Down a boreen green came a sweet colleen and she smiled as she passed me by
Well, 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
And from Bantry Bay up to Derry 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 shook me head and I looked with a feeling rare
And I says, says I, to a passer-by, "who's the maid with the nut-brown hair? "
Well, he smiles and with pride says he, "That's the gem of old Ireland's crown
That's young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann, she's the star of the County Down
And rom Bantry Bay up to Derry 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, 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, til my plough with rust turns brown
'Til a smiling bride by my own fireside, sits the star of the County Down
And from Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay and from Galway to Dublin town
No maid I've seen like the brown colleen that I met in the County Down
And fom Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay and from Galway to Dublin town
No maid I've seen like the brown colleen that I met in the County Down