Leaving of Liverpool
Also known as "Fare Thee Well, My Own True Love", this folk ballad tells of a long sailing trip to America. Liverpool was a common point of embarkation, with a choice of shipping lines and destinations, including special emigration trains directly to The Prince's Landing Stage (which is mentioned in the song's first line).
It was collected as a sailor's song, but noted only twice: from the Americans Richard Maitland and Captain Patrick Tayler. Maitland learned it from a Liverpool man on board the General Knox around 1885.
The Leaving Of Liverpool
Farewell to Princes' landing stage River Mersey fare thee well
I am bound for California, a place I know right well
So fare thee well my own true love
When I return united we will be
It's not the leaving of Liverpool that grieves me
But my darling when I think of thee
I have sailed with Burgess once before, I think I know him well
If a man's a sailor he will get along, if not then he's sure in hell
Farewell to Lower Frederick Street, Anson Terrace and Park Lane
I am bound away for to leave you and I'll never see you again
I am bound for California by way of stormy Cape Horn
And I will write to thee a letter, love, when I am homeward bound
I've shipped on a Yankee clipper ship, "Davy Crockett" is her name
And Burgess is the captain of her and they say that she's a floating hell