A popular song from 1905
Words by Benj. H. Burt
Music by Alfred Solman
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
An old jacktar stood agin’ the bar, Ye-ho! Ye-ho!
With a tankard of ale to enliven his tale, Ye-ho! Ye-ho!
He spun them yarns of a far-off land,
Where e’er he had chanced to roam,
Of wintry seas and of rock-bound coasts,
Full many a league from home.
Chorus
“I’m only an old jacktar,” said he,
“Just an old jacktar, no more.
I’ve sailed the seas since the fifty-threes,
Seen ev’ry foreign shore!
I’ve piped my quarters in ev’ry clime,
But no matter where I roam
There’s a feeling here, for the loved ones dear,
In the harbor of home sweet home,
In the harbor of home sweet home, home, home sweet home,
The harbor of home sweet home.”
Verse 2
“’Twas in fifty three that I took to sea, Ye-ho! Ye-ho!
Brought up on the shore,
I knew nothing more, Ye-ho! Ye-ho!”
He wiped a tear from his sunburned face,
And a sigh heaved the old man’s breast,
As he drank once more to his native shore,
And the harbor he loved the best.
Sung by Laurence Rubenstein: