Stewie's post of "Farewell Song," Richard Burnett, should be transferred here, since it is the earliest, and probably the source. (Message ID=380013, mention in thread 34638).

Reminiscent of, but perhaps unrelated, to Burnett's song is:

FAREWELL TO THE HOME OF MY CHILDHOOD
Author not cited, 19th c. songsheets.

1
Farewell to the home of my childhood,
Farewell to my cottage and vine,
I go to the land of the stranger,
Where pleasure alone will be mine.
When life's fleeting journey is o'er
And earth again mingles with earth,
I can rest in the land of the stranger,
As well as in that of my birth.
Yes, these were my feelings when parting,
But absence soon alter'd their tone,
The cold hands of sickness came o'er me,
And I wept o'er my sorrow alone.
2
No friend came near to cheer me,
No parent to soften my grief.
No brother, nor sister were near me,
And strangers could give no relief.
It's true that it matters but little,
Tho' living, the thought makes me pine,
What e'er befalls the poor relic
When the spirit has flown from its shrine.
But oh! when life's journey is o'er,
And earth again mingles with earth,
Lamented or not, still my wish is,
To rest in the land of my birth.

Johnson, Philadelphia. No author cited, no date.
Thomas G, Doyle, Baltimore. No author cited, no date.
America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets; American Memory.

"In the land of the stranger" is also reminiscent of Davy Crockett's "Farewell (to the mountains)."