Near Banbridge Town in the County Down
One morning last July
From the wild boreen 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, I'd to shake myself
To be sure I was standing there
As she onward sped, sure I shook my head
And I gazed with a feeling quare
And said I, says I, to a passer-by
"Who's the maid with the nut-brown hair?"
He smiled at me and with pride said he,
"She's the gem of Ireland's crown,
Miss 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 sweet 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 sweet colleen
That I met in the County Down
She'd a soft brown eye and a look so sly
And a smile like a rose in June
And you crave each note
from her lily-white throat
As she lilted an Irish tune
But at the pattern dance you beheld in trance
As she kicked through a jig or reel
When her eyes she'd roll,
She would lick your soul
And your heart she would quickly steal
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
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