EmGDGEmD
Near to Banbridge town, in the County Down, one morning in July
EmGDGCDEm
Down a boreen green came a sweet colleen and she smiled as she passed me by
GAmGEmD
She looked so neat from her two white feet to the sheen of her nut-brown hair
EmGDEmCDEm
Sure the coaxing elf, I'd to shake myself, to make sure I was standing there
GAmGEmD
From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay and from Galway to Dublin town
EmGDEmCDEm
No maid I've seen like the sweet colleen that I met in County Down
As she onward sped, sure I shook my head and I gazed with a feeling quare
And I said, says I to a passer-by, who's the maid with the nut-brown hair?
He smiled at me and with pride says he, that's the gem of Irelands crown
She's young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann, she's the star of the County Down
Refrão
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 her lily-white throat, as she lilted an Irish tune
At the pattern dance you were in trance as she tripped through a jig or reel
When her eyes she'd roll, she would lift soul as your heart she would likely steal
Refrão
At the harvest fair she'll be surely there and I'll dress my Sunday clothes
With my shoes shon bright and my hat cocked right for a smile from the nut-brown Rose
No pipe I smoke, no horse I'll yoke, let my plough with the rust turns brown
Till a smiling bride by my own fireside sits the star of the County Down
Refrão
This arrangement for the song is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the song. You may only use this for private study, scholarship, or research.