Original Rootsweb Co. Tyrone Community Site
An Emigrant's Daughter


Co. Tyrone Headstone Project
Click banner to submit/search the Project!

Find your Family Today - Click Here to get custom produced family history reports - Family History, Ancestral information and more...

An Emigrant's Daughter
Poem & Song

Submitted by Barry Taylor
taylorbn[at]shaw.ca



Listen to a professional version of the ballad at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1DpxraOl3A

Tune: The Grenadier and the Lady
Lyrics by Barry Taylor 1998

                    Oh please ne'er forget me though waves now lie o'er me
                    I was once young and pretty and my spirit ran free
                    But destiny tore me from country and loved ones
                    And from the new land I was never to see.
                    A poor emigrant's daughter too frightened to know
                    I was leaving forever the land of my soul
                    Amid struggle and fear my parents did pray
                    To place courage to leave o'er the longing to stay.

                    They spoke of a new land far away 'cross the sea
                    And of peace and good fortune for my brothers and me
                    So we parted from townland with much weeping and pain
                    'Kissed the loved ones and the friends we would ne'er see again.
                    The vessel was crowded with disquieted folk
                    The escape from past hardship sustaining their hope
                    But as the last glimpse of Ireland faded into the mist
                    Each one fought back tears and felt strangely alone.

                    The seas roared in anger, making desperate our plight
                    And a fever came o'er me that worsened next night
                    Then delirium possessed me and clouded my mind
                    And I, for a moment, saw that land left behind.
                    I could hear in the distance my dear mother's wailing
                    And the prayers of three brothers that I'd see no more
                    And I felt father's tears as he begged for forgiveness
                    For seeking a new life on the still distant shore.

                    Oh please ne'er forget me though waves now lie o'er me
                    I was once young and pretty and my spirit ran free
                    But destiny tore me from country and loved ones
                    And from the new land I was never to see.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

This ballad tells the true story of the emigration of my Irish ancestors.
In 1842 my great great great grandfather, Samuel Huston, his wife Elizabeth
and his four children left County Tyrone, Ireland, to emigrate to Canada.
Their only daughter, whom I believe to have been in her early teens,
died during that voyage. This is her story... as seen through her eyes and
as sung through her voice.

The tune is an adaptation of an old English ballad 'The Grenadier and the Lady';
the lyrics are new; the story is but one of the many recalling the courage
of the pioneer settlers who built our great country.

Note to Performers: This song is royalty-free for both performance and recording
purposes, but I would appreciate an acknowledgement. Barry Taylor, Victoria,
British Columbia, Canada taylorbn[at]shaw.ca


Return To The Poems & Stories Home Page