The Star of the County Down

Liedtext
Near to Banbridge town, in the County Down,
One morning in July,
Down a boreen green came a sweet colleen
And she smiled as she passed me by;
Oh, she looked so sweet from her two white feet,
To the sheen of her nut-brown hair,
Sure the coaxing elf, I’d to shake myself,
To make sure I was standing there.

Chorus
Oh, from Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay,
And from Galway to Dublin town
No maid I’ve seen like the sweet colleen,
That I met in the County Down.

As she onward sped I shook my head
And I gazed with a feeling quare
‚And I said‘, says I to a passer-by.
‚Who’s the maid with the nut-brown hair?‘
Oh, he smiled at me, and with pride says he,
‚That’s the gem of Ireland’s crown.
She’s young Rosie McCann, from the banks of the Bann
She’s 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 hung on each note from her lily-white throat,
As she lilted an Irish tune.
At the pattern dance you were held in trance
As she tripped through a reel or jig,
And when her eyes she’d roll, she’d coax upon my soul
A spud from a hungry pig.

Chorus

I’ve travelled a bit, but never was hit,
Since my roving career began;
But fair and square I surrendered there
To the charm of young Rose McCann.
With a heart to let and no tenant yet
Did I meet within shawl or gown
But in she went and I asked no rent
From the star of the County Down.

Chorus

At the harvest fair I’ll be surely there
And I’ll dress in my Sunday clothes,
And I’ll try sheep's eyes and deludhering lies
On the heart of the nut-brown Rose.
No pipe I’ll smoke, no horse I’ll yoke
Though my plough with rust turns brown
Till a smiling bride by my own fireside
Sits the Star of the County Down.

Chorus

Das Lied The Star of the County Down ist eine irische Ballade von Cathal Mac Garvey (1866–1927). Die Melodie ist weitaus älter und bereits im 1726 erschienenen Buch Music for Allan Ramsay’s Collection of Scots Songs von Alexander Stuart unter der Bezeichnung Gilderoy dokumentiert. Auf die gleiche Melodie gibt es zahlreiche weiter Lieder, unter anderem My Love Nell, Divers and Lazarus, The Murder of Maria Martin, Mary from Blackwater Side, When First I Left Old Ireland.

Das Reimschema des Liedes ist bemerkenswert, da sich nicht nur die Zeilen paarweise reimen (halber Kreuzreim), sondern jeweils in den Zeilen 1, 3, 5 und 7 noch Inreime liegen.

Das Lied wird vom Standpunkt eines jungen Mannes aus gesungen, der eine junge Frau namens Rose McCann trifft, die als „Star des County Down“ bezeichnet wird.

Von dem Lied gibt es auch zwei deutsche Versionen: Sie sah aus wie eine Fee von Michael Völkel und Eines Morgens.