A popular song from 1850.
Words by Charles Mackay.
Music by Henry Russell.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- Cheer! boys, cheer! no more of idle sorrow
Courage true hearts shall bear us on our way
Hope points before, and shews the bright tomorrow
Let us forget the darkness of today
So farewell England much as we may love thee
We’ll dry the tears that we have shed before
Why should we weep to sail in search of fortune
So farewell England, farewell for evermore
Chorus
Cheer! boys, cheer! for country, mother country
Cheer! boys, cheer! the willing strong right hand
Cheer! boys, cheer! there’s wealth for honest labour
Cheer! boys, cheer! For the new and happy land
- Cheer! boys, cheer! the steady breeze is blowing
To float us freely o’er the oceans breast
The world shall follow in the track we’re going
The star of Empire glitters in the west
Were we had toil and little to reward it
But there shall plenty smile upon our pain
And ours shall be the prairee and the forest
And boundless meadows ripe with golden grain
Chorus
Cheer! boys, cheer! for country, mother country
Cheer! boys, cheer! united heart and hand
Cheer! boys, cheer! there’s wealth for honest labour
Cheer! boys, cheer! For the new and happy land
Sung here by Vancha March: