Mother's Last Goodbye

When I was a youngster I thought I'd like to roam,
Like many other foolish lads I had no thoughts of home;
The kind old folks around me who thought so much of me,
I left my happy homestead and went away to sea.

My father as we parted said, "My lad be kind and true,
My prayers each night will be to God to keep watch over you."
My mother she could scarcely speak but still I went away,
She threw her arms around me and this to me did say:

"Good-bye, God bless you, Charlie lad, wherever you may roam,
Let no false pride make you forget your loving ones at home;
Good-bye, God bless you, darling son," how sadly she did cry,
While I have breath I'll never forget my mother's last good-bye.

Next day I started out for sea to a land far, far away,
To toil beneath a burning sun for many's a weary day;
And as l gained a wish for gold ofttimes rang in my ears,
The news l hear from home from my kind old father dear.

My mind flew back to England, a land far o'er the sea,
Where many's a glad and blithesome heart were filled with joys of me;
Of home and kindred I should think with many's a hearty sigh,
My father's kind and loving words my mother's last good-bye.

At length my days of trouble passed and l had gold in store,
But with a glad and lightsome heart l sailed for home once more;
And as the good ship bore me across the sparkling foam,
I counted eve'ry day and night, which brought me nearer home.

But all in vain it was too late, my parents they were dead,
My gold it held no joys for me, my joys they were all fled;
Of home and kindred l should think with many's a hearty sigh,
My father's kind and loving words my mother's last good-bye.

####.... Variant of an Irish traditional, My Mother's Last Goodbye, sung to the tune of Skibberee ....####

Collected in 1951 from Tom Findlay of St. Shott's, NL, and published in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).