown.

Young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann,

She's the star of the County Down."

From Bantry Bay into Derry Quay

From Galway to Dublin Town

No maid I've seen like the fair colleen

That I met in the County Down

The Harvest Fair she'll be surely there

And 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 turns rust coloured brown.

Till my smiling bride by my own fireside

Sits the star of the County Down.

• Artist:Loreena McKennitt
• Album:The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2010)