Leaving Australia

I sailed to the west with a schoolmate of mine
 Together we shared the hard toil.
 It was hard times at home which caused us to roam,
 No work for the sons of the soil.
 So I bade my old mother and father goodbye,
 And I said I'll not be long away;
 Though it's ten years have passed, fortune's favoured at last
 And I'm leaving Australia today.
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 I sailed to the west with a dear friend of mine,
 Each having a share in one claim
 And taking bad luck as it came with the rest,
 And working on each of the same
 Til a cowardly blow struck my poor pal low,
 Who struck it I never could tell;
 Though I'll carry him home with his share of the gold
 For his mother and dear sister, Nell.
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 So I'll take it back to my own country
 That's far away across the sea
 Right back to the scenes of my childhood
 Where there'll be a welcome for me
 Well it's many's the year it has passed and gone
 Since I left old England's shore,
 And may God speed the vessel which carries me back
 To my dear old homeland once more.