From Shantymen and Shantyboys by William Doerflinger c.1951;
pp. 155 – 160:

Though of British origin, the next song was often heard on American vessels as well. Richard Maitland, For example, always said "Rolling Home" was his favorite of them all. It was simple enough for American sailormen to change the traditional words "Merry England" in the strong, swelling chorus to "dear New England" or "Young America" or to sing about

Rolling home to New York City
Those Bowery girls to see

Or as other shellbacks sang of rolling home to "Dear Old Scotland" or "good old Ireland."
"Rolling Home" was, first and foremost, a song rather than a shanty. Such was its well-deserved popularity at sea, however, that it was sometimes sung at the capstan, when homeward bound, according to Captain Patrick Tayluer. His statement is confirmed by several other writers on shantying. The song was perhaps most frequently used in that manner on British ships leaving Australian ports.

        Rolling Home(1) ¾ time

1 Call all hands to man the capstan
See your cable it runs clear
And we'll heave and heave together
For New England home we'll steer

Rolling home, rolling home
Rolling home across the sea
Rolling home to old New England
Rolling home dear land to thee

2 Up aloft amid the rigging
Blows the wild and rushing gale
Like a monsoon in the springtime
Filling out each well known sail

3 And the waves we leave behind us
Seem to murmur as they flow
"There's a hearty welcome waiting
In the land to which you go!"

4 And the girl you love so dearly,
She'll be constant, kind and true.
When you press her to your bosom,
All your fondest vows renew.

5 To Australia's lovely daughters
We have bid a fond adieu.
And we'll ne'er forget the hours
That we've happ'ly spent with you.

6 Twice five thousand miles behind us,
Twice five thousand miles before
Now we're passing Saint Helena,
Heading for New England shore.
(Or, Heading for Columbia's shore)

7 And we'll sing in joyful chorus
In the watches of the night,
And we'll sight the shores of New England
When the dawn brings in the light.
(Or, when the gray dawn brings the light)

That was Dick Maitland's version. Sometimes at the end he added:


8 So heave away and with a will, boys,
For New England we will steer,
For the girls they are a-waiting
For us there upon the pier.

Here are two stanzas from the version of a man who learned "Rolling Home" under the Red Duster:

Behind we leave you our best wishes
As we leave your rocky shores.
We are bound to Merry England
And return to you no more.

Eastward on and eastward ever
To the rising of the sun;
Homeward ever, homeward ever
To the land where I was born.

The interesting and unusual version that follows, departing from the regular pattern, works a clipper home from Melbourne or Sydney to London, by way of Cape Horn. The singer, Captain Patrick Tayluer, had spent considerable time in Australia. This solo pattern, which I have never heard used by anyone else, probably goes back to the famous British wool clippers. The same is doubtless true of the song as a whole. Those greyhounds of the seas, some of which were built in the United States and Canada, did magnificent work on the Australia run from 1851 on.
The verses relate the colorful details of the voyage. They tell of the preparations for sea, the passing of Port Philip Heads or Sydney Heads, the hauling in of the towrope. In stanza two appears the question of making the homeward passage by way of Cape Horn, as was now becoming a common practice, thanks to the scientific study of ocean winds, rather than around the Cape of Good Hope, the route formerly customary. The singer touches on the ordeal off the Horn. He alludes to the welcome change in weather after the Roaring Forties of the South Atlantic, with their leaden skies, for sunny latitudes where steady trade winds blew and the shadows of the rigging etched the whiteness of the decks. Then the proud clipper storming home; the raising of the well remembered Channel lights as she sails through the chops of the Channel and races on past the Lizard, Start, Portland, and Dover to the Nore and the final tow up the Thames to London.
Figures in parentheses refer to the explanatory data, given by the singer, below the song. In the choruses, Captain Tayluer often used the words "sailing home," place of "rolling home."

Rolling Home (II) 3/4 time

1 Now, it takes all 'ands to man the capstan,
Mister, see your cables clear.
Soon you'll be sailing 'omeward bound, sir,
And for the channel you will steer.
See your sheets and clewlines free, sir,
All you buntlines over'auled.
Are the sheer-poles and gear all ready?
Soon for Old England we will steer.

2 Soon we'll be leaving dear Australia,
And for old England we'll give a cheer!
We'll be leaving you black-eyed damsels
As we loved when free and near.
When our sails are set, and to windward
Lies a westerly waind so clear, (1)
"Are we going around the Cape, sir,
Or for the eastward 'round the Horn we'll steer?"

3 Good-bye, Heads, and let us leave you!
Haul your tow-rope all inboard.
The heads are straightaway behind you,
And an easterly course you'll steer.
Mister, set your stu'n's'ls quickly,
Gather up all the waind you can.
It must be done within the seventies,
Or soon we will lose our lead. (2)

4 Mister, sweat all your weather braces!
Look, the waind is gathering, and—and soon
'We'll be rounding the Diego Raminerees
And around Cape Horn we'll steer.
Then we'll see the dear Atlantic,
And our head is pointed home,
And our lee cathead is under,
And to the land, good God, let her go!

5 Soon well be down beneath the islands.
Oh, hark, she roars—and the riggin's crack!
She must he easily doing seventeen,
And to the waind is rolling home.
Next we'll hear the Forties roaring,
When sun rays and shadows near,
And the Chops are slowly rising
And the strings are pulling clear. (3)

6 Ah, there's the Lizard light is shining,
And we're bound down now to the Nore!
Everything is full and drawing,
BY the Start we soon will clear.
Down to Eddystone and Portland,
By the Bill (4) we'll race along.
Now we're bound down to clear Dover
And there you will see what we'll sheer

7 Down with your sails and drop your anchor,
Mister, see your cable is clear!
Give her fourteen good long fathoms-
And for the tugboat we will steer!(5)

        Chorus

Rolling 'ome, rolling 'ome
Rolling 'ome across the sea
Rolling 'ome to Merry England
Where kind friends do await for me!

Notes:(1) This refers to the strong steady westerlies to be picked up in the Southern Pacific Ocean. (2) The passage must be made in less than eighty days says the captain, with confidence. (3) Allusion to the old sailor saying, "The girls have got hold of the tow rope." (4) Portland Bill (5) The ship anchors and awaits a tug to tow her upriver to London. From now on, the voyage really over, the only steering that remains to be done is to follow the towboat.


In all the stanzas the second and tenth measures are sung very much alike. There is enough difference to indicate, yet the notation may make the two measures seem more different than they actually are as Tayluer sings them. The tenth measure should he slowed considerably over the last three notes and picked up again immediately. Tayluer rolls over this phrase, so to speak.