When I set out to sail the sea
My mother cheered, hooray!
She prayed I’d stay away
So glad she’d been set free
When I set out to sail the sea
My mother cheered, hooray!
What would I find across the sea
If fate or fortune smiled?
On her unwanted child
Would God provide for me?
What would I find across the sea
If fate or fortune smiled?
When I wrote home across the sea
My letters lay unread
To her I’d long been dead
No longer family!
When I wrote home across the sea
My letters lay unread
When I returned from o’er the sea
With pockets full of gold
My mother, poor and old
She\'d missed me terribly!
When I returned from o’er the sea
With pockets full of gold