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Star of the County Down lyrics

Orthodox Celts

Near 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
From 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.

As she onward sped, sure I scratched my head,
Then 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 says, says he,
"That's the gem of the Ireland's crown.
Young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann,
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 of a nut brown rose.
No pipe I'll smoke, no horse I'll yoke
'Til my plough is rust coloured brown.
'Til 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.

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.

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.

Song Details

Star of the County Down
Orthodox Celts

Music: Traditional

Words: Cathal McGarvey (1866–1927)

Brief: A song about a young man who meets a charming and popular young lady by the name of Rosie McCann. He is so taken by her that by the end of the song he imagines her as his wedded bride.

References:
Bainbridge: Town in County Down, Northern Ireland - lies on the River Bann.
Boreen - a small track or lane, commonly found in rural areas.
Colleen - girl or young, unmarried woman

Orthodox Celts: Serbian band that plays Irish Folk Music. They have recorded this song on The Celts Strike Back album released in 1997, their live album Muzicke paralele released in 1995, and more recently Music Cultures - Andean Music released on June 18, 2015.

Category: Irish Folk

Covers: Van Morrison and The Chieftains, The Pogues, Loreena McKennitt, The Irish Rovers, The High Kings.

Album by Orthodox Celts - The Celts Strike Again (April 22, 2014)

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