| AKA | Sail Away |
| First Published | 1901 |
| Writer/composer | Bennett Scott | Roud | RN24223 |
| Music Hall Performers | Tom Costello |
| Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: Costello, Celia; England: Birmingham; 1967 |
Farewell to home and to all those I love,
Sadly the parting grieves me;
(These words came from a brave British heart
When leaving this dear old land.)
Though I have failed in the country I love,
Still I've the world before me;
And my hopes speed high, so once more goodbye,
Give me a grip of your hand ...
I’ve made up my mind to sail away, sail away, sail away.
I don’t mean to waste another day,
I’ll find luck somewhere.
In our colonies I mean to try, yes I’ll try, do or die.
For a time I shall stay but I'll come back some day and I may be a millionaire!
Once in a new land I'll work with a will,
Fortune may then smile on me;
Here I seem to be all in the way,
But still I shall not despair.
One star of hope for the wanderer shines,
Over the ocean billows;
Mighty, rich and grand — Britain's Daughterland —
I know they'll welcome me there.
Tho' I may go from the land that I love,
My heart I leave behind me;
Dear one I shall be thinking of you
When far from my country's shore.
Love, something tells me that I'm bound to succeed
If you'll be faithful to me.
Soon across the main I'll come back again
Then we shall part never more.
Cecilia Costello sang a fragment of this song for song collectors Pam Bishop and Charles Parker in 1967. It was originally a hit for Tom Costello in the early 1900s and was the first major success for songwriter Bennett Scott. He wrote both the words and music for this one by himself, but he would later have many hits providing music for lyrics by AJ Mills.
Emigration ballads could always move an audience in the Halls, probably because so many would have friends or family who were fleeing poverty at home to seek opportunities abroad. Other examples include The Black sheep of the family (1909) and The Miners dream of home (1891). You find more like this in my selection of songs on Emigration and empire.
As recorded by Tom Costello in 1903:
A recording or download of this song can be purchased from Windyridge CDs.
Sources:
- Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A24223
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics and sheet music: Bodleian mediated copying: Scott, Bennett, and Hamilton Hill. I’ve Made up My Mind to Sail Away. Francis, Day & Hunter, 1902.
- Sheet Music (substantially amended US version by Andrew B Sterling) Arizona State University:
Last Updated on June 10, 2026 by John Baxter | Published: August 2, 2022
