Charles Mackay 1858
Mackay’s original poem, written on board a ship, has “dear old England” in the chorus and the final four verses here, which are not as much sung as the top four. The first recording Mainly Norfolk lists is Bob Roberts in 1981 who says he learned it on a boat.
Call all hands to man the capstan, see the cable running clear Heave around and with the wheel boys, for our homeland we must steer Chorus Rolling home, rolling home, rolling home across the sea Rolling home to old New England, rolling home dear land to thee From the pines of California and by Chile’s endless strand We have sailed the world twice over, every boat and every land And to all you blagard pirates who would chase us from the waves Heed ye well that those who’ve tried us soon have found their watery graves We were boarded in Jamaica where the Jolly Roger flew But our swords were hardly drawn boys e’er they took a rosy hue We return with precious cargo and with bounty, coined and gold And our sweethearts will rejoice boys, for they love their sailors bold Up aloft amid the rigging, Swiftly blows the favoring gale, Strong as springtime in its blossom, Filling out each bending sail. And the waves we leave behind us, Seem to murmur as they rise, We have tarried here to bear you, To the land you dearly prize. Full ten thousand miles behind us, And a thousand miles before, Ancient ocean waves to waft us To the well-remembered shore. Newborn breezes swell to send us To our childhood’s welcome skies, To the glow of friendly faces And the glance of loving eyes.