Star of the County Down
More actions
A popular Irish ballad written by entertainer and humorist Cathal McGarvey in 1910.[1] The words have been set to various tunes, but the most common modern setting is a traditional tune commonly known as "Dives and Lazarus" or "Kingsfold". The tune's first known publishing was in an anthology titled English Country Songs in 1893, though it was already a popular folk tune at the time and its true age is unknown.[2]
The Longest Johns released a video of their version of the song, featuring Irish folk musician Colm McGuinness singing lead, on YouTube on 9 October 2024.
Factoids
Lyrics
As performed in the video with Colm McGuinness.
Near Banbridge town in the County Down
One evening last July
Down a bóithrín green came a sweet cailín
And she smiled as she passed me by
She looked so neat from her two bare feet
To the sheen of her nut-brown hair
Such a coaxing elf, I'd to shake myself
To make sure I was standing there
{Chorus}
From Bantry Bay to the Derry Quay
And from Galway to Dublin town
No maid I've seen like the sweet cailín
That I met in the County Down
As she onward sped I shook my head
And I gazed with a feeling queer
And I said, says I, to a passerby
"Who's your one with the nut-brown hair?"
He smiled at me, and with pride says he
"She's the gem of old Ireland's crown
Young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann
And the star of the County Down"
{Chorus}
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 auburn throat
As she lilted lamenting tunes
At the pattern dance you'd be in a trance
As she skipped through a jig or reel
When her eyes she'd roll as she'd lift your soul
And your heart she would likely steal
{Chorus}
At the harvest fair she'll be surely there
And I'll dress my Sunday clothes
With my hat cocked right and my shoes shined bright
For a smile from the nut-brown Rose
No horse I'll yoke or pipe I smoke
'til the rust in my plough turn brown
And a smiling bride by my own fireside
Sits the star of the County Down
{Chorus 2x}