Leaving Australia

I sailed to the west with a schoolmate of mine
Together we shared the hard toil.
It was hard times at home which caused us to roam,
No work for the sons of the soil.
So I bade my old mother and father goodbye,
And I said I'll not be long away;
Though it's ten years have passed, fortune's favoured at last
And I'm leaving Australia today.

I sailed to the west with a dear friend of mine,
Each having a share in one claim
And taking bad luck as it came with the rest,
And working on each of the same
Til a cowardly blow struck my poor pal low,
Who struck it I never could tell;
Though I'll carry him home with his share of the gold

For his mother and dear sister, Nell.

So I'll take it back to my own country
That's far away across the sea
Right back to the scenes of my childhood
Where there'll be a welcome for me
Well it's many's the year it has passed and gone
Since I left old England's shore,
And may God speed the vessel which carries me back
To my dear old homeland once more.