Star of the County Down

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"Star of the County Down" is an old Irish ballad set near Banbridge in County Down, in Northern Ireland. 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 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.

[edit] Recordings

It has been covered by many artists, including:

Christopher Luther[1] on his 2007 Personality album.
Van Morrison on his 1988 Irish Heartbeat album with The Chieftains.
The Pogues
The Chieftains
Meg Davis on her 1992 album Meg Davis Live At Dennos
The Flash Girls
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones on their 1991 album Flight of the Cosmic Hippo
John McCormack
Yo-Yo Ma
Julian Lloyd Webber in an instrumental rendition on his 1994 album Cello Song
The King's Singers
The Swingle Singers
The Irish Rovers
Neck
Orthodox Celts
Oysterband
Energy Orchard on their 1993 album Shinola, which features a hard-rock version of the song
Ehud Banai, a version in Hebrew, called "HaKochav shel Mahoz Gush Dan" ('the star of the Gush Dan county', Gush Dan being a major area in central Israel)
Slainte, who placed their cover of the song for free download on MP3.com where it was several times the most frequently downloaded song of the day^[1]
The North Shore Celtic Ensemble
The Wolfe Tones
Enter the Haggis called simply "Star" on the albums "Live" and "Aerials."
Paddy Reilly
The Ramblers
Three sheets T' Wind
The Mahones on the album "Draggin' the Days"
Roland Kalus, played a great instrumental version on an Irish McIlroy Guitar. Inspired by italian guitar virtuoso Franco Morone. Can be heard on line at^[2]
Cruachan used the melody from the verse of the song instrumentally as well as with different lyrics in their song "The Brown Bull of Cooley" on their 2006 album "The Morrigan's Call".
Marc Gunn on his album A Tribute to Love.
Minstrels of Mayhem