Near Banbridge Town in the County Down
One morning last July
From a boreen green came a sweet cailín
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 coaxin’ 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 cailín
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, says I, to a passer by
Who’s the maid with the nut brown hair
He smiled at me and he said, says he
That’s the gem in 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 fair cailín
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
Though my plough turn a rust coloured brown
Till 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 cailín
That I met in the County Down