Teacher's Corner



Far From Home

Where mighty waters foam and boil
And rushing torrents roar,
In Fraser River's northern soil
Lies hid the golden ore.

Chorus:
Far from home, far from home
On Fraser River's shore
We labour hard, so does our bard,
To dig the golden ore.

Far, far from home we Miners roam,
We feel its joys no more.
These we have sold for yellow gold
On Fraser River's shore.

Chorus

In cabins rude, our daily food
Is quickly counted o'er.
Beans, bread, salt meat is all we eat-
And the cold earth is our floor.

Chorus

Lonely our lives-no mothers', wives',
Or sisters' love runs o'er
When home we come at set of sun
To greet us at the door.

Chorus

At night we smoke, then crack a joke,
Try cards 'til found a bore.
Our goodnight said, we go to bed
To dream of home once more.

Chorus

With luck at last, our hardships past,
We'll head for home once more,
And greet the sight with wild delight
Of California's shore.

Chorus

And once on shore, we never more
Will roam through all our lives:
A home we'll find, just to our mind,
And call our sweethearts wives.

Notes:

Far From Home. W., "W.H.D.". Emory's Bar, Fraser River, July, 1859, in Hutching's California Magazine September, 1859, p. 108. M, PJT. 1 have used stanzas 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 11 and 12of the original 12,and have omitted the last chorus. Original w. & m., see "Home Again" in Reddall and Buck, Songs That Never Die (U.S.A. n.p., 1894), p. 165.

From Songs of the Pacific Northwest. Ed. Philip J Thomas. Music Transcription and Notation by Shirley A. Cox. Saanichton, B.C.: Hancock House Pub (1979.) p.36-38. Originally printed in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Dec. 1860

Last updated 31 August 1998.
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