abstract
| - /new Score { /new Staff { << /new Voice = %22one%22 /relative c' { /clef treble /key f /major /time 4/4 /partial 8*2 f8( e) | d4 d d c8 d | f4 f g f8( g) | a4 g8( f) d4 d | c2. } /new Lyrics /lyricsto %22one%22 { In _ Ban- bridge Town near the Coun- ty Down one _ mor- ning _ last Ju- ly } >> }}%22Star of the County Down%22 is an Irish ballad set near Banbridge in County Down, in Northern Ireland. The words are by Cathal McGarvey (1866–1927) from Ramelton, County Donegal. The tune is similar to that of several other works, including the almost identical English tune %22Kingsfold%22, well known from several popular hymns, such as %22Led By the Spirit%22. The folk tune was the basis for Ralph Vaughan Williams' Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus.The melody was also used in an Irish folk song called %22My Love Nell%22. The lyrics of %22My Love Nell%22 tell the story of a young man who courts a girl but loses her when she emigrates to America. The only real similarity with %22Star of the County Down%22 is that Nell too comes from County Down. This may have inspired McGarvey to place the heroine of his new song in Down as well. McGarvey was from Donegal.%22The Star of the County Down%22 uses a 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 %22star of the County Down%22. From a brief encounter the writer's infatuation grows until, by the end of the ballad, he imagines wedding the girl.The song usually begins with the opening verse:Near Banbridge town, in the County Down, one morning last JulyDown a bóithrín green came a sweet cailín,And she smiled as she passed me by
|