The Star of the County Down

         Em                                 G         D
Near Banbridge Town, in the County Down
 Em                      Bm
One morning last July,
                Em                            G           D
From the village green came a sweet colleen,
                 Em              C               Em
And she smiled as she passed me by;
         G                                  D
She looked so neat from her two bare feet
            Em                                Bm
To the sheen of her nut-brown hair,
             Em                      G            D
Such a coaxing elf, I'd to shake myself
           Em          C       Em
For to see I was really there

(Chorus):
          G                         D
From Bantry Bay to the Derry Quay,
                  Em                       Bm
And from Galway to Dublin town,
       Em                              G           D
No maid I've seen like the sweet colleen
           Em           C     D  Em
That I met in the County Down.


Well she onward sped I shook my head
And I stood with a feeling rare,
And I said, says I, to a passer-by,
"Who's the maid with the nut-brown hair?"
He smiled at me, and he said 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."

(Chorus)

At 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
Though my plow is rust-colored brown,
Till a smiling bride by my own fireside
Sits the Star of the County Down.