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Near to Banbridge Town, in the County Down
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One morning in July,
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Down a boreen green came a sweet colleen,
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And she smiled as she passed me by;
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Oh, she looked so neat from her two white feet
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To the sheen of her nut-brown hair,
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Sure the coaxing elf, I'd to shake myself
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To make sure I was standing there
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Oh, from Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay,
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And from Galway to Dublin town,
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No maid I've seen like the brown colleen
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That I met in the County Down.
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As she onward sped I shook my head
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And I gazed with a feeling quare,
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And I said, says I, to a passer-by,
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"Who's the maid with the nut-brown hair?"
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Oh, he smiled at me, and with pride says he,
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"That's the gem of Ireland's crown,
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She's young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann,
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She's the Star of the County Down."
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I've travelled a bit, but never was hit
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Since my roving career began;
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But fair and square I surrendered there
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To the charms of young Rose McCann.
GD
I'd a heart to let and no tenant yet
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Did I meet with in shawl or gown,
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But in she went and I asked no rent
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From the Star of the County Down.
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At the crossroads fair I'll be surely there
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And I'll dress in my Sunday clothes
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And I'll try sheep's eyes, and deludhering lies
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On the heart of the nut-brown Rose.
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No pipe I'll smoke, no horse I'll yoke
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Though with rust my plow turns brown,
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Till a smiling bride by my own fireside
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Sits the Star of the County Down.