Off to California

In Banbridge Town near the County Down
One morning last July,
Down a boreen green came a sweet Colleen,
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.
No maid I'd seen like the fair Collen
That I met at the County Down

As she onward sped, sure I scratched my 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?"
He smiled at me, and with pride said he,
"She's the gem of Ireland's crown,
Young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann,
She's the Star of the County Down."