Our Anchor Is Up to the Bow

From Jimmie Cronin, London, England

Sources: The James Madison Carpenter Collection AFC 1972/001 Cylinder 036 01:41; Disc side 076 02:50; MS pp. 03138, 09006

Verses 2-4 from the broadside “The Country I’m Leaving Behind”.

  1. I ne’er shall forget when we parted
    I left my true love on the quay
    She told me not to be down hearted
    But hove to our anchor are we.
    chorus:
    Our anchor is up to the bow,  boys
    Our tops’ls are well sheeted home
    It’s farewell to dear old London
    And all the flash girls on the town.
  2. My barque leaves the harbour to-morrow,
    Across the wide ocean to go,
    But, Kitty, my burden of sorrow
    Is more than I’d wish you to know.
  3. There’s a dreary dark cloud hanging o’er me,
    And a mighty big cloud on my mind,
    And I think of the prospects before me,
    And the country I’m leaving behind.
  4. Let stormy clouds gather above me,
    And friendship prove stale or unkind,
    I’ll know there is one heart will love me
    In the country I’m leaving behind.
  5. It’s when I return from the ocean
    It’s you that I will make my bride
    For I have a queer sort of a notion
    Of a baby or two by my side.
    final chorus
    And our anchor’s no more to the bow boys
    And our tops’ls are not sheeted home
    It’s welcome to dear old London
    And  all the flash girls on the town.
Lyrics from the recording: