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.
She looked so sweet, 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
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 quare,
And I says I, to a passerby,
Who's the maid with the nut-brown hair?
He smiled at me, and with pride says he,
That's the pride of Ireland's crown,
She's 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 the rose in June,
And you held each note, from he lily-white throat,
As she lilted an Irish tune.
At the pattern dance, you were in a trance,
As she tripped through a jig or a reel,
When her eyes she'd roll, she would lift your soul,
As your heart she'd lightly steal.(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 the nut-brown rose,
No pipe I'll smoke, no plough I'll yoke,
Let my plough with rust turn brown,
'Till a shining bride by my own fireside,
Be the star of the County Down. (Chorus)