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In 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.
Chorus
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,
and I looked with a feeling rare,
and I said say's I, to a passer-by,
"Who's the maid with the nut brown hair"?
He smiled at me and he say's say's he,
"That's the gem of Ireland's Crown.
It's young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann,
she's the Star of the County Down"
Chorus
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
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 a smiling bride, by my own fireside
sits the Star of the County Down.
Chorus/Repeat
Traditional song
This song sung by Van Morrison and backed by The Chieftains
is available on the album "Irish Heartbeat"
published by Essential Music/Polygram Music Publishing Ltd./Chrysalis Music Ltd