"Another tradition that borrows some tunes from English and American folk and dance music is "shape note" singing. The best known collection of shape note hymns is The Sacred Harp. We've heard a song sometimes used to close Renaissance fairs that turns out to be a shape note hymn, "Parting Friends" (Sacred Harp #267). You may recognize its first line, "Farewell, my friends, I'm bound for Canaan;" the Fasola Home Page's Sacred Harp Index credits John G. McCurry for the tune and dates it at 1842."

from

this site.
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267 Parting Friends (First)
Tune: John G. McCurry, 1842

Words:

Meter: 9s,8s Double (9,8,9,8,9,8,9,8)

Farewell, my friends, I'm bound for Canaan,
I'm trav'ling through the wilderness;
Your company has been delightful,
You, who doth leave my mind distressed.
I go away, behind to leave you,
Perhaps never to meet again,
But if we never have the pleasure,
I hope we'll meet on Canaan's land.

from

http://fasola.org/indexes/1991/?p=267