Irish Songs: Star of the County Down

"Star of the County Down" is an old Irish ballad set near Banbridge in County Down, in Northern Ireland. The words are by Cathal Garvey, 1866-1927, from Ramelton, County Donegal. The song shares its melody with many other works, including the almost identical English tune "Kingsfold", well known from several popular hymns, such as "Led By the Spirit." The folk tune was the basis for Ralph Vaughan Williams' Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus. The song is notable for its tight rhyme scheme. Each stanza is a double quatrain, and the first and third lines of each quatrain have an internal rhyme on the second and fourth feet: [aa]b[cc]b. The refrain is a single quatrain with the same rhyming pattern.

The song is sung from the point of view of a young man who chances to meet a charming lady by the name of Rose (or Rosie) McCann, referred to as the "star of the County Down". From a brief encounter the writer's infatuation grows until, by the end of the ballad, he imagines wedding the girl.

(Wikipedia)

Van Morrison the Chieftains: Star of the County Down

In Banbridge Town in the County Down One morning last July, From 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. Such a coaxing elf, sure I shook myself For to see I was really there.	colleen (mot irlandais) – une fille irlandaise boreen (mot irlandais) un chemin de terre sheen – la brillance coaxing - cajolant
Chorus: 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.	maid – une demoiselle
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 Till my plough turns rust coloured brown. Till a smiling bride, by my own fireside Sits the star of the County Down.	harvest – la récolte cocked – penché to yoke – atteler plough – une charrue rust – la rouille bride – une jeune mariée fireside – le foyer
Chorus
As she onward sped, sure I scratched my head, And I looked with a feelin' rare, And I says, says I, to a passer-by, "Whose the maid with the nut brown hair"? He looked at me and he says, say's he, "That's the gem of Ireland's crown. Young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann, She's the star of the County Down".	to speed onward (ici)– continuer à toute allure passer-by – un passant gem – le bijou bank – la rive, le bord
Chorus