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 To 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 berry 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 feelin' rare And I say's, say's I, to a passer by "Who's the maid with the nut brown hair" He smyiled at me and he say's, say's 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 berry 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 shine bright, and my hat cocked right For the smile of a nut brown rose No pipe I'll smoke, no horse I'll yoke Till my plough turns rust coloured brown Till a smyling bride, by my own fireside Sits the star of the County Down From Bantry Bay up to berry Quay And from Galway to Dublin Town No maid I've seen like the brown colleen That I met in the County Down