Farewell to Nova Scotia

From Helen Creighton's collection.
The song was combined from several versions
The sun was setting in the west
The birds were singing on ev'ry tree
All nature seemed inclined to rest
But still there was no rest for me
 
Chorus
Farewell to Nova Scotia, the sea-bound coast
Let your mountains dark and dreary be
And when I am far away on the briny oceans tossed
Will you ever heave a sigh and a wish for me?
 
I grieve to leave my native land
I grieve to leave my comrades all
And my aged parents whom I always held so dear
And the bonnie, bonnie lass that I do adore
 
The drums they do beat and the wars do alarm
The captain calls, we must obey
So farewell, farewell to Nova Scotia's charms
For it's early in the morning I am far, far away
 
I have three brothers and they are at rest
Their arms are folded on their breast
But a poor simple sailor just like me
Must be tossed and driven on the dark blue sea

According to research by Linda C Craig and Marjory Whitelaw, "The Nova Scotia Song" began as a poem called "The Soldier's Adieu" by Robert Tannahill (1774-1810), from Paisley, Scotland.
 
Those words are :
 
THE SOLDIERS ADIEU.
 
THE weary suns gane doun the west,
The birds sit nodding on the tree,
All nature now inclines for rest,
But rest allowd theres none for me:
 
The trumpet calls to wars alarms,
The rattling drum forbids my stay;
Ah! Nancy, bless thy soldiers arms,
For ere morn I will be far away.
 
 
They were found here:
Fragments of Songs
More on Robert Tannahill & Soldier's Adieu

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